Libraries and leisure

Poor law records and the workhouse

What is generally referred to as "the poor law" was in fact a large body of legislation that extended from the time of the Tudors until 1948. The different records that these many acts created can be of great interest to family historians and may yield information about the humblest of ancestors.

Old Poor Law
In Hertfordshire, their survival is poor but most parishes will be found to have at least some records. They can be found within parish registers catalogued under reference D/P for each parish.

New Poor Law and The Boards of Guardians
In 1834, an act was passed and the country was divided into unions of parishes. Each parish elected Guardians of the Poor who met regularly to conduct business. Each parish had it's own "workhouse", a forboding place that was meant to discourage the able-bodied from seeking relief, except as a last resort.

The Hertfordshire act created 13 unions and most of the records are catalogued under reference BG/:

Barnet
Berkhamsted
Bishop's Stortford
Buntingford
Hatfield
Hemel Hempstead
Hertford
Hitchin
Royston
St Albans
Ware
Watford
Welwyn

The areas crossed county boundaries and those unions around the edge of Hertfordshire sometimes included parishes from neighbouring counties. Most of the records, where they survive, consist of admission and discharge registers, registers of births and deaths in the workkhouse and minutes. (Some of these have been microfilmed for easy access).

Public Assistance Committee 1930-48
The Boards of Guardians were abolished in 1930 and the whole administration of the poor law was transferred to county councils. Hertfordshire County Council established a Public Assistance Committee. They took over insitutions and ran hospitals, childrens' homes and infirmaries. Minutes of the committes are catalogued under reference HCC37.

In an attempt to reduce the stigma of the workhouse, the institutions were given individual names, such as "Wellfield" for Barnet, "Haymeads" for Bishops Stortford, "Shrodells" for Watford and "Western House" for Ware. Many former workhouses continued as hospitals for the elderly well into the 1980s. click on the link below for a list of holdings.