Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Okehampton Union, Devon, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Littlejohns | 14 | 3 | Crippled | no. |
| Dinah Voyzey | 20 | 0 | Weak-minded, idiotic | not known. |
| Betsy Piper | 9 | 3 | Paralysed | no. |
| Elizabeth Macey | 21 | 0 | Idiotic | dist. school. |
| Thomazine Seaward | 22 | 0 | ditto | dist. school. |
| Mary Seaward | 13 | 9 | Idiotic and weakness | workh. school. |
| Robert Phillips | 11 | 3 | Sore legs | dist. school. |
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