Workhouses & Poverty Laws Archives - Bristol Radical History Group

Measles and influenza – a lesson from history…

Epidemics in Eastville Workhouse 1895-1914

By Roger Ball

Finding epidemics During the collation of Eastville Workhouse death register data for the years 1895 to 1914, the researchers noted some unusual clusters of deaths, particularly amongst the young. In a similar manner to our survey in the Victorian period (1851-1895) a simple method was developed for determining possible epidemics of fatal diseases amongst the inmates. In order to remove the effect of seasonal variations in death data and the increasing numbers of inmates in the workhouse over […]

Press releases: Standing up for the forgotten & Pauper burials

By Roger Ball, Mike Jempson

The following two press releases have been released this week (07 December 2025) and can be downloaded in pdf format here: Press release 1: Bristol Press release 2: National Press release 1: Bristol Pauper burials in private and public cemeteries in Bristol New research – Ridgeway Park, Greenbank and Arnos Vale In 2015, to great public interest, Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group (EWMG) released details of more than 4,000 paupers who had been buried in unmarked graves in Rosemary Green, […]

What lies beneath?

Unmarked burials in private and municipal cemeteries in the Victorian and Edwardian periods

By Roger Ball

Introduction In 2015 Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group (EWMG) released the death records of more than 4,000 inmates of Eastville Workhouse. These were paupers who were buried over the period 1851-1895 in a piece of waste ground adjacent to the institution at 100 Fishponds Road, Eastville, known today as Rosemary Green. The massive public response to the release information about these ‘lost Bristolians’ spurred EWMG and the local community of East Park estate to raise money for two memorials […]

Eastville Workhouse Burial Data 1895-1914

By Roger Ball, Gloria Davey, Di Parkin, Trish Mensah

Introduction The downloadable pdf listed on this page contains transcriptions carried out by members of Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group (EWMG) of the death registers for Eastville Workhouse for the period November 1895 to July 1914 This work was undertaken after the first release of data by Bristol Radical History Group in 2015 which covered more than 4,000 unmarked burials from the workhouse in nearby Rosemary Green over the period May 1851 to November 1895. This current data release, covers […]

Outcasts of Medicine

Epilepsy, Poverty, and the Workhouse System

As part of the The Bristol Medico-Historical Society meeting, 'History Around Us', Rosemary Caldicott will be giving a talk: Outcasts of Medicine: Epilepsy, Poverty, and the Workhouse System Discover how epilepsy was misunderstood, feared, and stigmatised in the 19th century, often leading sufferers into the harsh realities of the workhouse. Rosemary uncovers the intersection of medical prejudice, social class, and poverty, revealing hidden lives at the margins of history. This talk brings to […]

Partners in crime

Collusion between Church and State in Ireland’s notorious mother and baby homes

Mary Muldowney will give an overview of the appalling abuses that took place in many of the mother and baby homes in Ireland since the foundation of the state in 1922. The homes were supposed to provide safety and support for unwed mothers at a time when there was considerable stigma attached to having sex outside marriage. They were mainly run by religious bodies, predominantly Roman Catholic nuns, and the regimes they established had more to do with punishing the ‘sins’ of the mothers than […]

‘Working for your dole’

British labour camps, 1929–1939

After the financial crash of 1929 and during the years of the 'great depression' in the 1930s, the Ministry of Labour in Britain introduced a series of 'instructional camps' for the long-term unemployed, which were supported by successive governments. Over 150,000 men from 'distressed areas' were sent to do hard labour in these remote settlements. Using contemporary images and excerpts of oral history from the film Old Hands this talk explains the nature of these camps, how they functioned and […]

Mason’s Madhouses in Old Fishponds

An illustrated talk about a notorious madhouse run as a private business for 120 years, with some startling revelations. Based on the BRHG publication No Cure, No Fee, Boarding excepted. Long before the NHS, those who did not fit ‘the norm’ were consigned to workhouses or to private lunatic asylums. The latter provided a profitable business opportunity, as the wealthy were only too keen to offload family members whose behaviour was inconvenient. It was a system open to abuses that Daniel Defoe […]

Mason’s Madhouses in Old Fishponds

An illustrated talk about a notorious madhouse run as a private business for 120 years, with some startling revelations. Based on the BRHG publication No Cure, No Fee, Boarding excepted. Long before the NHS, those who did not fit ‘the norm’ were consigned to workhouses or to private lunatic asylums. The latter provided a profitable business opportunity, as the wealthy were only too keen to offload family members whose behaviour was inconvenient. It was a system open to abuses that Daniel Defoe […]

The Workhouse by acta Company and Pick N Mix Theatre

Inspired by Rosemary Caldicott's Life and Death of Hannah Wiltshire BRHG are pleased to announce that Bedminster based acta and Pick N Mix Theatre have researched, written and produced a play based on this fascinating story about their local workhouse. From their website: A retelling of the investigation into the events that took place at Bedminster Union Workhouse in 1855. Step into the haunting history of Bedminster’s Union Workhouse with an immersive play brought to life by two acta groups. […]