Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Burnley Union, Lancashire, 1861
In 1861, the Poor Law Board published a return of the name every adult pauper who had been a workhouse inmate for a continuous period of five years or more, together with the duration of their residence (in years and months), the reason for it, and whether they had been brought up in a District or separate Workhouse School. It was noted that the term 'District School' had been widely misinterpreted by respondents as meaning any school in the local area, such as a national or private school, and that there was only one instance in the whole report of an inmate actually having been in such a school.
| Name | Yrs | ms. | Reason | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Whitaker | 10 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| John Judson | 20 | 0 | Idiotic | no. |
| Nicholas Fletcher | 20 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Ann Lee | 25 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Richard Jackson | 24 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| Betty Thompson | 7 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| John Harrison | 7 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Wilson Hartley | 20 | 0 | Idiotic | no. |
| John Binns | 8 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| Allison Bracewell | 7 | 0 | Idiotic | no. |
| Elizabeth Mason | 20 | 0 | Deaf and dumb | no. |
| Emma Heywood | 5 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| Thomas Hartley | 6 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Henry Pollard | 7 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Henry Webster | 10 | 0 | Deaf and dumb | no. |
| William Wilkinson | 18 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| Ann Bland | 15 | 0 | Idiotic | no. |
| Mary Bailey | 16 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Mary Shittard | 8 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| John Lawson | 20 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Sarah Hooler | 15 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| William Leaver | 18 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| Mary Whitaker | 5 | 0 | idiotic | no. |
For US readers 
Unless otherwise indicated, this page () is copyright Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.