Busby Poorhouse 1902

[diipop]

Trying to locate the actual site of Busby Poorhouse/Busby Combination in 1902 when an ancestor was noted to have died here as a pauper.
Thanks 

[MonicaL]

There seems to be little to no info on its location it seems www.workhouses.org.uk/Busby/

Monica

[anne_p]

According to this, it opened in 1845
http://www.portaltothepast.co.uk/article/3287/Timeline---Busby

Odd that Monica's link states  it apparently it covered Lochwinnoch and Neilston?

[MonicaL]

Odd combination indeed Anne. Other people thought so too www.talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=15301

Monica 

[tempo]

I stumbled on this thread when searching for the location of the poorhouse in Busby for my own reasons, so thought I'd share my findings in case it's useful to anyone else, as there is very limited information on this.

The annual report for Local Government Board for Scotland 1902/3 has the only mention that I could see, which stated:

"In  consequence  of  the  inability  of  the  Parish  Council  of  Paisley
longer  to  retain  in  their  Poorhouse  paupers  from  other  parishes
boarded  under  the  65th  Section  of  the  Statute,  the  Parish  Councils
of  Eastwood,  Rutherglen,  Neilston,  and  Lochwinnoch  combined  for
the  purpose  of  obtaining  temporary  Poorhouse  accommodation.  A
disused  factory  at  Busby  was  acquired  for  this  purpose,  and  after
having  undergone  the  alterations  necessary  was  sanctioned  by  us  as
a  temporary  Poorhouse  to  accommodate  for  a  limited  period  a
number  of  inmates  not  exceeding  116.  On  a  further  alteration
having  been  made  on  the  building — the  effect  of  which  was  to
provide  another  dormitory — we  sanctioned  the  occupation  of  the
house  by  a  number  of  inmates  not  exceeding  140."

So it appears the poorhouse was a temporary measure established some time around 1902 to accommodate the overflow from the Paisley poorhouse, specifically that from the Parish Councils of Eastwood, Rutherglen, Neilston, and Lochwinnoch. It occupied a disused factory somewhere in Busby and housed 116 people, increasing to 140 when subsequently altered/renovated.

It seems likely that the 'disused factory' referred to is within the Busby Print Works, which sits alongside the railway and is depicted on the 1897 OS map as within use, but on the 1913 OS map as 'disused' (attached). Since it's not labelled on the 1913 map, I assume the temporary poorhouse here was no longer in use by this point and the Renfrewshire Combination poorhouse constructed in 1906 probably absorbed the residents. In any case, if the factory building used as the temporary poorhouse was located within Busby Print Works then it no longer survives.

[Forfarian]

There's a report in the Barrhead News of 8 May 1903 which does say that the disused print works was the building decided on for use as the temporary poorhouse. It quotes Mr Barclay, the General Superintendent:

On Saturday 22nd February I accompanied Mr Barrowman and a contractor to inspect the disused printworks at Busby and consider the possibility of adapting them for use as a temporary poorhouse. Although contending with the disadvantages of the absence of a water supply, lavatory, w.c. or drainage, artificial lighting or heating, and wards for classification, I considered that these difficulties might be overcome and the place made available for occupation. A general plan was resolved on, and Mr Barrowman gave the contractor instructions to proceed at once. On Saturday 22nd March, exactly four weeks after my first visit, I found the poorhouse occupied by about 40 inmates, a water supply introduced, a plentiful supply of wash-hand basins and baths with hot and cold water, a sewerage system with settling tank and filtering bed before discharge of the sewage into the River Cart, and installation throughout of paraffin lamps ingeniously hung out of reach of the inmates, heating stoves throughout the wards, hospital and lodge; a governor, matron and servants were busy at work, and a medical officer and chaplain were appointed. The transformation on four weeks from a factory with long lofts full of ponderous machinery was marvellous, and reflects great credit on Mr Barrowman, who carried the work to so successful an issue.

It's clear from comparing the 1897 map https://maps.nls.uk/view/82892847 with the 1913 one that there were many more buildings in the complex than the one adapted as the poorhouse. Also that the building was on the East Kilbride side of the parish and county boundary, being on the right bank of the river, and that this was not in one of the four parishes of the combination

[Forfarian]

Odd that Monica's link states  it apparently it covered Lochwinnoch and Neilston?

Not at all.

It was not unusual for a group of parishes to get together and provide a single combination poorhouse to serve all of them, rather than every parish setting up its own poorhouse.