Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Oldham 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Smethurst | 12 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Ann Winterbottom | 7 | 0 | Intemperance | no. |
| Jeremiah Dalton | 13 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| Hannah Dronsfield | 12 | 0 | Fits | no. |
| Betty Marsden | 12 | 0 | Weak mind | no. |
| John Platt | 12 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| Sarah Dunkerly | 11 | 0 | Paralysis | no. |
| Samuel Fletcher | 10 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Sarah Jane Jackson | 10 | 0 | ditto | workh. school. |
| James Jackson | 12 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| James Bardsiey | 12 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| Elizabeth Jackson | 9 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Joseph Stott | 10 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| William Stott | 12 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| Joseph Newton | 9 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Mary Ann Jackson | 10 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Alice Broster | 12 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| Betty Whally | 7 | 0 | Intemperance | no. |
| Jane Jackson | 9 | 9 | Paralysis | no. |
| John Trippier | 6 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| John Booth | 6 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Jane Thomason | 7 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| Hannah Hall | 6 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| William Jones | 7 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Samuel Wright | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Ann Cooker | 7 | 0 | Intemperance | no. |
| Lucy Brooks | 12 | 0 | Fits | no. |
| Jane Riley | 11 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Hannah Sutcliffe | 6 | 0 | Fits | no. |
| Miriam Hall | 5 | 0 | Imbecile | no. |
| Mary Denton | 7 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| William Booth | 6 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Amelia Hoyles | 10 | 0 | Cripple | no. |
| Sarah Nield | 10 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Betty Kirkham | 6 | 0 | Imbecile | no. |
| John Malalieu | 10 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| William Wright | 9 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Mary Mills | 10 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| John Buckley | 10 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Thomas Howarth | 10 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Charles Malalieu | 10 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Betty Cook | 7 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| Richard Dyson | 10 | 0 | Lame | no. |
| Prudence Parkinson | 12 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| Mary Fox | 10 | 0 | Weak mind | no. |
| Hannah Stott | 10 | 0 | Imbecile | no. |
| Thomas Lees | 10 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Alice Cooper | 10 | 0 | Paralysis | no. |
| Mary Ann Collings | 10 | 0 | Imbecile | no. |
| John Ogden | 5 | 0 | Cripple | no. |
| Hannah Mills | 10 | 0 | Imbecile | no. |
| William Platt | 10 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Richard Prestwich | 10 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Sophia Carlisle | 6 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| John Stott | 10 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| John Whitehead | 12 | 0 | Fits | no. |
| Bridget Christie | 5 | 0 | Imbecile | no. |
| Mary Brophy | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Olivia Hartley | 5 | 0 | ditto | workh. school. |
| Thomas Williams | 10 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Thomas Schofield | 10 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Joseph Shawcross | 6 | 0 | Cripple | no. |
| Jonathan Ogden | 7 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| William Platt | 6 | 0 | Deaf | no. |
| James Ogden | 11 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Joseph Taylor | 10 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| Benjamin Howarth | 8 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Thomas Buckley | 10 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| John Collinge | 9 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| John Wrigley | 6 | 0 | Cripple | no. |
| James Fitton | 8 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Mark Greaves | 6 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| John Harrop | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| James Mellor | 6 | 0 | Deaf | no. |
| John Greenwood | 5 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
| John Ogden | 6 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| John Wild | 5 | 0 | Cripple | no. |
| Samuel Haughton | 5 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Joseph Glassop | 5 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Ann Wrigley | 5 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Betty Jackson | 6 | 0 | Cripple | no. |
| Hannah Lemon | 19 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| Hannah Barker | 5 | 0 | Old age | no. |
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