Stoke and Wolstantion workhouses population. A study of the trends within the inmate population of both Stoke and Wolstanton workhouses and their causes.
This essay is twenty-seven pages long and containing nearly twelve thousand words. It is one of my major studies on the poor law of Stoke-on-Trent with two workhouse one at Stoke south, the Spittals operated under the Stoke upon Trent Poor Law Union and the other in the north under the Wolstanton and Burslem Poor Law Union called Chell workhouse. The statistical information is extracted from the census enumerators returns and is an important ingredient into the study of Poor Law and for the purpose of an accurate analysis. The data extracted presents statistical information upon which conclusions are drawn on each workhouse illustrating areas of conformity and the differences found. Each entry was meticulously copied from census enumerators returns directly into spreadsheets where an analytical approach gives up their secrets to identify facts, figures, and trends. This contextualised data provides the means of assessing both the social history perspective and the influences of the Local Government Board and guardians of the poor placed into their care.
The period reflects that of six decades for the Stoke and Wolstanton Workhouses (1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901) providing a prospective between two locations situated six miles apart but serving one industrial conurbation. The findings will be evaluated for the relevant years (1871-1901). The 1851 census will be used as a benchmark for this data. Stafford and Newcastle-under-Lyme workhouse figures for 1881 will be used as a comparison. It is argued by Goose that despite the census returns are only factual once in every ten years that in fact variations during that period can be considerable producing a very different set of figures:
The Census returns provide us with information at one fixed point in time a perfectly valid historical perspective in its own right but one that masks the considerable coming and goings that the admissions register reveal, either through seasonal fluctuations or because of the activities of incorrigible individuals. As the census will capture higher proportions of long-term residents, it will undoubtedly tend to understate the proportions of individual working age, which feature in greater numbers in the admissions registers but who individually remained in the workhouse for much shorter periods.
This is a short evaluation of what it is all about, not only is it an insight to life in the workhouse system of the time but the basis for a student to formulate their own conclusions of what trends and qualities that each workhouse shared etc. Make a great project for a local history club.It is a perfect example for 6th form or university humanities studies. Also a great asistance to tutors.
This essay is ten pages long and a huge word count of over 12,000 words.
