An existing subscriber to this list suggested I post a message which
may be of interest to some its readers.
I run an extensive website (www.workhouses.org.uk) relating to the
history of the workhouse in the British Isles. It aims to include
information on every post-1834 workhouse/poorhouse (and many earlier
ones), clickable maps of Poor Law Unions, photos of surviving
buildings, brief histories of the establishments etc. There is also
general information on poor-paw history (including transcripts of the
1601 and 1834 Poor Law Acts), tours of a virtual workhouse, information
on workhouse life, even a recipe for gruel.
Many people researching family history who discover a workhouse
connection have commented that they have found the site very useful, as
have students doing projects on the subject.
One thing I aim to try and include for each Union is a mention of the
main location(s) of surviving records, and a brief list of the main
holdings (again somewhat biased towards the interests of family
historians). Because this is somewhat of a moving target, I'm always
very hapy to receive corrections, additions and updates about archive
holdings - or indeed about any other aspect of the site.
I'd also be extremely pleased to receive any contributions that could
be included in any individual entries such as additional bibliography
entries, or other related material, especially images of buildings that
no longer exist and of workhouse life. (Copyright acknowledgment and a
link back to a contributor's site would, of course, be given.)
Kind regards,
Peter Higginbotham
University of Oxford Computing Services,
13 Banbury Road,
Oxford OX2 6NN
(01865-273228)
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