Hi everyone, Can anybody give a possible reason for the following ? William Davis, a carpet weaver, lived in Kidderminster with wife, Hannah, and 3 children. On the 1861 census William Davis has disappeared and Hannah is listed as `Married` and the Head of household living at 2, Paddock Court, Kidderminster with the 3 children. William Davis is found listed as being Married and a Pauper inmate in the Workhouse. He is on his own i.e. no family are with him. In the 1871 census he is listed as being the Head of the Family living with Hannah and the 3 children again at Bromsgrove Hill, Kidderminster. Why would he have been separated from the family and gone into the Workhouse? Was this to relieve money pressures so the rest of the family could get by? Could it have been a marital problem causing a temporary separation which was later resolved? Surely nobody would, willingly, subject themselves to the Workhouse unless there was a dire problem. Has anybody any further ideas on this? Regards, Tony Falmouth, Cornwall __________________________________ Discover Yahoo! Use Yahoo! to plan a weekend, have fun online and more. Check it out! http://discover.yahoo.com/

Hello Tony, Workhouses weren't merely "Workhouses" as we think of them, but most would include: Transients' Hostel - "The Casual Ward" A Hospital - "Medical Ward" Perhaps an Asylum for the mentally ill etc (The County Pauper Lunatic Asylum at powick had only opened a year or so before 1851) As well as the now-traditional "Workhouse" - which would also act as an "Old People's Home". So I'd guess a lot would depend on which Ward he was in - unlikely to be shown on the Return, where all the clerk was interested in was listing all those within. It'd also be bureaucratically simpler to call *all* of them "Paupers" - they'd have to be fairly poor in any case... I'd guess from what you say he was in the Medical Ward - perhaps as the result of an accident? HTH Gus ----- Original Message ----- From: Tony Crawley <ascrawley@yahoo.com> To: <ENG-WORCESTER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 11:06 AM Subject: [WOR] Workhouse query > Hi everyone, > > Can anybody give a possible reason for the following ? > > William Davis, a carpet weaver, lived in Kidderminster > with wife, Hannah, and 3 children. > > On the 1861 census William Davis has disappeared and > Hannah is listed as `Married` and the Head of > household living at 2, Paddock Court, Kidderminster > with the 3 children. > > William Davis is found listed as being Married and a > Pauper inmate in the Workhouse. He is on his own i.e. > no family are with him. > > In the 1871 census he is listed as being the Head of > the Family living with Hannah and the 3 children again > at Bromsgrove Hill, Kidderminster. > > Why would he have been separated from the family and > gone into the Workhouse? Was this to relieve money > pressures so the rest of the family could get by? > Could it have been a marital problem causing a > temporary separation which was later resolved? > > Surely nobody would, willingly, subject themselves to > the Workhouse unless there was a dire problem. > > Has anybody any further ideas on this? > > Regards, > > Tony > Falmouth, > Cornwall > > > > __________________________________ > Discover Yahoo! > Use Yahoo! to plan a weekend, have fun online and more. Check it out! > http://discover.yahoo.com/ > > > ==== ENG-WORCESTER Mailing List ==== > FreeREG Project: parish register database > http://freereg.rootsweb.com > > UK Census on-line > http://freecen.rootsweb.com/ > http://www.worcestershiresurnames.co.uk/ > >