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Please see below coz I know this part of the message is very difficult to read. Thanks Anne

OK here we go - spaced out so its not hard to read. My gr gr gran ISABELLA BANKS (b 1846 approx) and her sister THEANA (b1845 approx) are both listed as being inmates of the Bourne Poor Law Union Workhouse,in Lincolnshire, on the 1851 census (although Theana has been mistranscribed as Thomas) I would love to know the circumstance under which they, as small children, came to be in the workhouse - and whether Emily Banks and Mary Eliza Banks (also listed on census) were related to them. And also where I could find information about their parents. I've looked on that excellent website about workhouses but there are no details about the actual inmates. I hate that word - its almost as if they were in prison - although I exoect it was exactly how they might have felt. I sometimes wonder how they would feel about me having found this out but hope they would be looking down and be pleased that in just 4 generations we are now living in comparative luxury. Has anyone else been through this? How did you feel? I would appreciate any help or suggestions. Many thanks Anne (wiping away a small tear)

Anne you could send for their birth certificates...... Births Mar 1846 (>99%) Banks Isabella Spilsby 14 559 Births Mar 1844 (>99%) BANKS T*ana Spilsby 14 56_ Georgina.

Yes, of course - overlooking the obvious again! That would certainly tell me whether they were actually born in the workhouse. If they weren't then do you know how I could find out when they were admitted, and indeed when they left? The 1861 census has them both possibly being servants in Granthan before moving to Manchester and marrying. I'm ok with their details from marriage onwards but would really like to know more about their early lives. Thanks, Anne

Anne maybe their parents died & they had to go into the workhouse, if you got at least 1 birth certificate you would have their parents names, then you could find the parents marriage & check the death records. Georgina.

Thanks Georgina. I've ordered the certs online and will await them eagerly! Anne

Hi If their birth was reg. in Spilsby they where not born in the Bourne work house. Bourne in only 3 miles from me and Spilsby is about 35 miles away. They would have been reg at Bourne. I will try and find where the workhouse was in Bourne for you. Regards kate

this is where I get cross.!!!! One of mine was supposedly in a work house and there are registers at the workhouses to say an address where they came from and where they went to when they left. This information was given out on Who do you think you are. Cant remember which celeb it was but they got to look at the register concerned. I made enquiries about mine and was told it would be £20 for a search and even then it may not produce anything. So I am at a loose end with that one. Dont have that amount of money to waste....

I had something similiar i found out my gtx5 Grandad wa in the workhouse in 1841 and died in there 1848,i found it incredibly sad as he had loads of children and his wife was living alone,unfortunatly wher he was they dont have the records anymore as they were destroyed in a fire so i'll never really know why he was there,i tend to think that he became senile and no one could cope with him anymore.When you think of what life was like in a workhouse its terrible,and i like to think that William Bilney would be glad to see whats happened to his descendents and how far forward we have all moved on from those days. Hugs xx

Thanks for that info Kate. I don't know Lincs at all other than it would take me 4 hours on a train to get there! I think I'm pleased they weren't born in the workhouse but I wonder what happened that they ended up there - and so young. I've ordered Isabella's cert for starters and will see what info is given there. Isn't it sad when you consider how many of us on here have such connections - and yes I think they would be pleased that we aren't experiencing the harshness of their lives. Sorry I didn't respond to the comments earlier but I've only just got in from work. Anne

Anne, i used to live in Bourne, as far as im aware the workhouses were destroyed about 8-10 years ago. There is lots of info about them online including this site which gives some idea of conditions, a bit later than when your ancestors were there. http://homepages*which*net/~rex/bourne/workhouse*htm Remember to replace the * with . Rebecca

The saddestr thing I have found so far is my 3x grt grandma in an asylum and the account of her illness i found in the female medical book - each time she was visited her condition was commented on - and she sounded apoor pathetic soul - I felt like crying - It was almost like the compulsory scene from 'who do you think you are?' At the same time her son was also in the same asylum - and it states that his condition is inherited - BUT not why I call myself Mad Alice I hasten to add.... I was just as sad when I discovered that another 3x grandmother had lost two children and a husband within 6 months and then left her baby in the workhouse while she went to london - 10 years later she had remarried and her daughter was living with her. Then ten years later she is in the workhouse where she dies - her daughter living only just round the corner! - How sad. Makes our lives look easy even when we may think thay are hard....... Than goodness we also have occassions when we can imagine celebrations too - sons and husbands actually returning from the war, christenings ( if your 12th child was a reason to celebrate) and weddings ( even if you were 6 mths pregnant at the time!) Alice

Sometimes they were only in the workhouse for a short spell - just because the weather was bad for instance- Although it seems awful to us - and being separated from your family and having to pick oakham must have been awful - they did have a roof over their heads and something to eat each day - life must hve been harder than that outside for them to be desperate enough to go there.

Thanks for that Rebecca. I've just read the article - what a harsh life. It makes my rellies seem more real as I find out more about the type of life they lived. And now I have the endless wait for the cert! lol Anne

Hi Anne my grandfather Peter Callaghan was born in the workhouse in Armagh Northern Ireland. from what i have been told he was the youngest of 6 and his mother died in childbirth ...his! we belive he was then fostered on a farm but ran away at 14 to come to England...he had ripped the names of his parents off and added the O to make O'Callaghan. i have just recieved his birth cert and the name of the master in Armagh on the website was the person who registered my grandads birth the day after he was born. my grandad was quite a cruel man and did put his own children through a lot ...with beatings etc...a bit a of a tyrant! but when you see the picturs and the stories of workhouse life and maybe carrying the guilt of your mother dying giving birth to you then i can now understand why he was the way he was....if that makes sense! i am hoping to visit the workhouse in armagh sometime this year to see it and maybe lay a few ghosts to rest. good luck with your research and i hope you find some good stories aswell regards michelle

Don't forget that the local workhouse also often acted as the local hospital ........ so a child born in the workhouse might have been born in the hospital because his mother for some reason needed extra care. She and the baby would then go home as soon as they were able. Or someone who died in the workhouse was actually in the infirmary section. This could be the reason why someone is listed as being in the workhouse when a close relation is living around the corner. The censuses don't distinguish between inmate and inmate patient!

Hi Anne Since starting my family research I've found relatives on both sides of the family who have ended their days in the workhouse and you're right it does truly bring a tear to my eye! As for records my ggg grandfather died in the Bolton workhouse in 1882 and my local library has the original registers from the time together with some copies on microfiche. The registers have a admissions page which gives a date and reason for entry together with a date and reason for leaving. If you know exact dates it obviously makes it that much easier - I spent several afternoons in the library going through year by year until I found my ggg grandad. He died in 1882 at the grand old age of 82 and had been in the workhouse for about 18 months as he was 'destitute'. I find it terribly sad that his family were still around and he dies alone in such an awful place. Further to other answers the workhouse was also a hospital - ours is still standing and is a part of our modern day hospital. It still looks exactly the same from the outside (hoepfully not the inside!!). I've also received great help from the Knowsley Archives re my gg grandmother who died in the Prescot workhouse. I was lucky in that her period of stay coincided with one of the few surviving registers available (a lot were destroyed in the 1970s!!) Wishing you every success with your search Best wishes Maria

This is where the Bourne Workhouse records are kept:- Lincolnshire Archives, St. Rumbold Street, Lincoln LN2 5AB. Holdings include: Guardians' minute books (1837-1930 with gaps); Admissions and discharges (1836-1930, with gaps); Births (1866-1930); Deaths (1866-1936); etc. You should be able to find the admission and discharge details if the girls were admitted during the dates given above. If you can't get there yourself, you could ask on the Record Office board if anyone who was going could check the registers for you. Kath. x

Thanks to all for your comments - it is a very emotive subject isn't it. I've just emailed the Lincolnshire library/archives to ask if they have any records that would shed further light on Isabella & Theana and will keep you informed. I think, of all the rellies I have found, these are the ones that have had the most effect on me - something I didn't realise would happen when I first started this hobby. Anne