Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Saffron Walden 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Hills | 13 | 0 | Lame in both hands | no. |
| John Barker | 6 | 0 | Cripple | no. |
| James Barnard | 14 | 0 | Weak in intellect | no. |
| William Blackwell | 11 | 0 | Age and infirmity | no. |
| Robert Martin | 18 | 0 | Lameness | no. |
| Sarah Abrahams | 24 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
| Elizabeth Saunders | 24 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Harriet Rider | 14 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Mary Simmonds | 24 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Mary Ann Pettit | 8 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
| Elizabeth Wright | 10 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Sarah Coe | 23 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
| Martha Gatwaid | 18 | 0 | Rheumatism | no. |
| Isaac Thurgood | 10 | 0 | Age and infirmity | no. |
| Rebecca Perkins | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Thomas Reed | 22 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| William Bray | 14 | 0 | Loss of one arm, and the other nearly useless. | no. |
| Joseph Brazier | 5 | 0 | Speechless | no. |
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