Records of the poor
Find your down-on-their-luck forebears using Ancestry’s extensive collection
Life was tough for those at the lowest levels of society before the modern welfare state was introduced after the Second World War. However, charitable help for the sick, elderly and destitute in Britain goes back centuries, and was formalised by legislation as far back as 1388.
Major Acts were passed in 1601, together referred to as the Old Poor Law. This legislation was improved upon under the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834, which became known as the New Poor Law. Luckily for family historians, these laws generated a wealth of paperwork that detailed those paying funds into the parish, those receiving money and aid under the poor laws, and even those who fell foul of it.
The Old Poor Law created the new position of Overseer of the Poor in each parish. These were unelected officials, tasked with ensuring enough money was raised to meet the demands of those who depended upon them. They were replaced by the Board of Guardians under the New Poor Law, and a huge swathe of their records are grouped together under the London Metropolitan Archives’ ( LMA) collection on Ancestry. co.uk as London, England, Poor Law and Board of Guardian Records, 1430-1930. This massive dataset hasn’t been indexed yet, so you should search the record types by parish to see if you can find mention of your ancestors.
MEDICAL RECORDS
Among the most interesting records in this collection are those that cover people needing the medical help of the parish, and are detailed in the infirmary and lunatics registers. The latter records, in particular, are at times a haphazardly arranged scrapbook of various documents including admissions to county asylums and the reason, notices of death and the cause, receipts of items belonging to deceased inmates, medical superintendents’ notes on inmates and correspondence sent to their families. Often you might find several documents relating to the same person, giving the timeline of their stay in the asylum. In one example, we can see the admission papers for Hannah Harriet Chapman ( Charlie Chaplin’s mother) to Cane Hill asylum in 1903. The document ( bit.ly/hannahchaplin) shows that she had been admitted to Cane Hill previously in 1898. It even has a description of her behaviour submitted by Charlie Chaplin himself (see p35).
From paupers to orphans and those who were deserted by their parents, there are extensive records that show just how many children depended on poor relief to survive. Some were sent off to schools and institutions as is recorded in this collection, while another scheme was set up so that children could gain skills for their future through an apprenticeship in a trade. This eased the burden on the parish, who paid masters a premium to
Many children depended on the poor laws to survive
take on these children. The parishes kept records of the transaction and a certificate to show the responsibility for the child had now passed to their new master. An apprenticeship record from Greenwich in 1897 shows 15-year- old William Brown was apprenticed to corn merchant Charles Frederick Coutts of Lewisham for the sum of £7, saving him from a life beholden to the parish.
REMOVAL ORDERS
There are also some orders of removal in the Board of Guardians’ collection – covered more extensively in Ancestry’s London, England, Selected Poor Law Removal and Settlement Records, 1698-1930 – giving details of one of the more unpleasant but necessary tasks performed under the poor laws. Parish overseers had the power to return any newcomers who needed their aid back to the parish from which they had come. This was done officially, with orders produced detailing all members of a family and their parish of settlement, which they would be returned to.
The Board of Guardians’ collection covers both the Old and New Poor Laws, with one of the latter’s most infamous legacies being the workhouse. Some existed before 1834, but the New Poor Law resulted in an increase in the number of workhouses, where those unable to look after themselves through poverty, age or illness could do manual labour in exchange for food and shelter.
Their reputations as centres for destitution were promoted to stop people relying on the parish’s funds, yet many had no other option. However in later years workhouses became much less grim, offering much-needed hospital care for example.
Browsing the overseers records, or the extensive London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 collection, you can see that the same people were often in and out of the workhouse, with many sadly ending their days there.
The workhouse collection can reveal when your ancestors entered and left the system, as well as their condition, details of their time there and any other family members who were in the institution with them. Also check the Creed registers that list religious affiliation and more.