POOR LAW UNION RECORDS
Research & Holdings

Introduction
Following the 1834 Poor Law Act sixteen Poor Law Unions were established in Somerset, each one consisting of as many as 40 parishes. Each Union built a Workhouse for the accommodation of its paupers, many of which were in 1930 to become Public Assistance Institutions and hospitals. We have records for every Union in the County although what has survived, both in type of record and in date, varies from Union to Union. The records can be divided into three main categories. These are
The administration of the workhouse
The inmates and staff
Non-poor law duties
The Administration of the Workhouse
All the records below can exist for the whole period that the workhouse system was in operation
Minutes of the meetings of the Board of Guardians
Accounts and ledgers
Report books
letter books

The Inmates and Staff

All the records below can exist for the whole period the workhouse system was in operation although the registers of apprentices usually date from the later part of the 19th century:

  • admission and discharge registers

  • birth and death registers

  • offence and punishment books

  • registers of apprentices and servants placed out

  • appointment of staff
Non Poor Law Duties

These records generally exist for the later part of the 19th century and 20th century:
MAIN RECORD TYPES
Minutes

These contain discussion on

  • building and repair work

  • tenders to supply furniture or food for the inmates

  • appointment of staff

  • outbreaks of disease

  • inmates' complaints
Accounts and Ledgers

The main types are:

  • daily provisions consumption account

  • weekly provisions account

  • farm account

  • clothing account

  • general ledgers
Report Books

  • master's report book containing weekly figures on number of inmates

  • chaplain's report book containing details of services held

  • medical officer's report book with details of defects in sanitation etc and recommendations

  • nurse's report book

  • visitors' report book containing reports on condition of the workhouse, state of health of inmates, whether dietary is followed, whether children attend school etc

  • porter's book containing details of visitors and reason for visit
Non-Poor Law records
School Attendance Committee
Attendance Committees were established to enforce school attendance below the age at which legislation required all children to receive elementary schooling. The records include:
Minutes of the committee
school attendance officer's report book containing names of parents summoned for not sending their children to school and giving figures for average attendance at the schools in the district
Rural Sanitary Authority

Rural Sanitary Authorities were created to to improve public health in rural areas. After 1894 most RSA areas became Rural Districts. Their main records include|:

  • minute books

  • inspector of nuisances' report book containing weekly report on the sanitary condition of individual properties in the district

Additional responsibilities as a result of the first world war

Additional records were created during the wartime emergency when special powers were given to The Guardians:

  • minutes of the war agricultural committee

  • returns of land to be ploughed up

  • applications for relief