Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Wem Union, Shropshire, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Pemberton | 14 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Catherine Pemberton | 14 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Jane Bickley | 15 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Ann Harris | 10 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Elizabeth Edge | 9 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| George Maddocks | 6 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Richard Wycherley | 9 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Sarah Adams | 9 | 0 | Weak health | no. |
| Charles Bagley | 10 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Joseph Stockton | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Ann Sockett | 18 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Hannah Sockett | 18 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Martha Cooke | 12 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Sarah Growcott | 10 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Henry Ridgeway | 13 | 0 | St. Vitus' dance | no. |
| Mary Astley | 12 | 0 | Weak health | no. |
| Elizabeth Astley | 11 | 0 | Affliction in the head | no. |
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