Lexden and Winstree Poor Law Union, Essex Genealogy

History
A parliamentary report of 1777 recorded parish workhouses in operation at Aberton (for up 16 ), Aldham (20), Great and Little Birch (24), Boxstead [Boxted] (30), Boxted's parish workhouse was a cottage at the east side of what is still called Workhouse Hill.

Bures (9), Copford (30), Dedham (48), The Dedham parish workhouse operated between 1725 and 1835 in a converted L-shaped building on Crown Street. An adjacent house is thought to have been the workhouse master's house. In 1775, the master received one shilling per week to feed and clothe each inmate. An inventory taken in the same year included a workroom containing twenty spinning-wheels and four looms.

Fordham (22), Great Horkesley (26), Little Horkesley's parish workhouse was in an isolated location at the north side of what is still called Workhouse Lane, about a mile to the south of the village. Langham (25), A cottage on School Road in Langham, now known as Keeper's Cottage, was used as the parish's workhouse prior to 1835. By 1813, only 13 inmates were in residence.

Layer de la Hay (15), Marney (25), West Mersea (18), Stanway (18), Great Tey (28), Great Wigborough (20), Wivenhoe (30), In 1726, a cottage at the east side of the Colchester Road was converted to become Wivenhoe's parish workhouse. Wormingford's parish workhouse was a house at the south side of Bures Road. The Lexden and Winstree Poor Law Union was formed on 1st February 1836. Initially, the new Lexden and Winstree Union retained parish workhouse premises at Dedham, Langham, Copford and Wivenhoe, until a new central union workhouse could be erected. The new workhouse was built in 1836 at the south side of the London Road in Stanway. The building, which was designed by SO Foden and Henman, cost £6,800 to construct and could accommodate 330 inmates. A two-storey infirmary (later known as Rose House) was located at the southern side of the main building. It was probably erected in several stages, beginning around 1850. Later a chapel was added to the site. The workhouse later became St Albright's Hospital but after its closure parts of the building were used as office accommodation by the local authority until 2005.

Records
Essex Record Office, Wharf Road Chelmsford CM2 6YT. Relatively few records survive. Holdings include: Guardians' minutes (1836-1930); Ledgers (1836-1930); Master's report book (1863-70) Essex Record Office reference G/Lw Title [LEXDEN AND WINSTREE UNION] The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 removed responsibility for the poor from parishes (see D/P.../11-18) and transferred administration to Board of Guardians of the Poor. The Guardians administered groups of parishes or Poor Law UNIONs. Each had its own workhouse. In 1872 the Public Health Act created urban and rural sanitary authorities, with the Guardians constituted as the rural sanitary authority for those parts of each UNION not in an urban sanitary authority. These records are catalogued here as G/...S. The Local Government Act of 1894 replaced rural sanitary authorities with rural district councils (see D/R). The Local Government Act of 1929 abolished the Boards of Guardians and transferred their powers to the Public Assistance Committees of County Councils (for minutes of Essex County Council Public Assistance Committee 1929-1948 see C/MPa 1-22). Many of the workhouse infirmaries continued as hospitals after 1930, continuing after the introduction of the National Health Service in 1948. For other records illustrating the work of the Guardians see D/P.../19. For orders, directions and declarations of Poor Law Commissioners responsible for grouping parishes into UNIONs, 1835-1837, see Q/RSw 2-5. For catalogue of correspondence between Poor Law UNIONs and Poor Law Commission (later Poor Law Board and Local Government Board) 1834-1900 see List and Index Society vol. 56. G. Cuttle The Legacy of the Rural Guardians (Heffer, 1934 E.R.O. Library 362.50942) provides a good account of the work of the Guardians in six mid-Essex UNIONs, together with the newscuttings he collected and used in writing the book (T/P 181). For analysis of ledgers see Journal of the Society of Archivists II, pp. 367-369. LEXDEN and WINSTREE UNION consisted of the parishes of Abberton, Aldham, West Bergholt, Birch, Boxted, Mount Bures, Chapel, Wakes Colne, Copford, Dedham, East Donyland, Easthorpe, Fingringhoe, Fordham, Great Horkesley, Little Horkesley, Langenhoe, Langham, Layer Breton, Layer-de-la-Haye, Layer Marney, East Mersea, West Mersea, Peldon, Salcott Virley, Stanway, Great Tey, Little Tey, Marks Tey, Great Wigborough, Little Wigborough, Wivenhoe, Wormingford. Following the abolition of the Witham UNION in 1883 the parishes of Inworth and Messing were added.

Websites
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Lexden/Lexden.shtml