HOW were the poor looked after in the past? What would have happened to your ancestor if they couldn’t work?

Documents at Hampshire Record Office can often provide a revealing insight into the stories of the poor and how society treated them.

The loss of monastic almsgiving, owing to the dissolution of the monasteries, led to an increase in the numbers of poor. Legislation to deal with this was piecemeal but gave rise to the 1601 Poor Law.

Of particular significance is the development of the doctrine of settlement formalised in the 1662 Settlement Act, determining that a parish would only provide poor relief to established residents.

Due to this, records exist concerning investigations about which parish was legally obliged to maintain individuals or families if they became destitute. These ‘settlement examinations’ can provide amazing detail into somebody’s life as depicted in the following example for Martha Early.

Martha was born at Ringwood where her parents were settled parishioners. At the age of 21 she married John Early, also from Ringwood. After only 10 months of married life her husband enrolled in the Hampshire Militia.

Martha left Ringwood to travel with her husband, and his regiment, until they returned to Ringwood in 1813. However, in 1817 her husband left her and her two children. She never saw him again.

In March 1825 she was informed of his death of her husband via the overseers of the Parish of Huxham in Devon, and was informed that he had left a second wife and family. In May 1826, an attorney informed her that her husband had rented a house and land in Huxham at a rent of £12 a year and that she was actually still his legal wife. This meant his second wife and family received nothing and Martha was informed that her legal settlement was in Huxham.

Apparently, the parish officers of Huxham decided to pay the officers of Ringwood to maintain Martha and her children, which must have been the cheaper option than moving them to Huxham.

In 1834, the management of the poor changed with the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act. Parishes were to be grouped together in unions regulated by commissioners. The admission and discharge book, September 1835 to November 1836, for the Union Workhouse in Winchester reveals the sad tales of those who had nowhere else to go.

The first entry records Sarah Osman of Twyford, aged 23, and her three children who were brought into the workhouse because her husband had absconded. The following entry is for Harriet Brown and her five children, forced into the workhouse because her husband was in hospital following a fracture of the ribs.

lDiscover more about poor law records with our workshop on, February 27, 2pm to 4pm, or learn about various title deeds and how to interpret them, on March 13, 10.30am to 1pm: £20 each.

Develop archival skills in cataloguing, preservation, digitisation, and oral history on our archive ambassador training day on March 15, 10am to 3.30pm: £30. Book by phoning 01962 846154; or visiting www.hants.gov.uk/archives.

By Matthew Goodwin

Archivist

Hampshire Archives and Local Studies,

Hampshire Record Office