Middlesex Records of the Poor

England Middlesex  Records of the Poor

The Middlesex Poor Law Union
Starting in 1834, a single poor law union had responsibility over the City of London called The City of London Poor Law Union and Middlesex County. Multiple workhouses operated within this jurisdiction. For further information, see:


 * Middlesex Poor Law Unions and Workhouses
 * London Records of the Poor

The Records
Records from the poor law unions, which were created from this time forward include the following:


 * 1) Guardianship
 * 2) Creed Registers
 * 3) Rate books
 * 4) Workhouse Lists of Inmates
 * 5) Register of Apprentices
 * 6) Register of Births
 * 7) Register of Deaths
 * 8) Vestry Rate Books
 * 9) Admission and Discharge Registers
 * 10) Board of Guardians' Records

Online Poor Law Records
Ancestry.co.uk (£) has the largest collection of online London poor law records:


 * London, England, Poor Law Records, 1834-1940 (digital images)

Other sites include:


 * 1) The Pauper Biographies Project provides detailed information including maps and working papers.
 * 2) For more information on the history of the workhouse, see Peter Higginbotham's web site: www.workhouses.org.uk
 * 3) Here's a general website providing data on approximately 10 percent of the county's poor

FamilySearch Library Collection
To determine records availability for each poor law union, search the FamilySearch Catalog under the name of the county (London), and then under the name of the poor law union, i.e. City of London; then search under the term[s] "poorlaw" or "poorhouses".

Guides to London and Middlesex County Poor Law Records

 * Gibson, J.S.W., Colin D. Rogers, and Cliff Webb. Poor Law Union Records. 4 parts. Birmingham, UK: Federation of Family History Societies, c1997. .Volume 1 includes London.
 * Webb, Cliff. London, Middlesex and Surrey Workhouse Records: A Guide to Their Nature and Location. West Surrey Family History Society, c1991..
 * Webb, Cliff. A Provisional List of City of London Poor Law Records. West Surrey Family History Society, c1992..

Workhouses
Workhouses and the City of London Corporation of the Poor and Middlesex County existed in the City before 1834. For further information, see:


 * The City of London Corporation of the Poor
 * Parish Workhouses in the Old City of London

Early London workhouses included:


 * Bishopsgate Street - opened 1699
 * St Giles Cripplegate - opened 1724

Parish Chests
Parish chest records contain a great deal of information about the care of London's poor before 1834, when it was a parish responsibility. Refer to individual City of London parish pages to learn more about parish chest records.

Criminal Poor
Most transported convicts from London were impoverished individuals who had committed property crimes. The government banished their criminal poor to British colonies where they labored for specified numbers of years. Prosecuted crimes can be found in the Old Bailey Sessions and London Sessions.

Foundlings
Foundlings were abandoned babies. Abandoning babies has been a common practice in urban areas for centuries.

1741-1950s
The London Foundling Hospital opened in 1741. In the 1950s, most business dropped off, as adoption became more popular. The Hospital created records on more than (100,000) infants placed in their care during that period. For tips on finding foundling records, see Research Resources at The Foundling Museum website.

Baptisms at this facility from 1741 to 1838 are indexed on FamilySearch in Batch.

For further information, see: Anthony Camp's London Foundling Hospital: Reclaimed Foundlings.

Pre-1741
Before 1741, the care of foundlings fell to the parishes where they were discovered. Officials often named these nameless infants after their parish or streets where they were found. Individuals charged with raising these children were supported by parish rates.

A few guides and databases have been prepared about pre-1741 London foundlings.

Hospitals

 * Webb, Cliff. An Index to London Hospitals and Their Records. London: Society of Genealogists, c2008..

Bedlam
Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as 'Bedlam,' was a London hospital for the mentally ill, dating from medieval times.

1547 Subsidy

 * London Bedlam Hospital, Bishopsgate Ward, London (The National Archives, Ref: E179/145/139); copy:.

Websites

 * Poor Law Records in London and elsewhere, Research Guide 4 at the London Metropolitan Archives
 * The Foundling Museum. Preserves the history of the Foundling Hospital.
 * Finding Your Foundling, Research Guide 33 at the London Metropolitan Archives
 * Hospital Records, Research Guide 34 at the London Metropolitan Archives
 * Records of Patients in London Hospitals, Research Guide 35 at the London Metropolitan Archives

Other Wiki Pages

 * England and Wales Poor Law Records 1834-1948
 * England and Wales Poor Law Records Pre-1834
 * Introduction to English Poor Law and Parish Chest Records - International Institute
 * England Miscellaneous Poor Law Records - International Institute