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Author: 53jay
Surnames:
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chaffey/1.3.5.16.1.1.2.1.1.1.1/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
Hi Lance,
A workhouse was a n institution where the poor were sent to or chose to go to as a last
resort when they had no means of supporting themselves. Many of them were built following
the Poor Law Reform in the 1830's others were adapted from existing premises. They
were in existence until the 1930s -1940s and the creation of the Welfare State in 1947.
The prospect of ending up in a workhouse was terrifying and shameful for many people. My
Mum and her sister went into a children's home in the 1920s and her mother went into
the workhouse when her her husband abandoned them.
If you have ever read any Charles Dickens novels he has a lot to say about workhouses.
My line comes through Thomas Short and his second wife Caroline Atwell. Their son William
Daniel Chaffey was my Grandfather who seems to have disappeared after 1907. Can't find
where he went or when he died. His youngest son Leslie Henry was my Dad who died in 1960.
If you look for the picture of the workhouse on another tree you may have better luck
downloading it. Just a thought.
Cheers
Julia
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