Abbreviation on Burial Records

[MaryLouiseCope]

Dear Fellow Members,

I have researching the death of someone in St. Giles parish in the 1820s. On the relevant page of the parish burial register from Ancestry, in the box for 'Abode', several entries (not all) have the additional letters WKH (I think - it's copperplate handwriting) underneath the various street names where people lived.

What does this mean?

Many thanks in advance for your help,
Mary-Louise

[arthurk]

Welcome to RootsChat!

I think you're referring to St Giles in the Fields, London, and on that basis I've had a look at a random couple of pages in that parish's burial register. I saw the abbreviation, on the pages I looked at more like "Wk.H."; in some cases it followed an address, and in others there was just that and no address.

Almost certainly this will mean "Workhouse", but where an address is given as well it may be that the person was in the workhouse infirmary rather than the section for the completely destitute and homeless.

[MaryLouiseCope]

Hi arthurk,

That's great, thank you. Yes, I did mean St Giles in the Fields in London, sorry! Your theory about the person being in the workhouse infirmary makes sense.

They don't appear in the St. Giles parish workhouse register that I can find - surname is Waters and death year/ year of admittance was 1823.

Do you think this supports the likelihood that they were in the Infirmary rather than admitted to the workhouse proper?

Thanks!

[maddys52]

Welcome from me too.

I agree with arthurk, most likely "workhouse", which could be the infirmary if another address provided. 

[MaryLouiseCope]

Thanks maddy52!

Do you also think if the person I'm looking for died in the Infirmary, that would account for why they don't appear in the main workhouse entry register?

Thanks!

Mary-Louise

[arthurk]

They don't appear in the St. Giles parish workhouse register that I can find - surname is Waters and death year/ year of admittance was 1823.

Do you think this supports the likelihood that they were in the Infirmary rather than admitted to the workhouse proper?

I don't claim any great expertise on either workhouses or London, but you might be right. Infirmary records from some workhouses have survived (they sometimes crop up on the Handwriting Deciphering board), but I don't know what the situation is with St Giles.

I also don't know whether infirmary records were always separate from the ones for paupers. In case they aren't, it would be a good idea to check for similar surnames or variant spellings (eg Walters), or with just the forenames, as someone very ill might not have been able to give their name clearly.