Workhouse Inmates
For many people the workhouse was the place of last resort. Reasons for going to the workhouse were chronic illness, disability, unemployment, pregnancy, debt and abandonment by parents or spouse. Whole families sometimes ended up in the workhouse, and some returned more than once.
As paupers arrived at the workhouse they were washed and their hair was cut short. All their belongings were taken away and they were given a workhouse uniform to wear. Families were separated, with men, women and children living in separate blocks.
This was probably not considered cruel, since it offered more privacy, and prevented abuses. All inmates had to do some kind of work.
Staff and Occupants of the Workhouse 1881
| STAFF | ||||||
| Isaac | PRIEST | M | 36 | Master Of Workhouse | Amblecote Stafford | |
| Mary | PRIEST | M | 35 | Matron Of Workhouse | Newcastle U Lyme Stafford | |
| Lucy | PRIEST | 8 | Scholar | Newcastle U Lyme Stafford | ||
| Mary | BEANE | U | 25 | Schoolmistress | Thursford | |
| Sarah Christiana Ann | HOWISON | W | 44 | Nurse | Shereford | |
| Walter | RUMSBY | M | 32 | Porter In Workhouse | Bixley | |
| Rosetta | RUMSBY | M | 30 | Cook | Surlingham | |
| Maria | ALLEN | U | 42 | Masters Domestic Servant | Hindringham | |
| RESIDENTS | ||||||
| Robert | ALLEN | U | 46 | Seaman | Imbecile | Wells Next The Sea |
| William | ALLEN | W | 65 | Master Mariner | Wells Next The Sea | |
| Hannah | ARCHER | U | 24 | General Servant Domestic | ||
| Richard | ARCHER | 2 | Son Of Domestic Servant | Great Snoring | ||
| John | BACON | U | 34 | Butcher | Fakenham | |
| Arthur Edward | BAILEY | 4m | Bakers Grandson | Great Snoring | ||
| Ernest Albert | BAILEY | 6 | Bakers Grandson | Field Dalling | ||
| Maria Elizabeth | BAILEY | U | 27 | Bakers Daughter | Cley Next The Sea | |
| William | BALLS | W | 70 | Sailor | Wells Next The Sea | |
| Jonathan | BANHAM | U | 52 | Agricultural Labourer | Briningham | |
| George | BELL | U | 45 | Soldier Discharged (Army Pens) | Imbecile | Great Snoring |
| Sarah | BELL | M | 39 | Blacksmiths Wife | Knightsbridge Middlesex | |
| William | BIRD | U | 74 | Agricultural Labourer | Sculthorpe | |
| Joseph | BOTTOMLEY | M | 72 | Carpenter | Wells Next The Sea | |
| James | COBON | W | 76 | Baker | Letheringsett | |
| Thomas | COLLS | U | 65 | Baker | Fakenham | |
| Christopher William | COOK | 9 | Scholar | Great Snoring | ||
| Thomas | COOK | 15 | Scholar | Wells Next The Sea | ||
| James | COPPIN | 10 | Scholar | Great Snoring | ||
| Laura | COPPIN | 13 | Scholar | |||
| Susanna | COPPIN | 14 | Scholar | |||
| John Robert | CREMER | U | 32 | Agricultural Labourer | Imbecile | Pensthorpe |
| William | CURSON | W | 72 | Sailor | Stiffkey | |
| Thomas | DALLASTONE | U | 69 | Groom Domestic Servant | Middleton | |
| Henry | DALTON | U | 65 | Agricultural Labourer | Binham | |
| Thomas | DENNIS | 8 | Scholar | Little Ryburgh | ||
| Samuel | DOY | W | 74 | Agricultural Labourer | Thursford | |
| William | DOY | W | 51 | Sailor | Barnaby Suffolk | |
| Arthur | DUGDALE | U | 19 | Agricultural Labourer | Little Snoring | |
| Harriet | EGGLETON | U | 25 | Agricultural Labourers Daughter | Stibbard | |
| James | EGGLETON | 13 | Scholar | Great Snoring | ||
| Robert | EGGLETON | 9m | Agricultural Labourers Grandson | Great Snoring | ||
| Edmund Henry | EGMERE | 1 | Son Of Domestic Servant | Great Snoring | ||
| Joanna | EGMERE | 14 | Scholar | Sculthorpe | ||
| Julia | EGMERE | U | 17 | Domestic Servant | Sculthorpe | |
| Mary Ann | EVERETT | U | 40 | Agricultural Labourers Daughter | Imbecile | Fulmodestone |
| Alfred | FOSTER | 11 | Scholar | |||
| Samuel | FOSTER | U | 60 | House Painter | Fakenham | |
| Henry | FULLER | 13 | Scholar | Norwich Norwich | ||
| Susannah | HARPER | 12 | Scholar | London Middlesex | ||
| Charlotte | HARRISON | 7 | Scholar | Fakenham | ||
| Georgina | HARRISON | 10 | Scholar | |||
| Harriet | HARRISON | 13 | Scholar | London Middlesex | ||
| Henry | HOWARD | U | 58 | Sailor | Wells Next The Sea | |
| Edward | HUGGINS | 7 | Scholar | Fakenham | ||
| Wortley | HUGGINS | W | 58 | Bricklayers Labourer | Hempton | |
| Charles | HURN | W | 65 | Agricultural Labourer | Gunthorpe | |
| Robert | JARY | W | 77 | Agricultural Labourer | Imbecile | Wiveton |
| Esther | KENDLE | W | 78 | Agricultural Labourers Wife | Fulmodestone | |
| William | LAKE | W | 77 | Agricultural Labourer | Little Walsingham | |
| Lydia | LARGE | W | 67 | Tollgate Keepers Wife | Wighton | |
| Maria | LOADS | U | 47 | Coopers Daughter | Little Ryburgh | |
| Ruth | LOADS | U | 16 | Coopers Grand Daughter | Little Ryburgh | |
| John | MASSINGHAM | U | 71 | Agricultural Labourer | Binham | |
| Richard | MAYES | W | 82 | Shoemaker | Brinton | |
| Gabriel | MORGAN | W | 86 | Shoemaker | Fakenham | |
| Edward | OLLEY | 13 | Scholar | Bridgenorth Shropshire | ||
| Thomas William | OTWAY | U | 70 | Agricultural Labourers Son | Idiot | Blakeney |
| Clara | PALMER | 10 | Scholar | |||
| Hannah | PAWLEY | W | 75 | Butchers Wife | London Surrey | |
| George | PEARCE | W | 77 | Agricultural Labourer | Sculthorpe | |
| Robert | PIGOT | U | 45 | Agricultural Labourer | Warham All Saints | |
| George | PILBY | U | 46 | Bricklayer | Portsmouth Hampshire | |
| Robert | PILE | W | 81 | Agricultural Labourer | Fulmodestone | |
| Elizabeth | RICHES | W | 53 | Gardeners Wife (Domestic Servant) |
East Raynham | |
| George | RICHES | U | 77 | Agricultural Labourer | Warham All Saints | |
| Sarah | RINGWOOD | U | 36 | Plumber & Glaziers Daughter | Imbecile | Wells Next The Sea |
| Henry | RIX | 11 | Scholar | Wells Next The Sea | ||
| John | RIX | U | 56 | Bricklayers Labourer | Binham | |
| William | RUSSELL | U | 63 | Agricultural Labourer | Hempton | |
| Darken Robert | SAVAGE | U | 50 | Blacksmith | Gunthorpe | |
| Frank | SIMMONS | W | 71 | Agricultural Labourer | Sculthorpe | |
| Robert | SIMMONS | U | 67 | Bricklayers Labourer | Sculthorpe | |
| John | SKILLINGS | W | 73 | Miller | Briningham | |
| Eliza | TOMLINSON | W | 69 | Gardeners Wife | Wells Next The Sea | |
| John William | TUCK | U | 80 | Agricultural Labourer | Wighton | |
| George William | TURNER | 12 | Scholar | |||
| Lydia | TURNER | 10 | Scholar | |||
| Henry | WARD | 63 | Agricultural Labourer | Imbecile & Blind | East Barsham | |
| Sarah | WAYTE | W | 77 | Hatters Wife | Imbecile | Wells Next The Sea |
| William | WEBSDALE | U | 66 | Agricultural Labourer | Bury St Edmunds Suffolk | |
| John | WHITE | W | 61 | House Painter | West Bromwich Stafford | |
| Elizabeth | WICK | W | 89 | Accountant To Merchants Wife | Wisbeach Cambridge | |
| John | WICK | W | 77 | Agricultural Labourer | Holkham | |
| William | WICK | U | 73 | Agricultural Labourer | Holkham | |
| William | WILKIN | W | 80 | Agricultural Labourer | Little Walsingham | |
| Annie Elizabeth | WILKINSON | 5 | Scholar | Little Ryburgh | ||
| Robert | WILKINSON | 14 | Scholar | Little Ryburgh | ||
| William | WILKINSON | 9 | Scholar | Great Snoring | ||
| Ann | WILLDEN | W | 83 | Master Millers Wife | Wymondham | |
| Mary | WILTSHIRE | W | 67 | Agricultural Labourers Wife | Great Barton Suffolk | |
| Thomas | YEOMANS | W | 83 | Gardener Domestic Servant | Hindringham | |
