How do I access my workhouse records?

Visit The Workhouse website to access extensive information about workhouses. The ‘records and resources’ section may help you find out which local archives hold workhouse records.

Where are workhouse records kept?

Few workhouse records are online, so the best place to start is often the County Record Office local to the institution. You will need to know roughly when your ancestor was in the workhouse and, if it was after 1834, which Poor Law Union their parish belonged to.

Are any workhouses still standing?

Much of the original administration and staff-residential blocks of the hospital are still standing, and are now housing. The workhouse site later operated as an infirmary until it was heavily damaged by a V1 flying bomb during the Second World War.

What is the Mile End workhouse today?

The Hospital is now part of the Barts Health NHS Trust (the Primary Care Trusts were abolished on 31st March 2013). The workhouse before it became a hospital (undated postcard). It is now a Grade II listed building. Cleminson F 1983 Beyond Recall – The Making of Mile End Hospital.

When was the last workhouse closed?

At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 almost 100,000 people were accommodated in the former workhouses, 5,629 of whom were children. The 1948 National Assistance Act abolished the last vestiges of the Poor Law, and with it the workhouses.

What were the punishments in the workhouse?

Rules and Punishment

Name	Offence	Punishment
Rowe, Sarah	Noisy and swearing	Lock’d up for 24 hours on bread and water.
Aplin, John	Disorderly at Prayer-time	Lock’d up for 24 hours on bread and water.
Mintern, George	Fighting in school	No cheese for one week.
Greenham, Mary and Payne, Priscella	Quarreling and fighting	No meat 1 week.

How many died in the workhouse?

The result was the infamous Victorian workhouse, an institution that the editor of the medical journal the Lancet claimed could kill 145,000 people every year – and all because the government was ignoring medical and statistical evidence.

What was it like to live in a workhouse?

Life was very regimented, controlled and monotonous and all inmates wore uniforms. They rarely received visitors and could not leave unless they were formally discharged to find or take up work and provide for themselves.