pauper children again

[Lakeslass]

Thankyou all so much for your response to my previous question - the first one I have sent. I can't believe that people will take so much trouble to help.

My g.g.grandfather was born in Lambeth and finished as a master spinner in a water powered cotton mill in a remote part of Lancashire.

I know that a silk spinner called Jeremiah Bury, of Stockport,brought 200 pauper children from (I think) Chelsea. He later bought the water powered cotton mill mentioned above at which my ancestor worked for many years, certainly he was there in 1820 when he married.

The theory of the pauper child is a bit of a wild one, but I can't think of any other way he would have come North. His wife, incidentally was born in Lincoln.

[dotjhawkes]

It is probable that with the Industrial North being able to provide work for pauper children from the South, that mill owners approached the Overseers of the poor in the workhouses for cheap labour. Alot of the workhouses in London were teaching spinning skills to young children as a way of making them support themselves. It may even be that the Uinion workhouse contacted the mill owners to offer this labour source. lambeth ahd an infant poorhouse

Lambeth operated a workhouse school at Elder Road, West Norwood. Originally called the "Norwood House of Industry", this establishment for the infant poor, was originally administered by the parish churchwardens and overseers. It was rebuilt in 1810 on the Norwood site which was held on a lease expiring in March 1874. Up until 1836, it accommodated both the very young and the very old from the Lambeth workhouse. On 10th December 1838, the school contained 460 inmates comprising: 107 boys aged 9 to 16; 139 boys aged 2 to 9; 89 girls aged 9 to 16; 105 girls aged 2 to 9; 11 infants, and 5 women. Before its lease was due to expire, the Guardians bought the land for �650, the site becoming known as the "Old School. Between 1868 and 1893 they spent a further �19,450 on additional land to the north for the erection of the "New School" which opened in July 1885 at a cost of �56,000 including furniture and fittings. Additional buildings included the School Infirmary and First Probation block, completed in 1879 at a cost of �11,700, and a Second Probation Block and Isolation Block opened 1893 at a cost of �11,000.

After 1885, the Old School was used to accommodate children under eight. It comprised five blocks:

[dotjhawkes]

Also, though i havn't found any for Lambeth, i have found a record of admissions and discharges for Chelsea workhouse up to 1799, and many of the young children were put into apprenticeships all around the country as a way of getting them to support themselves. It is therefore possible that Jeremiah Bury was contacting more than one Workhouse to obtain his labour force as chealply as possible.

[dotjhawkes]

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/Chelsea/Chelsea17 43.html

[dotjhawkes]

This is interesting from the Chelsea workhouse

Jones, Joseph M 9 28/04/97 09/11/97 Came with his Fahter Bound to Messrs Douglass & Co Cotton Spinners of Eccles in the County of Lancaster

Spooner, Samuel M 7 04/04/97 26/06/99 Came With his Mother Ran away because he would not go to Manchester

[dotjhawkes]

Sumner, John M 11 07/06/96 09/11/97 a Cripple by bad Nursin Bound to Messrs Douglas & Co Cotton Spinners of Eccles in the County of Lancaster

[dotjhawkes]

Jones, Elizabeth F 12 17/11/95 30/11/95 To be Apprenticd Bound to Messrs Douglass & Co Cotton Spinners of Eccles in the County of Lancaster

Martin, John M 12 19/11/95 30/11/95 His Could not keep him Bound to Messrs Douglas & Co Cotton Spinners of Eccles in the County of Lancaster

Swinney, James M 9 27/10/95 30/11/95 the Ague Bound to Messrs Douglas & Co Cotton Spinners of eccles in the County of Lancaster

[dotjhawkes]

There are lots more entries for children being apprenticed to Messers Douglass & Co in Eccles, the mill was recruiting over a number of years and taking boys and girls. Not all of them were orphans either. This really does explain how your gtgt grandfather could have got to Stockport. Even if he went from a different workhouse.

It is fascinating to read thru some of the reasons those poor people were in there! and even funnier to read why some were kicked out!

[gary baldy]

Been busy dot havent you?
My take on it would be this: the north west was booming in the early C19th and people from all over the country (and the world!) were drawn to the area in search of work.
There is a good chance you ancestor's family came north looking for work. That would explain how he married a girl from Lincoln.
As dot rightly says the mill owners saw these poor kids as a source of cheap labour.
This - and your pauper theory - are both feasable.
If you want to persue this any further i can find out the contact details of record offices and local study units that might help you. (I live in Manchester btw and am a bit of a local history buff)

[smudge]

What an interesting subject, with brilliant answers & link.