Records of the Guardians of the Poor of the Manchester, Chorlton and Prestwich Unions
1837-1948
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Records of the Manchester Union including General administration of indoor and outdoor relief (45 vols) giving numbers of paupers at the Manchester, Blackley and Prestwich workhouses 1842-1948; Financial records for the parish of Manchester 1841-1848; General ledgers (Manchester Township) 1894-1930; Weekly Returns for Blackley Workhouse 1841-1845; Creed Registers for the New Bridge Street Workhouse 1881-1914 (on microfilm, 1881-1899); Records of Children sent to Swinton Poor School 1846-1864
Records of the Chorlton Union including weekly returns 1843-1915; General ledgers 1837-1915 (incomplete); Loan ledger 1910-1930; Register of children emigrated to Canada 1889-1947
Records of Prestwich Union including Weekly returns 1851-1913;
Records of Chorlton and Manchester Joint Asylum Committee : Ledgers 1897-1913
Records of Chorlton and Manchester Joint Workhouse Committee including General Ledgers 1902-1912
Related Material:The following minutes are are part of the Council Minutes collection.
Board of Guardians 1915-1925 (2 volumes)
Langho Committee 1915-1920 (1 volume)
Manchester Poor Law Union Finance Committee Sep 1918-Mar 1930 (4 volumes)
Relief and Pay-Station Sub- Committee 1915-1925, Apr 1930-Feb 1937 (2 volumes)
Childrens' Homes Committee 1915-1925 (1 volume)
Other records of the Guardians of the Poor in the Local Studies Library.
Manchester Union. : Manchester Union statement of account. 1849, single sheet; Township of Manchester. Guardians' year book, 1895; Manchester Union year book, 1915; Annual report of the Guardians, 1915/16; Manchester Corporation. Public Assistance Committee. Regulations for the administration of' outdoor relief. 1938, 1943, 1947; Township of Manchester and Manchester] Union. Abstracts or accounts 1867-1930
Prestwich Union. : Abstracts of accounts, 1868-1915; Prestwich Union year book, 1889-1914/15 (incomplete set)
Chorlton Union. : Abstracts of accounts, 1838-1915 (Q 362 5 MA1); Manual, 1886/7-1913/14 (incomplete)
Please note the abstracts of accounts (339 M7) are useful for tracing details of staff. From the 1890s they give details of employees of the Manchester Poor Law Union - basically those in Crumpsall Workhouse, New Bridge Street Workhouse and Swinton Schools. The accounts become still more detailed as they move into the 20th century, with all employees named. You can see what individuals were paid, when they left a job, whether they were residential etc, and there are even details of payments to former employees. The last volume, 1915-1930, gives this level of detail for all the Manchester Union. So additional places include for example Withington Hospital, Delaunays, Langho Colony, Styal Cottage Homes, Rose Hill Opthalmia School and Dr Rhodes Memorial Home.
See also MISC/1132 A Short History of Delaunays Hospital, 1869-1969, by Kernal: Includes typescript drafts and bibliography. Also includes notes on M4/1 and M4/20/14, a copy of a resolution of the Township of Manchester on the death of Mr. J. W. Guilmelte, Dispenser of Medicines, Crumpsall Workhouse, 15 Nov 1889, and Papers in Connection with the Prestwich Property Account, 1915-1930 (Town Hall Muniments P2/294).
The Creed Register for New Bridge Street 1881-1911 are available on Findmypast.
See Withington Union Board of Guardians, 1922-1930 (GB127.M327/5/1-2).
Place:/Chorlton upon Medlock/Manchester/Lancashire/England
/Prestwich/Prestwich with Oldham/Lancashire/England
Title:
Records of the Guardians of the Poor of the Manchester, Chorlton and Prestwich Unions
Date of work:
1837-1948
Reference number:
GB127.M4
Level of description:
Fonds
Includes:
Custodial history:
Manchester Union.The original Manchester Union was formed in 1841, consisting of The Townships of Manchester, Blackley, Bradford, Cheetham, Crumpsall Failsworth, Harpurhey, Moston, Newton, Prestwich Great Heaton and Little Heaton. Manchester Township was constituted as a separate Poor Law authority on 10 April, 1850, the remaining Townships being formed as the Prestwich Union.Prestwich Union.Constituted by an Order of the Poor Law Board, 13 April 1850. To the Townships transferred from the Manchester Union the Township of Beswick was added in 1858 and Clayton in 1894. Great Heaton and Little Heaton were detached in 1891. In 1896 all the Townships except Prestwich and Failsworth were consolidated to form the Township of North Manchester, which remained a part of the Prestwich Union.Chorlton Union.This earliest of the three Unions was formed by an Order of the Poor Law Commissioners dated 14 January 1837, comprising the Townships of Chorlton-Upon-Medlock Ardwick, Hulme, Stretford, Moss Side, Levenshulme, Rusholme, Didsbury, Withington, Gorton, (divided in 1894 into Gorton and West Gorton) and Burnage Chorlton-Cum-Hardy and Openshaw were Added during 1837. Darton-upon-Irwell, Flixton and Urmston were added in 1841, but detached in 1849. Stretford was detached in 1849. In 1896 the Townships of Chorlton-UIpon-Medlock, Ardwick Hulme, Rusholme, Openshaw and West Gorton were consolidated as the Township of South Manchester In 1910 the remaining Townships in the Union were added and the whole consolidated into the Township of South Manchester for Poor Law purposes.By an order of the Ministry of Health in 1915 the Township of Manchester, the Township of South Manchester and the Prestwich Union were joined to constitute the Manchester Union.The Manchester Board of Guardians was dissolved on 31 March 1930, by the local Government Act, 1929 and its functions transferred to the Public Assistance Committee, later the Social Welfare Committee, of Manchester Corporation. The local administration of poor relief ceased in 1948, when the last remnants of the Poor Law system were abolished by Statute and the responsibility for the relief of destitution transferred to the National Assistance Board.A number of important institutions owe their beginning to the work of caring for the poor. Booth Hall Infirmary and Crumpsall and Withington Hospitals began as institutions for the sick poor. At the time of its dissolution the Board of Guardians also maintained the epileptic colony a Langho, homes for children, a school for mentally defective children, a convalescent home and a fleet of ambulances.
Source:
Acquired from the Town Clerk at the time of the winding up of the Social Welfare Committee (in 1948), successors to the Manchester Public Assistance Committee
Access restrictions:
Restrictions varyRecords that contain sensitive personal information about individuals are on restricted access (M4/20/13, M4/25/1, M4/26/1, M4/60/2).
Use restrictions:
Restrictions vary
Topics:
Record types:
COLLECTION
Language:
English
Record number:
7186821