Is this possible?

[KellyO]

Hi there,

I have a wee question about where people would be sent if they needed to go into a poorhouse or institution. I am trying to find my G-Grandfather, Alexander Sanderson, on the 1891 census. He was born in 1881 in Leith, his parents were Christina Moffat Brown and Alexander Sanderson.

Christina was in South Leith Poorhouse on the 1891 census with her sister Jessie. They were both blind. I cannot see any possible candidate for her son Alexander on the Scottish 1891 census.

However, I looked over on the 1891 English census and in Kendal Union Workhouse there is a 10 year old Alexander Sanderson, with birthplace unknown. Could it be possible that my G Grandfather was sent to Kendal? If so, does anyone have any ideas on how to verify if he is mine? Are the poorhouse records in Cumbria available at all?

Many thanks

Kelly

[AndrewP]

Hi Kelly,

See http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html ... ndal.shtml

At the foot of that page, it gives contact details for Cumbria Record Office which holds some records for Kendal Union Workhouse.

http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/archives/reco ... /knrec.asp

All the best,

AndrewP

[KellyO]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the speedy reply! It may be a long shot as to whether or not this is my Alexander, but as I have no other candidates I may as well drop the Kendal Office an email and see what they have on record.

Cheers!

Kelly

[Currie]

Hello Kelly,

There’s a birth on FreeBMD http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl

Births Sep 1881
Sanderson Alexander Kendal 10b713

The odds are that this is the child in the Kendal Poorhouse as I can’t see a death for him before 1891. That’s unless you can find him elsewhere in 1891.

I’m not too clear about the poorhouse situation but it strikes me that the prospects of a child being sent to a poorhouse well across the border into another country would be a bit on the unlikely side. Possible I suppose if he became an orphan (or as good as one) and was sent off to live with relatives and there struck hard times requiring the services of a poorhouse. I’m not sure how poorhouses were funded in the 1890s but I’m guessing that the Scottish poor were a Scottish problem.

I’m not saying that the young lad isn’t the one born Leith just that there appears to be a very much more likely candidate born Kendal.

Alan

[nelmit]

Hi there,

I have a wee question about where people would be sent if they needed to go into a poorhouse or institution. I am trying to find my G-Grandfather, Alexander Sanderson, on the 1891 census. He was born in 1881 in Leith, his parents were Christina Moffat Brown and Alexander Sanderson.

Christina was in South Leith Poorhouse on the 1891 census with her sister Jessie. They were both blind. I cannot see any possible candidate for her son Alexander on the Scottish 1891 census.

However, I looked over on the 1891 English census and in Kendal Union Workhouse there is a 10 year old Alexander Sanderson, with birthplace unknown. Could it be possible that my G Grandfather was sent to Kendal? If so, does anyone have any ideas on how to verify if he is mine? Are the poorhouse records in Cumbria available at all?

Many thanks

Kelly

Hello Kelly,

Alexander Brown and his brother Thomas Brown are also in South Leith Poorhouse in 1891 along with Jessie's son John. There is also a Jessie aged 8 who I think is possibly Jessie's daughter..

Kind regards,
Annette

[KellyO]

Hi there again,

Alan I did think it would be strange having a wee boy sent over the border, so to speak, and that's why I wondered about the situation.

Annette, I think I must be suffering from word blindness!! How did I miss them I scoured Ancestry and now feel like a right pillock for missing them!! I completely forgot to try them under their mother's surname.

I was on a wild hunt for missing rellies the past couple of days and obviously lost the plot! I found my poor 3 x g grandfather Ninian masquerading under the name Marian in the Edin Royal Infirmary on one census!! Don't you love transcription bloopers!!

Thanks everyone for their time.

Kelly

[LesleyB]

Hi Kelly

I found my poor 3 x g grandfather Ninian masquerading under the name Marian in the Edin Royal Infirmary on one census!!

Best wishes
Lesley