Program and Schedule

At some point in their lives, many of our ancestors would have been in receipt of some form of poor relief, either from the parish or from a Poor Law Union.  This talk discusses the records that you can use to find out more, especially:

Accounts of the Overseer of the Poor
Settlement records
Vagrancy examinations and passes
Pauper apprenticeships
Workhouses pre and post 1834
Pauper migration

The workhouse In Britain had its origins in the 17th century as part of the parish-based system of poor relief, known as Old Poor Law. A major overhaul of the system in the 1830s introduced a new and larger administrative area known as the Poor Law Union, along with the much larger workhouses of the Victorian period and later, which only finally disappeared after the Second World War. Peter will cover the evolution of the poor relief system from 1601 to 1948, looking at the development and operation of workhouses, the lives of their inmates, and the various records available relating to them.

How should society deal with its most vulnerable members—the sick, the very young and the very old? This question has perplexed English social reformers since the time of the Elizabethan Poor Law Act of 1603. As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, workhouses were built up and down the country in Britain. However, having to go into the workhouse tended to be avoided at all costs in Victorian times, even by the poorest in society, for it carried a social stigma and conditions inside were invariably harsh. But what was life really like for those admitted to the workhouse? Mark will try to answer this question by providing information gleaned from his research into some of these institutions in London, Essex and Suffolk, illustrated by examples of three ancestors who ended their days in a workhouse. In the process he will show what sources are available for studying this fascinating aspect of social and family history. 

The 1834 Poor Law Report characterized poor law as a ramshackle system of local welfare initiatives; a profligate, extravagant and grievously flawed system of parish poor relief. Today we have a clearer picture of the situation. To understand how the system worked, we must focus on the parish welfare system, how it was administered and was experienced by the poor. By the beginning of the nineteenth century poor relief was essential to the survival of the labouring classes, which meant learning how to navigate the poor relief system—establishing their eligibility for relief payments. Increased unemployment and the rising cost of poor relief in the rural south after 1815 caused a crisis for local poor law administrators. In this illustrated talk, Judy will address these issues and explain how in 1830 in the south of England there was a desire for vengeance against the local landed interests.

If you've come across terms like pauper, Poor Law, Board of Guardians, union, or workhouse in your family history research, this session is for you. Learn how the English Poor Law system affected your ancestors and discover the variety of records produced. Gloria will explore both parish and union-level records, including settlement certificates, apprenticeship indentures, and documents created by the boards of guardians, such as admission and discharge registers for workhouses, schools, and hospitals. The key record repositories will be introduced, as well as tips for locating and interpreting the poor law documents. This session will help you uncover valuable details about your ancestors’ lives and social circumstances through Poor Law documentation.

Using the Mental Deficiency Act, the British government put thousands of ordinary working-class people into “mental deficiency” institutions and forgot about them—a national scandal rivalling that of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries. It is the closest that England came to passing eugenic legislation. By 1950, an estimated 50,000 people had been deemed “defective” and detained indefinitely. Their “crimes” were various: women with children born outside marriage; rebellious teenagers caught shoplifting; those with epilepsy, hearing impairments or chronic illnesses who had struggled in school; and many who were simply “different.” Using a broad range of archival holdings, Sarah has pieced together some of the lives that were irrevocably changed by this devastating Act. She will explain how this highly illiberal piece of legislation came to be passed in a nation that prided itself on libertarianism, and how and why it affected England’s poorer citizens. 

In this talk, Denise will cover historical research from a family history perspective, but the general principles are applicable to researchers who are interested in other types of history. She will explain how to identify the newspapers that are most likely to contain details about an ancestor, the type of material you are likely to find, how to search effectively for matches, how to be sure that you have the correct person, and how to understand their story in the context of the times when they lived. The talk also covers some of the problems that can arise with newspaper research.

Join crime historian Angela Buckley for a fascinating journey into the shadowy underworld of the past, exploring the darker side of history through the lens of crime, criminals and punishment. Discover how crime touched the lives of ordinary people who struggled to survive in a harsh and challenging landscape, whether as victims, witnesses, or even wrongdoers. Her talk delves into the reality of those who broke the law in England and Wales, including petty thieves, con artists and habitual troublemakers. Using a mix of case studies, archival sources, and practical research advice, she will examine the lives and social conditions of our criminal ancestors, the range of offences they may have committed, and how the criminal justice system evolved over time. The talk is ideal for anyone curious about how crime shaped lives and communities in the past, and it may even lead to some unexpected discoveries in your family tree.

Eight conference speakers—Denise Bates, Dr. Angela Buckley, Dr. Mark Carroll, Peter Higginbotham, Dr. Judith Hill, Clare O’Grady, Gloria Tubman and Sarah Wise—will be available to answer questions about the disadvantaged of England and Wales. There will be four breakout rooms, with two experts in each, covering the range of conference topics. You will be welcome to visit different rooms during the session.

This talk focuses on the real-life account of how genealogist and writer Nathan Dylan Goodwin worked to uncover the truth about his grandmother’s wartime romance; a romance that led to the birth of an illegitimate child, who was then adopted soon after her birth. Nathan will discuss each step of the complex process and methodology behind his research to identify that child’s biological father, sifting through official documents and revealing long-hidden family secrets. He will explain the range of genealogical methodology approaches, archives and services used, including DNA testing, which assisted and ultimately confirmed this three-year search's discoveries.