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 1901
| Isaac | PRIEST | M | 56 | 1845 | Head; Master of Workhouse | Amblecote Staffordshire |
| Mary | PRIEST | M | 55 | 1846 | Wife; Matron | Newcastle Under Lyme Staffordshire |
| Lucy | PRIEST | S | 28 | 1873 | Daughter; Schoolmistress | Newcastle Under Lyme Staffordshire |
| Robert | CADAMY | M | 44 | 1857 | Officer; Porter | Wells Next the Sea |
| Esther | CADAMY | M | 55 | 1846 | Officer; Cook | Great Snoring |
| Agnes L | FAIRBANK | W | 46 | 1855 | Officer; Superintendent Nurse | Brentford Middlesex |
| Agnes J | FAIRBANK | S | 23 | 1878 | Officer; Assistant Nurse | Newcastle Northumberland |
| Helen | SHAFTO | S | 20 | 1881 | Officer; Probationer Nurse | Kings Lynn |
| Ellen | MATSELL | S | 26 | 1875 | Officer; Industrial Trainer Assistant Matron | Binham |
| John | BACON | S | 50 | 1851 | Officer; Boys Caretaker | Fakenham |
| Harriett | EGGLETON | S | 48 | 1853 | Servant (domestic) | Stibbard |
| Thomas | WISKER | W | 64 | 1837 | Draper Shopkeeper | Blakeney |
| William | BARD or BOND | 11 | 1890 | Blakeney | ||
| Anna | BARD or BOND | 9 | 1892 | Blakeney | ||
| Maria | BULLEN | W | 76 | 1825 | Shop keeper Retd | Blakeney |
| Charles | WINTERSTONE | M | 50 | 1851 | Ag Lab | Hindolveston |
| Martha | WINTERSTONE | M | 48 | 1853 | Domestic servant | Fulmodeston |
| Mary A | WINTERSTONE | 14 | 1887 | Hindolveston | ||
| Charles | WINTERSTONE | 12 | 1889 | Fulmodeston | ||
| Louisa | WINTERSTONE | 9 | 1892 | Fulmodeston | ||
| Mabel | WINTERSTONE | 4 | 1897 | Fulmodeston | ||
| Bertie | WINTERSTONE | 8 Months | 1900 | Blakeney | ||
| Thomas | COLMAN | W | 75 | 1826 | Agricultural labourer retired | Barney |
| Dorothy | THOMPSON | 4 | 1897 | Not Known | ||
| William | WEBSDALE | S | 77 | 1824 | Navvy retired | Bury Suffolk |
| John | CREMAR | M | 53 | 1848 | Agricultural labourer | Fakenham |
| Herbert | GREEN | 11 | 1890 | Fakenham | ||
| Phillip | SIMMONS | S | 44 | 1857 | No occupation | Fakenham |
| Mina | LOCKWOOD | W | 76 | 1825 | Labourer | Hingham |
| Rose | HIPKIN | S | 16 | 1885 | London Middlesex | |
| Mary | HIPKIN | 12 | 1889 | Great Snoring | ||
| Emma | LOWDER | S | 52 | 1849 | Domestic servant | Fakenham |
| George | MAKINS | M | 45 | 1856 | Farm steward | Whissonsett |
| Susannah | WARD | S | 45 | 1856 | Steward | Cley Next the Sea |
| Emma | TODD | S | 25 | 1876 | Servant | Fakenham |
| Florence | TODD | 2 | 1899 | Thorne Yorkshire | ||
| Ellen | SPRINGILL | S | 22 | 1879 | Servant | Sevenoaks Kent |
| Esther | HUNT | M | 45 | 1856 | Cook | Great Snoring |
| Matthew | HUNT | 18 | 1883 | Agricultural labourer | Houghton in the Hole | |
| George | NEWSTEAD | W | 56 | 1845 | Agricultural labourer | Cockthorpe |
| Walter G | BULLEN | S | 19 | 1882 | Agricultural labourer | Field Dalling |
| William | NEALE | S | 70 | 1831 | Agricultural labourer retired | Fulmodeston |
| William | GREEN | S | 76 | 1825 | Carpenter | Houghton in the Hole |
| William | HARWARD | S | 62 | 1839 | Agricultural labourer | Helhoughton |
| Sarah | ALCOCK | W | 64 | 1837 | Domestic servant | Houghton in the Hole |
| Thomas | TODD | W | 75 | 1826 | Gardener | Holkham |
| Alice | RICHES | S | 32 | 1869 | Fakenham | |
| Robert | PERT | M | 51 | 1850 | Agricultural labourer | Kettlestone |
| John | MASSINGHAM | W | 84 | 1817 | Navvy | Langham |
| William | POOLEY | S | 68 | 1833 | Sailor | Morston |
| James | YOUNGS | S | 77 | 1824 | Shepherd | Ruddham |
| John | READ | S | 76 | 1825 | Agricultural labourer | West Raynham |
| Robert | BARNES | S | 80 | 1821 | Agricultural labourer | Saxingham |
| James | BARNES | S | 63 | 1838 | Agricultural labourer | Field Dalling |
| James | ALCOCK | W | 84 | 1817 | Agricultural labourer | Shereford |
| Mary A | REEVE | W | 84 | 1817 | Shopkeeper | Great Walsingham |
| Ann | COOPER | S | 59 | 1842 | No occupation | Great Snoring |
| Robert | SEPPINGS | S | 65 | 1836 | Blacksmith retired | Fakenham |
| Florence | HOWLETT | 8 | 1893 | Stibbard | ||
| William | WORDINGHAM | W | 77 | 1824 | Agricultural labourer retired | Stiffkey |
| Mary | HENDRY | W | 73 | 1828 | Taylor | North Walsham |
| Robert | MANN | S | 70 | 1831 | Agricultural labourer | Wells Next the Sea |
| William | READ | W | 80 | 1821 | Peddler | Wisbeach Cambridgeshire |
| Elizabeth | RANSOME | W | 78 | 1823 | Ladies companion | Wells Next the Sea |
| Henry | HOWARD | S | 76 | 1825 | Porter on Quay | Wells Next the Sea |
| Sarah | PULL | S | 36 | 1865 | No occupation | Wells Next the Sea |
| Abram | SMITHBONE | S | 70 | 1831 | Sailor retired | Wells Next the Sea |
| Henry | LEWIS | W | 70 | 1831 | Agricultural labourer retired | Wells Next the Sea |
| Maria | STREET | S | 68 | 1833 | No occupation | Wells Next the Sea |
| Elizabeth | PERRY | 9 | 1892 | Wells Next the Sea | ||
| Harry R | COX | M | 70 | 1831 | Knappers Assistant | Yeovil Somerset |
| Jamie | COOK | M | 76 | 1825 | Shepherd retired | Ovington |
| Margaret | COOK | M | 75 | 1826 | Domestic servant | Great Massingham |
| William | COOK | W | 70 | 1831 | Porter | Wells Next the Sea |
| Maria | WATSON | W | 82 | 1819 | Malster | South Creake |
| Thomas | DICKERSON | W | 80 | 1821 | Sailor | Wells Next the Sea |
| John | NEWLAND | W | 83 | 1818 | Carpenter | Aylsham |
| Frank | MORTER | S | 42 | 1859 | Wells Next the Sea | |
| Alice | COE | 18 | 1883 | Domestic servant | Wighton | |
| Thomas | HODGSON | M | 77 | 1824 | Housepainter | Docking |
| Henry | BUCKINGHAM | S | 54 | 1847 | Agricultural labourer | Fakenham |
| Elizabeth | WICK | S | 63 | 1838 | Laundress | Holkham |
| William | BELL | M | 82 | 1819 | Stone Turner | Sculthorpe |
| Ann M | CHESNEY | W | 58 | 1843 | No occupation | Kings Lynn |
| William | SMITH | S | 60 | 1841 | Cabinetmaker | Woolwich Middlesex |
| John | HARNSON | W | 62 | 1839 | Painter | Lancaster Lancashire |
| Alfred | CLARKE | S | 48 | 1853 | Agricultural labourer | Clerkenwell Middlesex |
