Poplar Poor Law Child - Laurence, Rose.

[marz8earth]

I recently discovered a document that classified my grandmother as a "poor law child" and gave her place of residence as Poplar. Can anyone tell me what that means and if there is a way to find addition records for this time frame? She was born Rosa Laurance (also found as Rose Laurence) and was born 1916 in whitechapel. I have a pretty complete record of her now from when she emigrated in 1930 but this documentation of being a poor law child has me stumped.

[Ruskie]

Have you located her birth?
Do you know her parent's names?

What was the document that classified Rosa as a 'poor law child'? And do you know where she was living when she was classified in this manner?

My first thought was that perhaps she was orphaned or the family were destitute. There could be a multitude of reasons for this (illness, disability etc). I also wondered if she was in the Workhouse.

You say she emigrated in 1930, so at age 14. Which country did she go to and did she go alone? I know that many young orphans and poor children were sent to countries such as Australia and Canada.

I'm not sure if this will help:
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/records/archives.shtml
If she was in a workhouse and you can work out which one, you may be track down admission records if they exist.

[Ruskie]

I note that many of my questions have been answered in your previous threads:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=696923.msg5402983#msg5402983
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=696618.msg5400235#msg5400235
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=696615.msg5400222#msg5400222

It would be advisable for you to purchase Rosa's birth certificate if you haven't already done so, although it appears she is illegitimate so you may have a dead end on her paternal side. Possibly the mother died or she was unable to support herself and Rosa. (were there any other children?)
If you have a name you may be able to find out if she applied for poor relief.

[marz8earth]

There were no other children that i am aware of. I do know quiet a bit about her now but still have this gap from birth to 1930. I believe she has spent sometime in poplar in a work house or something similar just wondering how i could find those records. I have no idea which one.

[Bookbox]

I believe she has spent sometime in poplar in a work house or something similar just wondering how i could find those records. I have no idea which one.

If she was born in Whitechapel but later living in Poplar, she may have been in the care of the Stepney Board of Guardians, who ran a branch workhouse in Poplar (Bromley House).

In any event, the poor law records that you need are held at London Metropolitan Archives (LMA), but very few are online for this late date. So the research will have to be done at LMA, either by their own Research Service, or in person by someone visiting there on your behalf. 

But before any of that can be started, you will need the information given on Rosa's birth certificate, as advised above, and on your other threads. In England/Wales (unlike the USA/Canada) there is no public access to the content of birth registrations without purchasing the certificate, so unfortunately no-one can do a lookup for you.

[marz8earth]

Thank you very much for the information. I have requested a birth certificate and am awaiting its arrival. Looking forward to finding more info and i'll get in contact with the LMA

[Ruskie]

Please come back and let us know what the birth certificate reveals.

The first link I provided has some further information about specific workhouses and where any records may be found. It might be worthwhile doing a bit of research into the area that Rosa lived - have a look on some old maps and combine that with the information from the workhouse site to try to narrow down which are the most obvious workhouses she may have been in. It is possible that she was born in the workhouse (her birth address will be on her birth certificate).

There are others who have a lot of experience with these kinds of records so hopefully they will be able to help you further when you have a bit more information about Rosa.   

If you need a lookup from the LMA you might like to ask if someone can visit and look up the appropriate records for you. I'd wait to see what the b/c says first though so you can be sure you have gathered together all known facts about Rosa before requesting a lookup.

[J.J.]

Please add any information you might find in your own searches as well, such as the Birth cert you'd sent for, to keep the thread updated. Also others/relatives  may be searching from another aspect elsewhere and find you one day

[marz8earth]

For sure, I am still waiting on the birth certificate. I had to reorder it as it looks like it got lost. Hoping it might be in this week.

I did get a little more information from the Catholic Childrens Society. While they didnt have an exact date they told me she was baptised in 1926 (she would have been 10yrs old) and then admitted to St. Anthony's Childrens home in Feltham. There was a note that on 9th July 1931 her mother, recorded as Mrs A Dunkerly, was living at 53 Godolphin Road. Shepherd’s Bush. London. W2.

So perhaps they left a work house type of environment and she had no place for the child, but went back for her years later only to find out she was gone.