Durham Poor Law: Difference between revisions

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An Act of Parliament in the year 1834 took the responsibility of administering to the poor from the local parish church to the doorstep of civil government. The government grouped each civil parish into a union of parishes. There were nearly 600 such unions throughout England, each one comprising close to 20 or more parishes, and were specifically setup to meet the demands of the poor among their local populations, with a workhouse on the premises. The responsbility was transferred from local parishes to a Board of Guardians in each union. These groupings or unions were known as poor-law unions. Durham had the following poor law unions within its boundaries:

The Poor Law Unions

Auckland Poor Law Union, Durham
Chester le Street Poor Law Union, Durham
Darlington Poor Law Union, Durham
Durham Poor Law Union, Durham
Easington Poor Law Union,Durham
Gateshead Poor Law Union, Durham
Hartlepool
Houghton Le Spring
Lanchester Poor Law Union,Durham
Sedgefield Poor Law Union, Durham
South Shields Poor Law Union, Durham
Stockton
Sunderland Poor Law Union, Durham
Teesdale
Weardale

The Records

Records from the poorlaw unions, which were created from this time forward include the following:

Guardianship
Creed Registers
Rate books
Workhouse Lists of Inmates
Register of Apprentices
Register of Births
Register of Deaths
Vestry Rate Books
Admission and Discharge Registers
Board of Guardians' Records

Records at The FamilySearch Library

To determine records availability for each poorlaw, search the FamilySearch Catalog under the name of the county (Durham), and then under the name of the poorlaw union, i.e. Darlington, then under the term[s] "poorlaw" or "poorhouses".

Online Transcriptions of Post-1834 Poorlaw Records

Here are workhouse inmates as found in the 1881 census for the following Durham Poorlaw Unions:

South Shields

For more information on the history of the workhouse, see Peter Higginbotham's web site: www.workhouses.org.uk and http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Sunderland/Sunderland1881.shtml

Durham - a county listing (approx. 10%) from 1861 census

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-An Act of Parliament in the year 1834 took the responsibility of administering to the poor from the local parish church to the doorstep of civil government. The government grouped each civil parish into a union of parishes. There were nearly 600 such unions throughout England, each one comprising close to 20 or more parishes, and were specifically setup to meet the demands of the poor among their local populations, with a workhouse on the premises. The responsbility was transferred from local parishes to a Board of Guardians in each union. These groupings or unions were known as poor-law unions. Durham had the following poorlaw unions within its boundaries:
+{{breadcrumb
+| link1=[[United Kingdom]]
+| link2=[[England Genealogy|England]]
+| link3=[[Durham, England Genealogy|Durham]]
+| link4=
+| link5=[[{{PAGENAME}}|Poor Law]]
+}}{{Durham-sidebar}}
+An Act of Parliament in the year 1834 took the responsibility of administering to the poor from the local parish church to the doorstep of civil government. The government grouped each civil parish into a union of parishes. There were nearly 600 such unions throughout England, each one comprising close to 20 or more parishes, and were specifically setup to meet the demands of the poor among their local populations, with a workhouse on the premises. The responsbility was transferred from local parishes to a Board of Guardians in each union. These groupings or unions were known as poor-law unions. Durham had the following poor law unions within its boundaries:
-=== The Poorlaw Unions  ===
+=== The Poor Law Unions  ===
-*Auckland
+*[[Auckland Poor Law Union, Durham]]
-*Chester Le Street
+*[[Chester le Street Poor Law Union, Durham]]
 *[[Darlington Poor Law Union, Durham]]
 *[[Durham Poor Law Union, Durham]]
 *[[Easington Poor Law Union,Durham]]
-*Gateshead
+*[[Gateshead Poor Law Union, Durham]]
 *Hartlepool
 *Houghton Le Spring
-*Lanchester
+*[[Lanchester Poor Law Union,Durham]]
 *[[Sedgefield Poor Law Union, Durham]]
-*South Shields
+*[[South Shields Poor Law Union, Durham]]
 *Stockton
-*Sunderland
+*[[Sunderland Poor Law Union, Durham]]
 *Teesdale
 *Weardale
-<br>
+=== The Records  ===
-=== The Records ===
 Records from the poorlaw unions, which were created from this time forward include the following:
@@ Line 36: / Line 41: @@
 #Board of Guardians' Records
-<br>
+=== Records at The FamilySearch Library  ===
-=== Records at The Family History Library  ===
-To determine records availability for each poorlaw, search the Family History Library Catalog under the name of the county (Durham), and then under the name of the poorlaw union, i.e. Darlington, then under the term[s] "poorlaw" or "poorhouses".<br>
-<br>
+To determine records availability for each poorlaw, search the FamilySearch Catalog under the name of the county (Durham), and then under the name of the poorlaw union, i.e. Darlington, then under the term[s] "poorlaw" or "poorhouses".<br>
 === Online Transcriptions of Post-1834 Poorlaw Records  ===
@@ Line 50: / Line 51: @@
 [http://linux02.lib.cam.ac.uk/earlscolne/poor/index.htm South Shields]
-[http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Sunderland/Sunderland1881.shtml Sunderland]
+For more information on the history of the workhouse, see Peter Higginbotham's web site: [http://workhouses.org.uk/ www.workhouses.org.uk] and http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Sunderland/Sunderland1881.shtml
-[http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Paupers/ Durham] - a county&nbsp;listing (approx. 10%) from 1861 census
+[http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Paupers/ Durham] - a county listing (approx. 10%) from 1861 census
-{{Place|Durham|Poor Law Unions}}
+{{Place|Durham|Poor Law Unions}} {{Poor Law}} [[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
-{{Poor Law}}