Orsett Poor Law Union, Essex Genealogy

History
Earliest accounts of workhouses are found at Fobbing and Grays (Thurrock). A parliamentary report of 1777 recorded parish workhouses in operation at Aveley ( 40 places), Corringham (20), Stanford le Hope (20) "Thorock Grays" (10). The report made no mention of the Fobbing workhouse. Orsett Union workhouse was built in 1837 at a cost of £3,115. It was designed by Sampson Kempthorne with a capacity of 200. Fever wards, vagrant wards and workshops were added in 1848, and a women's infirmary in 1911. From 1917 the Essex Vagrancy Committee ordered that only 'ill' people were to be admitted, and it became known as The Orsett Lodge Hospital. In the 1960s, the former workhouse buildings were replaced by modern ones and the site is know as Orsett Hospital.

Constituent Parishes
Aveley, Essex Bulphan, Essex Chadwell St Mary, Essex Corringham, Essex East Tilbury, Essex Fobbing, Essex Grays Thurrock, Essex Horndon on the Hill, Essex Langdon Hills, Essex Little Thurrock, Essex Mucking, Essex North Ockendon, Essex Orsett, Essex South Ockendon, Essex Stanford-le-Hope, Essex Stifford, Essex West Thurrock, Essex West Tilbury, Essex Later Addition: Canvey Island (1837-80).

Records
Essex Record Office, Wharf Road Chelmsford CM2 6YT. Few records survive — holdings include: Guardians' minutes (1835-1930) and Relief order books (1911-32)