Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Eastbourne Union, Sussex, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Bignell | 8 | 0 | Paralysis | no. |
| Lucy Brazier | 10 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| William Coppard | 11 | 0 | General debility | no. |
| Thomas Fox | 20 | 0 | General paralysis | no. |
| Elizabeth Gilbert | 8 | 0 | Imbecile in mind | no. |
| Isabella Levett | 20 | 0 | Epileptic fits | no. |
| Thomas Mitchell | 9 | 0 | Unable to work from debility | no. |
| Thomas Mewett | 10 | 0 | Unable to work from old age | no. |
| Charles Marchant | 10 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| Henry Mewett | 20 | 0 | Epileptic fits | no. |
| Thomas Pearson | 15 | 0 | Cripple | no. |
| Charles Simmons | 12 | 0 | Chronic rheumatism | no. |
| James Towner | 8 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
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