From: "Keith Farrell" <[email protected]> > A relative of mine is desperately seeking details of the death of his > great grandmother. He used to research his family tree in the days > before the internet and this omission from his records troubles him. > His great grandmother was Mary Robinson (nee Stirzaker) born in > Garstang, Lancashire c1829. Her age on each of the censuses from 1841 > to 1891 matches to this date but in 1901 she is recorded as 73. For > most of her life she lived in Bradford, West Yorkshire. She appears to > have been alive in 1906 as her husband's will dated November of that > year leaves all his possessions solely to her and this will was > subject to probate in 1910. I have checked the civil registration > index for her death from 1906 to 1930 and could only find 2 > possibilities, one of which my relative has recorded as "not mine". > The other is a death on the 22nd April 1916 age 86 when she is > described as being of 73 Captain Street, Bradford, husband unknown, > and the death occurred at the Workhouse Hospital, Horton, Bradford. We > know that at the time of the writing of the will in 1806, our Mary > Robinson lived at 538 Heaton Rd, Bradford. Do any listers have access > to the records for that workhouse at that date? If so, could they > check to see if they record any next of kin or anything at all that > might prove/disprove that this death is the one we seek? Do any > listers have any information on what records for the Workhouse > Hospital still exist and where they might be consulted? Is access via > the web possible? I have looked at maps for Bradford for this period > and see that there is a Union Workhouse in Little Horton Lane on the > site now occupied by St. Lukes Hospital. Is this likely to be the > Workhouse Hospital, Horton where the death occurred?< Yes. The Bradford Union Workhouse became St Luke's general hospital in about 1928/9. Half the population of Bradford (including me) was subsequently born there! However, for many people the stigma of being "born in the workhouse" remained for many years afterwards and this was reflected in the birth certificates. The address on mine simply says 217 Horton Lane, making it look like a private address, and I discovered from another list that others born there also have the same entry. If records exist of the former workhouse, then I imagine they will be at the Bradford Archives in Canal Rd. There is a splendid workhouses website as well, which has material on the Little Horton Lane one. You should be able to find it with Google. Roy Stockdill Guild of One-Name Studies: www.one-name.org Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE