Bath, Somerset Poor Law Union

History
The Bath Hospital, open to the poor from every part of the kingdom, whose maladies require the use of the Bath waters, is maintained by voluntary contributions, and is under the direction of a president and governors, incorporated by act of parliament, who have a common seal, and are empowered to fill up vacancies in their own body. The Bath United Hospital combines the objects of the late city dispensary and casualty infirmary, and a spacious building has been erected for it near the Cross bath; this and the West Walcot dispensary, and an infirmary in Pierrepoint-street, for curing diseases of the eye, are also supported by subscription. There are three societies for the relief of women during childbirth; an asylum for the support of young females, and for instructing them in household work; a house of protection for orphans and destitute females; an establishment for aged, and an asylum for young, females; a penitentiary, with a chapel; and other charitable institutions of various kinds, adapted to the wants of the distressed poor, and to the mitigation of almost every species of calamity. St. John's Hospital, for the maintenance of six aged men and six women, was founded in the reign of Henry II. by Reginald Fitz-Jocelyn, who endowed it with lands then producing £22 per annum; attached is a neat chapel, in which the master, who must be a clergyman of the Established Church, officiates daily. Partis' College, a capacious range of building, occupying three sides of a quadrangle, on the upper road to Bristol, and comprising a chapel and separate dwellings for 30 decayed gentlewomen, ten of whom must be either the widows or daughters of clergymen, was founded and endowed by Mrs. Partis, in fulfilment of the intention of her husband, Fletcher Partis, Esq., who died before it was carried into effect. The poor law union of Bath comprises 24 parishes and places, and contains a population of 69,232.

From: 'Basingstoke - Battersby', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 168-177. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50784 Date accessed: 16 March 2011.



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

Parishes in the Union
Bath Abbey, Somerset Bath St James, Somerset Bath St Michael, Somerset Bathampton, Somerset Batheaston, Somerset Bathford, Somerset Bathwick with Woolley, Somerset Charlcombe, Somerset Claverton, Somerset Combe Down, Somerset Combe Hay, Somerset Dunkerton, Somerset Englishcombe, Somerset Hinton Charterhouse, Somerset Langridge, Somerset Monkton Combe, Somerset South Stoke, Somerset St Catherine, Somerset Swainswick, Somerset Twerton-on-Avon, Somerset Walcot, Somerset Walcot Holy Trinity, Somerset Walcot St Saviour, Somerset Wellow, Somerset Weston, Somerset Weston St John, Somerset Widcombe, Somerset

Records
Bath workhouse records are held at Bath &amp; North East Somerset Record. Office, The Guildhall, Bath, BA1 5AW, tel. 01225 477421, archives@bathnes.gov.uk.