Wokingham Union

[Baylis]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could help me with this please?
I have a 1847 death certificate for my ancestor Ann Fry aged 33. The ‘superintendent registrar’s district’ at the top of the sheet reads Wokingham Union.  Would this mean the general area or could it refer to the Infirmary at the Wokingham Workhouse?
  Apart from ‘Wokingham Union, Wargrave, Wargrave, in the County of Berks and Wilts’ there is no other address given.
  There are no other clues to her being in the workhouse or anything like that.  She is listed as the wife of Thomas Fry, Labourer and the informant is a Sarah Martin, present at death.   I would just have assumed she was at home, apart from the fact it says ‘Union’ at the top of the page and I know there was an Infirmary attached to the workhouse.
    Thank you in advance for any insight.

[mazi]

Wokingham Union is the name of the registration district, it covers many parishes in Berkshire, including Wargrave.

There is no connection to the workhouse.

Regards. Mike

[Baylis]

Thank you for clearing that up for me Mike. I wanted to be sure.

Regards,
Claire

[KGarrad]

When Civil Registration started, the Registration Districts were based on the existing Poor Law Unions.
The word "Union" remained on some certificates for quite some years!

[stanmapstone]

If you are interested there is a full description  at  http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/status/RegD

Stan

[Baylis]

Thank you KGarrard, that makes sense. I think it’s the first time i’ve seen the term used on a certificate.

... And thank you for the link Stan.