Description:Before today's welfare state, the parish supported individuals and families who fell on hard times.
Widows, illegitimate children, unemployed workers and even whole orphaned families appear on published lists.
Some were taken into the workhouse, but others were supported by casual relief "outdoors," receiving a limited payment.
This snapshot details them as follows:
Casual Relief
Total paid out: £467 8s 1d
Wakefield, William, of Burslem, potter, now dead;
Walton, John, of Tunstall, out of employ;
Wakefield, Sarah, of Cobmoor;
Walton, James, of Wolstanton;
Williams, Richard, of Tunstall;
Warehurst, Thomas, of Tunstall, belongs to Burslem;
Wilson, Smith, of Wolstanton, servant, to leave the workhouse;
Wood, Sarah, of Mellor nr Stockport, widow;
Weaver, Ann, of Tunstall, removed to Hough;
Wilshaw, Enoch, of Wolstanton, labourer, out of employ;
Walley, Margaret, of Longport, sick;
Williams, William, of Wolstanton, to leave the House;
Withinshaw, G's family, father a collier, absconded;
Wright, John's family, collier, of Tunstall, absconded;
Young, Joseph, 61, of Chell, labourer;
Pensioners
Aston, Elizabeth, 33, widow, of Lilleshall, Salop;
Alcock, Hannah, 22, widow, of Tunstall;
Adams, John, 70, of Redstreet, superannuated;
Atkinson, Elizabeth, 30, of Tunstall, widow;
Bourne, Sarah, 69, of Tunstall, widow;
Brooks, Sarah, of Burslem, 79, widow;
Beech, Elizabeth, 75, of Chesterton, widow;
Beech, Hannah, 75, of Knutton;
Blakeman, Ann, 71, of Chesterton, widow;
Bowker, Betty, 71, of Longport, widow;
Brough, Mary, 59, of Tunstall, widow;
Bates, Elizabeth, 34, of Burslem, widow;
Bourne, Sarah, 49, of Chell, widow;
Benson, Elizabeth, 60, of Kidsgrove, widow;
Barnes, Samuel, 80, of Manchester, infirm;
Bould, Barbara, 62, of Kidsgrove, widow;
Baskerfield, Mary, 64, of Chell, widow;
About this document
Pottery manufacturer Enoch Wood kept this document himself, and it is now among the collections of Stoke-on-Trent Museums.