Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Colchester Union, Essex, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonas Barrett | 6 | 6 | Sickness | no. |
| John Nevard | 7 | 6 | Old age | no. |
| lonas Watts | 15 | 0 | Blindness | no. |
| Robert Hewitt | 5 | 6 | Paralysis | no. |
| Henry Dines | 15 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| John Ladbrocke | 22 | 0 | Paralysis | no. |
| William Evans | 5 | 6 | Idiotic | no. |
| Benjamin Digby | 17 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| John Archer | 16 | 3 | Deaf and dumb | no. |
| Charlotte Sargent | 15 | 0 | Weak mind | no. |
| Ann Ward | 5 | 6 | Rheumatic | no. |
| Sarah Bishop | 8 | 0 | Old and infirm | no. |
| Ann Newman | 14 | 0 | General debility | no. |
| Mary Ann Searles | 16 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Rachel Daniels | 11 | 0 | Old age and nervous | no. |
| Mary Childs | 15 | 0 | Idiotic | no. |
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