Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy (63 page)

Another potential burden on parishes' poor relief funds came from illegitimate children and their mothers. Although many couples in that situation would succumb to pressure to marry from family or the parish itself, still a number of children were born out of wedlock. Overseers in the parishes were keen to establish who the fathers of illegitimate
children born in their parish were, to avoid the mother and child claiming poor relief. They did this by a number of means. In 1576 an Act was passed giving JPs the power to investigate who was the father of an illegitimate child that may need parish support and demand maintenance from the father. These were known as ‘bastardy examinations' and JPs would quiz the mother to discover the name of the father. Once this information was retrieved the local authorities could issue a ‘bastardy bond' demanding the father provide his child with financial support. Women were also put under pressure from parishes to name the father, sometimes under oath. In 1610 an Act gave parishes the authority to send women to a House of Correction for producing such offspring. Another Act was passed in 1732 forcing women who were not married to declare they were pregnant and to name the father.

Further details about life in the workhouse and the conditions there can be found on the following website, www.workhouses.org.uk. If you have a strong interest in the workhouse then visiting one of the workhouse museums is recommended. Many have been preserved throughout the country and they can offer first-hand insight into the conditions at the time
.

As historically the burden of poor relief fell on local parishes and authorities, surviving records will mostly be at county record offices. The National Archives does have some material relating to the administration of the Poor Law Unions, although these documents are of limited use to the family historian.

‘Historically the burden of poor relief fell on local parishes.'

Prior to the enactment of the Elizabethan Poor Law any records relating to the care of the poor would be found in the vestry minutes of the parish, which cover all aspects of local life, not just poor relief. Vestries were the equivalent of church or parish councils who met on a regular basis to discuss parish matters including poor relief, church repairs, schools and other local issues. The council would be made up from the male ratepayers of that parish. All surviving material of these meetings will be in the relevant county record office. Some vestry minutes survive as far back as the sixteenth century although this is not the case for every parish and it is best to check with the archive concerned for survival rates.

As stated, legislation passed in Elizabethan times created a system of poor relief by making this the responsibility of individual parishes. The 1601 Act allowed parishes to raise a poor rate tax on parishioners. Two
overseers were appointed to manage the funds raised and distribute them accordingly. The system lasted until 1834 when it was replaced by new legislation. It is surviving documents of the overseers that form the bulk of the relevant records for family history purposes.

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The first set of records that are worth consulting is the
account books
of the overseers. As overseers raised the appropriate funds on an annual basis they were obliged to list all their transactions at the end of the year in an account book. After 1690 these accounts also had to include the names of those who was being given poor relief. The records would also indicate who had been deported from the parish to their original settlement parish. Additionally, they would list which parishioners were paying the poor rate. These accounts form a very useful indicator as to the social circumstances of your ancestor, whether they were poor enough to need financial support or, on the other hand, wealthy enough to pay poor relief and, therefore, have some social standing within their parish (the amount paid depended on the value of the property the individual occupied). The level of detail in the records varies from parish to parish depending on the fastidiousness of the overseers or the size of the parish. These books can now be found in county record offices and some may also have been published.

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Another revealing source worthy of consultation is the
bastardy examinations
, especially if you come across an illegitimate forbearer (not overly uncommon). As mentioned, illegitimate children and their mothers could become a financial burden on the parish as they would often need poor relief, and it was in the overseers' interest to ascertain who the father was. Justices of the Peace had the authority to question such mothers and demand maintenance from the father by issuing ‘bastardy bonds'. If the father refused to pay he could be sent to gaol until he did. The mother herself may have provided evidence as to who the father was so as to obtain such a bond. The surviving source records of this process are the bastardy bonds themselves, maintenance orders and entries in the vestry minutes or quarter sessions of the JPs. The records are particularly useful as they may mention the name of the father, which may have been omitted in the child's baptism record at the local church. Any surviving records will be found in the county record office.

Additional documentation may be found by using the surviving records of the ‘settlement examination' system, introduced in the late
seventeenth century. Poor relief was only granted to those were legally settled in the parish. Any newcomer entering the parish would only be granted legal settlement if they met certain criteria, and these rules were applied strictly. Parishes had the authority to expel ‘illegal' settlers and JPs would examine newcomers in detailed interviews as to their eligibility for settlement and establish the home parish of poor newcomers in quarter sessions. Parish officials were particularly keen to ascertain the legal settlement of pregnant unmarried women so that they could be sent back to their home parish and not become burdens on their own parish. The JPs had the authority to expel individuals by means of issuing a ‘removal order'.

The settlement system had detrimental effects for labour mobility. Workers would be reluctant to leave their own parish due to the difficulty in obtaining settlement in a new parish and the practice of home parishes not acknowledging their responsibility towards returned parishioners. This was altered in 1697 by parishes issuing certificates to those finding work outside their native parish. The certificates proved that the holders had legal settlement in the parish issuing the certificate and this parish would accept their responsibility to provide poor relief, if necessary
.

The enforcement of this system has led to a great deal of useful sources for the family historian. Surviving settlement examination records may be found within the vestry minutes or the quarter session records, all found in your local records office. The records themselves include useful details of those seeking settlement, such as birthplace, age and occupation. If your ancestor was the examiner then that would also be an indicator of his social standing within the parish. The record offices may also have the removal orders or settlement certificates of your ancestors.

Pauper and orphaned children were often forcibly entered into apprenticeships by the relevant authorities so that they would not be
the responsibility of the parish. Children as young as seven were apprenticed for a minimum of seven years, often to be exploited as cheap labour by their masters. Indentures were signed by the parish overseers and the master formalizing the apprenticeship and the duty of the master. These indentures would then be sent to the JP for his approval and signature. Parish overseers would be eager to find a master outside the parish as an apprentice would be legally settled in the parish of his master after 40 days. These indenture records may also be found in the appropriate local archives (although many have not survived to the present day). The indentures would include the name and age of the apprentice (and occasionally his father), the trade and name of the master, along with the names of the relevant parish authorities. (There is more on the system of apprenticeships in
Chapter 21
.)

The National Archives has two main sets of records regarding this Act: staff records for those employed at the workhouse; and correspondence of the Poor Law Commission and Poor Law Board. These are to be found in The National Archives series MH (Ministry of Health).

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There were many people employed in running workhouses apart from the guardians, including cooks, teachers and nurses to name but a few. Their staff records can be found in MH 9. The series comprises the paid registers of officers organized by county and then Poor Law Union for England and Wales. They should include date of appointment and resignation along with amount paid.

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If your ancestor was a senior officer then he or she should be included in the publication
Shaw's Union Officers; and Local Board of Health Manual
(published between 1846 and 1921).

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MH 12 is a large series of a whole range of documents (approximately 16,750 bound volumes of papers), including personal files for 1834 to 1900 (later files were destroyed by fire). However, the series is arranged by county and union and there is no index to individuals that may be mentioned in the series.

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MH 12 also contains the bulk of the documentation of the Poor Law Commission in general. Most of the material contains correspondence between the Commission and the Guardians discussing a range of matters for the administration of the workhouse. Although it is difficult to find information about individuals in this series, the documents are of great use in researching the general conditions of workhouses. The series is indexed by MH 15 although the index is a subject and not a name index. Additionally many of the documents are in a poor state.

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MH 14 contains Poor Law Union plans and drawings of workhouse buildings, which may be of interest.

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MH 32 contains records of the reports made by inspectors of the workhouses. However, the series is not organized by the Poor Law Union but by the name of the inspector, making a search for a workhouse problematic unless you are aware of which inspector compiled the original report.

Another good source for researching the conditions of workhouses and the poor is the Parliamentary Papers, as this topic was often discussed in Parliament. Numerous royal commissions and parliamentary committees were established through the course of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth to ascertain the conditions of the poor. The most important of these were those carried out in 1832–4 and in 1905–8. These can be viewed along with the evidence supporting them. Additionally, Poor Law Commissioners were required to submit an annual report to Parliament explaining their activities in that year, and these reports can also be viewed.

Parliamentary Papers can be found in the Parliamentary Archives in Westminster. Alternatively, consult the CD ROM index available at The National Archives to lead you to the appropriate document order reference. Further details can be obtained in the appropriate research guide on The National Archives website.

It should also be remembered that a minority of those seeking poor relief were encouraged to emigrate to seek a ‘better life'. Parish authorities would pay for the passage of those encouraged to emigrate so that they would no longer be a burden on the parish funds. Emigration records have been discussed in detail in
Chapter 23
but any decision to fund the emigration of poor parishioners would have been discussed in the vestry minutes or quarter session records and the payment should have been logged in the account books.

The beginning of the nineteenth century saw an increase in urban and rural poverty, with another large rise in population along with the rapid social changes brought on by the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions. This was displayed by the increase in spending on poor relief: in 1800 parishes were spending approximately £4 million but this had risen to around £7 million by 1830. The poor relief system outlined above was becoming ineffective in dealing with this new pressure and changes were needed. Additionally, many people also believed that the system supported people unwilling to work as they could always claim poor relief. Hence, the existing system of poor relief was superseded in the nineteenth century by the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834.

The Act was passed following the recommendations of a royal commission, instigated by the government in 1832 to investigate the situation of poor law relief. This new Act drastically changed the nature of poor relief and, from this point forward, any able-bodied person seeking assistance would have to enter a workhouse, although they could also leave the institution at their own request. However, it was still possible for the elderly and sick to receive ‘outdoor relief'. These workhouses were purposely designed to be as uncomfortable as possible to ensure that people would only enter them as a last resort and would, therefore, be more willing to find work and not be a burden on the parish. Parishes were required to group together to form Poor Law Unions and provide workhouses. Each new union would elect a Board of Guardians who would now oversee poor relief for that particular union and would be elected by local ratepayers paying parish poor rates. Parish overseers were responsible for collecting the parish rates until 1865, when a new union rate was introduced. The Board of Guardians reported to the newly created Poor Law Commission based in London.

The workhouse was a prominent part of the Victorian social landscape until the introduction of state welfare benefits at the
beginning of the twentieth century by the Liberal Government (old age pensions were introduced in 1908 and unemployment benefit in 1911, thereby reducing the need for poor relief for the majority of the population). Conditions of workhouses would vary from relatively clean and adequate facilities to institutions serving as little more than prisons for the destitute. Along with the poor and those too ill to work were unmarried mothers or pregnant women (who may have been ostracized by their families) and the mentally ill (as separate asylums were only established after the mid-nineteenth century; see below).