Eastville Workhouse Archives - Bristol Radical History Group

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 […]

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. […]

Eastville Workhouse, the mentally ill and systemic murder mysteries

The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act aimed to prevent the mentally afflicted from being incarcerated in workhouses for long periods. However, studies across the country have demonstrated that large numbers of people with mental health issues were being held in these institutions, sometimes in appalling conditions, throughout the Victorian period and even into the twentieth century. Data for Eastville workhouse (constructed in 1847) in east Bristol supports this trend, despite the fact that after 1845 […]

Bedminster Union Workhouse – The Life and Death of Hannah Wiltshire

'The Life and Death of Hannah Wiltshire' Accusations of murder and cover up in the Bedminster Union Workhouse were reported in the press during 1855 Thursday, 7th March 2024 at 19:30 This talk by Rosemary Caldicott is based on her popular booklet which delves into the treatment of the mentally ill and other vulnerable patients resident in the former Bedminster workhouse during the mid-19th century. Situated in Flax Burton, North Somerset, just outside Bristol, this workhouse played a pivotal […]

Pauper burials in Greenbank Cemetery – new research

Monday 16 October – 7.30pm-9.00pm - Friends of Eastville Park Community Hub (Nissen Hut), Eastville Park, Near Park Avenue car park, Bristol BS5 6QG In 2015, to great public interest, Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group released details of more than 4,000 paupers who were buried in unmarked graves in Rosemary Green. These were inmates from Eastville Workhouse which was situated on the present-day East Park housing estate on Fishponds Road. The burials in Rosemary Green covered the period […]

New pauper burial research at Greenbank cemetery

By Gloria Davey, Di Parkin, Roger Ball

Introduction From 2014-2019 Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group (EWMG) studied Rosemary Green, a piece of land consecrated and used as a pauper burial ground soon after the new workhouse was built at 100 Fishponds Road in 1847. Eastville workhouse was the primary institution of the Clifton Poor Law Union which covered 12 parishes north of the River Avon outside the old city walls. In March 1877 the Clifton Poor Law Union was renamed as Barton Regis. The Union remained unchanged until 1898 when […]

Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group – Final Accounts

By Roger

Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group (EWMG) was formed in 2014 after a public meeting with residents of Eastville and Greenbank in East Bristol. The primary aim of the group was to research and publish the names and details of the inmates from Eastville Workhouse who were buried in unmarked pauper graves at Rosemary Green. Information on the more than 4,000 burials was published in 2015 and is available on this website. In the two days after its release more than 3,000 people down loaded the data. […]

Bedminster Union Workhouse

The Life and Death of Hannah Wiltshire

Clevedon Library, 37, Old Church Rd, Clevedon BS21 6NN Author Rosemary Caldicott focuses on the draconian workhouse system that housed the vulnerable poor, and in particular women and children. Rosemary will be examining the history of the workhouse by offering an illustrated talk based on evidence extracted from reports published at the time about the violent death of Hannah Wiltshire who resided in Weston in Gordano. The involvement of Sir Arthur Elton of Clevedon Hall is pivotal to this true […]

An Alternative History of Westbury-on-Trym Workhouse

Gilbert’s Act of 1782. ‘An act for the better relief and employment of the poor’

By Rosemary L Caldicott

In November, 2019 Louise Ryland-Epton gave an engaging talk entitled ‘By Pity and by Terror? A Contrary View of Workhouses’ at the M Shed, Bristol as part of the UWE Regional History Centre series of talks. As I had read and examined reports on shocking victimisation, neglect, exploitation and dehumanising treatment of later workhouse inmates I was intrigued to hear about an alternative, pre 1834 Poor Law Act, workhouse erected in Westbury-on-Trym. We are all familiar with the many indignant […]