On 29th June 1860, The House of Commons ordered that the name of every adult pauper in each workhouse
in England and Wales, who had been an inmate for a continuous period of 5 years or more, was to be recorded.
The report was printed on 30 July 1861 and listed 14,216 adults, representing just over 21% of adult workhouse inmates.
For each union, the list shows:
(1) The Name of every Adult Pauper who has been an Inmate of the Workhouse during a continuous Period of Five Years.
(2) The Amount of Time that each of such Paupers shall have been in the Workhouse.
(3) The reasons assigned why the Pauper in each case is unable to maintain Himself, or Herself.
(4) Whether or not the Pauper has been brought up in a District or Workhouse School'.
In order to provide some context, where possible each pauper listed has been identified in the 1861 census
and their age and place of birth recorded (the final 2 columns below). Unfortunately the 1861 census did not record the full names of inmates
in some workhouses, only their initials, which makes it very difficult to positively identify the inmate.
Note that the list was supposed to be of adult paupers only, clearly some workhouses included children.
Some of the language used in the index is by today's standards not politically correct but these were the terms
used at the time and so have been transcribed exactly as written. Some of the reasons for paupers being in the
workhouse can also be quite shocking to us today.
Source (and with thanks to):The Workhouse
| Union | Name | SURNAME | Years | Mths. | Reason pauper unable to maintain his/her self | Brought up in a District or Workhouse school | Age in 1861 [Census] | Birthplace [1861 Census] *[1851] |
| Beaminster | ||||||||
| William | LIGHT | 24 | 0 | Cripple | neither | 39 | Beaminster | |
| William | MARSH | 15 | 0 | Imbecility | neither | 65 | Beaminster | |
| Eleanor | DAWE | 15 | 0 | Imbecility | neither | 37 | Beaminster | |
| Caroline | HUNT | 14 | 0 | Burns | neither | |||
| James | MELMOTH | 12 | 0 | Old age | neither | 70 | Beaminster | |
| Elizabeth | HOLLAND | 10 | 0 | Imbecility | neither | 51 | Beaminster | |
| Giles | COLMER [COLEMAN] | 10 | 0 | Old age | neither | 62 | Broadwinsor | |
| Mary | SANSOM | 24 | 0 | Imbecility | neither | 70 | Marshwood | |
| Henry | CURTIS | 24 | 0 | Imbecility | neither | 64 | Netherbury | |
| John | COUSINS | 10 | 0 | Imbecility | neither | |||
| Sarah | GALE | 10 | 0 | Scrofula | neither | 13 ? | Powerstock ? | |
| Blandford | ||||||||
| John | COOMBS | 12 | 0 | Old age and infirmity | neither | 76 | Caundle Purse | |
| James [Jeremiah?] | BARNES | 8 | 0 | Old age and infirmity | neither | 85 | ||
| John | BEST | 6 | 0 | Imbecility | neither | 31 | Milton Abbas | |
| Sarah | COLLINS | 7 | 0 | Old age and infirmity | neither | 73 | Langton | |
| Mary Ann | WHITE | 9 | 0 | One illegitmate child | neither | 34 | Hilton | |
| Cornelia | BALLAM | 8 | 0 | One illegitmate child | neither | 44 | Canford Magna | |
| Bridport | In the 1861 census for Bridport Workhouse (in the Parish of Bradpole), only initials for pauper/inmates are recorded, with a few exceptions | |||||||
| John | HUSSEY | 6 | 0 | Old and disabled | no | |||
| Joseph | JOHNSTON | 7 | 0 | Cripple | no | |||
| James | MITCHELL | 21 | 0 | Lunatic | no | 49 | Wootton Fitzpaine* | |
| Sarah | POMEROY | 13 | 0 | Disabled | no | |||
| Hannah | ROCHETT | 7 | 0 | Syphilis, unable to work | no | |||
| Joseph | PARSONS | 7 | 0 | Paralysis | no | |||
| Robert | SINGLETON | 21 | 0 | Lunatic | no | 59 | Coombe* | |
| Eliza | HANHAM | 12 | 0 | Lunatic | no | 32 | Allington* | |
| Unice | HALL | 5 | 0 | Imbecility, afflicted with fits | no | |||
| William | CRABB | 5 | 0 | Old age | no | |||
| Benjamin | ACKERMAN | 5 | 0 | Blind | no | |||
| Samuel | LAKE | 10 | 0 | Asthma, wholly disabled | no | 50 | Bridport* | |
| Thomas | HALLETT | 8 | 0 | Imbecile | no | |||
| Cerne | ||||||||
| Elizabeth | HART | 25 | 0 | Imbecility of mind | no | 60 | Cerne Abbas | |
| Charles | BURT | 7 | 0 | Deserted by parents | no | 11 | Hillfield | |
| Ellen | BURT | 7 | 0 | Deserted by parents | no | 8 | Hillfield | |
| Maria | CHANNING | 5 | 0 | Incapable of maintaining her two illegitimate children | no | 36 | Minterne | |
| Jane | DOWNTON | 5 | 0 | Incapable of maintaining her two illegitimate children | no | 48 | Glanvilles Wootton | |
| Dorchester | ||||||||
| Jane | CLARK | 23 | 0 | Paralysis | 60 | Holy Trinity | ||
| Fanny | BARRETT | 5 | 0 | Imbecile | ||||
| Henry | BUCKLER | 8 | 6 | Weak mind | 62 | Maiden Newton | ||
| Harriett | HAMMETT | not known | Imbecile | Workhouse school | 20 | Tolpuddle | ||
| Elizabeth | TEZARD | not known | Idiotic | 30 | Winterborne St Martin | |||
| Poole | ||||||||
| Ann | COLE | 6 | 0 | Cripple | not | 41 | Stinson | |
| Mary | CUMMINS | 6 | 0 | Destitute | not | 71 | Poole | |
| Martha | DUMMICK | 20 | 0 | Destitute | not | 75 | Kinson | |
| William | HAWKINS | 8 | 0 | Destitute | not | 85 | Lincolnshire | |
| Joanna | HOLLAND | 9 | 0 | Destitute | not | 54 | Poole | |
| Mary | KING | 10 | 0 | Destitute, and old age | not | 74 | Poole | |
| Sarah | LAMBERT | 12 | 0 | Destitute, and old age | not | 85 | Poole | |
| Edward | LONG | 8 | 0 | Destitute | not | 42 | Poole | |
| Alice | MEAD | 9 | 0 | Destitute | not | 73 | Poole | |
| John | MOORS | 7 | 0 | Cripple | not | 76 | Wimborne | |
| James | RICKETTS | 20 | 0 | Cripple | not | 55 | Poole | |
| Joseph | SAMWAYS | 8 | 0 | Destitute | not | 71 | Canford | |
| Elizabeth | SHARP | 6 | 0 | Destitute, and old age | not | |||
| Shaftesbury | In the 1861 census for Shaftesbury Workhouse, only initials for pauper/inmates are recorded | |||||||
| Ann | WILLIAMS | 11 | 0 | Idiotcy | no | |||
| William | TAYLOR | 19 | 0 | Paralysis | no | |||
| Israel | BARTER | 9 | 0 | Cripple | no | |||
| Jeremiah | BROCKWAY | 8 | 0 | Blind | no | |||
| Maria | COOMBS | 7 | 0 | Deaf and dumb | no | |||
| Maria | BISHOP | 5 | 6 | Idiotcy | no | |||
| Eliza | WILLS | 5 | 6 | Idiotcy | no | |||
| Ann | MORGAN | 13 | 0 | Illegitimate children | no | |||
| Hannah | EXTANCE | 8 | 0 | Illegitimate children | no | |||
| Elizabeth | PICKETT | 6 | 6 | Illegitimate children | no | |||
| Leah | PIKE | 7 | 0 | Idiotcy | no | |||
| Sherborne | ||||||||
| William | GILMAR [GILLMAN] | 16 | 0 | Infirmity | District school | 72 | East Tisted, Hants | |
| Robert | HIX | 11 | 0 | Old age | District school | 85 | Bradley, Somerset | |
| Gustavus | HODDINOTT | 14 | 0 | Weak mind | District school | 49 | Sherborne | |
| John | MOORE | 5 | 6 | Idiotic | no school | 70 | Thornford | |
| Elizabeth | KING | 10 | 0 | Idiotic | District school | 40 | Sherborne | |
| Sarah | RAPSON | 7 | 0 | Idiotic | no school | 58 | Nether Compton | |
| Sarah | BAULCH [BALCH] | 21 | 0 | Deaf and dumb | no school | 42 | Stockwood | |
| Ellen | LANE | 5 | 3 | Infirmity | District school | 44 | Shepton Mallett, Som. | |
| Jane | STRICKLAND | 6 | 0 | Old age | District school | 85 | Sherborne | |
| Ann | COOPER | 9 | 0 | Old age | District school | 73 | Yetminster | |
| Jane | GANDER | 16 | 6 | Deaf and dumb | no school | 36 | Sherborne | |
| Sturminster | ||||||||
| Robert | HANHAM | 7 | 0 | Infirm | no | 77 | Fifehead Magdalen | |
| Thomas | DUFFETT | 5 | 0 | Infirm | no | 81 | Sturminster | |
| Susan | JEANS | 18 | 0 | Diseased legs | no | 69 | Belchalwell | |
| William | MATCHAM | 8 | 0 | Infirm | no | 76 | Child Okeford | |
| William | SMALL | 6 | 0 | Infirm | no | |||
| Elizabeth | BAKER | 7 | 0 | Infirm | no | |||
| Henry [Harry] | GREEN | 8 | 0 | Infirm | no | 79 | Gillingham | |
| Thomas | CUFF | 7 | 0 | Infirm | no | 66 | Shillingstone | |
| Ann | TOOP | 9 | 0 | Infirm | no | |||
| Joseph | MONCKTON | 6 | 0 | Polypus of the nose | no | 52 | Woodsford | |
| Francis | BAGLEY | 23 | 0 | Infirm | no | |||
| John | BROWN | 5 | 0 | Idiotic | no | 47 | Stalbridge | |
| Wareham & Purbeck | ||||||||
| Jane | ELMS [ELMES] | 14 | 0 | Pregnancy | neither | 43 | Bere Regis | |
| Eliza | ELMS | 14 | 0 | Pregnancy, and afterwards paralysis | neither | 50 | Tyneham | |
| Hannah | CARD | 6 | 0 | Weak mind | neither | 74 | West Lulworth | |
| Lavonia | PAYNE | 20 | 0 | Pregnancy | neither | 48 | Winfrith | |
| Mary Ann | PITMAN | 6 | 0 | Weak mind | District school | 27 | Corfe Castle | |
| Emma | TOMS | 12 | 0 | Parents dead; suffering from cutaneous disease | Union school | 23 | Bere Regis | |
| Philip | DOREY | 21 | 0 | Ruptured | neither | 78 | Wareham | |
| Charles | LANDERS [LANDER] | 12 | 0 | Rheumatics | Private school | 84 | Langton | |
| Thomas | RIDCAT [KITCAT] | 14 | 0 | Blind | District school | 70 | Bere Regis | |
| John | TRAVERS | 15 | 0 | Idiot | 45 | Winfrith | ||
| William | GUY | 8 | 0 | Cripple | District school | 18 | Winfrith | |
| John | LEWIS | 19 | 0 | Fits | neither | 50 | Bere Regis | |
| John | EDWARDS | 13 | 0 | Bad legs | District school | 69 | Bere Regis | |
| George | SNOOKS [SNOOK] | 10 | 0 | Paralysis | National school | 35 | East Lulworth | |
| William | COUSINS | 11 | 0 | Debility | 80 | Worth | ||
| Weymouth | ||||||||
| George | PITMAN | 13 | 0 | Disease of heart | no | 52 | Radipole | |
| George | NOTLEY | 8 | 0 | Infirmity | no | 78 | Upway | |
| Thomas | MILLER | 8 | 0 | Infirmity | no | 80 | Portland | |
| Joanna | WHITTLE | 15 | 0 | Idiotcy | no | 40 | Broadmayne | |
| Elizabeth | HIBBS | 15 | 0 | Imbecility | no | 57 | Poole | |
| Mary | KELLAWAY | 17 | 0 | Imbecility | no | 43 | Melcombe Regis | |
| Maria | BARTLETT | 15 | 0 | Debility | no | 46 | Melcombe Regis | |
| Ann | BARTLETT | 15 | 0 | Infirmity | no | 84 | Clenston | |
| James | SMITH | 14 | 0 | Imbecility | no | 55 | Weymouth | |
| Jane | READ | 12 | 0 | Infirmity | no | 80 | Weymouth | |
| Wimborne & Cranborne | In the 1861 census for Shaftesbury Workhouse, only initials for pauper/inmates are recorded, but due to small numbers identification has been possible | |||||||
| James | JOINER | 6 | 0 | 84 years of age | nil | 85 | Corfe Mullen (smuggler from boyhood) | |
| Matilda | KENT | 14 | 0 | Decrepit | nil | 33 ? | Gibraltar ? | |
| William | HILL | 7 | 0 | Blind | nil | 69 | Tollard Farnham | |
| Robert | DURDEN | 10 | 0 | Wholly disabled, from old age and illness | nil | 77 | Lambeth, Surrey | |
| Martha | MAIDMENT | 25 | 0 | Idiot | nil | 45 | Sixpenny Handley | |
| Elizabeth | PINHORN | 23 | 0 | Wholly disabled, being a cripple | nil | 61 | Cranborne | |
| James | SANDY | 7 | 0 | Idiot | nil | 28 | Wellington, Som. | |
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