Poor Law records from 1834 onwards

1. About this Guide

This guide explains how to find post-1834 poor law records at London Metropolitan Archives (LMA). 

Under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, parishes in England and Wales were grouped into Poor Law Unions. Each union was run by a Board of Guardians who reported to the Poor Law Commission. 

These Poor Law Unions ran workhouses, infirmaries, children's homes and paid out-relief.

2. Online Records

Many poor law records are available on Ancestry.co.uk. Some records are however not searchable by name so you may need to use the 'Browse this Collection' function.

• Poor Law and Board of Guardian Records, 1738-1926
• Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1764-1921
• Poor Law Hospital Admissions and Discharges, 1842-1918
• Selected Poor Law Removal and Settlement Records, 1698-1922

3. Which Poor Law Union? 

If you have the name of a workhouse or infirmary, you need to find out which Poor Law Union ran it. An excellent starting point is The Workhouse website by Peter Higginbotham.

Once you know the correct Poor Law Union, browse the individual catalogues for surviving records:

 4. Type of records

Creed Registers - These registers are a good place to start as they are often arranged alphabetically by surname. They generally give name, date of admission, where admitted from, religion, occupation, date of discharge, reason for discharge, and name and address of a relative or friend.

Admission and Discharge Registers - These registers are arranged chronologically and give the names of those admitted and discharged each day. They occasionally give the cause of seeking relief.

Settlement Examinations - When someone applied for poor relief, they may have undergone a settlement examination to determine which poor law union was legally responsible for looking after them. Examinations are very valuable as they give details of a person's life history such as where they were born and where they have lived.

Orders of Removal - If their place of legal settlement was found to be elsewhere, a magistrate could sign a removal order forcing them to go there. Surviving orders of removal usually contain similar information to a settlement examination.

Reception Orders - These documents were completed to admit or transfer individuals to lunatic asylums. They usually contain medical certificates with observations of the person's behaviour.

Board Minutes - The Board of Guardians were required to meet at weekly intervals to discuss the business of the union. The minutes of these meetings contain information about the administration of the union such as issues relating to staff, repairs and alterations to buildings, and the tendering of contracts to supply the workhouse with food and other necessary provisions. The minutes occasionally contain references to individual paupers but they can be very difficult to find and may not yield a lot of information. 

5. Parishes exempted from the 1834 Act

The following parishes did not come under the control of Boards of Guardians until the years 1867-1869. Records relating to the administration of poor relief in these parishes from 1834 to 1867/9 will be found with the parish records:

• St Giles-in-the-Fields and St George, Bloomsbury
• St James and St. John, Clerkenwell
• St Leonard, Shoreditch
• St Luke, Old Street, Finsbury
• St Mary, Islington
• St Mary, Newington
• St Marylebone
• St Pancras
• St George, Hanover Square
• St James, Westminster
• St Margaret and St. John