Cornwall Workhouses

Cornwall Workhouses

Bodmin Workhouse
Camelford Workhouse
Falmouth Workhouse
Helston Workhouse
Launceston Workhouse
Liskeard Workhouse
Penzance Workhouse
Redruth Workhouse
St Austell Workhouse
St Columb Major Workhouse
St Germans Workhouse
Stratton Workhouse
Truro Workhouse

County of Cornwall

CORNWALL is the most south-westerly portion of England, and forms a peninsula, being bounded by the sea on three sides, and along four fifths of its eastern border it is separated from the County of Devon by the River Tamar, except just north of Launceston, where a small portion of Devonshire juts into Cornwall. (Kelly's Directory 1897).

Cornwall Poor Law Unions and Workhouses

The Poor Law Unions within the County of Cornwall are St Austell, Bodmin, Camelford, St Columb Major, Falmouth, St Germans, Helston, Launceston, Liskeard, Padstow, Penzance, Redruth, Isles of Scilly, Stratton and Truro.

Commissioners Reports
Workhouses, List of those visited in 1867 With Name of the Workhouse and numbers of insane, idiotic, and imbecile inmates P255 J

CORNWALL	MALE	FEMALE	TOTAL
Falmouth	1	2	3
St Germans	5	4	9
Helston	2	5	7
Penzance	1	5	6
Redruth	7	13	20
Truro	3	9	12

Source:
From PP 1867/68 Vol XXXI pp 1-301
Twenty Second Report of the Commissioners in Lunacy
to the Lord Chancellor

Statistics
Summary of Results.
Workhouses.
Pauper inmates of Workhouse establishments in the Registration County number 1,308 persons of all ages, 592 Males and 716 Females.
These represent approximately 0.41% of the general population.
At advanced ages the proportion is far higher; at 55 years and upwards the % is 1.12% and at 65 years and upwards is 1.68%.

Prisons
Prisoners in the Local Prison at Aylesbury number 75. 74 Male and 1 Female.

The Blind, Deaf and Dumb
The number of persons returned as Blind is 447, and of these 8 suffer from some other Infirmity also.

Deaf and Dumb persons including 17 returned simply as Dumb, number 163, and of these 4 suffer from some other Infirmity also.

Lunatics
Lunatics number 798, and the Imbecile and Feeble-minded 516, including 4 otherwise afflicted. The total of these classes is
1,314.
It may be noted that, of the 1,314 persons returned as mentally deranged, 911 were the inmates of institutions, including 798 in
Public and Private Lunatic Asylums, 113 in Workhouses. The remaining 403 were residing with relatives or in unlicensed houses.

Of the 113 mentally deranged persons enumerated in Workhouses, 16 were returned as a Lunatics and 97 as Imbecile, or Feeble-minded; and of the 403 not enumerated in Institutions, 8 were returned as Lunatics and 395 as Imbecile or Feeble-minded.
Source:
Statistics submitted by Alan Longbottom
From Census Statistical Volume 1901
County of Cornwall in PP 1902 Cd 1,360

Records

Cornwall Record Office
County Hall,
Truro
TR1 3AY
Tel 01872 273698

Page updated Monday August 06, 2007