Hello Jon, Thanks for the information about various records. Unfortunately Mary James died in 1869 which would probably be slightly too early to be included the biannual reports which you said date from about 1871, however I will have to check that. Also, if I am lucky she and/or her sons might be mentioned in the other sources you mentioned. I won't know until I try! I will also peruse Higginbotham's site in more detail for background information. Thanks, Roy On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 5:42 PM, <jonmein@aol.com> wrote: > Hello Roy > > I agree with Gareth that Higginbotham's site is excellent for a general > overview of the poor law system. > > As to the Narberth records... > > Pre-1837: try the Pembrokeshire Record Office (PRO) to see if any  Narberth > parish poor law records survives. > > 1837 -: there are a couple of options but they depend on whether  your > ancestors were subject to discussion/vote by the Board of Guardians.  eg. there > may be a record of a decision to put the sons into apprenticeship. Any  such > vote will be recorded in the minute books - see the archiveswales site  for > more details. > > _http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?coll_id=12423&inst_i > d=32&term=narberth_ > (http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?coll_id=12423&inst_id=32&term=narberth) > > Secondly, the Poor Law letter files held at The National Archives at Kew > hold a treasure trove of information about individual cases. For these to be > useful your ancestor again must have been the subject of a problem which > the local guardians or other interested parties applied to the Poor Law > Commissioners in London for guidance on. I have found correspondence about  one > of my ancestors from a do-gooder in the parish complaining that my ancestor > should not be paid relief as she had no place of settlement in this > parish. Search for Narberth in the TNA catalogue under class MH 12 to see  what is > available. > > _http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/default.asp?j=1_ > (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/default.asp?j=1) > > I'd err on the side of caution suggesting that there will be something in > these files for you. But you never know! > > If your ancestor was still alive around 1871 and in receipt of poor relief > living at home or in the workhouse, then there is a sequence of bi-annual > reports held at PRO that lists ALL paupers in receipt of relief in the > Narberth  Poor Law district. The reports also list the amount of relief paid and > for  what purpose eg contribution to funeral. PRO's ref is HDX 1026/1/.... > If memory  serves me right there are 15 reports up to about 1881. This is a > great  collection of documents and I found several surprises in them relating > to my  family. > > Jon > >