London workhouse help, please

[PhotoFamily]

Hi,
I've never researched workhouse information before.

I have a possible ancestor, Martha Mitchell, who died in St Luke's Workhouse, Hoxton, New Town in 1848.

GRO cert says she was the Widow of William Mitchell, Tinman - very promising.

Is there more info to be found from Workhouse records? How do I retrieve them? I am without Ancestry or FMP at this point.

Also, if this is the woman I think she is, she did have family, probably not rich, but doing OK. Why would they not take her in - or is it a sign that I'm not connecting the right people?

Ultimately, I hope to find her and her husband in the 1841 census - if he was still alive then.

Thanks
Sarah

[PhotoFamily]

And another ignorant question:
Most of the children of the family were baptized in St Lukes, Old Street. Would it be related to the St Luke's Workhouse?

Thanks again
Sarah

[JudithM]

I found a reference in 1861 to "The workhouse belonging to St Luke's parish in Hoxton New Town, Shoreditch" so yes the workhouse was connected to the parish where your family were baptised. It is possible at Martha was there because she was ill rather than poor as workhouses had infirmaries (and many in later years became hospitals).

[keldon]

This is a good starting point. drill down to the location and it will suggest where any possible records may be located.

http://www.workhouses.org/

[Frazzled]

There is a Martha Mitchell already In St Lukes Workhouse in the 1841 census born c1781 in Middlesex

RG number: HO107 Piece: 707 Book/Folio: 9/12 Page: 8

Address: St Luke Workhouse, St Leonard Shoreditch, Tower Hamlets

No sign of William



Sorry Caroline didn't think,won't do it again!!

[Guest]

I got my 2x times Great Grandfathers Workhouse records from the National Archives, he was in and out like a Yoyo.

[PhotoFamily]

Thank you all - can anybody find William Mitchell in the 1841 census? There is a death in St Luke Chelsea (again, ignorance - would this be the same area?) for William Mitchell, born ~1780, which would match up with Martha's approx DOB.

Do the workhouse/infirmary records survive - what kind of detail might be in them?

Children who might still have been living with him:
Martha (1824), Sarah (1824), Margaret (1820), Susannah (1813), Anna Maria (1810), Elizabeth (1808), Mary (1805)

[PhotoFamily]

And I did look at www.workhouses.org. When I clicked on London/Middlesex, it just took me to ancestry?

[JudithM]

St Luke Chelsea is a different parish from St Luke's Old Street which had the workhouse in Shoreditch. A lot of London and Middlesex workhouse admission registers etc are on Ancestry which is presumably why the the link you followed took you there.

If you ever find your William on the 1841 census let me know as I have lost my 2x gt grandfather on there. His father a also a "tinman" coincidentally. He ought to have been living in St Luke's (he registered birth of his first child there in 1842) but I can find no sign. There are chunks of the 1841 for that area which are either missing or well nigh unreadable so I guess he must be hiding on one of them.

[PhotoFamily]

I made the leap that tinman would be within the broader category of tin plate worker?

Judith, did you check for you g'g'grandfather in the tin plate worker records?

Sarah

[JudithM]

Yes he appears on some records as tinman on others as tin plate worker. I looked at tin plate apprentice records some time ago and couldn't find him - not sure if there are more/different records available now - must follow that up.

[PhotoFamily]

Yes, the tin plate workers seemed to ignore the Company. Although William Mitchell says he is a tin plate worker, I never found any apprenticeship or Company Freedom for him. There is another William Mitchell who gains it later. Lived/worked on Nicholls street.

I did post another thread about Tin Plate workers: I have found reference to a list of all tin plate workers, reportedly whether they were part of the Company or not. The list would have been printed in 1824. My brief look in LMA's catalog did not lead me to it.