Midleton workhouse Board of Guardians (BG118)

Descriptive list of the archive of Midleton workhouse/poor law union Board of Guardians. Items are in hard copy and may be accessed by appointment.

Midleton Board of Guardians IE CCCA BG/118

Cork City and County Archives Midleton Board of Guardians (Ref. IE CCCA/BG/118) Descriptive List

Table of Contents Identity Statement ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Context............................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Creator(s):................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Archival History ........................................................................................................................................................ 3 Administrative & Biographical History ................................................................................................................. 3 Content & Structure...................................................................................................................................................... 4 Scope & Content....................................................................................................................................................... 4 Arrangement .............................................................................................................................................................. 5 Conditions of Access & Use........................................................................................................................................ 6 Allied Materials: ............................................................................................................................................................. 6 Archivist’s Note: ............................................................................................................................................................ 6 List of Items and Descriptions.................................................................................................................................... 7 1. Minute Books .................................................................................................................................................... 7 BG/118/A Midleton Board of Guardian Minute Books........................................................................ 7 BG/118/AA/1 Midleton Board of Guardians Rough Minute Book .................................................20 BG/118/ACA Resolution Books ...............................................................................................................21 BG/118/ALA/1 Executive Officer’s Report Book .............................................................................. 21 2. Accounts .......................................................................................................................................................... 22 BG/118/CA General Ledgers ..................................................................................................................22 BG/118/CB Personal Ledgers..................................................................................................................23 BG/118/CD Financial Statement Books - Receipts .............................................................................23 BG/118/CE Financial Statement Books - Expenditure .......................................................................24 BG/118/CF/1 Treasurer’s Book of Guardians’ Receipts and Payments .......................................... 24 BG/118/CH Day Books ........................................................................................................................... 25 BG/118/CM/1 Clerk’s Petty Disbursements ........................................................................................ 25 3. Workhouse: Administration .......................................................................................................................... 26 BG/118/FG/1 Provision Check Account Book ...................................................................................26 BG/118/FT/1 Workhouse Farm Account Book..................................................................................26 4. Workhouse: Inmates ......................................................................................................................................27 BG/118/G Indoor Relief Registers .........................................................................................................27

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Midleton Board of Guardians IE CCCA BG/118

BG/118/GA

Admission and Discharge Books .....................................................................................28

BG/118/GC/1

Indoor Relief List ...........................................................................................................29

5. Workhouse Infirmary ..................................................................................................................................... 30 BG/118/HB Medical Weekly Return and Extra Books .......................................................................30 6. Returns of Births and Deaths .......................................................................................................................31 BG/118/K Record of Births..................................................................................................................... 31 BG/118/KA Record of Deaths ..............................................................................................................31

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Midleton Board of Guardians IE CCCA BG/118

Identity Statement

Reference Code:

IE CCCA/BG/118

Title:

Midleton Board of Guardians

Dates:

1841 – 1925 (- 1966)

Level of description:

Fonds

Extent:

190 items

Context

Creator(s): Midleton Board of Guardians

Archival History The first, and largest, accession of records of Midleton Board of Guardians was deposited in the Archives in around 1982 from Midleton District Home and Hospital. Some indoor relief registers and other inmate and patient records were retained by the Sisters of Mercy at Midleton Hospital (later known as Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital). These records were deposited in the Archives in 2009 and 2010. Administrative & Biographical History The Midleton Board of Guardians was the governing body of Midleton workhouse and poor law union. Midleton workhouse opened 21 August 1841. Midleton Poor Law Union was established under the Poor Law (Ireland) Act, 1838. It was one of 16 unions in the overall County Cork area. Each union was centred on a city or market town and its hinterland, and this union area sometimes ignored existing parish or county boundaries. In this central town was situated the union workhouse (usually built between 1838 and 1852) which provided relief for the unemployed and the destitute. The responsibilities of the guardians increased to encompass public health, including some medical relief for the destitute at the workhouse, ‘outdoor’ relief though a system of dispensary districts, and other functions including overseeing smallpox vaccinations, the boarding-out of orphan and deserted children, and providing labourers’ cottages and improved sanitation. The workhouse buildings included a fever hospital, and fever sheds were created in local districts when larger outbreaks occurred. The workhouse provided education to child inmates, and employed a schoolmaster and schoolmistress. Young inmates also received agricultural education on the workhouse farm. Each workhouse was managed by a staff and officers under the charge of a workhouse master, who reported to the board. Overall responsibility rested with the union's board of guardians, some of whom were elected, and some of whom were ex-officio members appointed usually from amongst local magistrates. The board appointed its own inhouse committees, and received reports from workhouse officers and from dispensary district committees and district medical officers. It also made resolutions on

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Midleton Board of Guardians IE CCCA BG/118

internal and poor law matters and, sometimes, on wider political or social issues. Poor law services were principally financed by a poor rate levied on property owners in the union ’s districts, and collected by rate collectors appointed by the board. Central government also provided loans. Each union was under the central supervision of the Poor Law Commissioners up to 1874 and thereafter of the Local Government Board (later Local Government Board in Ireland). These government-appointed bodies received reports from the board and its officers, appointed inspectors and auditors, sanctioned or rejected proposed expenditure, appointments, and policies, and made the final decision on major administrative issues. In 1850, it was decided that several districts in the Midleton union should be severed from it in order to form a distinct Youghal poor law union. The scope and functions of the board of guardians were changed over time by legislation including the Public Health (Ireland) Acts 1874 and 1878, Medical Charities Acts, Vaccination Acts, Dispensary Houses Act, the Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention Act, Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1878, and Labourers’ Acts. While these acts tended to increase the role of the board, the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 saw most of its public health functions taken over by the newly-created Cork County Council and Midleton Rural District Council. The board continued to administer the workhouse and its hospital, and to supervise some forms of outdoor relief. In November 1920 the board rejected the authority of the Local Government Board in Ireland and accepted that of the Local Government Department of Dail Eireann, later the Department of Local Government of the Irish Free State. The Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act 1923 led to the abolition of the workhouse system, and its replacement with the formation of the county boards of health and public assistance. In common with many former workhouses, the Midleton workhouse buildings were taken over for use as a local home and hospital.

Content & Structure

Scope & Content The archives of the Midleton Board of Guardians are extensive and include large numbers of minute books, indoor relief registers, financial accounts, and administrative records. The minutes of meetings of Midleton Board of Guardians, in addition to recording the administration of the workhouse and poor relief generally, also cover a range of subjects. They reflect attitudes to poverty and illegitimacy, and document developments in the care of children, those with disabilities, and the mentally ill. They also provide glimpses of emigration, local land issues, and the rise of nationalism from the 1880s on. Related records, such as the Executive Officer’s report book ( BG/118/ALA/1; 1874-87) reveal the growing emphasis on improving sanitation as a means of alleviating poverty and distress. Some resolutions of Midleton Board of Guardians are contained in a resolution book of Midleton Rural District Council, 1899-1911, the same clerk serving both bodies. This is coded RDC/118/ACA/1 [see ‘Allied materials’ below]. Financial records (1856-1924), such as general and personal ledgers and day books, record day to day expenditure and receipts, including payments to suppliers. They complement the administrative records, such as the provision check account book (1921-230 and the Workhouse farm account book (1899-1966), together providing evidence of the business of managing the workhouse and poor relief.

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Records of inmates of the Workhouse (1841-1925), especially the indoor relief registers, record personal information on those who admitted to the Workhouse. They are a valuable source for family and genealogy research. The registers are supplemented by related records, such as admission and discharge books (1913- 25), Infirmary medical weekly returns (1915-19) and records of births and deaths (1844-1932). The collection is of use to those studying the administrative and social history of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and to students of local and family history. The development of the poor law system, and the local experience of the Great Famine of 1845-49, are subjects of particular interest.

[See descriptive list below for detailed descriptions of series and items]

Arrangement The collection is arranged into 19 separate series, under 6 different headings (see table of contents). This arrangement is based on that devised for Poor Law records nationally by Sean McMenamin of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (see Appendix 2 to McMenamin’s article in Irish Archives Bulletin Vol 1, No 2, October 1971). Please note that gaps occur in many series.

Headings

1. Minute Books A3-139

Board of Guardian Minute Books Board of Guardian Rough Minute Book

1845-1924 (107 items) 1896-1897 (1 item) 1896-1922 (2 items) 1874-1887 (1 item)

AA1

ACA1-2

Resolution Books

ALA1

Executive Officer’s Report Book

2. Accounts

CA1-22 CB1-15 CD1-2

General Ledgers Personal Ledgers

1856-1924 (7 items) 1854-1914 (6 items) 1899-1922 (2 items) 1899-1924 (4 items) 1911-1920 (1 item) 1906-1920 (3 items) 1910-1916 (1 item)

Financial Statements Book – Receipts Financial Statements Expenditure

CE1, 8-10

CF1

Treasurers Bank Book

CH1-3

Day Books

CM1

Clerk’s Petty Disbursements

3. Workhouse: Administration

FG1 FT1

Provision Check Account Book Workhouse Farm Account Book

1921-1923 (1 item) 1899 – 1966 (1 item)

4. Workhouse: Inmates

G1-51

Indoor Relief Registers

1841-1923 (42 items) 1913-1925 (8 items) 1917-1919 (1 item)

GA1-11

Admission and Discharge Books

GC1

Indoor Relief List

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5. Workhouse: Infirmary

HB1-4

Medical Weekly Return and Extra Book

1915 – 1919 (4 items)

6. Returns of Births and Deaths

K1-2 KA1

Record of Births Record of Deaths

1844-1898, 1908-1930 (2 items)

1899-1932 (1 item)

Conditions of Access & Use

Access : Open by appointment to those holding a current readers ’ ticket.

Language: English

Finding Aids: Descriptive list.

Allied Materials:

Related Material CCCA: Records of Midleton Home and Hospital, 1925-79

Board of Guardian records for other poor law unions in County Cork Cork County Boards of Health and Public Assistance records, 1921-66 Midleton Rural District Council records, 1899-1925 [RDC/118/ACA/1 contains Union resolutions] Cork County Council records, 1899-1925

Elsewhere: National Archives of Ireland: Archives of the Poor Law Commissioners

Archives of the Local Government Board in Ireland Archives of the Department of Local Government

Archivist ’ s Note: Timmy O Connor Local Government Archivist, CCCA January 2011

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List of Items and Descriptions

1. Minute Books

BG/118/A

Midleton Board of Guardian Minute Books

Scope and Content: A record of meetings and decisions made by the board of guardians in administering the workhouse and poor relief generally. At meetings, administrative, financial, rates, and medical books were examined, officers’ reports and committee findings heard, correspondence read and considered, and applications for admission decided on. Matters arising with regard to the workhouse, staff, provisions, bills, rate collection, the Poor Law Commissioners/Local Government Board, and other issues, were also discussed. The minutes also include weekly statistics of admissions, discharges, and deaths in the workhouse, and of outdoor relief.

Date : December 1845 – April 1924

Level : Series

Extent : 107 volumes

1. 2. 3.

Missing Missing

31 Dec 1845 – 3 Jul 1847

Includes:

14 Jan 1846 Mr Griffith, Commissioner for the General Survey and Valuation of Ireland, requests books

11 Feb 1846 Cheque ordered to be drawn for payment of three year’s rent of the workhouse site to Lord Midleton . Resolved, that ‘stirabout’ [made with oatmeal] be substituted for potatoes for the paupers’ breakfasts 18 February 1846 Resolved, that the PLC’s attention be drawn to the Medical Officer’s statement that ‘the Children in the House are in a most deplorable state’, owing to the poor ventilation and construction of their apartments

1 Jul 1846 Letters from PLC regarding the erection of additional buildings, and the role of wardens

15 Jul 1846 Resolved, that Daniel O’Connell MP be asked to support the union’s claim for remission by parliament of the sum expended in building the workhouse, particularly in light of ‘the amount of destitution in all parts of

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Ireland,… the failure of last year’s potato crop,… [and] the just ground for apprehension of a more extensive failure’.

19 Aug 1846 Resolved [at a meeting to consider the failure of the potato crop] ‘That from experience we de precate the system of affording gratuitous relief as likely to interfere with the industrious habits of the People’, and calling instead for funds for employment on public works. 2 Sep 1846 Resolved, that ‘at the present momentous crisis’, a Co Cork deput ation should attend on the Queen to set forth ‘the appalling state of destitution’ of her people. 25 Nov 1846 Resolved, that the relief committee be authorised to use a workhouse boiler to make soup for ‘the destitute poor who are not inmates of this Hous e’. [Later discontinued on the advice of the PLC]

23 Jan 1847 Resolved, ‘(tho’ the House is overcrowded) not to adopt the painful extreme of closing it against further admissions for the present’.

18 Mar 1847 Forty-six inmates died this week, with fever and disease now widespread in the House and the Union

17 Apr 1847 PLC letter regarding the refusal of local clergy to allow further Workhouse interments in churchyards.

1 May 1847 Medical Officer’s Report stressing sanitary conditions cannot be restored while ‘one batch of Fever patients are restored while another shoal are allowed admittance ’ and advising ‘put your House in order before disease comes within your own doors’.

10 Jul 1847 – 24 Feb 1848

Includes:

10 July 1847 PLC letters regarding a loan and the striking of a rate to meet ordinary expenditure and the purposes of the Temporary Relief Act.

11 September 1847 Resolved, that relieving officers issue tickets of admissions to the workhouse in their districts, in place of those guardians who had acted as wardens. 10 November 1847 Resolved, to call on ‘proprietors, absentees as well as residents, to use every means of providing employment during the season of calamity’.

12 Jan 1848 Resolved, that Youghal Auxiliary Workhouse open on 14 January.

24 Feb 1848 PLC informed that the intention to send children in Youghal workhouse to local schools is frustrated by the schools’ refusal to receive them; notice of motion to apply credit on hand ‘to emigration purposes’.

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2 Mar 1848 – 28 Dec 1848

Includes:

9 March 1848 Visiting Committee report that the auxiliary workhouse at Millview is ready to receive 300 persons.

15 April 1848 Resolved, that the fever estimates for Youghal be submitted to the portion of the board which meets weekly in Youghal to administer its workhouse. 4 May 1848 Resolved, ‘ that in consequence of the continually increasing extent of fever and dysentry’ that Lisgoold and Killeagh fever sheds be kept open; Resolved, to seek the PLC’s direction as to the problem of ‘the vast and daily increasing number of vagrants’ released from Cork prison presenting themselves for admission.

13 Jul 1848 Resolution regarding implements to allow able-bodied paupers to work on preparing a graveyard on ground granted by Lord Midleton.

20 Jul 1848 Extract from report on the Union national school, noting ‘the great majority of pupils receive scarcely any instruction’, and that the room ‘is very badly ventilated’. 27 Jul 1848 Resolution seeking guidance in the case of a deserted child, noting ‘the parents… are Tinkers who are a wandering class and have no fixed permanent residence’.

24 Aug 1848 Letter to PLC predicting ‘widespread disaffection Anarchy and plunder’ if the proposed striking and collecting of a new rate is proceeded with.

4 Jan 1849 – 4 Oct 1849

Includes:

16 Jun 1849 (inside front cover) Return of Accommodation of the Midleton Union Workhouse and its Auxiliaries. Total: 5550 [13 buildings listed]

4 Jan 1849 Resolved ‘that no woman having an illegitimate child or whose character was at any period of her life notoriously bad’ be employed in the workhouse. 29 Mar 1849 Resolutions, (1) regarding the difficulty of securing rate collectors; (2) regarding the wish of several inmates to travel on vessels going from Cork to Australia.

30 April 1849 Medical appointments made in light of the appearance of cholera in the main and auxiliary houses.

26 Jul 1849 Letter to PLC asking that able-bodied inmates of the Cloyne auxiliary

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houses be permitted to work ‘in the breakage of stone’ or on roads, so that ‘the inducements to continue inmates… will be materially… removed… without prejudice to… the interests of free labour’. 30 Aug 1849 Proposed reduced salaries of officers, in light of ‘the greatly diminished duties’ of relieving officers and ‘the greatly reduced circumstances of the rate payers’. 6 Sep 1849 Resolved, to accept Major Bolton’s proposal regarding the emigration of 60 female pauper orphans; notice of resolution to seek measures to facilitate the division of the union as proposed by the Boundary Commissioners [creating a separate Youghal union].

8 Oct 1849 – 19 Oct 1849

Includes:

(inside front cover) ‘Accommodation Table’ showing a total of 3620 places in seven buildings, including the two Youghal houses.

8. 9.

Missing

2 May 1850 – 28 Nov 1850

Includes:

9 May 1850 Resolved, that a new valuation of the union be made, as, since the last valuation in 1841, agricultural prices have dropped by nearly one half, and that the PLC be asked to provide a loan of £5000 for current purposes. 23 May 1850 Letter regarding returns sought by parliament relative to cholera in the Union district. It is explained that temporary hospitals and committees have been dissolved, and that there is now no source for such information. 27 Jul 1850 Noted in statistical tables for 20 July that ‘198 paupers chargeable to Youghal U nion are now located in Midleton workhouse’. [Noted in tables up to September]

12 Sep 1850 Resolved, that stated reductions in staff and salaries be adopted, in view of ‘the severance of the Youghal districts’ and ‘diminished pauperism’.

28 Nov 1850 Resolved, that PLC ask the electoral divisions now in Youghal Union to settle liabilities [i.e., pay debts to Midleton U nion], as it is ‘a manifest hardship’ to strik e rates and seek loans while other monies remain unpaid.

10. 11. 12.

Missing Missing

31 Dec 1851 – 14 Jul 1852

Includes:

28 Jan 1852 PLC letter objecting to the appointment to the fever hospital of a nurse who is unable to read or write, with a statement in reply by the medical

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officer.

24 Mar 1852 PLC letter sanctioning a gratuity for the schoolmaster ‘in consequence of the favourable character of the report made by the inspector of National Schools’.

31 Mar 1852 Resolution directed at rate collectors, stressing that ‘the present state of our funds absolutely require the greatest diligence on their part ’.

2 Jun 1852 PLC letter regarding the eviction of 17 families in Ballyannon townland without the required notice. The relieving officer of the district is to report to the Board. 7 Jul 1852 Letter to PLC regarding deductions for annuities and the consequent need to strike a large rate, in the context of ‘the potato blight which has appeared in a very aggravated form in this union’. The letter notes ‘the impression universally prevalent, that the greater portion of the annuities will be remitted to the countr y’.

13. 14. 15.

Missing Missing

3 Aug 1853 – 4 Jan 1854

This and subsequent minute books contain, following the ordinary minutes, supplemental pages for minutes under the Medical Charities Act. In later volumes, the Vaccination Acts and Dispensary Houses Act are also referred to.

Includes:

3 Aug 1853 Letter to PLC asking whether the Board is permitted to supplement an insufficient sum of money sent by a mother to allow her two boys to join her in New York, thus removing ‘perhaps a lasting charge on the union’. 28 Sep 1853 Resolved (under the Medical Charities Act), that sanitary committees be formed by the dispensary committees in each dispensary district, to carry out the Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention Act. 5 Oct 1853 Resolved, that lands adjoining the workhouse, presently held by Dr Barry and owned by Lord Midleton, be leased for ‘sanitary purposes’ [sewerage and manure]. 9 Nov 1853 Resolved (under the Medical Charities Act), that proper arrangements be made ‘in consequence of the ap pearance of cholera in the neighbourhood of Aghada’. 4 Jan 1854 Letter to PLC explaining why juvenile inmates are not employed on the farm, which the Board wish to give up, seeking instead to take land nearer the workhouse.

16. 17.

Missing

29 Nov 1854 – 9 May 1855

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18. 19. 20.

16 May 1855 – 10 Oct 1855 17 Oct 1855 – 26 Mar 1856 2 Apr 1856 – 24 Sept 1856

Includes:

2 Apr 1856 Lists of rate payers elected to the committees of management of the dispensary districts of Aghada, Cloyne, Castlemartyr, Midleton, and Walshtownmore East.

16 Apr 1856 The Master reports a coroner’s inquest verdict that a pauper came by her death from wounds inflicted by another inmate, a lunatic.

4 Jun 1856 Resolved, in the context of a lawsuit between PLC and the Midleton Estate, that the Board will not take a new lease of the dispensary and fever hospital, there being alternative accommodation within the walls if needed. 6 Aug 1856 Resolution regarding the ‘insuperable difficulty’ of recovering from Mr Wilson, late rate collector, or his securities, ‘the amount of his defalcation in the last rate’.

21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.

Missing Missing Missing Missing

8 Sept 1858 – 2 Mar 1859

Missing

7 Sept 1859 – 29 Feb 1860

Missing Missing Missing Missing

26 Feb 1862 – 20 Aug 1862

Includes:

26 Feb 1862 Resolved, to oppose any proposal that Queenstown electoral division transfer from the Cork to the Midleton Union.

5 Mar 1862 Report of the inspector of national agricultural schools, expressing satisfaction with ‘the number and proficiency in the agricultural class’ and the farm generally.

16 Apr 1862 Resolved, that the master ‘provide a coffee breakfast and a meat dinner for the pauper inmates on next Easter Sunday’.

23 Apr 1862, Resolved, to agree to increase from £10 to £12 the annual pension for inmates in Cork Blind Asylum.

18 Jun 1862 Order expressing regret that PLC will not permit the matron’s sister

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to reside with her, noting ‘for instance in Fermoy Workhouse his two childre n have been permitted to reside with the Master’.

20 Aug 1862 Resolution asking PLC whether, under new legislation, illegitimate children are to be registered under the names of their mothers or of their putative fathers.

33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44.

Missing

28 Feb 1863 – 22 Aug 1863 29 Aug 1863 – 13 Feb 1864

Missing

20 Aug 1864 – 11 Feb 1865 18 Feb 1865 – 5 Aug 1865 12 Aug 1865 – 27 Jan 1866

Missing Missing Missing Missing

18 Jan 1868 – 11 Jul 1868

Includes:

29 Feb 1868 Notice of report from Cloyne dispensary district containing 134 vaccinations performed during 1867.

11 Apr 1868 Extract from the inspector’s report on the union national school, praising both the girls’ and boys’ departments as exemplary for wor khouse schools.

18 Apr 1868 Resolved, ‘that the rules referring to tramps be carried out’, and that while awaiting discharge ‘these tramps must be employed in breaking stones’.

30 May 1868 Resolution, in response to a PLC letter, asserting that the dietary of the inmates is satisfactory.

11 July 1868 Resolved, that members of district dispensary committees be appointed as nuisance committees.

45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57.

Missing

16 Jan 1869 – 7 Jul 1869 14 Jul 1869 – 5 Jan 1870 8 Jan 1870 – 6 Jul 1870 13 Jul 1870 – 4 Jan 1871 11 Jan 1871 – 28 Jun 1871 5 Jul 1871 – 27 Dec 1873

Missing Missing Missing

5 Jul 1873 – 27 Dec 1873 4 Jan 1873 – 28 Jun 1873

Missing

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58. 59.

Missing

4 Jul 1874 – 17 Oct 1874

This and subsequent volumes contain pages for minutes of proceedings as a sanitary authority (under the Public Health (Ireland) Act 1874 and, in later volumes, the 1878 Act.)

60.

24 Oct 1874 – 3 Apr 1875

Includes:

7 Nov 1874 Resolution regarding the salaries of sanitary officers under the Public Health (Ireland) Act 1874; resolution complaining that the union ’s bearing of the cost of revising parliamentary voters and jurors lists is ‘unfair and unjust’ as the work is ‘of a pu rely imperial character ’.

14 Nov 1874 Resolved, that a girl raised in the workhouse be supplied with a suit of clothes upon going into service.

2 Jan 1875 Letter from the Roman Catholic chaplain regarding religious instruction given to a non – Catholic by the Workhouse tailor, an ‘unauthorised person’ ; Resolution regarding ‘the very insufficient supply of water and sewerage’ in Cloyne as reported by the sanitary officer.

61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66.

10 Apr 1875 – 2 Oct 1875 9 Oct 1875 – 1 Apr 1876 8 Apr 1876 – 30 Sept 1876 7 Oct 1876 – 31 Mar 1877

Missing

6 Oct 1877 – 30 Mar 1878

Includes:

20 Oct 1878 Letter from the schoolmaster defending himself against a poor inspection report and examination results, which have led the LGB to call on him to resign.

1 Dec 1878 Resolved, that dispensary doctors be required to reside in a central part of their district.

18 Jan 1878 Medical Officer’s r eport of cases of typhus fever from a common lodging house in Darby’s Lane, Midleton, setting out ‘prompt measures for its suppression’; report and estimate for water supply for Midleton heard by the Midleton Sanitary and Dispensary Committee. 23 Feb 1878 Medical Officer’s report calling attention to ‘the want of a convalescent ward in t he general hospital’, noting that there were 49 patients a year ago, and 71 today.

9 Mar 1878 LGB letter regarding evictions without proper notice in the townland of Gearagh [Midleton estate].

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67.

6 Apr 1878 – 28 Sept 1878

Includes:

6 Apr 1878 Sanitary Officer’s report regarding the public pump near Carrigtwohill, the well for which is used as a ‘public closet’, the houses lacking sanitary accommodation.

27 Apr 1878 Medical Officer’s report suggesting ‘that as the epidemic of measles is not declining that the schools remain closed until further notice’.

25 May 1878 Sanitary Officer’s report regarding Green’s Lane, Midleton, which he considers unsanitary and ‘entirely unfit for habitation’, noting ‘whenever cholera or smallpox have vi sited this town they always originate in this lane’.

22 Jun 1878 Sanitary Officer’s report on common lodging houses in the town of Midleton.

31 Aug 1878 Resolved, that the first business of the new board each year be the appointment of a committee to report on the revision of the out door relief list.

68.

5 Oct 1878 – 29 Mar 1879

Includes:

5 Oct 1878 Report of the visiting committee, concluding ‘the house is a model of cleanliness and order’; resolved, that the board be the executive committee, and that the dispensary committees be sub-committees, under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1878. 16 Nov 1878 LGB letter advising the keeping of minutes of proceedings under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act; LGB letter regarding the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878.

23 Nov 1878 Letter reporting a case of smallpox [near Aghada], the affected child having been twice vaccinated.

25 Jan 1879 Report by Arthur and Henry Hill, architects, regarding increasing accommodation in the hospital.

1 Feb 1879 Medical Officer’s report regarding the sequestration of epileptics.

15 Mar 1879 Notices to quit the workhouse farm and dispensary, issued on behalf of Viscount Midleton.

29 Mar 1879 LGB letter regarding a bill for providing dispensary houses and dwelling houses for medical officers ‘in certain parts of Ireland’.

69. 70. 71.

5 Apr 1879 – 27 Sept 1879 4 Oct 1879 – 27 Mar 1880

Missing

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72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83.

2 Oct 1880 – 26 Mar 1881 2 Apr 1881 – 18 Mar 1882 1 Oct 1881 – 18 Mar 1882 25 Mar 1882 – 16 Sept 1882 23 Sept 1882 – 17 Mar 1883 24 Mar 1883 – 15 Sept 1883 22 Sept 1883 – 1 Mar 1884 8 Mar 1884 – 30 Aug 1884 6 Sept 1884 – 21 Feb 1885 28 Feb 1885 – 22 Aug 1885 29 Aug 1885 – 13 Feb 1886 20 Feb 1886 – 14 Aug 1886

Includes:

14 Aug 1886 LGB letter requesting plan, specification, and estimate for augmenting the workhouse hospital; resolution requesting that the government stop evictions, and expressing confidence ‘that the most powerful statesman England has seen, and our trusted leader, Mr Parnell will yet carry the only measure that will save the country from utter ruin and destruction’.

84.

21 Aug 1886 – 19 Feb 1887

This and subsequent volumes contain minutes of proceedings under the Labourers’ Acts , following ordinary proceedings as a rural sanitary authority.

85. 86.

26 Feb 1887 – 20 Aug 1887 27 Aug 1887 – 18 Feb 1888

Includes:

27 Aug 1887 Letter containing legal opinion on petitions lodged against the Midleton Union Labourers’ Order 1887, and on the supplemental report by Colonel Spaight. It is advised that the Board contest all the petitions.

87. 88.

25 Feb 1888 – 18 Aug 1888 25 Aug 1888 – 16 Feb 1889

Includes:

8 Sep 1888 Resolved, to set up a committee to inquire into the system of boarding out orphan and deserted children.

29 Sep 1888 Reports by relieving officers on orphans out at nurse [a recurring item].

24 Nov 1888 Resolution regarding a recent disturbance in Midleton, deploring the ‘cowardly and inhuman conduct of the police on that occasion on account of which a quiet and unoffending young man lost his life by being brutally bayoneted by them’.

19 Jan 1889 Resolved, that LGB be asked to send its inspecting engineer to

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report on 122 labourers’ cottages being built, to enable issue of a further loan instalment.

89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99.

23 Feb 1889 – 17 Aug 1889 24 Aug 1889 – 15 Feb 1890 22 Feb 1890 – 16 Aug 1890 23 Aug 1890 – 7 Feb 1891 14 Feb 1891 – 8 Aug 1891 15 Aug 1891 – 13 Feb 1892 20 Feb 1892 – 13 Aug 1892 20 Aug 1892 – 11 Feb 1893 18 Feb 1893 – 12 Aug 1893 19 Aug 1893 – 17 Feb 1894 24 Feb 1894 – 18 Aug 1894 25 Aug 1894 – 16 Feb 1895 23 Feb 1895 – 17 Aug 1895 24 Aug 1895 – 15 Feb 1896 22 Feb 1896 – 15 Aug 1896 22 Aug 1896 – 20 Feb 1897 27 Feb 1897 – 21 Aug 1897 28 Aug 1897 – 26 Feb 1898 5 Mar 1898 – 27 Aug 1898 3 Sept 1898 – 4 Mar 1899

100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108.

Includes:

28 Jan 1899 Sealed order declaring that all paid workhouse and dispensary officers are eligible to serve as county councillors under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.

109.

11 Mar 1899 – 24 Jun 1899

Proceedings under the Public Health Acts and Labourers’ Acts last recorded on 24 June 1899. [Reflecting changes in functions resulting from the coming into effect of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898]

Includes:

11 Mar 1899 Notice of sealed order fixing the scale of remuneration for services under the Registration Act 1898.

15 Apr 1899 Resolved, that application be made to the County Council for £1600 to meet Poor Law expenses for the next four months; resolved, that the guardians meet on Saturdays after the meeting of the Rural District Council. 22 Apr 1899 Resolved, that ‘as the landlords are exempted from contributing by the LG Act to the rates… that the landlords should be got rid of altogether by the government … by the compulsory sale of the la nds to the occupiers and tillers of the soil on fair and equitable terms… with the enforced reinstatement of the evicted tenants… and where necessary to compel the surrender of grabber farms by the land grabbers to the former holders’.

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Midleton Board of Guardians IE CCCA BG/118

110.

1 Jul 1899 – 21 Jul 1900

This and subsequent volumes contain supplemental pages, for minutes of proceedings under the Medical Charities Acts, and Financial Minutes for Stated Finance Meetings. [The weekly statistical tables on the State of the Workhouse and outdoor relief are usually not completed in this volume, the latest completed returns being for 5 August 1899, recording 312 inmates and 436 recipients of outdoor relief].

Includes:

2 Sep 1899 Master reports that the matron, Mother Magdalen, was violently assaulte d by an inmate, noting ‘it is probable she would have killed her if one of the women had not rushed to save her’. The inmate is now in jail. 7 Oct 1899 Resolved, that a man be prosecuted for not removing his wife and children from the workhouse, following notice from the relieving officer [a recurring item] 20 Jan 1900 LGB letter regarding water closets in the workhouse. It is explained that the board is waiting for Midleton to be made an urban council, so that a sewerage scheme connecting with the house may be commenced. 17 Mar 1900 The Board requests guidance on how to relieve the ‘very destitute’ wife and family of a labourers’ cottage tenant now in the workhouse hospital, the family not being disabled from labour [a requirement for relief].

14 Jul 1900 Resolved, that a sworn inquiry ought to be held into allegations of neglect made by the medical officer against the midwife of Castlemartyr district.

111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118. 119.

28 Jul 1900 – 2 Feb 1901 9 Feb 1901 – 10 Aug 1901 17 Aug 1901 – 1 Mar 1902 8 Mar 1902 – 28 Mar 1903 4 Apr 1903 – 10 Oct 1903 17 Oct 1903 – 23 Apr 1904 30 Apr 1904 – 29 Oct 1904 5 Nov 1904 – 7 Jun 1905 10 Jun 1905 – 30 Dec 1905

This volume contains supplemental pages for financial and statistical minutes, copies to be sent to the LGB. Inserted (e.g. 24 June 1905) are forms for analyses of drugs submitted under Article 36 Dispensary Regulations.

Includes:

12 Aug 1905 Resolved, that certain children be boarded out, at two shillings six pence per week [a recurring item].

23 Sep 1905 Proceedings of a committee meeting to consider an LGB suggestion

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Midleton Board of Guardians IE CCCA BG/118

that the post of medical officer of Castlemartyr district be abolished, and the dispensary districts be recast. The meeting voted no change. [p238; inserted is a summons from a 1927 court case between John L Power, appointed to this post at this meeting, and Cork County Council].

30 Sep 1905 Guardian’s replies to matters raised in Dr Browne’s report on the dispensary districts of the Union.

14 Oct 1905 Two resolutions ordering proceedings to be taken against the fathers of illegitimate children.

30 Dec 1905 LGB letter regarding the occupation of a man to whom it is proposed to supply an artificial limb.

120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129. 130. 131.

13 Jan 1906 – 4 Aug 1906 11 Aug 1906 – 23 Mar 1907 30 Mar 1907 – 2 Nov 1907 9 Nov 1907 – 11 Jul 1908 25 Jul 1908 – 6 Mar 1909

Missing

8 Jan 1910 – 22 Oct 1910 5 Nov 1910 – 2 Oct 1911 11 Nov 1911 – 23 Nov 1912 7 Dec 1912 – 3 Jan 1914 10 Jan 1914 – 28 Nov 1914 12 Dec 1914 – 11 Dec 1915

Includes:

23 Jan 1915 Report of the inspector of lunatics on the insane inmates of the workhouse.

8 May 1915 Resolution expressing outrage at the ‘barbarous and brutal’ sinking of the Lusitania by the German Navy.

26 Jun 1915 Letter from Fr Hutch PP complaining of the ‘colossal’ number of ‘outsiders’ attending workhouse mass.

27 Nov 1915 Resolution regarding the LGB’s refusal to sanction Mrs Kinse lla acting as porter, noting that many offices employ women in place of men on war service.

132. 133. 134. 135. 136.

8 Jan 1916 – 9 Dec 1916 30 Dec 1916 – 12 Jan 1918 26 Jan 1918 – 11 Jan 1919 25 Jan 1919 – 7 Feb 1920 14 Feb 1920 – 22 Apr 1921

From the meeting of 12 November 1920 on, the Board corresponds with the Local Government Department of Dail Eireann, not with the Local Government Board in Ireland.

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Midleton Board of Guardians IE CCCA BG/118

Includes:

27 Aug 1920 Resolution protesting against the ‘barbarous treatment meted out to Lord Mayor McSwiney’.

10 Dec 1920 Resolved, that the husband of the schoolmistress be permitted to reside with her in the workhouse during her confinement, subject to conditions.

137. 138. 139.

13 May 1921 – 8 Jul 1922 22 Jul 1922 – 10 Nov 1923 24 Nov. 1923 – 26 Apr 1924

Includes:

8 Dec 1923 Resolution recognising O’Neill, and not the Barrys, as the ‘legal tenant’ of Ballydaniel farm, ‘from which his father was evicted and to which he was re- instated in April 1920 by the IRA’. 22 Mar 1924 Departm ental letter forwarding an auditor’s report on the defalcations of a relieving officer. The letter concludes ‘the Minister will not entertain any suggestion that [he] be re-employed in a position of trust in the public service’. 26 Apr 1924 Departmental letter ‘stating, in reference to the proposed abolition of Boards of Guardians, that the Union accounts should be closed as soon as possible after the 1 st May and a detailed statement of the assets and outstanding liabilities of the Board of Guardians forw arded to the County Council’.

BG/118/AA/1

Midleton Board of Guardians Rough Minute Book

Scope and Content: Draft record of meetings and decisions made by the board of guardians.

Date : 22 Aug 1896 – 20 Feb 1897

Level : Item

Extent : 1 volume

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Midleton Board of Guardians IE CCCA BG/118

BG/118/ACA Resolution Books

Scope and Content: Record of Resolutions adopted by the Board of Guardians at its meetings. The resolutions are dated and initialled by the chairman. The first volume present also contains minutes of some meetings of committees of the Board.

Date: November 1896 – March 1899; June 1911 – March 1922

Level: Series

Extent: 2 volumes

18 Nov 1896 – 30 Mar 1899

Includes minutes of the ‘Evicted Tenants Arbitration Committee’ for the period 18 November to 17 December 1896 (at the front of the volume), and of the Water Committee (6 October 1897 – 16 February 1899; occurring throughout the volume)

24 Jun 1911 – 11 Mar 1922

BG/ 118/ALA/1

Executive Officer’s Report Book

Scope and Content:

Reports by district sanitary officers to the Board of Guardians, acting as a sanitary authority. The volume is arranged in columns recording the date, district, reports, orders of the sanitary authority, and results. Matters reported on include defective sewerage and sanitation, public nuisances, and fever outbreaks and related disinfection. Districts reported on include Midleton No 1 and No 2, Aghada, Castlemartyr, Cloyne, and Walshtownmore. The first meeting of the Board as a sanitary authority was held on 3 October 1874.

Date: 3 October 1874 – 15 January 1887

Level: Item

Extent: 1 volume

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Midleton Board of Guardians IE CCCA BG/118

2. Accounts

BG/118/CA

General Ledgers

Scope and Content: Financial ledgers recording, on the debit side, payments by the Union in respect of services to electoral divisions and other outgoings, and, on the credit side, rates lodged by electoral divisions in respect of such services, and other payments received. Services for which payments are made initially by the Union include maintenance and clothing of paupers (in the electoral division and at the workhouse), establishment expenses, collectors’ poundage, emigration, burials, medical charities, and elections. In addition to rates lodged, these outgoings are met in part by payments from the State’s Relief Loan, and by other receipts. The volumes also contain periodic account summaries, e.g., ‘rates lodged’, ‘unpaid bills’, ‘clothing and bedding account’, ‘establishment account’, and so on.

Date: September 1856 – March 1924

Level: Series

Extent: 7 volumes

1. 2.

29 Sep 1856 – 18 Dec 1858 1 Oct 1864 – 29 Sep 1866

3. – 12.

Missing

13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

30 Sep 1899 – 30 Mar 1905

Missing

Apr 1909 – 31 Mar 1911

Missing Missing Missing

1 Apr 1917 – 31 Mar 1919

Missing

Apr 1920 – 31 Mar 1922 Apr 1922 – 31 Mar 1924

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Midleton Board of Guardians IE CCCA BG/118

BG/118/CB

Personal Ledgers

Scope and Content: Financial ledgers recording, on the debit side, all payments to officers, contractors, and other suppliers, and, on the credit side, the corresponding periods of service, and description and value of goods delivered or work done.

Date: September 1854 – January 1914

Level: Series

Extent: 6 volumes

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

29 Sep 1854 – 25 Mar 1856

Missing

25 Mar 1859 – 29 Sep 1860

Missing

29 Sep 1862 – 29 Sep 1864 29 Sep 1864 – 25 Mar 1867

Missing

29 Sep 1869 -28 Sep 1872

Indexed Missing Missing Missing Missing

10. 11. 12. 13.

1 Jan 1887 – 29 Sep 1892

BG/118/CD

Financial Statement Books - Receipts

Scope and Content: Record of monthly financial statements of receipts, for each half-year. The printed statement forms (called ‘Form 1 (article 9)’) contain the following headings: date when lodged with Treasurer, From whom received, particulars of receipt, total amount received, and classification of receipts. The last field is broken down into the following classes: County Council money supplied on demand of Guardians, repayment of relief, rents of dispensary residences, farm account – sale of produce, sales of offal, old stores and other receipts, loans received. Each form notes the total amount of receipts for the month and the ledger folio to which amounts are posted. At the end of each statement is a certificate of the clerk of the Union and a certificate of confirmation by Guardians, certifying, respectively, that statements are correct and accounted for, and that they have been examined and confirmed.

Date: 19 Jun 1899 – 31 September 1922

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Midleton Board of Guardians IE CCCA BG/118

Level: Series

Extent: 2 volumes

1. 2.

19 Jun 1899 – 12 Apr 1907 30 Apr 1907 – 31 Sep 1922

BG/118/CE

Financial Statement Books - Expenditure

Scope and Content: Record of financial statements of expenditure. Each page contains the following headings: date of issue of order, in whose favour issued, particulars of payment, number of paying order, date when paid by treasurer, orders outstanding at the close of the half-year, total amount of sum paid, classification of expenditure, and observations. Classes of expenditure include provisions, clothing, salaries, farm, burials, medical charities, superannuation, and others. At the end of each statement is a certificate of the clerk of the Union and a certificate of confirmation by Guardians, certifying, respectively, that payments were authorised and that statements are correct and accounted for, and that they have been examined and confirmed.

Date: 25 Mar 1899 – 12 Sep 1903, 13 Nov 1915 – 14 Apr 1924

Level: Series

Extent: 4 volumes

25 Mar 1899 – 12 Sep 1903

2. – 7.

Not present

8. 9.

13 Nov 1915 – 28 Jun 1919 12 Jul 1919 – 24 Mar 1923 14 Apr 1923 – 14 Apr 1924

10.

BG/ 118/CF/1

Treasurer’s Book of Guardians’ Receipts and Payments

Scope and Content: Treasurer’s record of receipts and payments. Noted on the credit (left) side are the date and particulars of receipts, and the amount as lodged in the ‘Ordinary Account’. Most receipts are ‘To Balance’ or brought forward. Noted on the debit (right) side are the date and particulars of payments, number of order, and the amount paid from the ordinary account. In addition to suppliers, payments appear to be made to officers and staff, and to others, such as the Cork District Council and the Cork Examiner newspaper.

Date: 30 September 1911 – 13 December 1920

Level: Item

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