Scotland's Poor

From 1845 to 1929 responsibility for maintaining the poor in Scotland had passed from the Church of Scotland to newly formed Parochial Boards in order to provide a more secure source of relief for the increasing numbers of poor in Scotland. Amongst other duties, these Boards oversaw the administration and distribution of funds for poor relief to individuals by the Inspector of the Poor for the parish and also the administration of the Poors Lodging House that provided residential relief for their area.

The main record that was maintained by the Parochial Boards was the General Register of the Poor, which represented the list of Poor that the Parish had responsibility for maintaining. Each entry contained information noted by the Inspector of the Poor about the circumstances of the individual and their right to relief from the Parish. This normally included:

1.    the name, age, and religion of the applicant, as well as the date of the Parochial Board Minute admitting liability

2.    the country of birth and parish of ‘settlement’ of the applicant, i.e. which parish was responsible for the claimant. (In order to claim settlement an individual usually had to have been resident within a parish for 5 years. Where residency could not be established settlement could be claimed through parentage, marriage, or birth)

3.    the cause and level of disability that prevented the applicant from earning a living

4.    names of any dependants of the applicant that could affect the claim

5.    other means of support that might affect the claim e.g. other sources of income, relatives that could be called upon for support, the father of any dependent children that would be responsible for maintaining them.

6.    the type and level of relief provided, i.e. monetary or residential

7.    information about the history of the claim, e.g. any further payments, increases in allowance, details of when and why the claim ceased.

The Boards also maintained two other main types of record –

·     - a Register of Applications, which included details of the applications made for poor relief by both those on the Parish Roll and intermittent poor (such as those that had temporarily fallen on hard times, and wandering beggars).

·     - Minutes of the Board detailing the business of administering poor relief, such as making new appointments and making decisions on more difficult applications for relief.

As a result of the type of information outlined above, these records provide some highly detailed information about individuals that can be of great benefit to family history researchers as well as providing evidence of the conditions facing the poorest of society in the nineteenth century.

This document is an extract from the General Register of the Poor for Peterhead. The register is part of a wider collection of the surviving administrative records for the Parochial Boards for the counties of Aberdeenshire, Banffshire and Kincardineshire that are held by Aberdeen City Archives, and are very popular for family history research.

Lottie McDonald

The extract featured relates to the circumstances and poor relief given to Lottie’s mother, Barbara McDonald. It records that Barbara, a single farm servant, had become destitute and wholly disabled due to pregnancy. At the point of writing the record, she had 3 children: the eldest, Alexander (who was then 8 years old), Lottie, who was born in the Peterhead Poorhouse on 10 March 1878, and Helen Smith who was born on 15 April 1885. An addition to the record states that Helen later died. 

In 1881 the Census records that Lottie was an inmate in the Poorhouse in Peterhead, but Barbara McDonald’s record shown here notes that she had left the Poorhouse in 1878 and was not readmitted until 1885.

This means that Lottie was left in the Poorhouse and the admissions register for that institution that is held at Aberdeen City Archives confirms this. As well as recording that she was admitted when she was born in 1878 it also shows that she remained there for 11 years and 4 months until the Poorhouse Governor, Richard Noble, and his wife Mary (who was also the Matron) adopted her in July 1889. Unfortunately, there are no other records which show what motivated the adoption. Only the minutes of the Parochial Board of Peterhead for 9 July 1889 show that it gave the Governor permission to adopt Lottie ‘on condition that he clothe and educate her’.

At some point after 1885 Lottie’s mother Barbara McDonald moved to Aberdeen where she is recorded in the 1891 census as a charwoman staying in Causewayend with another child, George McDonald Marr (aged 9). Unfortunately, there is no sign of her brother Alexander and it is not clear what happened to Barbara after this point.

As for Lottie’s adoptive parents, the Governor’s journal for Peterhead Poorhouse records that the Matron, his wife, died on 15 May 1893. The Governor himself later left the Poorhouse on 17 August in that same year, having been informed by the Parochial Board that his services were no longer required.

The scroll (or draft) Parochial Board minutes for 16 June do not record exactly why this was but do give some clues. In particular a scored out section of minute that did not make it into the main minute book states that the Board’s experience was that the Poorhouse could only be efficiently run by a Governor and a Matron. They duly recommended that a married Governor and Matron “without encumbrance” (possibly children?) be appointed, and that ‘preference should be given to persons whose moral character is such as to have a salutory influence in the conduct of the House’.  

Another scored out section gives the impression that having been recently widowed, Richard Noble was now no longer suitable for the post: ‘Situated as the present Governor unfortunately is, the Committee recommend that no time should be lost in relieving him from responsibility…’

Having been informed of his dismissal, Richard Noble then applied to the Board on 8 August 1893 for a small retiring allowance on account of his failing eyesight and general weakness. This was denied with no reason given as to why his application was refused and this ultimately proved fatal for him. His name was entered in the General Register of the Poor for Peterhead in October 1894, noting that he had been admitted into the Buchan Combination (Maud) Poorhouse, where he later died on 23 August 1898.

Transcription of extract from the General Register of the Poor for Peterhead:

General Register of the Poor Belonging to the Parish of Peterhead

Name: Barbara McDonald

Residence	24 Queen Street	Earnings, Means, and Resources, besides Parochial Relief	None
Age	27	Nature of Settlement	Residence
Date of Minute of Parochial Board or Committee admitting liability and authorising Relief	12th Feb[ruar]y 1878	Name and Age of Wife, Child, or Children living in Family	Illeg[I]t[imate] children Alexander aged 8 years Lottie Born in P[oors] L[odging] House 10/3/[18]78 Helen Smith b[orn] 15/4/[18]85 -died-
Amount and Description of Relief authorized	Maintenance in the Poors Lodging House
Country and Place of Birth, and if in Scotland, Parish of Birth	Scot[land] Stonehaven
Religious Denomination, whether Protestant or Roman Catholic	Protestant	Name, Age, and Weekly Earnings of Husband, Wife, Child, or Children not living in Family and their Circumstances
Condition – If Adult, whether Married or Single, Widow or Widower	Single
If Child, whether Orphan, Deserted, or separated from Parent	-
Trade or Occupation	Farm Servant	Other information not stated above	Putatim father of Alex[ande]r dead And that of Lottie John Park Middle Essie but failed to prove paternity
Wholly or Partially Disabled	Wholly
Description of Disablement	Pregnancy
Wholly or Partially Destitute	Wholly

Dates	Change of Circumstances and subsequent Proceedings	Dates	Change of Circumstances and subsequent Proceedings
	Page 934 Old Register
1878 May	Gone out to Nurse and the youngest child kept in the P[oor] H[ouse]
1884 Jan[uar]y 8	Readmitteed into P[oors] L[odging] H[ouse]
1885 May 4	Left P[oors] L[odging] H[ouse] with youngest child, and elder kept in P[oors] L[odging] H[ouse]