Workhouse Inmates Census & Surveys (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Monday, September 03, 2012, 21:03 (4533 days ago) @ paul halford

Hi Paul, glad you had a good holiday and the weather was kind.
"The" online Workhouse reference site is still the same site as highlighted by Slowhands earlier, although it has been revamped, the Westbury page is
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/WestburyOnSevern/

As can be seen this site carries 1881 Census records for staff & inmates, altho I see no Halfords are listed. In fact as far as I'm aware the Workhouses, like Hospitals etc, were all covered by the usual Census' so any inmates during Census night would be listed as such and can be found by searching the Census' in the usual way. I don't have subscription to-hand for Ancestry or Find My Past (I use the free public library access for these), but using the free search page for Ancestry can give clues. Here are their suggestions wrt searching the 1891 Census for Ann Halford died 1892
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=CEN_1890&rank=1&new=1&MSAV=...

I'm no expert but as the Workhouse was a Parish-run/funded institution I wouldnt think they'd have their own cemetery, I'd expect those who died in the workhouse to be buried at the nearest Parish "municipal" cemetery, hopefully (?) as befits their religion. Again if they're in the Workhouse does that mean a "pauper's grave" scenario ie unmarked ??...

Apart from Census's you can buy on cd-copies of the following British Government instigated Survey:
"Paupers in Workhouses Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 30 July 1861.
Returns "from each workhouse in England & Wales, of the name of every adult pauper in each workhouse who has been an inmate of the workhouse during a continuous period of five years; stating the amount of time that each of such inmates shall have been in the workhouse, and the reason assigned why such persons are unable to maintain themselves:"

Hopefully not relevant to your Ann but thought the info may be of interest on this thread.

While Googling the subject I found this most interesting site, which by pleasant coincidence also matches your time period. I quote
"Most Victorian burial registers make dry and depressing reading, but the register for Westbury on Severn is an exception. Between September 1888 and May 1902 Leonard Wilkinson, vicar of Westbury on Severn, George Linton Thorp his assistant curate and others conducted 481 burials in Westbury churchyard. About a quarter of the entries in the burial register carry Wilkinson's annotations, which highlight the hazards of life in this rural parish in the late 19th century."
http://www.rebus.demon.co.uk/wos_br.htm

The word Workhouse appears in 12 of these burial records, but I cannot find any word starting "Hal" for your Ann ??.

I hope this helps a little.

PS I did search the FoD site PRs for Ann's Burial in 1892, I see Halfords around the Lydney/Severnside area but cannot find a burial mentioning the Workhouse. If you could post your precise Burial Record that might help. This is the nearest "fit" I can find:

Record_ID: 45006
Entry_Number: 713
Year: 1892
Month: Jan
Day: 15
Surname: HALFORD
Forenames: Ann
Residence: Blakeney Hill
Age_at_death: 90 years
Officiating_Minister: E. S. Smith
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda: 239
Notes:
Register_Reference: P348 IN 1/5
Page_No: 90
Parish_Chapel: Viney Hill
Soundex: H416

PLEASE can you give more detail wrt your Ann eg birth date etc, that would help.
Thanks.