A Pauper in the Family Tree? - A Look at Poor Law Records.

"Poor Man"  is the theme of Week 46 of Any Johnson Crow's year long "52 Ancestors" prompt.

To find an ancestor described as a "pauper" in a census return conjures up images of Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" and a time when the word "workhouse” (or "poorhouse" in Scotland) struck fear in people living close to destitution.  But for family historians searching for a story beyond the simple names and dates, such a discovery is an immediate prompt to turn to poor law records. 

They are one of the most popular types of offline tools at, the Heritage Hub, Hawick, home of Scottish Borders Archives,  and, although they have not been a source for my own family,  I find it fascinating to browse through them. 

Poorhouses were set up in Scotland as a result of the Poor Law (Scotland) Act of 1845 and were built in five towns in the Scottish Borders, serving not only the immediate town but surrounding parishes - hence their name of Combination Poorhouse or Union Poorhouse. 

The Victorians  were great bureaucrats and the Heritage Hub holds a large collection of local Poor Law Registers, Poor Relief Applications and Parochial Board Minute Books, many of which can give a mini-biography of an ancestor, in often tragic circumstances, with details of name, address, age birhtplace, marital status,  occupation, whether disabled and if so how, financial circumstances, and dependents.  Here are some examples which caught my attention:

• Robert Leck, once a well known clockmaker of Jedburgh, admitted to the poorhouse aged 67, with a pattern of admissions and discharges until the time came when he was "wholly disabled, nearly blind and wholly destitute".  Interestingly when I did a Google search, I found  an illustration of a Robert Leck grandfather clock about to be auctioned in London. I traced Robert's death ceertificate on Scotland's People , but sadly,failed to give me any information on his parents, as  the matron of the Poorhouse was the informant,  and did not know the details.
  
  
  
• The story of Janet Scott had a more positive outcome.  Her admission record in 1877 gives us a glimpse of the desperate situation in which many applicants for poor relief found themselves.  A single mother with  two children and a baby, working as an agricultural  labourer, she  was "wholly disabled by a cart falling on her".  She was on parish relief for three years.  However she also demonstrated her resilience, as  in the 1881 census she was back earning a living, as an Ag. Lab, along with her two eldest daughters.  

Janet Scott's entry in the Jedburgh Union Poorhouse Register, 1877. 

Being a "pauper" did not always mean being admitted to the poorhouse,  as those on "out relief" lived in the  community and received support such as clothing, fuel or food, as illustrated in these records. 

•  15 year old James Robertson is described as "delicate and deformed by spine curvature and will never be able to do much.  He needs a suit of clothes, 2 pairs of stockings and 2 handkerchiefs.  Allowed.
  
  
• Mary Burns, also in need of clothing , was granted " 1 frock, 2 yards flannel, 2 yards drugget, 2 pinafores and a  pair of boots."
  
  
• At Melrose, Roxburghshire, a mother and young children were "footsore and weary"  and given help as they made their way from Newcastle to Glasgow to rejoin family  - a distance of 114 miles.
  
  
• Mary Phllips was admitted to the Poorhouse as "this woman's husband deserted her, having absconded to America.  She has 2 children and is about to be confined.  Her parents very poor."
  

• The Inspector was not always the hard face of the law.  At Melrose two young children whose mother had run away with another man,  were given a penny to buy a roll and told to return home and send their father.   The record showed six  young children in the family aged from 13 to 3 years old.
  
  
• Rebecca Ballantyne, however, "burdened with 2 illegitimate children" was refused poor relief on the grounds she was able bodied and earning a good wage - 15 shillings a week as a mill worker.
  
  
• In Hawick "Robert Campbell, a weaver, almost disabled by rheumatism applied
  
  
• "George Wilson, a labourer, wholly disabled by bronchitis,  as certified  by Doctor McLeod, was sent to the Poorhouse on 26th March but left the same on 2nd April."

So my tip of the day is always to contact your appropriate local archives centre - they will hold a wealth of records showing there is genealogical life well beyond the Internet and most offer a remote research service.  


You never know what might be unearthed to throw light on your ancestors' lives and provide fascinating material for a blog post or family history narrative.  

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Source of Online Information
Workhouses - the definitive, comprehensive   guide to workhouses/poorhouses in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, by Peter Higginbothom.
  

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