General

Life inside the workhouse was designed to be difficult in order to act as a deterrent and ensure that only the truly destitute would apply. The common image portrayed is of inmates having bread and gruel, wearing uncomfortable coarse uniforms and doing heavy manual labour such as stone breaking. The Minute Books for Morpeth and Hexham Workhouses reinforce that life was hard but they also provide evidence that staff and patrons were often kind and provided treats and entertainment for paupers and were concerned about their health and welfare.

Public holidays were declared for the Coronation of Edward VII and inmates at Morpeth Workhouse were given a roast beef dinner and tarts on the 26th June 1902 and a tea on the following day. In conjunction with the Coronation, children at Hexham workhouse were given mugs as a souvenir. The mugs were gifted by Sir John Swinburne and a vote of thanks to him is documented in the Minute Book on 8th July 1902.

The Minute Book entries below prove that Christmas and New Years Day dinners were given to pauper inmates and that other treats were allowed to be brought into the workhouse. Rich patrons often donated gifts of beer, biscuits and mince pies which were gratefully excepted. This was advantageous as it meant that paupers were provided with treats that did not have to come out of Union funds.

 

This Minute Book entry from December 1903 records a cheque being received at Morpeth Workhouse from a Mr Anderson for the purpose of providing some ‘creature comforts’ on New Years Day.

 

Workhouse inmates were also given treats at Easter. One such instance is recorded in the Hexham Guardian Minute book on 18th March 1902 when it is recommended that paupers have the usual outing on Easter Monday afternoon from 1pm to 5.30pm. Unfortunately it does not state where they were going to. Inmates received entertainment within the workhouse as an entry in the Hexham Minute Book on 11th December 1900 shows that paupers were treated to a magic lantern entertainment show by Mr James, Mr Shield and their assistants.

 

There were many children living in the workhouse. If an able-bodied man was admitted then his whole family had to join him. Orphans and abandoned children often ended up in the workhouse and many were in ill health. Children were also placed in homes which often provided a more comfortable environment for them to live in. The extract below shows an entry from December 1904. The Medical officer at a home in Cullercoats recommends that a child named Rose Foster, aged 6, should have a change of air at Rothbury for a month or two. Although the child is resident in Cullercoats, the Guardians of Morpeth Union contributed to her maintenance so needed to give their permission for her to reside in another area. The Guardians must have been concerned about her state of health as they agreed to the request. Care for inmates is also evident at Hexham workhouse as an entry for December 1900 records a request to give the old and sick women tea and provide oranges for children. The request was later approved.

 

Since the medieval period relief to the poor has played an important part in the development of society. It was not until the time of Elizabeth I that it was governed by a legal statute which determined who was eligible for relief and under what circumstances they would receive it. The surviving records can provide a fascinating insight into how ordinary people lived and the general movement of the population historically. Over a series of posts we will highlight some of the most commonly used poor law documents in our collection.

 

 

Poor Rate

Money was raised to support the poor of the parish by the charging of a local parish rate, or tax. The money raised was used by the Overseers to support the poor. This example is a copy of the first page from the Alnwick Poor Rate register of 1768.

 

 

It lists the names of those Alnwick residents eligible to pay poor rate. It provides some detail about their property and notes the rent and rates payable on the property. This information is then used to calculate how much poor rate is payable – the figure in the last column.

 

 

 

 

Overseers Accounts

The Overseer kept accounts of how money collected was spent. This page from an Account Book of 1786-1816 shows one of several references to Ann Mack within the volume. It would be possible to work through the volume and discover when Ann first received payment and then when payment was ceased.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes it is possible to locate vouchers or receipts relating to particular cases dealt with by the Overseers. Below is a copy of a receipt found in the Ellingham parish records recording expenses incurred in the delivery of a child to Ann Mack in 1802.

 

 

 

Removal Orders

The removal system was one way of ensuring that large numbers of the poor did not become dependent upon the parish and their ratepayers. Everyone was expected to have a legal parish of settlement. If the place where you lived was not your legal place of settlement and you were unable to support yourself and your family, you could be removed to your own parish. This is a copy of the removal order relating to Ann Mack in 1802.

 

 

 

On the date that the order was issued Ann was resident in Alnwick parish. The document states that Ann’s legal parish of settlement was Ellingham, an adjoining parish to Alnwick. Sometimes after a person was removed, they returned to where they had lived. Within our collection of removal orders there is a second one for Ann Mack issued in 1806, four years after this order was issued. Both request that Ann should be physically removed from Alnwick to Ellingham.

 

 

 

 

 

Bastardy Bonds

If a mother was unable to provide for her illegitimate child, the parish had to take financial responsibility for supporting it.  The mother was expected to reveal under oath to the Overseers the name of the child’s father. A bond was then drawn up and the father of the child was meant to agree to provide the ’lying in’ expenses of the mother as well as maintenance for the child in the future. In this way the Overseers tried to avoid yet more financial demands being placed on the parish. Below is a copy of the Bastardy Bond issued by the Overseers of Ellingham parish in relation to the illegitimate child of John Ridley and Ann Mack.

 

The child was unborn at the date the bond was issued and is therefore not named.  (In some bonds the child has been born and a name can be discovered.)  The father of the child is named as John Ridley, a labourer, of Westgate, near Newcastle Upon Tyne.

The names of two other men are given in the document – Richard Smart, farmer, of Westgate, Newcastle Upon Tyne and Joseph Hall, Blacksmith, of Newcastle Upon Tyne. These men stood as sureties to the bond so were responsible for supporting the mother and child if the father ran away or failed to pay support. Sometimes the bondsmen were relatives of the father of the child. Using Bastardy Bonds is one way to try and trace an illegitimate ancestor in a family, however not all bastardy cases resulted in the drawing up of a bond. Sometimes the case was settled without the involvement of the parish. Even when the parish was involved, many Bastardy Bonds have not survived.

I hope you as the reader will enjoy this blog. This is in Jean’s own words and retells the story of her family in 1915 & 1940, both dates that are remembered by Londoners.

I was born in London and lived there throughout the Second World War. My most vivid memory was of 7th September, 1940.

Our family were in Hackney, East London that Saturday for the wedding of my mother’s youngest sister. The bride and groom had both been born in Bartrip Street on 7th September, 1915. He, Fred, had been born in the early morning during a Zeppelin raid, my Aunt Doll was born that night during another Zeppelin raid. Fred’s father was later to be killed in France, while Doll’s father, my grandfather, was gassed in France, but came home to die. On their wedding day (and 25th birthday) we had the wedding reception between two air raids, for this was the day that the Blitz started.

My parents, brother and I were each in different air raid shelters during the air raids, but saw and heard wave after wave of German bombers, accompanied by Messerschmitt’s heading for the Docks a few miles away, and being chased by Hurricanes and Spitfires, but these were very much out-numbered. The drone of the aircraft engines, the sound of bullets, the thuds of the bombs and the crashing bangs from the anti-aircraft guns – my first experience of warfare. At 12 years, I was old enough to understand what was happening and I remember feeling my heart beating hard in my chest. It was frightening.

Eventually, we made our way home to Edmonton, North London some 20 miles as the crow flies from the now blazing docks. The huge ball of red fire on the horizon made a mockery of the blackout. As my Dad remarked at the time, you could almost read a newspaper in the street where we lived. I cannot describe nor can you imagine just how big a fire that was.

That of course, was only the first of many bombing raids. The City, the East End, Coventry, Cardiff, Liverpool and many, many other cities in Great Britain were to face heavy bombing.

P.S.
Fred joined the R.A.F. and was eventually shipped out to Northern India, stationed near Karachi in what is today, Pakistan. On his embarkation leave they realised that Doll was pregnant. It transpired she was having twins due on the 5th September – we all hoped they would be two days late! However, due to medical reasons they, Frederick and Patricia, were actually born on 5th August, 1942. Their Dad had to make do with photographs until he actually saw them on his return to the U.K. after VE Day.

BULLETS AND A RAT

I have many memories of events during WW2. One of them is the day Mum & I went shopping to the main shopping area, Fore Street, Edmonton. The “take cover” siren had gone, but frankly, you ignored that until the anti-aircraft guns started blazing or the German planes could be heard coming. One thing we all quickly learnt was to recognise engines – I could tell you whether it was a German bomber, Messerschmitt, Hurricane or Spitfire overhead even if I couldn’t see the plane. So when the “activity” started just before we got to the shopping thoroughfare, we went into Pymmes Park taking the path alongside the small brook that ran through the park and where there were many trees.

We found this huge oak tree and kept our eyes on the planes above keeping the tree between us and the bullets. Unfortunately, for us, there were several stone statues on plinths in that part of the park and the bullets were ricocheting off them making it even more difficult for us to avoid them! So there we were, circling the oak with eyes looking heavenwards and occasionally looking down to avoid the tree roots when we saw this huge white water rat come out of the brook and into a hole at the base of “our” tree!! We were devastated – a rat! Although, we had to keep going round the tree when we got to the hole – we ran!

Watching the planes – the Messerschmitt’s, Spitfires & Hurricanes weaving, diving and twisting while firing tracer bullets and the heavily laden bombers who were not so agile – it was really quite exciting and, to be honest, the really frightening – no terrifying – thing was that rat! We never did see it again and eventually the planes had passed over, we had not been hit (not even a near miss) so we were able to do our shopping and then go home.

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Jean Wilkinson one of the Northumberland At War volunteers for writing this blog.