Knaresborough Union Workhouse/ 1901

[JeannieR]

Hi Guys........

I have a Elizabeth Whitworth, aged 23 years old, a inmate at Knaresborough Union Workhouse, in 1901........

She states she was born at Wolverhampton !! I can find no sign of her ( with the name Elizabeth ) prior to this.......

She gave birth to a son , Harry , in the June qtr 1901, who was adopted. The family were told she died in child birth. No sign of that in Knaresborough.

Can anyone tell me...

A) Where the Work house records are kept ?
B) If I can view them , what info on the inmate would be available ?

Thank You kindly

JeannieR

[Ecneps]

Hi,

if you enter Knaresborough on the workhouse site:
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/
you'll see some information about it.  It seems some records of guardians' minutes and ledgers are held at North Riding County Record Office, but not sure if that will cover what you want to know, so may be worth contacting the NRCC.

Barbara

[JeannieR]

Thank You Barbara.......

I will give that a whirl.......

It's amazing where this hobby takes you !!

Regards

JeannieR

[Geoff Howard]

Hi Jeannie. I believe you have recently used this site. I came across your post about Knaresborough Workhouse by chance. From 1957 for 11 years I worked for the West Riding County Council at the Welfare Offices along the front of Knaresborough Hospital - the former Workhouse. About 1958/59 it was decided to bring into use a small store room on the upper floor which was crammed full of old ledgers (enormous heavy leather bound volumes). There were anything up to 100 of these. The nearby Modern School had gardens not far away and I and another young clerk were ordered to remove said  ledgers there and BURN THEM. We were given brown porters coats and an old handcart and it took us 3 or 4 days to complete the job. I think they decided to keep just a couple but the rest went up in smoke. We did have a look into them - lovely copper plate writing and every details of daily life, residents, staff and so on.  This would not happen today but nobody gave a thought to what they were destroying. I hope you found what you were looking for.

[LizB1857]

So sad to see this as I have an ancestor who died in Knaresborough Union Workhouse and it would have been interesting to see her record.
So many things done in the name of progress eh?