Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Wigan 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Hill | 10 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| William Winstanley | 9 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| Robert Gore | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Robert Bowker | 5 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| William Hall | 8 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| Henry Makinson | 12 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| George Rollinson | 12 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| Henry Ashurst | 12 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| John Brown | 9 | 0 | Lame | no. |
| William Webster | 7 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
| James Pennington | 9 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| William Wigan | 19 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| John Baron | 10 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| Thomas Melling | 8 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| James Ashurst | 16 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Arthur Christy | 19 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Charles Appleton | 9 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Elijah Whalley | 9 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| James Jones | 7 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| James Ashton | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| William Dean | 8 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| James Green | 7 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| Ralph Wilcock | 7 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| John Houghton | 6 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Thomas Molyneux | 9 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| John Fisher | 10 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| James King | 8 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| James Gaskell | 7 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| John Jolley | 11 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Thomas Birtwistle | 13 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Matthew Murtaugh | 6 | 0 | Paralysis | no. |
| Gerard Delamer | 7 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| Thomas Grahame | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Robert Gray | 5 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Peter Markey | 5 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| George Nolan | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Thomas Grime | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| William McDonald | 9 | 0 | Paralysis | no. |
| Isaac McDonald | 7 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Agnes Simm | 32 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
| Margaret Lowe | 7 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| Ellen Melling | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Margaret Speakman | 6 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
| Alice Chadwick | 10 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Jane Fairhurst | 7 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Mary Fairhurst | 7 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Elizabeth Sherratt | 8 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
| Tamar Cheetham | 6 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Ann Worthington | 5 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| Mary Tyrer | 12 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Ann Banks | 11 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
| Ellen Highton | 6 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Mary Appleton | 13 | 0 | Old age | no. |
| Jane Bispham | 15 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
| Sarah Bigham | 6 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Jane Webster | 12 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
| Elizabeth Glover | 14 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| Mary Horrocks | 7 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Elizabeth Nuttall | 9 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Margaret Fairhurst | 8 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Margaret Walker | 7 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Mary McSorley | 9 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
| Jane McCabe | 6 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| Catherine Stafford | 6 | 0 | Lame | no. |
| Ellen Dewhurst | 6 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Sarah Green | 6 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| Elizabeth Bolton | 9 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Alice Westby | 6 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
| Ellen Crook | 12 | 0 | Blind | no. |
| Ann Hitchen | 13 | 0 | Lame | no. |
| Mary Hill | 9 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| Rosa Hill | 9 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Jane Hart | 7 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| Margaret Roughley | 15 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Ann Calland | 8 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Mary Baxter | 7 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Salvina McEwe | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Elizabeth Rigby | 12 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
| Jane Fisher | 10 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Grace McManus | 7 | 0 | Lame | no. |
| Catherine Pennington | 12 | 0 | Idiot | no. |
| Rosa Brown | 7 | 0 | Lame | no. |
| Elizabeth Atherton | 7 | 0 | Not able to work | no. |
| Rachel Dixon | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Margaret Shevidan | 5 | 0 | ditto | no. |
| Martha Croston | 30 | 0 | Weak intellect | no. |
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