Genealogy Chat

my great great grandmother was in the union workhouse in warminster on the 1861/71/81 and 91 census, my great grandmother and a sister were born before she went in there and another three siblings were born there but their mother was unmarried. jenny

My great Grandma was in Sleaford Union Workhouse on the 1891 Census. Her first illegitimate daughter was being brought up by her parents in the same county. On the Census her other 2 year old daughter and 1 year old son were in the workhouse with her. He was born there. Presumably her parents threw her out when she came home pregnant for a 2nd or 3rd time. She married my gt Grandad (a widower with 2 children) in 1895 and went on to have another 7 children with him, my nan being one of the youngest. Karen

Haven't found any yet.....but always feel like crying when I see the word Pauper alongside someone's name. Lin XX

hi , just found out my husbands grandfather was born in a workhouse in fulham. dont know which one and no idea on how to find out. anyone got any ideas ? thanks linda x

Several in my family have turned up in workhouses, and this evening I found our ggggrandfathers family (6 of them) in a workhouse in Suffolk in 1851 - I'm guessing he was with his brothers and sisters - aged from 10 to 22 - and I'm guessing their parents had died. But, by 1861 all were out of the workhouse and by 1881, 2 of the family had a servant of their own, so there could be life after the workhouse for the lucky ones! Bev x

I have several ancestors who ended up in the workhouse - my gg grandmother was in Belper workhouse with one of her illigitimate children in the 1871 census. Her mother had died when she was a child, and she and her sisters were sent, separately, to live with various realtives when her father, a FWK, moved to another county. She had my g grandfather when she was 16 and unmarried. Her aunt had left two of her children, aged only 6 and 4, in Tewkesbury workhouse after her husband died and she went to Derbyshire to find work as, you guessed it, a FWK. She later sent for them, when she re-married. And another gg grandmother and her sister ended up in Bingham work house as children aged 10 and 8 when both of their parents died within the same registration quarter - in fact three consecutives entries. I haven't worked out what happened yet, but the mother died in childbirth, it would seem. For these people, who were just working class, poor people to start off with, they walked a precarious line, easily crossed, into destitution. My grandmother, when she went a bit senile in the 1960s, also used to go on about 'don't send me to the Workhouse'.

My Gt Grandmother was born in the workhouse in1832 in Guernsey the 1841 census shows her stiil there but there is no trace of her mother my Gt grandfather died in the workhouse in 1899 but the records show that he had only been admiitted the day before. The part of the hospital I worked at had been the workhouse and in the 1970's my aunt was admiited to one of the wards because she had a broken leg She never spoke to me after that because she thought I had sent her to the workhouse I still visited her and was always met with a tut Bren

My great great grandmother died in birmingham workhouse in 1901 of senile decay!

The simple and specific purpose of ALL Union Workhouses - whether they were beautiful buildings or not - was to provide conditions that were WORSE than those of the poorest people NOT in the Workhouse. Most had an Infirmary which provided basic and rudimentary nursing care for people who could not afford to 'go private'. This included lying-in facilities for both single mothers and married women too poor to pay a local midwife. They were truly terrible places. So much so, that my local Workhouse, a beautiful building, was recently put forward for conversion into sheltered housing for the elderly. There was such a lack of take-up that they eventually converted it into luxury flats. Such was the living memory of the horror of the Workhouse. Olde Crone

I've had one. My g.g.granddad who died there as an 87 year old widower. Like others I think some were used as infirmaries.

I think I have found my g-grandmother in the workhouse in Quatt, Shropshire, in 1871. In 1861 (aged 5) she is with her grandparents, but by 1871 her grandmother had just died and was stated on the death certificate to be a widow (haven't found her grandfather's death cert yet). The girl in the workhouse is the right name, which is a fairly unusual one, but place of birth is stated as 'Unknown'. I might have been less certain that I have found her, were it not for the fact that my mother, who grew up in her grandparents' house, became quite senile in her last years and was constantly begging my brother and I not to put her in the workhouse. Nothing we said could persuade her that such places had long since disappeared. We wondered at the time why she was so obsessed with the workhouse. Now, my mother had told me that my great grandmother had not had a happy childhood, and that she became senile in her last years. What might she have talked about I wonder? Sadly, there are no records of this workhouse that I can find, so I cannot confirm when and why this girl was in a workhouse in 1871. But I think I know the answer. Tina

Yes, when I recieved the death cert of my ggg grandfather it said he died at 'St Pancras Workhouse, of Bronchitis' I thought, was he a pauper as his wife had died the year before leaving him with 5 children, two of whom was over 20. I checked the workhouse records at the LMA and I actually looked at the original creed register book itself and found out it was only because he had chronic bronchitis and was admitted the day before he died, so to my relief he wasnt a pauper, and had died in the Infirmary, but it didnt say that on his death cert which just said workhouse. But that is a perfect example that workhouses were later used as hospitals as well.

Cherry, I didn't think you made anything sound trivial - I was just pointing out that no matter how much the workhouses improved, most people hated the thought of having to go into one for any reason. I'm sure that lots of people were actually grateful to have any roof over their heads - much better than being on the streets. Kath. x

Oh Kath I don't want my observations to appear trivial, I totally appreciate the desperation people must have felt being assigned to the workhouse, Cherry

My Great great grandmother was in the Cardiff workhouse in 1881 census. Not sure yet how she got there as she lived in Devon. I know her parents died within a few months of each other 1873 and 1874 when she was about 11 years old. I guess that is why i am so intrigued to find out more about her. Alyson.

Hi Ben, My great great grandfather died in the Union Workhouse in Shifnal ,Shropshire 1889 I presume his wife had died earlier (record not yet found after sending for 2 certs -she was alive in 1881),but he still had one son (maybe more family) in the area at the time ,his daughter (my ancestor) had moved to Lancashire by then regards John

I'm sure some were better than others Cherry, certainly by the turn of the century, but it was still a place most people hoped to avoid at all costs - hence the local name of the archway into Birmingham Workhouse - 'archway of tears'. Kath. x

I've absolutely no doubt that these places were dreadful institutions Kath and after I found out that GGrandad and indeed GGrandma too died there I had a good 'look see' to find out all about workhouses. Would it be that depending on the benefactors some places could be a darn sight better than others? Maybe it was Victorian hypocracy but the Steyning Union Workhouse was (almost still is) a beautiful building. I can't really believe that the inmates suffered terrible deprevation under the governors in that particular workhouse. My Grandma (born in 1887) said it was a 'refuge' for peeps who needed a bit of help which the local squire (whose family money had paid for it) was quite happy to offer them. When I found out that both GGrandparents had died there I didn't feel distressed, just annoyed at the description of it being solely a workhouse. The squire was trying to help the community in those days, bless his cottons! Cherry

Hi all My Grandad, John Charles Somerville was born in the STRAND UNION Workhouse, Bear Yard, Strand in 1898. I don't know if this was a 'lying in' hospital by then, but his parent's address was shown as 'formerly of....' etc so don't know if they were inmates or not. Does anyone know if there is anywhere on the net I could find out? I've looked on the 'Workhouses' site! Cheers Allie

So far I've found two - Fanny Williams, a 'love-child' who was born in Cirencester Union Workhouse in 1881. Her mother Emma was unmarried, but Emma's mother was dead, which is why she might have gone to give birth in the workhouse. Emma and Fanny, aged 2 months, are on 1881 census with Emma's widowed father and siblings. At first I thought the lovechild belonged to the father, but she is with Emma and Emma's husband in 1891. At the same workhouse in 1884, Emma's maternal grandfather, John Mealing died, 20 days after trying to commit suicide by cutting his throat. John's eldest son, William had been sent to Broadmoor in 1863 after cutting his fiancee's throat. Not sure if they used the same razor!