Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Cosford Union, Suffolk, 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 Lewis | 12 | 0 | Subject to fits | no. |
| Sarah Whymark | 6 | 0 | Certified idiot | no. |
| Eliza Simpson | 12 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Edward Smith | 5 | 0 | Ruptured | no. |
| Ann Norford | 9 | 0 | Imbecile for years | no. |
| Maria Fenning | 18 | 0 | Husband transported | no. |
| Hannah Constable | 25 | 0 | Certified idiot | no. |
| William Cooper | 18 | 0 | Imbecile for many years | no. |
| Hannah Fletcher | 5 | 0 | Imbecile and lame | no. |
| Mary Whiles | 12 | 0 | Certified idiot | no. |
| John Humphrey | 10 | 0 | Imbecile for years | no. |
| Samuel Hills | 9 | 0 | Lame and blind | no. |
| Robert Culter | 25 | 0 | Certified idiot | no. |
| Mary Birch | 9 | 0 | Blind and scrofula | no. |
| Abraham Snell | 5 | 0 | Paralysis | no. |
| Emma Stribling | 6 | 0 | Paralysis; subject to fits | no. |
| Ann Alderton | 5 | 0 | Imbecile | no. |
| Matilda Thorpe | 6 | 0 | Certified idiot | no. |
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