Poor Law Unions and Workhouses
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What are they?
Records of the administration of workhouses.
What dates do they cover?
1842-1930.
Where can I see them?
Sheffield Archives.
What format are they in?
Original paper records.
Do I need to order them in advance of my visit?
Records can normally be made available within 10 minutes of them being requested, though if you intend to visit on a Saturday you must request documents by the previous Thursday. For further advice please refer to a member of Sheffield Archives staff. Contact us at archives@sheffield.gov.uk or telephone us on 0114 203 9395. Please note however that access to some records may be restricted under the Data Protection Act and may also be subject to exemptions from the Freedom of Information Act. Please contact us for further details.
Can I get copies?
Yes, we can normally supply copies for private study purposes, subject to the usual copyright and access restrictions. Please contact us at archives@sheffield.gov.uk for further information.
Further information
Poor Law Unions were set up following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. By this Act, parishes were no longer responsible for maintaining their own poor people. Parishes and townships were instead formed into groups or unions, each of which was administered by a Board of Guardians with a union workhouse to accommodate those who could not provide for themselves. In the later 19th century accommodation for the elderly, infirm, sick and lunatic was provided in addition to the separate male and female blocks. The system continued until the Local Government Act of 1929 came into effect on 1 April 1930, putting the responsibility for care onto Public Assistance committees of local authorities.
Sheffield places were included in three Poor Law Unions (which in some cases covered a wider area):
Sheffield Union comprised Attercliffe cum Darnall, Brightside Bierlow, Bradfield Urban, Ecclesall, Ecclesfield Urban, Handsworth and Sheffield. The workhouse was built in 1881 at Fir Vale, and it later became the site of the Northern General Hospital.
Ecclesall Bierlow Union included Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam and Upper Hallam. The workhouse was built in 1842-1843 and later became the site of Nether Edge Hospital.
Wortley Union after 1849 included Bradfield, Ecclesfield, Stocksbridge and Wortley. (It had originally included those townships which in 1849 were formed into Penistone Union.) The workhouse was built in 1881 at Grenoside and later the site was used for residential care accommodation.
Records:
A vast range of records was created by the Board of Guardians, the Master of the Workhouse and other union officials. There were the official minutes of the Board and of its various committees, financial ledgers, reports and letter books; for the paupers in the workhouse there were the admission and discharge registers, creed registers, registers of births, baptisms, deaths and burials, relief order books, medical officer’s examination books and registers of children apprenticed and boarded out.
The records of the Sheffield unions, however, have had a very poor survival rate. By order of the Ministry of Health in 1925 the Ecclesall Bierlow and Sheffield unions were dissolved and a new combined Sheffield Union was created. Many of the records were then stored together and were destroyed as a consequence of bombing during the Sheffield blitz in World War II.
The main series of surviving records include:
Ecclesall Bierlow Union:
Sheffield Archives: Admission or creed registers 1883-1931; asylum admission registers 1920-1928; registers of inmates 1904-1931; workhouse birth registers 1898-1929; workhouse death registers 1903-1931; officers’ appointments 1892-1925 (CA 18/19, LD 2078).
Local Studies Library: Reports, with lists of officers, accounts etc, year ended 1913, 1916-1919, 1921-1923 (352.9 S).
Sheffield Union:
Sheffield Archives: Guardians’ minutes 1890-1930 and letter books 1847-1861; officers’ appointments 1876-1913; workhouse punishment book 1903-1926, dietary 1919 (CA 692/1-35, CA24, CA 510)
Local Studies Library: copy minutes 1891/2–1929/30; Statement of Accounts, 1884–1930 (with gaps); Guardian handbook and list of committees, 1894-1904, 1906-1929 (352.9 S and352.9 SQ).
Wortley Union:
Sheffield Archives: Guardians’ minutes 1838-1929; committee minutes 1884-1929 (SY 164A).
Local Studies Library: Public Assistance Committee Annual Report of the work, 1931-1939 (352.9 S).
Further information:
- Poor Law Union Records 2: Midlands and Northern England by Jeremy Gibson and Colin Rogers (Federation of Family History Societies, second edition 1997).
- The Workhouse website. This informative website includes maps and photographs as well as potted histories of the unions.
- Our Daily Bread, by A R Fearnley (Author, 2001).
- The Institution and Hospital at Fir Vale: a centenary history of the Northern General Hospital, Sheffield, by Peter Speck (Northern General Hospital, 1978).
- The Sheffield Workhouse near Kelham Island , by T J Caulton [In] Aspects of Sheffield 1, pp 167-181 (Wharncliffe Publishing, 1997).
- The Children of the State: Sheffield’s Successful Experiment reprinted from ‘The Councillor and Guardian’, 1898 [and] The Scattered Homes for Children: historical sketch…presented by the Children’s Homes Committee to the Sheffield Board of Guardians, 20th March, 1907 (Sheffield Independent Press, 1907) [Facsimile reprint of both issued in one volume 2006]
- Observations on the Present State of the Poor of Sheffield, with Proposals for their Future Employment and Support, by James Wheat (Wm. Ward, Sheffield [printed], 1774).
- Memories of the Workhouse and Old Hospital at Fir Vale by Lyn Howsam (ALD Design & Print, 2002)
- Our Workhouse System, by R J P Smith (five articles reprinted from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph, August 20th, 22nd, 24th, 26th, September 1st, 1896) [in] Local Pamphlets, vol 7, no.1 042 SQ.
- [Also in Archives at A-C-67-(1-5)].
- Life in the Workhouse and Old Hospital at Fir Vale by Lyn Howsam (ALD Design & Print, 2006).
- The Story of the Workhouse and the Hospital at Nether Edge by Joan Flett (ALD Design & Print, second edition 2002).
Please note that the inclusion of any website or link on this page does not mean that they have been vetted or recommended by Sheffield City Council. It is important to make sure that you are happy that they are suitable for your own requirements.