In this issue,
R K Vyst
succours the needy,
by answering questions on
Poor Relief

Question 1. In a poor relief register I have come across the terms 'outdoor relief' and 'test ward'. What do these mean?

Answer: 'indoor relief' meant admission to a poorhouse. 'Outdoor relief' meant another form of poor relief, usually a single or regular money payment, but sometimes outdoor relief was in the form of medicine, clothing or the payment of school fees. A 'test case' refers to an application for relief where the Inspector of the Poor suspected that the applicant could be supported by himself/herself or by his/her family. The applicant would be offered 'indoor relief' in the 'test ward' of a poorhouse. Those admitted to the test ward had to endure a tougher, more restrictive regime than those in other wards. The assumption (of the poor law authorities) was that many applicants would either refuse indoor relief in the test ward or, if admitted, would not endure the test ward for long, discharging themselves and therefore disqualifying themselves from relief.

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Question 2. Where should I look for information on Scottish workhouses for a school project?

Answer: firstly, in Scotland the term 'poorhouse' is normally used. Although nineteenth century and early twentieth century Scots sometimes referred to a poorhouse as a 'workhouse', Scottish poorhouses differed from English workhouses in that they were not expected to contribute substantially to their own costs from the labour of the inmates. You might look at the a website mainly on English workhouses, but with some information on Scottish poorhouses. The website of the Heatherbank Museum of Social Work has poorhouses as one of its topics. The Scottish Archive Network's Knowledge Base has various entries on poor relief and poorhouses. If you are interested in looking at the history of a particular poorhouse, you should contact each of the following, who might hold the records: (a) your local authority archive, (b) your local health board archive (if one exists), and (c) your local authority library service, but bear in mind that substantial records do not survive for most Scottish poorhouses. If the parish had its own poorhouse (rather than sending paupers to a combination poorhouse) it would normally have a House Committee, or a committee with a similar title. From the minutes of these (or the parochial board in question) you should be able to find out when the poorhouse opened. The opening will have been written about at length in the local press (and you should be able to look at back-copies of local newspapers at your local studies library). Many poorhouse buildings still survive: some as hospitals, some as administrative offices, some as old folks homes. In most cases the place to ask about post-1948 use of poorhouse buildings will be the appropriate health board archive, if one exists for your area. The National Archives of Scotland (NAS) hold architectural plans for most Scottish poorhouses, and these can provide useful information about the size and living conditions of poorhouses. You can have access to plans in the west search room in Charlotte Square, but contact the NAS in advance to check if the plans you require have survived and are available. As the NAS requires two days notice to produce plans in the search room you will have to make an appointment to see them.

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Question 3. A record agent has sent me information about my ancestor from a 'General Register of the Poor'. Is this in the National Archives of Scotland and does it cover the whole of Scotland?

Answer: The term 'general register of the poor' does not refer to a single national register, but refers to a type of poor relief register kept by individual parishes. In 1865 the Board of Supervision introduced new 'General Registers of Poor' and 'Children's Separate Registers' to replace earlier registers of the poor. Where poor relief registers are available for research they are generally found among county council and civil parish records in local authority archives and libraries, but they have not survived for every parish. In general very little survives for the parochial boards of the major cities, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee, except Glasgow, where huge runs of application registers survive for Glasgow City, Barony and Govan parishes (held by Glasgow City Archives). The National Archives of Scotland hold parochial board and parish council records for some parishes in East Lothian (CO7/7, DC4/4-12, DC5/4-5, DC7/4), Midlothian (CO2/77-91), and Wigtownshire (CO4/30-47), and the records for the Wigtownshire and East Lothian parishes contain poor relief registers. For parochial board and parish council records for other parishes you should contact the appropriate local authority archive, in the first instance. The Scottish Records Association and the Scottish Archive Network are co-operating to produce a guide to the location of parochial board and parish council records (including poor relief registers). The first results of these are expected to appear in 2003.

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Question 4. My local archivist tells me that the poor relief registers for Auchterturra parish do not survive. This is disappointing, but will it be worthwhile looking in the parochial board minutes and parish council minutes for information on an individual pauper?

Answer: the amount of information in parochial board or parish council minutes relating to individual applicants varies from parish to parish. The minutes for some parishes, particularly rural parishes, may contain a lot of information, including the residence of the applicant and their living conditions, the reason for application, reasons for the application being accepted or rejected, other members of the applicant's family and their earnings, and other comments by the Inspector of the Poor. However, the minutes of many parishes include very little information on each applicant, often containing the name and the decision of the board or council and little else. In addition, remember that searching through minute books can be very time-consuming. If the pauper was in a poorhouse, you should perhaps look at the records of the poorhouse itself, if they survive. And it may be worth checking the poor relief records for neighbouring parishes (again, if these survive) as paupers often moved from one parish to another.

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