Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Chesterfield Union, Derbyshire, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Webster | 22 | 0 | Cataract | not known. |
| Robert Watson | 15 | 0 | Idiotic | not known. |
| James Brough | 8 | 0 | Scrofula | workh. school. |
| Deborah Spencer | 18 | 0 | Asthma | dist. school. |
| John Metcalf | 9 | 0 | Paralysis | not known. |
| Martha Higginbottom | 5 | 0 | Imbecile | not known. |
| Ann Briddon | 22 | 0 | Old age | dist. school. |
| Ann Reddich | 16 | 0 | Scrofula | workh. school. |
| William Frith | 8 | 0 | Imbecile | not known. |
| John Cooper | 6 | 0 | Old age | dist. school. |
| John Clark | 5 | 0 | Scrofula | workh. school. |
| Mary Linacre | 22 | 0 | Imbecile | not known. |
| William Marples | 14 | 0 | ditto | not known. |
| Esther Finney | 5 | 0 | Old age | not known. |
| Job Derwent | 22 | 0 | Imbecile | not known. |
| Harriet Furness | 7 | 0 | Weak mind | not known. |
| William Hodgkinson | 9 | 0 | Scrofula | dist. school. |
| Sylvanus Webster | 14 | 0 | ditto | not known. |
| Sarah Mallinder | 5 | 0 | Imbecile | dist. school. |
| Thomas Heathcote | 9 | 0 | Old age | not known. |
| Margaret O'Neale | 6 | 0 | Has fits | not known. |
Unless otherwise indicated, this page () is copyright Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.



