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THE
OLD WORKHOUSE AT GAUXHOLME
The
Poorhouse as it is in 2004, from the canal towpath
Prior
to the 1834 Poor Law Act, when the parish was responsible for the
maintenance and support of its own poor people, there had to be
some form of shelter for those without homes or for those unable
to care for themselves. Todmorden district had such places, known
locally as Poorhouses. Each township maintained its own. There was
one at Carr Green in Langfield, one at Blackshawhead in Stansfield
and one at Gauxholme in Todmorden. This last one could be said to
be fairly representative of them all.
These
parish poorhouses were normally small buildings that had previously
been cottages or farmhouses, and were rarely purpose built. The
inmates were small in number and were free to come and go as they
pleased. They lived as a family in most cases, and a trusted inmate
in return for a small wage would look after the building. Food and
clothing were provided, as well as a bed and a roof. The inmates
were encouraged to work if this was possible and the children were
apprenticed to local businessmen and taught a trade. They were actively
encouraged to attend religious services and bible readings, and
were taught how to keep clean and be well mannered. Many were known
as "Pauper Palaces".
It
seems from contemporary reports that during the 1780's only 11 or
12 persons were receiving relief regularly in the township of Todmorden
& Walsden, and they were on "out relief" and not requiring
accommodation.
Todmorden
& Walsden acquired its own poorhouse at Gauxholme in 1801. The
Select Vestry decided that a house belonging to John Sutcliffe and
John Shackleton should be rented for 18 guineas a year and converted
to a poorhouse. The owners were asked to make the house suitable
for its purpose. Three Overseers were appointed for the first year.
They were Anthony Crossley of Todmorden Hall, John Crossley of Scaitcliffe
Hall and Joshua Fielden of Waterside, they being "substantial
Householders of the Township". It was agreed that the Overseers
should purchase 10 cast iron beds at or near 2 guineas each as they
were better than wooden ones. Each bed was to have a straw matress,
2 blankets, one sheet, one bolster and one woollen quilt. The house
was to have "all kinds of furniture proper for a house"
and "cloath and linen and other apparel for clothing the Poor"
was to be purchased. The job of Overseer was unpaid until at least
1814 when Heptonstall began to employ a paid Overseer at an annual
salary of £20 to £30. |
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Gauxholme
Poorhouse was a three storey building, built right into the
rocky hill side at the foot of the road to Pexwood. The middle
floor only was used as a workhouse. The upper floor was used
as a preaching house and sometimes a Sunday School. Here you
can see the original steps leading to the upper floor. The
door in to the middle floor is now a French window. |
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Later
in 1801, at a lay payers meeting, it was resolved that a number
of children in the poorhouse at Gauxholme would be apprenticed to
Mr. Hudson, cotton mill, Gauxholme, to work normal times and hours,
but not to work in the night. Ellis Hartley to be employed to
teach those children not employed, and on Sundays he shall teach
the apprentices to read etc. However, it was further resolved that
persons being given relief should wear a badge in either red or
blue cloth with the initials T.W.P. on it. (Todmorden and Walsden
Pauper). This applied to those receiving "out-relief" as well as
the inmates.
The
following year, 1802, the governor of the workhouse, Eli Fielden,
had refused to permit the paupers to read the Bible and hindered
their attending morning and evening prayer. The Overseers gave him
a month's notice to quit and they appointed Eli Baron as governor
and Mary Crowther as governess. Later, there was a Sunday school
at which John Greenwood of Watty (John o' Dan's) and Joshua Fielden
junior of Waterside acted as Superintendents on alternate Sundays.
One
of the first inmates in the new poorhouse was Luke Jackson. An article
in the Halifax Journal of 13th. February 1802 reported his death
as follows:
"Died
on Sunday last in the workhouse at Gauxholme, Luke Jackson, who
was born March 12th 1699 and consequently nearly 103 years of
age; living in 3 centuries and 5 reigns - William and Mary, Ann,
George I, George II and George III. He enjoyed the perfect use
of his faculties to the very last, and had such an aversion to
physic and physicians, that on his death bed when the Governor
was ordered to procure medical assistance for him, he earnestly
requested that none might be got."
In
1841 there were 17 residents at Gauxholme,
aged
between 4 months and 80 years:
James Awkard
|
25 |
Pauper |
Thomas Barker
|
55 |
Pauper |
Thomas Barker
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60 |
Pauper |
Samuel Crowther
|
60 |
Pauper |
Abraham Farrer
|
55 |
Pauper |
James Farrer
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9 |
Pauper |
Susan Farrer
|
45 |
Pauper |
Samuel Fielden
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30 |
Pauper |
William Greenwood
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80 |
Pauper |
Martha Haigh
|
45 |
Pauper |
Elisa Harrison
|
15 |
Pauper |
Susan Holt
|
75 |
Pauper |
Samuel Jackson |
30 |
Pauper |
John Marshall |
20 |
Pauper |
Richard Marshall
|
4
months |
Pauper |
Sarah Marshall |
20 |
Pauper |
Ann Mayall
|
15 |
Pauper |
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In
1844 a report was made about the workhouse, which stated that the
it occupied the middle floor of a 3 storeyed building by
the main road, set against a hill, and had outside access from this
floor. The three rooms were occupied by an old woman, a man and his wife
and child; 2 women and a girl; 6 men, 2 women and a child. The person
in charge was one of the paupers. Some of the paupers received a regular
food allowance. The old woman received tickets, which she could take
to any shop in town. There were 2 idiots, but one of these provided
for himself with money from the Relieving Officer, whilst the other
carried water for a neighbour for which she received food. Some
of the inmates went out to work.
By
1851 there were just 14 people living there. Edward Farrar, aged
71, looked after the place. He is recorded as a pauper so perhaps
his wages were low or maybe he just received bed and board for services
rendered. |
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Edward Farrar |
wid |
head & pauper |
71 |
retired HLW |
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John Wood |
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pauper |
56 |
HLW |
Todmorden |
Thomas Pickson |
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pauper |
48 |
PLW |
Middlesex |
Emma Jane Pulman |
wid |
pauper |
44 |
PLW |
Middlesex |
William Pulman |
unm |
pauper |
19 |
labourer |
Middlesex |
Emma Pulman |
unm |
pauper |
12 |
cotton piece maker |
Middlesex |
Cecilia Pulman |
unm |
pauper |
10 |
cotton piecer |
Todmorden |
Martha Pulman |
|
pauper |
5 |
scholar |
Todmorden |
Ann Mayall |
mar |
pauper |
30 |
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Todmorden |
Martha Mayall |
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pauper |
5 |
|
Todmorden |
Elizabeth Harrison |
mar |
pauper |
30 |
|
Todmorden |
Betty Woodhead |
wid |
pauper |
73 |
|
Todmorden |
Samuel Fielden |
unm |
pauper |
45 |
labourer |
Todmorden |
Elizabeth Stansfield |
unm |
pauper |
27 |
labourer |
Todmorden |
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The
1861 census shows us there were 18 residents, only 2 of whom were
men. |
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Betty Woodhead |
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matron
and widow of labourer
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Susan Clegg |
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widow
of labourer
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Ann Binns |
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wife
of lunatic
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Hannah Stephenson |
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charwoman
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Mary Rogers |
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widow
of french polisher
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Ann Mayall |
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washerwoman
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Martha Mayall |
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cotton
frame tenter
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Sarah Mayall |
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Elizabeth Stansfield |
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disabled
by epilepsy
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Eliza Harrison |
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washerwoman
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Hannah Greenwood |
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hawker
of earthenware
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Betty Walton |
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charwoman
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Sarah Walton |
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Ann Walton |
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Elizabeth Suthers |
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John Newhill |
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Samuel Fielden |
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Margaret Holmes |
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needlewoman
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Of
the above people, Samuel Fielden and Ann Mayall had been there since
1841, 20 years, and little Sarah Mayall was in the Union Workhouse
in 1891 recorded as a lunatic. Several of the others had been there
at least 10 years.
Hannah Stephenson died not long after the census was taken. Her death was reported as follows:
The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England), Saturday, June 22, 1861
SUDDEN DEATH
On Thursday an inquest was held at the Queen Hotel before T. F. Dearden Esq. touching the death of HANNAH STEVENSON aged 59 years, who was found dead in bed on Monday morning at the Gauxholme Workhouse near Todmorden. It appeared from the evidence of several witnesses that she was subject to fits and it was supposed that she had died during the night while in one of them; but no alarm was given nor had there been any sign of a struggle. A verdict of Died from Natural Causes was returned.
In
1867 a report by the committee said that the poorhouse consisted
of one bedroom with 3 beds; 1 room for cooking with a bed in it;
a room for washing purposes; and an arched room 8 feet square with no
opening for light or fresh air apart from one doorway containing
one bed. There were 6 females occupying 4 beds in 2 rooms, and 1
man in the arched room. The local committee reported that all was
well except for the arched room, but the single man whose room it
was had slept there for 30 years and was in good health. This was Samuel Fielden - see below.
By
1871, the poorhouse had just 7 residents, and this time the census
records their reason for being there. |
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Sally Wilson |
unm |
68 |
housework |
Stansfield |
old age |
Ann Binns |
unm |
75 |
housework |
Todmorden |
old age |
Olive Fielden |
wid |
76 |
housework |
Stansfield |
old age |
Ann Rogers |
wid |
64 |
dress maker |
Langfield |
old age |
Elizabeth Stansfield |
unm |
47 |
formerly cotton spinner |
Todmorden |
lame hand |
Betty Law |
unm |
39 |
cotton operative, unemployed |
Stansfield |
sick |
Laura Mayall |
unm |
12 |
cotton spinner |
Todmorden |
orphan |
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The
stories of five inmates and how they came to be there |
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Amanda Haigh
Amanda was born Amanda Cooper in 1796 in Ireland. In 1829, she travelled to Manchester where she met and married Edmund Haigh from Todmorden. This was on the 14th February 1830 at Manchester Cathedral. Edmund had been married twice previously, but both earlier wives had died young. He was a boatman, working on the Rochdale Canal between Todmorden and Manchester. They lived in Manchester and had four sons. They later moved to live in Bacup, which is where Edmund died in 1845, leaving Amanda with four small boys.
She was forced to claim Parish Relief in order to survive and received in total 18 shillings from the Township of Newchurch in which Bacup was a village. The overseers were quick to realise Amanda was not entitled to relief from Newchurch as neither she nor her late husband had legal settlement there. She was ordered to remove to her late husband's legal place of settlement, which was Todmorden. Amanda appealed against the decision to remove her, but to no avail. So, in 1846, she was removed and placed in the workhouse at Gauxholme, presumably along with her 4 small boys. The melancholy story of her appeal and the detailed witness statements can be read HERE.
What a dreadful shock this must have been for her. She had no connections to Todmorden and had never lived there. She would have no friends, and it seems the Haigh family weren't interested in her well being. She was, after all, Irish, and there was great prejudice against the Irish in the Todmorden vicinity. It is no wonder she took to the bottle. The Manchester Times and Gazette, on Saturday 7th August 1847, reported that Amanda was convicted of being drunk and disorderly in the workhouse, and was committed to prison for a month. Who cared for her children isn't known, but by 1851 she is living with two of her sons in a cottage in Gauxholme, working as a hawker. Sometime after 1871, she returned to the workhouse and died there in 1874, aged 78 years.
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Samuel
Fielden
Samuel
Fielden was known as "Tuppy". He was born of poor parents and was
known to be simple minded. His parents were handloom weavers at
Calflee Cote, Walsden, his father being descended from the Bottomley
Fieldens and his grandfather had latterly owned and occupied Knowltop
Farm in Walsden. As Samuel grew up, it became evident he was a little
demented and would struggle to earn his own living. However, his
parents guided him, taught him to hand weave, and taught him good
manners and how to behave in society. Sadly, they both died when
Sam was a young man and he was fostered out to a couple. They couldn't
manage his strange ways, none of his relatives wanted him, so Sam
was sent to the poorhouse at Gauxholme where he lived the next 40
years. He was there, aged 30, in 1841 and was still there in 1861.
At
the Poorhouse he learnt many skills. He was a strong and physically
healthy man, and found casual employment wheeling coals and loading
and unloading boats at the Gauxholme wharf. He always behaved well
and was kept clean and fairly well clothed at the Poorhouse. He
enjoyed loading and unloading boats as payment was often in kind
- beer being the normal payment. He liked his ale and could keep
up with the best of them.
Samuel
was the single man who had lived in the airless arched room for
over 30 years. |
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In
1860 he was sent to the wharf to clean up a very nasty mess.
It is recorded in the town minute books that there was a sewage
and waste problem at Gauxholme about this time. The drains
were open channels and overflowed frequently, the resultant
soil seeping just about everywhere. When he saw the scale
of the mess he asked for 5 shillings. Incredibly, this was
agreed. Sam took off his clogs and stockings, rolled up his
trousers and went in to the middle of the soil barefooted,
singing as he worked. |
Gauxholme Wharf
in 2004 with the Poorhouse in the background at the foot of
the hill |
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Samuel
was accidentally drowned in the canal on 21st February 1869 when
almost 60 years of age. |
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John
Wood
John
was the bastard son of a sister of Joseph Wood of Stonehouse who
later married a Mr. Leeming, a bailiff of Mr. T. E. Hammerton the
Todmorden Solicitor. (He was solicitor in the 1860's) Joseph was
the owner of the estate at Stonehouse. His nephew was a tall, strong
young man, but of very weak intellect. He busied himself by handloom
weaving and working on the farm, but in general, was incapable of
work. When his mother married, she moved to live at Woodbottom in
Walsden and John stayed on at Stonehouse with his uncle Joseph.
Uncle Joseph was an elderly widower when he married again. His new
wife wasn't satisfied with the farm and began building other businesses
in her husband's name until she had spent all his money and mortgaged
the estate. The farm had to be sold, and the family moved to Toad
Carr in Todmorden. The wife died but Joseph and John lived on, and
were well-known members of the congregation at Christ Church. When
Joseph died, John inherited a pension of 4 shillings a week from
his uncle, but was unable to look after himself, as his "mind could
not carry responsibility". He went to live in the poorhouse at Gauxholme.
He was often seen around Walsden, visiting old acquaintances. The
poorhouse always kept him clean and well dressed. |
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Ely
Marshall
Ely
had been known as Ely Two Times since he was a young boy doing some
hand weaving for his mum and dad, a reference to how many pieces
of calico he had managed that day. When he was older and married,
he lived at Toad Carr in Todmorden. Weaving for a small payment
to line the pockets of others wasn't for him. He went out and bought
the raw materials, which he then manufactured into calico at home,
and went out and about the district hawking his home made cloth
himself. A one-man business, which would never make him rich, but
always gave him the satisfaction that he was only working for himself.
He often took goods rather than money, and then sold on the goods
as well as his calico. He was often seen round the town with his
pack slung over his shoulder, even into old age. His insistence
on this type of life resulted in poverty as he grew older, and he
ended up at the workhouse in Gauxholme, where he died a very old
man on 8th. January 1856.
William
Scholfield
William
and his brothers were brought up by caring parents at a place near
Summit, Walsden. His father was a time keeper for the navvies working
on the construction of the canal. All the brothers could read, write
and keep accounts. As a young man, William worked as an outdoor
labourer, hand weaver, and boatman. After the death of his parents,
he left home and deliberately became a tramp. He wandered about
the area with the navvies, getting into trouble here and there,
living rough and finding work only when he needed to. When he grew
older he decided to settle down, and went to live with his brother
Abraham at Moverley in Walsden.
Abraham and his wife were very religious,
even to the extent of having a small area set apart in a room for
daily prayers and repentance. William had to keep the peace with
his family, so meekly joined in with the prayers, even though he
knew he was a sinner and always would be. He married very late in
life, to a widow of Gauxholme. This was a mistake on both parts.
His roving disposition and irregular habits didn't go down too well
at home, although his wife did try to cope with his eccentric ways.
Eventually, and mutually, they separated. William took to tramping
again, calling in occasionally to see his wife. The railway was
being built at this time, and William took work with the navvies
there. Then, his brother's influence came back to haunt him, and
William took to preaching. |
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His
favourite spot was over the canal bridge at the bottom of
Pexwood Road, outside the workhouse (shown on the right).
There he would hold forth, spout the scriptures, and appear
to be under a spell. His enthusiastic outbursts always drew
a large congregation. By this time, he was living at the workhouse,
and there he died, an old man, on 9th. October 1850. |
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The
building ceased to be used as a workhouse in 1879 when the Todmorden
Union Workhouse opened its doors. The place continued to be occupied,
however. On the 8th. August 1888, an inquest was held at the Navigation
Inn just across the canal bridge, before the coroner, Mr. F. N.
Molesworth. This concerned the death of an eccentric weaver names
William Lord, who resided on the premises, where he was found
the previous afternoon with his head under the fire grate, and died
in the presence of several witnesses. The jury's verdict was that
he died of natural causes.
On
6th. January 1897 it was reported in the local press:
"Early
this morning a portion of the property at the bottom of Pexwood
Road, widely known as the Old Workhouse, fell with a terrible crash,
and caused considerable alarm to the occupants of the four tenanted
houses. Fortunately, no one was injured."
The
building is still there, now a rather pleasant private house known
as Four Winds. Was it a 5 star Pauper Palace, or not?
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