England, Norfolk Poor Law Union Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

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Collection Time Period
This collection covers records for the years 1796 through 1900.

Record History
Poor Law records include all of the documents created in the collecting, dispersing, and protecting the funds for the legitimate poor of the parish. The first poor law came into effect with the Poor Law Act of 1601. Under this law the Church of England parish served as a unit of the local government in managing the care of the poor who lived in the parish. The vestry council, or “vestry” for short, was the administrative body of local government. After 1834 responsibility for the care of the poor fell on the Poor Law Unions and their workhouses. Poor Law Unions encompassed several parishes.

Why This Record Was Created
The poor law was instuted as a way to provide necessities and relief to the poor. Many types of records were created in the process. These records include information about both the poor population as well as those who paid taxes to support the poor.

Record Description
Records created by the parish vestry or union to care for the poor are collectively known as poor law records.

Poor law records contain many documents. Here is a list of some of the records created as part of the poor relief effort:


 * Vestry council minutes document the discussions and decisions of the vestry.
 * Churchwardens’ rate books list the tax receipts.
 * Overseers’ disbursement books track the distribution of money and in-kind materials.
 * Settlement certificates identify an individual’s or family’s parish of legal settlement. The Settlement Law of 1662 required that a person have legal settlement in the parish before he or she could qualify for aid.
 * Settlement examinations were conducted to establish the financial condition of the individual or family who had left their parish of legal settlement without obtaining a settlement certificate and to determine their parish of legal settlement.
 * Removal orders were issued to have the individual or family removed from the parish and transported back to their parish of legal settlement.
 * Apprenticeship indentures placed orphans and the children of poor families under the care of a master, which helped limit the costs of their maintenance.
 * Bastardy documents of various types were created to deal with children born out of wedlock.
 * Admission and Discharge registers that give the dates and places of the term of relief.
 * Birth and Death registers including names, dates and to which parish the individuals belong.
 * Correspondce from local authorities to the National Poor Law commission.

Key genealogical facts found in the collection are listed below:

The information in each type of record varies, but the document usually includes the:


 * Name of the parish
 * Date of the events or transactions
 * Names of the individuals involved

Some documents may list:


 * Family relationships
 * Specific residences
 * Children’s ages
 * Father’s occupation
 * Birth and/or death dates

How to Use the Record
Use poor law records to find the names of a couple and their children. (Some records identify an entire family, while others name only the father, mother, or some of the children.) These records may identify persons for whom other records do not exist.

To begin your search you should know the following:


 * The names of your ancestors
 * The name(s) of the parishes where the ancestor lived
 * The time period of when the ancestor(s) lived

When you have located your ancestor in the records, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. Compare the information in these records with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information of more than one family or person to make this determination. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. For example:


 * Bastardy records may help you discover the name of the child’s father


 * Use the records to track a poor family’s movements between parishes, even if the parishes are in different counties.• Use the naturalization information to find their naturalization papers in the county court records. It can also help you locate immigration records such as a passenger list which would usually be kept records at the port of entry into the United States.
 * Use the ages listed to determine an approximate birth date. This date along with the place of birth can help you find a birth record. Birth records often list biographical and marital details about the parents and close relatives other than the immediate family.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as employment or school records.
 * The relationships given will help you to organize family groups. The family groupings will help you identify related families when you discover additional information in other records.

It is often helpful to extract the information on all families with the same surname in the same general area. If the surname is uncommon, it is likely that those living in the same area were related. Be sure to extract all families before you look at other records.

Related Websites
Norfolk Record Office Online Catalogue

Related Wiki Articles
England and Wales Poor Law Records Pre-1834

England and Wales Poor Law Records 1834-1948

Sources of This Collection
"England, Norfolk Poor Law Union Records," database, FamilySearch Record Search (http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch); from Norfolk Record Office. “Norfolk Poor Law Union Records, 1796-1900,” FHL microfilm, 71 rolls. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

How to Cite Your Sources
Instructions for citing this source can be found at: Cite Your Sources (Source Footnotes)