Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Leigh Union, Lancashire, 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 Rawson | 15 | 0 | Age and infirmity | no. |
| Maria Peters | 8 | 0 | Imbecile | no. |
| James Battersby | 11 | 0 | Could not see to work at his trade | no. |
| James Charlson | 6 | 0 | Imbecile | no. |
| George Orme | 9 | 0 | Age and infirmity | no. |
| James Prescott | 10 | 0 | Infirmity | no. |
| Martha Ratcliffe | 15 | 0 | Imbecile | no. |
| Mary Ann Higginson | 31 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Alice Bromley | 8 | 0 | Sickness | no. |
| Ellen Glover | 11 | 0 | Rheumatism | no. |
| Mary Hestford | 15 | 0 | Imbecile | no. |
| Ann Ratcliffe | 12 | 0 | Paralysis | no. |
| Ann Mart | 8 | 0 | Imbecile | no. |
| David Potter | 12 | 0 | Age and infirmity | no. |
| Richard Young | 10 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Ralph Knight | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| James Smith | 7 | 0 | Infirmity | no. |
| John Irlam | 8 | 0 | Could not see to work at his trade | no. |
| John Stirrup | 7 | 0 | Infirmity | no. |
| Sarah Higson | 5 | 0 | Spinal affection | no. |
| Catherine Poster | 17 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Richard Bromley | 14 | 0 | Age and infirmity | no. |
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