Walsall Poor Law Union, Staffordshire Genealogy

History
Some almshouses, founded by John Harper in the reign of James I., and endowed with land producing £40 per annum, were rebuilt in 1790 by the Rev. Mr. Rutter, then vicar, for the reception of six aged widows, among whom £10 per quarter are divided. Almshouses were erected and endowed in 1825, for eleven aged widows; to which purpose a dole of one penny, paid by the corporation to every person in the parishes of Walsall and Rushall, on the eve of the Epiphany, was appropriated. In the reign of Henry VI., Thomas Mollesley gave the corporation a manor and estates in the county of Warwick, which now constitute part of their extensive possessions. There are also numerous charitable bequests for apprenticing children, and for distribution among the indigent. The poor-law union of Walsall comprises 8 parishes or places, and contains a population of 34,274.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 444-449. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51372 Date accessed: 04 April 2011.

Children from the Union and the larger neighbouring Union were accommodated at Wigmore Schools, Walsall and West Bromwich, Staffordshire

For more information on the history of the workhouse, see Peter Higginbotham's website: www.workhouses.org.uk and http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?WestBromwich/WestBromwich.shtml

Parishes in the Union
Aldridge, Staffordshire Bloxwich, Staffordshire Darlaston, Staffordshire Darlaston St George, Staffordshire Great Barr, Staffordshire Moxley, Staffordshire Pelsall, Staffordshire Rushall, Staffordshire Walsall St Matthew, Staffordshire Walsall St Peter, Staffordshire Walsall Wood St John, Staffordshire

Later additions Darlaston All Saints, Staffordshire