North Lanarkshire Poor Law Records Added to Ancestry

In August 2019 many - but by no means all - of North Lanarkshire’s Poor Law records were made available in digitised form on Ancestry.com. This article provides an overview of which records you will be able to find and how you can use them for your family history research.  You can read an extended version of this article on: https://blogs.ancestry.co.uk/ancestry/2019/08/16/making-discoveries-in-the-north-lanarkshire-poor-law-records/

What are Poor Law records?

Poor Law records are records which were created under the Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845 which established a secular system of distributing poor relief.  The main records of interest to family history researchers are those kept by the official appointed in each parish to investigate cases of poverty and to pay out relief, the Inspector of Poor.  These are the Registers of Poor and the Record of Applications for Relief.

North Lanarkshire Archives’ Poor Law records originate from civil parishes which existed within the former County of Lanark between 1845 and 1930.  On Ancestry you will find the digitised registers of the following parishes: Bothwell, Cambusnethan (Wishaw area), Dalziel (Motherwell area) and Shotts.

Why are these records of interest to family history researchers?

As the application and registration system involved a type of means testing which required detailed information about the person applying for relief and about their family, the resulting records can contain details of your ancestor you would not find together on one page anywhere else.  Poor Law records therefore can help take your research further at any stage of your family history journey.

 

Registers of Poor / later General Registers of Poor

Initially, each parish maintained a Register of Poor (General Register of Poor from 1865).  In this example from a General Register of Poor from Dalziel Parish (below) you can see why these are such a fascinating resource.  The example regards Mary Doyle or Slamin who first applied for poor relief when her husband was ill and then stayed in the system for several years after he passed away.  The document shows at the top her circumstances at the time of her acceptance into the system and in the bottom part what happened to her and her children while she received money from the parish.

Registers of Poor/General Registers of Poor digitised:

CO1/23 Bothwell Parish

Bothwell Parish Council. Register of poorhouse inmates. 1905 – 1909

Bothwell Parish Council. Children's separate register. 1909-1915

Bothwell Parish Council. Register of guardians. 1909-1915

Bothwell Parish Council. Register of other parish poor. 1912-1914

Bothwell Parish Council. General Register of Poor. 1894-1915

Bothwell Parochial Board. General Register of Poor. 1862-1888

Bothwell Parochial Board. Account, charge and discharge, and list of registered poor. 1892-1896

CO1/26 Cambusnethan Parish

Cambusnethan Parochial Board. Register of Poor. 1863 - 1864

Cambusnethan Parish Council. Register of other parish poor. 1885 - 1915

CO1/37 Dalziel Parish

Dalziel Parish Council. Registered poor pay roll. 1893-1912

Dalziel Parish Council. General Register of Poor. 1883-1892 and 1900-1916

CO1/54 Shotts Parish

Shotts Parochial Board. Register of Poor. 1846-1865 and 1871-1879

Shotts Parish Council. General Registers of Poor. 1870-1911

Applications for Relief

Application Registers contain more entries per year than the Registers of Poor as multiple applications from individual paupers are recorded as well as details of the so called 'casual poor', i.e. persons who received a one-off payment from the inspector without a decision by the board and therefore were not recorded on the poor roll.

The applications for poor relief recorded the main information the Inspector of Poor required to make a decision on the applicant.  These included:

·       Age

·       Religion (Prot. – R.C.)

·       Occupation

·       Average Value of Earnings per week

·       Names of Dependants and Children living with Applicant, and Ages and Earnings

·       Names of Children not living with Applicant (Ages – Residences – and Earnings)

·       Country of Birth (English, Irish, Foreign – or Parish if Scotland)

·       Condition (Married – Single – Widow – Widower – Orphan – Deserted – Separated)

·       Cause of Disablement, whether Wholly or Partially

·       Wholly or Partially Destitute

·       Name of Parents and circumstances if alive

·       Length of Residence in present House and of previous Residences (Settlement – Parishes claimed against &c.)

Application registers digitised:

CO1/23 Bothwell Parish

Bothwell index to registers of applications. 1900-1914

CO1/26 Cambusnethan Parish

Cambusnethan applications for relief. 1855-1916

CO1/37 Dalziel Parish

Dalziel application registers. 1865-1875 and 1877-1917

Poorhouse records

Only one item specifically dealing with poorhouse residents has been digitised which is the New Monkland Parish Poorhouse register of inmates, 1849 – 1862 (CO1/50/24).

There were several other poorhouses in North Lanarkshire whose specific registers have not survived.  However, you may find that your ancestor was sent to the poorhouse (indoor relief), rather than receiving outdoor relief, from their entries in the Application Registers and General Registers of Poor.

(with thanks to NL Archivist Wiebke McGhee)

Please contact HeritageCentre@culturenl.co.uk if you have any questions about the above and if you are interested in records which have not been digitised.

Researching Pauper Ancestors

During Victorian times, most of the 19th century, poverty was a scourge and there was tremendous stigma attached to being poor. It was felt that if the poor were shamed and treated poorly, they would try harder to eke out a living, however meagre.  

The Poor Law Act was enacted in 1845 and the caring for the poor became the responsibility of the local councils/burghs through the passing of the Poor Law Act. The Act established parochial boards in the parishes and towns, and ensured a central Board of Supervision which was based in Edinburgh. The Board of Supervision was granted the ability to raise taxes in order to cover the poor relief payments.

Unlike England, where the impoverished faced a life in the Workhouses, Scotland preferred a system of  'out relief’. This allowed for the person in need of relief to remaining in their own home and receive regular small payments. This might allow the person to partially support themselves through work and to receive assistance from family members, charities and friendly societies, rather than becoming wholly dependent upon poor relief payments. Clearly the expectation was that if you were in need, then your family had an obligation to provide assistance. This is clearly seen in the questions that are asked during the application process.

The 1845 Poor Law Act also allowed parishes to operate poorhouses. Sometimes two or more parishes would join together to establish ‘combination’ poorhouses. This meant that the funding for the poorhouse was a combined responsibility of the joint parishes. 

Poor relief was not for able bodied persons who were unable to find work. It was for those who were infirm or incapable of being able to work. This might be men who were injured on the job, people who had a chronic illness, the elderly or perhaps  women of young children whose husbands had deserted them or who were incarcerated.   Other eligible persons would be those with intellectual or mental health  impairments.  In addition, the person who was seeking relief would need to prove that for whatever reason, their family were unable to assist them in their time of need.

Because of the restrictions around eligibility, not everyone who applied received relief. However, the poor law applications followed the applicant for several years and as circumstances changed, they may become eligible at a later time. The records give tremendous insight into the lives of those who applied.

In seeking information regarding the applicant, the council tried to determine not only eligibility by also who ultimately was responsible for the applicant. If the person was deemed not to have lived in the council area for a minimum of 7 years, then they were sent back to their place of origin to attempt to get relief there.

The questions on the application were quite thorough and provide a depth of insight not as clearly seen in other record sets. The information includes:

·         Name

·         Age

·         Sex

·         Marital Status

·         Date and place of marriage

·         Name of spouse

·         Names of any children residing in the household

·         Ages of children residing in the house

·         Status of child - whether working or in school

·         If working, wages of child (in this case, the children would be expected to contribute to           the household and offset any financial need)

·         The applicant's address

·         Monthly rent

·         Occupation

·         Employer or former employer

·         Religion

·         Name of the church

·         Names of parents of applicant

·         Name of parents of applicant's spouse

·         Parent and in law status as to whether alive, working etc. 

   Again the applicant would have been expected to reach out to family for assistance before applying for poor relief.

·         Any insurance companies applicant had a policy with

 The poor relief applications are with the local council archives for the area where your ancestor lived.

Family History Month - Using Poor Law Records Webinar

Using Poor Law Records for Scottish Genealogy Webinar

Mon, Dec 5, 2016 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM EST

Poor relief in Scotland required a process of application and given that specific criteria needed to be met, not everyone who applied actually received poor relief. However, the applications are an absolute treasure trove of genealogical information and can give a fantastic "peek" into the lives of y our ancestors.

Purchase: http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/webinars.html

BIFHSGO Conference 2012

The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa has finalized the details for their annual conference which will run from September 14 - 16 at the Library & Archives Canada. This year's theme is Scottish Genealogy with Keynote speaker Chris Paton and guest speaker Patricia Whatley. In addition, there will be sessions on Selkirk Settlers, Scottish Poor Law, DNA and genetics, Writing for Publication, and using cloud technology such as Dropbox & Evernote.

The fees are $80/person for members if you register before 10 August. There are two buffet lunches on Saturday and Sunday for an additional $15 each. There are also pre-conference seminars on the Friday. The cost for these is $25 each.

Registration and conference information is available at: http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=22

Poor Law Records from the Borders Family History Society

The Borders Family History Society has been digitizing Poor Law records. A typical Poor Law record lists name, place of birth, age or date of birth, address, list of close family members and description of disablement (required to collect the social assistance). Additional information on such records can sometimes include a woman’s maiden name, religion, disabilities and date of death (if buried as a pauper). The Borders Family History Society has published the digitized records on CD, which can be purchased from the society. Poor Law records are available for both Jedburgh and Melrose parishes. http://www.bordersfhs.org.uk/