Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Bridge Union, Kent, 1861
In 1861, the Poor Law Board published a return of the name every adult pauper who had been a workhouse inmate for a continuous period of five years or more, together with the duration of their residence (in years and months), the reason for it, and whether they had been brought up in a District or separate Workhouse School. It was noted that the term 'District School' had been widely misinterpreted by respondents as meaning any school in the local area, such as a national or private school, and that there was only one instance in the whole report of an inmate actually having been in such a school.
| Name | Yrs | ms. | Reason | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Marsh | 10 | 3 | Aged and infirm | no. |
| Catharine, his wife | 10 | 7 | Aged and infirm | no. |
| Mary Bentley | 18 | 9 | Infirm | no. |
| Henry White | 7 | 4 | Aged and infirm | no. |
| Matthew Williams | 25 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| Mary Terry | 7 | 3 | Aged and infirm | no. |
| Abraham Abbott | 16 | 7 | ditto | no. |
| Daniel Dawkins | 5 | 9 | ditto | no. |
| Ralph Terry | 18 | 9 | ditto | no. |
| Harriet Hollands | 14 | 10 | Blind | no. |
| George Pettit | 17 | 8 | Infirm | yes. |
| Thomas Brice | 22 | 8 | Infirm, being a cripple | no. |
| Arthur Hayward | 8 | 6 | Infirm | no. |
| Thomas Harlow | 10 | 8 | Very infirm | no. |
| Sarah Smith | 21 | 2 | Idiot | no. |
| Thomas Fox | 17 | 10 | Aged and infirm | no. |
| James Hodges | 9 | 9 | ditto | no. |
| Thomas Austen | 13 | 9 | ditto | no. |
| Charlotte Rye | 16 | 4 | Weak intellect | no. |
| Henry Ansley | 13 | 9 | Aged and very infirm | no. |
| Sidney Fox | 11 | 2 | Idiot | no. |
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