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A workhouse vision of the future |
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A workhouse vision of the future |
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With the help of twenty volunteers, it has taken the National Archives and the National Trust five years to complete the transcription and digitisation of all the Southwell Workhouse and Poor Law Union records and correspondence for the period 1834–1871. In mid-May the National Archives launched a free website which makes not only a summary of each document available, but copies of the original documents as well. The project has been judged such a success that the National Archives is already seeking funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to allow it to work with up to twenty local groups on similar workhouse projects in other parts of England and Wales. One of the groups approached is the nearby Retford & District Historical & Archaeological Society in north Nottinghamshire, who have appointed former committee member Margaret Eyre to try and recruit a team of twelve volunteers* who will be ready to start work at short notice. The Southwell volunteers have been housed in ‘The Garage’ with three laptop computers and three microfilm readers for the last five years. After attending workshops at the Public Record Office in Kew, they have received regular training and support in Southwell. Most of the volunteers were involved for only some of the time. Charles Hurt, for example, was a volunteer researcher between 2002 and 2004, who went onto to work with the Southwell & Nottingham Diocese Church History Project, where he has recently completed the entry for Hockerton St Nicholas parish church. He originally became involved after he took early retirement and was encouraged by his wife, who was already a workhouse re-enactment volunteer. Charles is also a family historian, but has never been a member of a local history society. Charles said two years was enough, as the transcription work, summarising documents for the web and research involved demanded a high level of concentration and at the end he was in need of a change, but he was pleased to have been involved. Dr Paul Carter from the national Archives said ‘This project has opened up a proportion of really important, but usually pretty inaccessible, set of records which can be used by local historians as well as family historians interested in researching 19th century social history in detail’. The website is easy to use and copies of original documents can be downloaded free of charge. Visitors can search by location and occupation as well as name and date. Typing in ‘Lenton’, ‘Derby’ and ‘Birmingham’, all some way from the part of Nottinghamshire covered by the Southwell workhouse, revealed entries, some relating to former residents of the area seeking relief, others to members of staff. It easy to see why Paul and his colleagues are excited by the sheer amount of research material which has been unlocked by five years hard work and want to repeat the exercise in other poor law unions across the country, with the view to giving researchers access to records in towns and cities as well as mainly rural areas. What you see when you visit this website is a vision for the future of local history related research and it’s free! The website entries are accompanied by a great deal of useful background information about the poor law and potential research opportunities. You will find the website at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/workhouse. *Proposed Project entitled Nineteenth Century Poverty in England and Wales. If you or your society would like more information visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ partnerprojects/workhouse.
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28 May 2007
Above: Charles Hurt on being a Southwell Workhouse Project volunteer: ‘Two years was enough, but I’m pleased I did it’.
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