Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Chester-le-Street Union, County Durham, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Morton | 33 | 0 | Idiotcy | no. |
| Thomas Smith | 9 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Robert Smith | 9 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Isabella Hopper | 16 | 0 | Idiotcy | no. |
| William Barrass | 6 | 0 | Old age | parish. |
| Barnabas Shipley | 7 | 0 | ditto | parish. |
| Samuel Usher | 5 | 0 | ditto | parish |
| Margaret Short | 6 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| John Robson | 8 | 0 | Old age | parish. |
| Margaret Atkinson | 5 | 0 | Old age | no. |
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