Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Swaffham Union, Norfolk, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Twaites | 6 | 5 | Has two bastard children whom she is unable to maintain. | no. |
| Eliza Hoggett | 16 | 6 | Idiotic | no. |
| Ann Currie | 16 | 3 | Deaf and dumb | no. |
| Stafford Spinks | 6 | 6 | ditto | no. |
| Mary Carter | 14 | 0 | Weak mind | yes. |
| Mary Cooper | 23 | 0 | Weak intellect | yes. |
| Robert Stevens | 14 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| Richard Filby | 7 | 5 | Cripple | no. |
| William Powley | 6 | 4 | Unable to work (aged) | no. |
| Robert Roper | 5 | 7 | Weak intellect | no. |
| William Richmond | 5 | 6 | Rheumatism | no. |
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