A few months ago, I mentioned on this list that I was trying to identify the locations of parish poorhouses/almshouses/lodging-houses/parish-homes (i.e. the small locally run ones, not the bigger Combination Poorhouses). This is just to say that I've now identified around 120 of these, of which about 40 were in Aberdeenshire. There's a list on my web site at http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Scotland/AlmshousesScotland.shtml with links to more details (sometimes fairly minimal!) Any further information on any of these establishments always very welcome. Regards, Peter Higginbotham www.workhouses.org.uk

Peter Higginbotham wrote: >A few months ago, I mentioned on this list that I was trying to identify the >locations of parish poorhouses/almshouses/lodging-houses/parish-homes (i.e. the >small locally run ones, not the bigger Combination Poorhouses). This is just to >say that I've now identified around 120 of these, of which about 40 were in >Aberdeenshire. There's a list on my web site at >http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Scotland/AlmshousesScotland.shtml >with links to more details (sometimes fairly minimal!) >Any further information on any of these establishments always very welcome. > > In addition to the "second tier" parochial Poors' Houses, I suspect that there may have been an even more informal layer. My gggm was "on the Poor" in the parish of Aberdour, Aberdeenshire, from 1857, when her husband reportedly deserted her to 1871, when she died. By a accident, the Inspector's petty disbursements for almost all of this time have been preserved, and from this and from Census data, it appears that the Parochial Board paid my ancestor's rent, but that, from time to time they quartered other paupers on her, paying her extra for doing their laundry and other tasks. There is no sign, in any of the OS maps that I have consulted (including the 25") of any building labelled as the Poor House, nor is there any mention, in the Parochial Board Minutes of any warden or other staff, but I suspect that the house she lived in for all of that time effectively was used to house paupers, and that she had some sort of informal role in supervising and caring for them. Gavin Bell