Workhouses

[Barbara Wilkinson]

I know very little about workhouses, except for the grim myths and legends that are generally associated with the term!

I have recently obtained a death certificate of one of my ancestors, and he died in a workhouse. This seems odd to me; I have the census information for him and his family for 1851-1871, and there appears to be nothing out of the ordinary about him. He was employed and his wife and children were also working. He died in 1880 - in the workhouse - but his wife and children appear on the 1881 census living and working in the same general area as previous.

Were people taken into a workhouse because they were sick, even though the family seemed to have other means of support? Or could it be that - although everything points to this being the right certificate - it is another that I have to consign to the folder marked "Ancestors I used to have".:)

[Cornish Maid]

Most Workhouses had an Infirmary attached to them and it may be that because all his family HAD to work, there was no-one to look after him, so they put him in the Workhouse, where he would at least have had regular food and basic nursing care. I think there may have been a small weekly charge for this.

I am not sure when "Notifiable Diseases" became, erm, well, notifiable! But it may have been, say, smallpox, which became a notifiable disease fairly early on, and sufferers of which were removed to Isolation Wards, which were usually in, or attached to, a Workhouse. Can anyone confirm this theory?

Cornish Maid

[ruthrrr]

I know very little about workhouses, except for the grim myths and legends that are generally associated with the term!


You might like to take a look at a website I was using recently which seems to have a alot bit of information: workhouses.org.uk

I also used this one www.institutions.org.uk/workhouses

Ruth

[Barbara Wilkinson]

Thanks to both of you - the websites are full of information, not sure if it is what I need, but fascinating reading ....!!

The idea of being there just to be cared for when sick seems to be logical, since the Manchester workhouse (the one I am interested in) has become one of the local hospitals.

Thanks again

Barbara:)