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Poor Houses, Poor Law information for St Michael and places above it in the hierarchy

St Michael

  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Derby petty session hearings every Friday.
     
  • With the passage of the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became a member of the Derby Poorlaw Union.

Derby

  • The parish of Derby itself had Large's Hospital which was five apartment almshouses for Clergymen's widows in Friargate.
     
  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Derby petty session hearings at the county Hall every Friday at 11am.
     
  • There is an index of Derby Bastardy Papers held at the DRO on the Yesterdays Journey website. Select "Bastardy Papers" on the left side, then "Derby" from the list of parishes displayed.
     
  • With the passage of the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became the center of the Derby Poorlaw Union.
     
  • The Derby Poorlaw Union workhouse was completed in 1878 and was situated about 1.5 miles from the town on the Uttoxeter road. It was a large brick structure in four blocks.
     
  • The Union workhouse had a nearby cemetery on "Asylum Green Lane" just off of Uttoxeter Road. Many references just give this as "Green Lane".
     

Derbyshire

  • The local "Workhouse" was often the only hospital close to a parish, so the fact that someone was born or died there doesn't mean that the family was in the workhouse. Use the census to verify that fact.
     
  • Bastardy was not uncommon. Read more about this at our Bastardy Cases page.
     
  • Derbyshire Record Office staff created an index to removal orders 1707-1865. It is available on LDS FHL microfilm: 1702708.
     
  • Board of Guardians 1837-51. Lists of names of those who were examined as being in need of poor relief, transcribed by Michael SPENCER. Covers Poor Law Unions of Bakewell, Belper, Shardlow, Hayfield, Ashbourne and Chesterfield. The records for Derby Union have been lost.
     
  • A site "dedicated to the Workhouse - its buildings, its inmates, its staff and administrators, and even its poets..." - The Workhouse - created by Peter HIGGENBOTHAM.
     
  • The National Archives has several books: "National Archives". Enter "Workhouse" in the search box.
     

England

UK and Ireland

  • Peter Higginbotham's comprehensive The Workhouse website provides a wealth of information about Workhouses, the Poor Law and related issues.catalogue
  • If you are looking for someone who was in a workhouse, it is worth checking if they also appear in the Quarter Sessions records, held in County Record Offices - see the British Library's Discovery catalogue (use Advanced Search and select "Search Other Archives"). 
  • You can search and freely download documents of a number of Poor Law Unions across England and Wales from TNA.
  • Settlement Examinations in England and Wales - a detailed explanation, from LDS Familysearch, based on an article by Anthony Camp.