When the enumerator for the 1851 Census of England, Wales and Scotland asked my great-great-grandfather, Charles Allen, where he was born all he would tell him was "British subject". I thought, "What a curmudgeon!" However I could understand his attitude when I found the 1821 baptism of his daughter, Hannah, in the records of the parish of Kidderminster. The family's residence was the Workhouse. By 1829, four more children had been born to Charles and Phebe while they lived in the Workhouse. In 1832 when John was born, the family was living on Queen Street. John died in 1833 while the family was still living on Queen Street; followed in 1835 by the death of Phebe and their six year-old son, Charles. In the 1861 Census, Charles Allen and a son-in-law, Benjamin Barber and two of Benjamin's children are listed as pauper inmates of the Kidderminster Workhouse. Charles had to reveal his birthplace to the authorities at the Workhouse; he had been born in Stepney, Middlesex. Charles died in the Workhouse in 1866.
In the Bishop's Transcripts for the parish of Bromyard, Herefordshire I had found the baptisms of the children of Joseph and Elizabeth (a.k.a. Betty) Pryce. Written beside five of the baptisms, dated between 1785 and 1793, were notes saying 'pd. by parish', 'pauper' or 'p'. I was advised by a genealogist that I should I look at Poor Law and settlement records for more information about the family.
I knew very little about the Poor Laws of England. So I consulted books in my own library and in the Brian O'Regan Memorial Library. In a nutshell, I found that before 1834 each parish was responsible for the care of its poor. Each person was supposed to have a place of settlement where he was entitled to poor relief. If a man found work outside the parish he had to establish settlement in the new parish by fulfilling certain conditions. If someone from outside the parish needed help he could be sent back to his place of settlement by means of a Removal Order after examination by the magistrates. In 1834 the Poor Laws were changed and parishes joined together into Unions. Union Workhouses were established and administered locally by a Board of Guardians reporting to the Poor Law Board in London. As well I found that for a few years after 1783 the clergy was ordered to collect a tax on register entries of baptisms and burials unless the person was a pauper. This extra work was resented and anyone not paying Land Tax might be offered the 'P' (meaning pauper) designation. This may explain the notation beside the Pryce baptisms. Poor Law records can be found at the Public Record Office and at County Record Offices (CRO) in England.
The next step was to plan a trip to England. I arranged to join a Genealogy Tour group that had been advertised in Toronto Tree (newsletter of the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society). The first week of the tour the group stayed in London and visited the record repositories there, under the guidance of resident genealogists, Stella Stagg and Harry Armstrong. Tour organizer, Kathy Hartley, had planned a busy week with optional walking tours, a boat trip on the Thames, and visits to the theatre and to the London Eye. The second week participants were on their own to visit relatives or other repositories. I decided to combine a visit to relatives in Kidderminster with a day at the Hereford Record Office and another at the Worcestershire Record Office. I contacted my relatives; checked railway timetables to be sure I could travel comfortably from Kidderminster to both Worcester and Hereford; and wrote to both Record Offices to ensure they had the information I needed. Both CROs sent me informative brochures. A lot of time was spent planning my research goals. Finally two weeks before my visit, I contacted the CROs by e-mail to give them the date of my intended visit and to arrange for the reservation of table space and/or a microfilm reader.
One day of the week in London was spent at Kew at the Public Record Office. I spent it looking at correspondence for 1861 to 1866 from the Board of Guardians for the Kidderminster Workhouse to the Poor Law Board in London. I found names of Board members and staff, but nowhere did I find the name, Charles Allen. Inmates of the Workhouse were not mentioned unless they were someone like Thomas Hartley who wrote to complain that he did not get his share of butter. A few weeks later, there was a second letter from Thomas saying that he considered the sermons of the Workhouse chaplain objectionable and protesting that he was forced to attend the services and listen to the sermons. The Poor Law Board appeared to keep a very close watch on the local Boards.
My first visit was to the County Record Office in Hereford. The staff was helpful and showed me how to find files. I spent a good two hours looking through the Accounts of Overseers of the Poor for 1785 to 1793. There were many names but no mention of the Price family. I was beginning to think this was a wasted journey. Then I glanced at the at the file cabinet beside me and saw the words 'Biographical Index'. I remembered how local indexes had helped me find some very interesting and useful information about other families that I had researched. Eagerly I looked under the names 'Price' and 'Pryce' and found references to Joseph Price, William Price and Elizabeth Price - all names on my family tree. Within 30 minutes I had photocopies of:
A Removal Order, written on 5th October 1775, from the parish of Whitborne (sic) to the township of Norton and the parish of Bromyard for the removal of Joseph Price and Elizabeth his wife because they were likely to become chargeable to the parish of Whitbourne. (Later, using the Internet, I found, in the International Genealogical Index, the marriage of Joseph Price and Elizabeth Saunders on 5 October 1775 in Whitbourne).
A Removal Order, dated 24 April 1817, from the parish of Stretton Grandison to the hamlet of Norton in the parish of Bromyard requesting the removal of William Price, Jane his wife, and James, their son aged about two years. They were considered chargeable i.e. the family needed poor relief.
An Indenture, dated 2 August 1830, apprenticing Elizabeth Price 'aged ten years or thereabouts, a poor child of the Parish of Norton' to Richard Badham, gentleman, of the Parish of Bromyard until she was twenty-one or she married. She was to be instructed or taught the 'business of a servant in husbandry'. (A milkmaid? I wondered) I am sure that this Elizabeth is the same Elizabeth, daughter of William and Jane Price, whose baptism on 16 April 1820 was recorded in the parish records of Bromyard.
I think my next step would have been to look for the examinations of Joseph and William Price regarding their place of settlement. By now, it was well on into the afternoon and time to think about taking the train back to Kidderminster. When I was leaving, I remarked to the gentleman on duty at the desk what a useful resource the Biographical Index had been for me. He told me that it was something he seldom used and therefore forgot to mention to researchers. On my return home to Ottawa I checked Specialist Indexes for family historians, by Jeremy Gibson and Elizabeth Hampson and I found no reference to this Biographical Index.
The next day at the County Record Office in Worcester, I asked first for any biographical or local indexes but was told I would find everything in the General Record. I found some names, which might be worthwhile following up later, but nothing about Charles Allen. I checked the Minute Books of the Board of Guardians for Kidderminster from 1861 to 1867. No Charles Allen! I did find other interesting facts. Inmates in the Workhouse each slept on their own straw mattress; the Poor Law Board was assured that the straw was changed regularly. The ordinary diet of inmates of the Workhouse included beef twice a week - the beef was always boiled; the very sick had meat dinners daily. And, yes, arrangements were made to serve plum pudding to the inmates on Christmas Day. James Bennett, Parish Clerk for St. George's Church, was investigated for overcharging for burials of the poor. (His son, Albert, later married my great-aunt). James Bennett was exonerated. At the end of every meeting there was a list of people recommended by the Medical Officer for outdoor relief. There I found people on my family tree:
20 December 1864, John Nott (husband of Hannah Allen), St. John St., received relief for asthma.
15 January 1867, Benjamin Barber (see above), Stourport, relief for debility.
The afternoon was spent at the St. Helen's branch, where parochial records are kept, looking at Overseers of the Poor accounts for 1821 to 1828. Still no Charles Allen!
| It is interesting that this visit to Kidderminster coincided with my research into the Kidderminster Workhouse. Over the years the Workhouse had evolved into the Kidderminster General Hospital and had expanded into a large institution. My cousin remarked that the original Workhouse was now the Master's house. At the time of my visit the hospital was in the process of closing, much to the consternation of the inhabitants of Kidderminster who must now travel to Worcester or Redditch for hospital care and emergency services. Perhaps the next time I visit I will find the hospital has been replaced by a shopping mall. (Hospital services in Kidderminster were eventually saved - Ed) |  |
| Entrance lodge to the former Kidderminster Workhouse from the north-west, 2000. © Peter Higginbotham. Reproduced with permission. There is a treasury of information on workhouses at http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/ |
After this first venture into looking for my poor ancestors, I realize there is a lot more information to be found and I have a lot to learn. However I am glad I took the opportunity to visit the County Record Offices; I have a better idea what to expect. I cannot emphasize enough how important is that one does one's homework and, above all, that one doesn't overlook local indexes.
Bibliography
Cole, Anne. An introduction to Poor Law documents before 1834. Birmingham : Federation of Family
History Societies, 1993. *
Gibson, Jeremy and Colin Rogers. Poor Law Union records in England and Wales : part 3: South West England, the Marches and Wales. Birmingham : Federation of Family History Societies, 1993. *
Irvine, Sherry. Your English ancestry : a guide for North Americans, 2nd ed. Salt Lake City, Utah : Ancestry, 1998.
Gibson, Jeremy and Elizabeth Hampson. Specialist indexes for family historians : 2nd ed. Bury, Lancs. :Federation of Family History Societies, 2000. *
May, Trevor. The Victorian Workhouse. Princes Risborough, Bucks.: Shire Publications, 1997. *
McLaughlin, Eve. Annals of the poor : 5th ed. Aylesbury, Bucks. : Varneys Pr., 1994.
McLaughlin, Eve. Quarter Sessions : your ancestor & the law. Aylesbury, Bucks.: Varneys Pr., 1995.