RootsChat.Com
Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Renfrewshire => Topic started by: Keckers on Thursday 04 January 18 08:52 GMT (UK)
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Just been exploring these extensive records, once you find who you are looking for, you can request a digital copy, the staff are very welcoming. Hope this link is allowed.... follow it then click on ‘Open index’ then scan through over 4000 pages. https://libcat.renfrewshire.gov.uk/iguana/www.main.cls?surl=PoorLaw
Apologies if this has already been posted earlier.
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I'm from Paisley (tho don't live there now) but I can recommend this. Have found out so much from the poor books in Paisley library (Always go in on trips home). the information is fantastic and have found where in Ireland many people have come from via these records
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Keckers, many thanks for posting this link - I found the reference for one of my Cooks. :-)
Do you have any idea of how much they charge for a copy of an entry?
Jan
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Keckers,
Many Many Thanks. I have found so many of my relatives that I started taking photos of the pages. There were too many to take notes. This is probably going to cost me a small fortune, but It'll be worth every penny. :D
Again, Thank You.
Christine.
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Keckers, many thanks for posting this link - I found the reference for one of my Cooks. :-)
Do you have any idea of how much they charge for a copy of an entry?
Jan
Phone them up, very helpful, each digital copy costs £2.90, the ones I got were all high quality.
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Keckers,
Many Many Thanks. I have found so many of my relatives that I started taking photos of the pages. There were too many to take notes. This is probably going to cost me a small fortune, but It'll be worth every penny. :D
Again, Thank You.
Christine.
It really is a fantastic resource, the staff are so helpful too, £2.90 for each digital copy of the entry, mine were super high quality. Good luck!
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Thanks Keckers, I didn't phone (I'm in Australia!) but emailed and they were super helpful. The one entry I needed broke down two brick walls :-)
Jan
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Thanks Keckers, I didn't phone (I'm in Australia!) but emailed and they were super helpful. The one entry I needed broke down two brick walls :-)
Jan
Yes they really were, they also traced a newspaper article I was searching for from 1934, nothing was a bother to them, they said the digital copies would take a few days but I got a quick turnaround...happy searching
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I've been sitting here wondering why my great granddad was in the Poor Law records? OK he'd just got out of the army but they weren't destitute by any means? Intrigued, have ordered :-)
Thanks Keckers what a great resource, might even get me back into FH again, it's been a few years :-)
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I've been sitting here wondering why my great granddad was in the Poor Law records? OK he'd just got out of the army but they weren't destitute by any means? Intrigued, have ordered :-)
Thanks Keckers what a great resource, might even get me back into FH again, it's been a few years :-)
The Abbey Poor House provided parochial support and also had a hospital wing to it, there could be various reasons. The lady at the resource centre was excellent. Happy searching.
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Thanks Keckers, have saved it for future use ... my 3rd ggrandfather is on there, I ordered his records a few years ago, and must admit, I had a lump in my throat reading it. Even mentioned that two children went to America.
Cheers
KHP
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Thanks for posting this Keckers. Very interesting.
A few comments.
1. As this index is made up from 4 different Parochial Boards in Paisley, the information given in THIS index against each person’s name varies.
Sometimes you get the date of application and place of residence; sometimes not that information at all, but you do get the names of other people mentioned in the application, (husbands, wives, children etc); sometimes you get all that information, and sometimes nothing at all!
That doesn’t mean to say the rest of the information doesn’t appear on the actual application.
I have one that in this index only gives the date, residence, and place of birth (actually mis-transcribed), but on the actual application it gives a absolute treasure trove of information about the family - I was lucky enough to go to the actual Paisley Heritage Centre a few years ago and found this application, which broke down a brick wall of some 30 years! to say I was very excited was putting it mildly!
So don’t be put off if the information you’re looking for is not indexed - it may well be on the original application.
2. The names of married women can be under married name or maiden name. (I know I’m preaching to the converted here if you’re used to searching Scottish records).
3. Married women can also be down under their husband’s first name - eg, I know that ‘Paton, James, widow’ is actually an application by Elizabeth Paton as the widow of James - this was quite a tricky one to find.
Good hunting!
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Thanks for posting this Keckers. Very interesting.
A few comments.
1. As this index is made up from 4 different Parochial Boards in Paisley, the information given in THIS index against each person’s name varies.
Sometimes you get the date of application and place of residence; sometimes not that information at all, but you do get the names of other people mentioned in the application, (husbands, wives, children etc); sometimes you get all that information, and sometimes nothing at all!
That doesn’t mean to say the rest of the information doesn’t appear on the actual application.
I have one that in this index only gives the date, residence, and place of birth (actually mis-transcribed), but on the actual application it gives a absolute treasure trove of information about the family - I was lucky enough to go to the actual Paisley Heritage Centre a few years ago and found this application, which broke down a brick wall of some 30 years! to say I was very excited was putting it mildly!
So don’t be put off if the information you’re looking for is not indexed - it may well be on the original application.
2. The names of married women can be under married name or maiden name. (I know I’m preaching to the converted here if you’re used to searching Scottish records).
3. Married women can also be down under their husband’s first name - eg, I know that ‘Paton, James, widow’ is actually an application by Elizabeth Paton as the widow of James - this was quite a tricky one to find.
Good hunting!
Yes indeed all valid points, the staff at the Heritage Centre indicated as such to me. I had about three or four entries and the religion changed on each one as did the record of whether they could read, nevertheless the information was better than what I had.
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Thanks Keckers, I didn't phone (I'm in Australia!) but emailed and they were super helpful. The one entry I needed broke down two brick walls :-)
Jan
Jan, how did you pay for your copies please. I'm in NZ and they wanted me to ring with card details. Not really an option is it for us on the other side of the world
Sylvia
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Jan, how did you pay for your copies please. I'm in NZ and they wanted me to ring with card details. Not really an option is it for us on the other side of the world
Sylvia
Hi Sylvia,
When I did it, about 10 years ago, I went to the bank and they gave me an international money order which I then posted away, but there was a $5.00 (I think that was the amount) charge on top of that. I actually used this method a year ago, when I wanted something from The Mitchell Library.
Cheers
KHP
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Hmmm thanks KHP didn't really want to have to go down that track, bank charges being what they are :-( Was hoping they'd do a bank transfer. It is the easiest way for me
Sylvia
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Why don't you ask the bank, the easiest way to do it, and what the options are, things are changing in how things are done with banking as what it was a few years ago.
Cheers
KHP
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Mmmm ??? I don't know how big the Paisley Records Office is but surely they must have some sort of banking system in place. They must get a lot of phone calls!!...and all those card details, a little bit dangerous!
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I have just received one of these image today - and yes, done from New Zealand!
The best way I find to pay for things in the UK is to phone through your card details.
You can get a 'phone card' called 'Cheap Chat' at a local dairy. (There are lots others I believe, but have found this one works fine).
You load say $5 on it at the dairy (not sure what the minimum is - may be less), then it costs about 4 cents a minute to ring the UK. My call to Carol, the nice lady in the Paisley Heritage centre, yesterday must have lasted all of 4 minutes. She will send you her ordinary number there so you're not ringing some expensive toll number, if you ask her in the email you send requesting the entry you want.
Hope this helps.
Added after your post Ladybird.
I have been to the Paisley RO/Heritage Centre. (Some years ago on a visit to Scotland). It is very small! I don't think they are inundated with phone calls! I requested a copy one day, had an email straight back, and rang up to pay the same day. Very quick service.
I have used this system - giving details over the phone, not just with them, but with other other ROs too. Most of them seem to run on a shoestring, and don't have more sophisticated banking systems. Seems to work fine.
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Thanks Goldie61 something to think about :)
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Sylvia, I ended up not ordering the record.
Jan
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Thanks all, I may have to bite the bullet on this.
Entry says the wife was insane (which I knew) and record seems to go from her 1st trip to the asylum on the day of her 1st child's birth up until she was transferred to Edinburgh many years later. She was in and out of hospital for years but managed to have 6 children, one of them my grandfather. I would like to know what her diagnosis was and what was said about her, poor thing. She died in Edinburgh's Kingseat mental hospital.
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Hi
Thanks for posting link to poor laws for Paisley.Had a look and my grandfathers parents are there for when his father was in poor house hospital..He died there. 1906.Also his great grandparents.Also found my gggreat grandmothers maiden name .Thanks again.Marguerite.
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What a great link, thank you for posting it. I found a few family members there but one did make me wonder. My family member was sent to the State Home Perth, for three years for drunkenness ! Her husband had passed away and she had 3 young children. It seems very harsh, would she have been rehabilitated there ? Or was this just punishment? Was the State Home "Perth Jail"? Would a court have given her this sentence? If so where would I find the court record? So many questions, I hope some one can help with them. Thank you, weeblether
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Hi weeblether
As the title of this post is 'Paisley Poor Law Records', and it is on the Renfrewshire board, I think it pretty unlikely anybody will read your post who might be able to answer the questions you have about the State Home Perth.
I would suggest you start a new post in the board for Perthshire (I presume you mean Perth in Perthshire?), with an appropriate heading, outlining the queries you have about the State Home and Perth Jail.
I see there is a FAmily History Centre in Perth
http://www.pkc.gov.uk/article/15024/Family-History-Centre
You could contact them to see what information they have.
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Thank you goldie61, I got this information from Paisley Poor law Records and wondered at her being sent to Perth as she lived in Paisley and was sent from there. I will try the Family History Centre and do as you suggest and start a new post for Perth. I imagined she might have been tried in a Paisley Court but not sure if you can get court records. Thank you for your help, much appreciated. weeblether
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Do you have a copy of the actual page from the PAisley poor Law records? Or is this just the information you got from the on-line index?
If you haven't got the original document, I think it would be well worth sending for - the few I've seen contain much more information than the index.
It sounds from what you say, that she applied for relief from Paisley, but they will not have wanted to spend money if there was someway out of it, and if she was 'sent to Perth', then I'd suggest that is where she came from, and they would have sent her back there. It's unlikely she was tried in a Paisley court as you suggest. The Poor Law board had the power, as far as I understand it, to make these decisions.
Do you know for sure she went back to Perth?
If the decision of the Poor Board was not to pay her, and send her to Perth, I don't think they had any power to actually force her to go - they just wouldn't give her any money.
I have an ancestor who applied for Poor Relief, but the decision of the board was to not pay her and to send her back to where she had resided previously to Paisley (although she had lived in Paisley before that). But I know she didn't go. She is in the next census for Paisley, and then died there. She must have found some other way to survive without any help from the Poor Board.
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Hi goldie61,
Yes, I do have the actual pages but they're for each of the children. They were sent to live with an uncle and the claim was for 2/6 a week and some school books. The mother did live in Glasgow then Paisley but never in Perth. It was on the page for the children that I found the information that their father had died and mother was sent to State Home, Perth for three years for drunkenness. I don't understand why she was sent to Perth, so far away. I think she must have been sent there from where she lived in Paisley, I imagine a court of law would have sent her.? This was in 1908. Is there any way to see court records?
I have further records from Paisley Poor records that she was back in Paisley in 1912. She remarried in 1916. and continued to live in Paisley and Glasgow till her death in 1932. Thank you for your help. weeblether