Genealogy Chat

On the 1851 census, I have my 3xG.Grandfather, James Hiscocks, born abt 1811; his occupation is listed as 'Pauper' it's clear enough to read on the image without uncertainty. They were living in a house, so I'm wondering how Pauper is an occupation where one isn't in the work house, unless they were living in poor houses (which I believe are also known as the ahms houses??). Does anyone know if there's a place on the net that I could find out if that was the case for these houses? Most of the neighbours had actual occupations, so they weren't all paupers although one other has a sis-in-law staying with them and she is also recorded as a pauper for her occupation (there's one that has cripple in their occupation - I never thought of it as a career before). The street address is Crop Keys, Castle Combe, Corsham, Wiltshire. My other thought was that it could imply that he was just 'unemployed', but then I would have not it would say 'not working' or just be blank or with a line through. He's married with children and not listed as infirm. His wife is a widow on 1861 so he obviously died sometime between the two. (Gonna look into that next) Any insight or thoughts welcome. Thanks, Liz

Are you sure it's the 1851 census? I have him as an Agricultural Labourer on the 1851. This is the definition for pauper given by Google:- 1.One who is extremely poor. 2.One living on or eligible for public charity. So he could still be at home and be a pauper. Kath. x

Very sure, I got there via his son James and wife Rhoda (Roda). You may have the wrong James Hiscocks (the search listing is Hiscock as they missed the s off on the transcription) Interesting, it makes me think that they may have been in the poor houses. My dad recalls there were some in the area but he can't remember 'where' lol. thanks, Liz.

Found the right entry on the 1851 now, thanks. By the way, the address is Cross Keys, not Crop Keys. It's the way the Victorians used 'fs' instead of double 's' in spelling. Kath. x

I didn't know that, I thought it was a p. lol. Well cross keys makes much more sense. I had thought it was just a quirk with it seeming to be such a big farming community. lol Thanks Liz

If you go to this site:- http://francisfrith(.)co.uk/search/england/wiltshire/corsham/photos/corsham_54354.htm remove brackets there is a picture of Almshouses at Corsham in 1906. Not sure if its the same place but interesting to look at. Kath. x

very interesting, they don't look at all how I expected, but then I think I've only ever seen two different lots of them before. The other pics of High St 1904 are especially interesting, as my g.grandmother and family lived there, in fact they would have been there at the time of the pic, that's a nice little glimpse into their world. thanks for your help. Liz.

Liz, I have checked the description of the enumeration districts at the start of the 1851 census. Your ancestor was in district 7b, but in the description of district 7a there is mention of an Almshouses. I don't think there would be more than one in a place the size of Corsham, so your ancestor might not have been in an almshouse after all. Kath. x

If you were in an alms house, you were probably described as a pensioner - pittance though it was! Jay

Thanks for all the help. It certainly sounds like he was simply unemployed and receiving some kind of help from the parish. I was led to believe from other threads on here that Almshouses were also known as poor houses as oppose to the work house. Thanks again. Liz