Stradbroke poor.
Title
Stradbroke poor.
Description
STRADBROKE POOR
Over time the responsibility for caring for the vulnerable members of the village has, very generally, gone from self, family, village and government. During the 1830's the village council, made up of the wealthier members of the village and the clergy, would consider giving relief upon an accepted request. However, this was quite a strain on village finances and when a plan for migration to Canada came to the table many of the 'paupers' got together and wrote a request to the council for funds to help them go. A transcript of that letter can be found on the Stradbroke village archive website. The original document is held with Suffolk records office. Their request was granted and they did in fact board the vessel 'Preston'. In all it is understood that between 1831 and 1843, approx. 200 Stradbroke persons emigrated. Now, almost 200 years later, we receive emails from their descendants asking for information about Stradbroke and in most cases we are able to do that.
By 1836 the Hoxne Union Workhouse had opened and most of Stradbroke's poor would present themselves at that door. This ordeal was designed to be unpleasant and it didn't fail in that. Men, women and children were separated and as the name suggests they were put to work. Needless to say, the elderly and the very young in particular struggled. The workhouse had a chapel and its own graveyard. The main use of the building ended in 1871 although it continued to exist into the 20th century.
Over time the responsibility for caring for the vulnerable members of the village has, very generally, gone from self, family, village and government. During the 1830's the village council, made up of the wealthier members of the village and the clergy, would consider giving relief upon an accepted request. However, this was quite a strain on village finances and when a plan for migration to Canada came to the table many of the 'paupers' got together and wrote a request to the council for funds to help them go. A transcript of that letter can be found on the Stradbroke village archive website. The original document is held with Suffolk records office. Their request was granted and they did in fact board the vessel 'Preston'. In all it is understood that between 1831 and 1843, approx. 200 Stradbroke persons emigrated. Now, almost 200 years later, we receive emails from their descendants asking for information about Stradbroke and in most cases we are able to do that.
By 1836 the Hoxne Union Workhouse had opened and most of Stradbroke's poor would present themselves at that door. This ordeal was designed to be unpleasant and it didn't fail in that. Men, women and children were separated and as the name suggests they were put to work. Needless to say, the elderly and the very young in particular struggled. The workhouse had a chapel and its own graveyard. The main use of the building ended in 1871 although it continued to exist into the 20th century.
Creator
SARA
Date
2020
Contributor
AR
Rights
Stradbroke Village Archive Creative Commons Licence is Attribution NonCommercial-NoDerivs - CC BY-NC-ND http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Identifier
SVA/11/108
Original Format
Stradbroke monthly article
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Collection
Citation
SARA, “Stradbroke poor.,” Stradbroke Village Archive, accessed February 10, 2025, http://www.stradbrokearchive.org.uk/items/show/1246.
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