Descriptive list of the archive of Kinsale workhouse/poor law union Board of Guardians. Items are in hard copy and may be accessed by appointment.
Cork City and County Archives
Kinsale Board of Guardians (Ref. IE CCCA/BG/108)
Descriptive List
Table of Contents Cork City and County Archives.......................................................................................................................1 Kinsale Board of Guardians (Ref. IE CCCA/BG/108) ..............................................................................1 Descriptive List ..................................................................................................................................................1 Identity Statement .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Context ................................................................................................................................................................3 Creator(s): .......................................................................................................................................................3 Archival History ............................................................................................................................................3 Administrative & Biographical History......................................................................................................3 Content & Structure ..........................................................................................................................................5 Scope & Content ...........................................................................................................................................5 Arrangement ..................................................................................................................................................6 Conditions of Access & Use ............................................................................................................................7 Allied Materials: .................................................................................................................................................. 7 Archivist’s Note: ................................................................................................................................................ 8 List of Items and Descriptions ........................................................................................................................9 1. Minute Books ......................................................................................................................................... 9 BG/108/A Kinsale Board of Guardian Minute Books ...............................................................9 BG/108/AA Kinsale Board of Guardians Rough Minute Books............................................19 BG/108/AL Rural Sanitary Authority Minute Books (Labourers Acts).................................20 2. Correspondence...................................................................................................................................22 BG/108/B Outgoing Letter Books ..............................................................................................22 BG/108/BB Inward and Outward Letter Book (Poor Law Commissioners) .......................24 3. Accounts ...............................................................................................................................................25 BG/108/CA General Ledgers .......................................................................................................25 BG/108/CB Personal Ledgers ......................................................................................................26 BG/108/CE Financial Statement Books - Expenditure............................................................26 BG/108/CF Treasurer’s Receipt and Payment Books ..............................................................27 BG/108/CG Treasurer’s Loan Repayment Accounts ...............................................................27
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 1 of 35
4. Statistics ................................................................................................................................................28 BG/108/DF Me dical Officers’ Returns .......................................................................................28 5. Workhouse: Administration ............................................................................................................... 29 BG/108/F Master’s Journal ...........................................................................................................29 BG/108/FA Master’s Report Book ..............................................................................................30 BG/108/FT Workhouse Farm Accounts....................................................................................30 6. Workhouse: Inmates ...........................................................................................................................31 BG/108/G Indoor Relief Registers..............................................................................................31 BG/108/GA Admission and Discharge Books..........................................................................31 BG/108/GK Pauper Discharge Books........................................................................................32 7. Workhouse: Infirmary ........................................................................................................................33 BG/108/HE Register of Patients of Fever Hospital .................................................................33 8. Dispensary ............................................................................................................................................33 BG/108/JD Correspondence relating to Dispensaries .............................................................33 9. Returns of Births and Deaths ............................................................................................................34 BG/108/KA Record of Deaths Book .........................................................................................34 10. Contagious Diseases Act ................................................................................................................35 BG/108/M Contagious Diseases Acts Correspondence and Forms ......................................35
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 2 of 35
Identity Statement
Reference Code:
IE CCCA/BG/108
Title:
Kinsale Board of Guardians
Dates:
1839 – 1925
Level of description:
Fonds
Extent:
199 items
Context
Creator(s): Kinsale Board of Guardians
Archival History The records of the Kinsale Board of Guardians were deposited in the Archives in the early 1980s.
Administrative & Biographical History The Kinsale Board of Guardians was the governing body of Kinsale workhouse and poor law union. Kinsale 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. Kinsale workhouse opened 4 December 1841. The Board, which first met in March 1839, expressed grave reservations over the size of the proposed workhouse. It claimed that the capacity for 500 inmates was over twice that required, and called on the Poor Law Commissioners ‘either to increase the size of the union or to dissolve it altogether’. The board eventually accepted the planned workhouse, and, a few years later, acquired the use of other premises in Kinsale to allow it to accommodate numbers of inmates in excess of 1000 at the height of the Great Famine. Other premises used included Kinsale Fever Hospital, the old barracks, and the old gaol. 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 internal and poor law matters and, sometimes, on wider political or social
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 3 of 35
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 1847 the board objected to a proposal submitted to the PLC that a separate union be created in the eastern part of the union district, rejecting claims of neglecting the Carrigaline area. No division was made. From February 1921 the board no longer read letters from the Local Government Board in Ireland, having accepted the authority of the Local Government Department of Dail Eireann, later the Department of Local Government of the Irish Free State. Over time, 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- o ut of orphan and deserted children, and providing labourers’ cottages an d 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 schoolmistress. These changing responsibilities were governed 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 Kinsale Rural District Council. The board continued to administer the workhouse and its hospital, and to supervise some forms of outdoor relief. 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. The final recorded meeting of Kinsale board of guardians was held on 16 April 1924.
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 4 of 35
Content & Structure
Scope & Content The archives of the Kinsale Board of Guardians are extensive and include large numbers of minute books, letter books, indoor relief registers, financial accounts, and administrative records. The minutes of meetings of Kinsale Board of Guardians record the administration of the workhouse and poor relief in general (BG/108/A). They also reflect developments in public health, and the care of children, and of those with disabilities and mental illness. In addition, they provide glimpses of emigration, local issues, and politics. The gap in the minutes from 1868 to 1888 is partially made up for by the presence of rough minute books for most of this period (BG/108/AA). Minutes of the board acting as a rural sanitary authority under the Labourers’ Acts trace to beginnings of the provision of social housing in the Kinsale area in the period 1886-98. (BG/108/AL). Letter books supplement the minutes in documenting the transmission of resolutions and decisions of the board to the PLC/LGB, other state bodies, suppliers, rate-payers, and others. The outgoing letter books present, covering the years 1899-1920, include letters of Kinsale Rural District Council, as the same clerk served both the board and the RDC (BG/108/B). An earlier letter book documents correspondence with the PLC, its architects, engineers, builders, bankers, and other suppliers in the Union’s first few year s (BG/108/BB).
Financial records (1839-1925), such as general and personal ledgers and treasurer’s books, record day to day expenditure and receipts, including payments to suppliers.
A small file of medical officers’ returns, 1915 -21, contains largely statistical returns of information regarding medical services in dispensary districts, such as number of cases, vaccinations, and public health issues (BG/108/DF). Administrative records present include master’s journals (1902 - 08) and a master’s report bo ok (1881-87), recording information relevant to the report made by the master of the workhouse to the board at weekly meetings (BG/108/F, FA. This includes information on provisions required, the weekly exercise of children, and matters arising, such as abandoned children received. A Workhouse farm account book (1899-1925) documents an area of activity not much reflected elsewhere in the collection (BG/108/FT). Records of inmates of the Workhouse, especially the indoor relief registers (1841-1917), 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 (1850-1907; BG/108/GA), and two paupers’ dis charge books (1855-57, 1869- 84; BG/108/GK). A similar record, a Fever Hospital patients’ register (BG/108/HE/1) is present for 1849 -50. Also present is a file of correspondence relating to dispensaries, mainly relating to medical officers and dispensaries (1915-21; BG/108/JD).
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 5 of 35
A record of death book, 1842-99, supplements other registers of inmates (BG/108/KA). Finally, a few forms relating to the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1904, are also present (BG/108/M).
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.
Arrangement The collection is arranged into 21 separate series, under 10 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
A1-138
Board of Guardian Minute Books
1839-1924 (87 items) 1861-1892 (43 items) 1886-1898 (2 items)
AA18-74
Board of Guardian Rough Minute Books
AL1-2
Minutes, Rural Sanitary Authority
2. Correspondence
B1-3 BB1
Outgoing Letter Books
1899-1920 (3 items) 1839-1841 (1 item)
Inward and Outward Letter Book
3. Accounts
CA1-26 CB1-2 CE1-4
General Ledgers Personal Ledgers
1839-1925 (17 items) 1853-1899 (2 items) 1912-1924 (4 items) 1845-1909 (2 items) 1905-1920 (1 item)
Financial Statements Expenditure Treasurers Receipt and Payment Books Treasurers Loan Repayment Accounts
CF1-2
CG1
4. Statistics
DF1
Medical Officers Returns
1915-1921 (1 item)
5. Workhouse: Administration
F1
Master’s Journal
1902-1908 (1 item) 1881-1887 (1 item) 1899-1924 (1 item)
FA1 FT1
Master’s Report Book
Work House Farm Accounts Book
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 6 of 35
6. Workhouse: Inmates
G1-19
Indoor Relief Registers
1841-1917 (13 items) 1850-1907 (13 items) 1855-1884 (2 items)
GA3-29 GK1-2
Admission and Discharge Books
Pauper Discharge Books
7. Workhouse: Infirmary
HE1
Register of patients of Fever Hospital
1849 – 1850 (1 item)
8. Dispensary
JD1
Correspondence relating to Dispensaries
1915-1921 (1 item)
9. Returns of Births and Deaths
KA1
Record of Deaths
1842-1899 (1 item)
10. Contagious Diseases Act
M1
Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, Forms 1904 (1 item)
Conditions of Access & Use
Access : Open by appointment to those holding a current readers ’ ticket.
Language: English
Finding Aids: Summary descriptive list.
Allied Materials:
Related Material
CCCA:
Board of Guardian records for other poor law unions in County Cork Cork County Boards of Health and Public Assistance records, 1921-66 Kinsale Rural District Council records, 1899-1925 Cork County Council records, 1899-1925
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 7 of 35
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
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 8 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
List of Items and Descriptions
1. Minute Books
BG/108/A
Kinsale 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 : 2 Mar 1839 – 16 April 1924
Level : Series
Extent : 87 volumes
1.
2 Mar 1839 – 28 Mar 1844
Includes:
2 Mar 1839 First meeting elects chairman and vice-chairmen, and adopts bye- laws ‘to ensure regularity and order in the proceedings of this Board’.
8 Jun 1839 Committee appointed to meet with trustees of the fever hospital regarding the proposed transfer of that building and its lands to the PLC.
1 Jul 1839 Committee meeting to select two paid valuators for the union. Fifteen candidatures were considered.
31 Aug 1839 Resolved, to ask the PLC ‘to vest in the guardians a discretionary authority to admit the reporters of the press to their sittings’, the public press being ‘the only sure guarantee against abuse in the discharge of popular trusts’. 5 Oct 1839 Letter to PLC expressing concern at the cost of erecting the workhouse, noting that it is only one ninth less than it is for Bandon, which ‘contains nearly twice the number of acres and of inhabitants and probably a still greater proportion of rateable property’. Surprise is e xpressed that the proposed building has capacity for five hundred paupers, ‘being more than double the
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 9 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
number ever likely to occupy it’. The ‘facility of emigration… in this part of the country’ is mentioned as a factor mitigating the numbers likely to app ly for relief.
13 Dec 1839 Resolved, that should the PLC decline to reduce the expense of the workhouse, that application be made ‘either to increase the size of the union or to dissolve it altogether’. 8 Feb 1840 Resolved, regarding the size and cost of the workhouse, that it is felt to be ‘unnecessary to remonstrate any further’ and to rely on the PLC’s promise to remedy ‘any inequalit y or injustice’ arising from ‘the smallness of the union’.
29 Mar 1841 Resolved, that a special meeting be called to consider the new rate valuation books, appointment of parish wardens, and the Vaccination Act.
11 Sep 1841 Resolved, that advertisements be placed for the posts of medical attendant, master, matron, and porter, and for supplies for the workhouse.
20 Nov 1841 Resolved, that the visiting committee make arrangements for opening the workhouse on 4 December, and that the stated dietary be adopted.
27 Jan 1842 Resolved, that the stated books be used in the workhouse school.
17 Feb 1842 Resolved, t hat deserted children ‘for whom ample provision has been already made by law’ ought not to be received into the workhouse.
24 Feb 1842 Resolutions regarding the leaky state of the workhouse, arising from ‘imperfect and insufficient specifications’ [approved by the PLC], and the extra expense to ratepayers of rectifying these defects. [See also 22 Dec 1842]
12 May 1842 Resolutions regarding a ‘mutiny’ by inmates who objected to eat their potatoes and refused to go to work.
19 May 1842 Resolution regarding the ‘extremely irregular’ admission of a woman, ‘she not being a destitute person but sent here by her employers in the last stage of pregnancy with a bastard child’. 20 April 1843 Resolved, to send a petition to parliament proposing an act to relieve Irish unions from repayment of loans for the building of workhouses. [See also 14 Mar 1844]
8 Feb 1844 Resolved, that the messenger be dispensed with ‘and that a trustworthy pauper be selected in the house for same’.
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 10 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
2. 3. 4.
4 Apr 1844 – 2 Apr 1846
Missing
26 Aug 1847 – 26 Jul 1849
Includes:
26 Aug 1847 Relieving Officer for No 1 District reports his fears that when temporary relief ceases on 28 August ‘many persons in said district will be in utmost distress’. He was authorised ‘to send 100 of them into this House by provisional tickets’. 16 Sep 1847 Medical Officer’s report regarding the largest number of inmates which the workhouse could safely hold. It is noted that ‘there were for some time 900 in the House’, but that difficulties, including ‘the impossibility of separating all the sick from the healthy make [him] dread again crowding the House beyond the number of 700’; resolution regarding the ‘general opposition to the payment of rates’ in Nohoval and Ballyfoyle electoral divisions, and the bad example of a magistrate ‘who has resorted to objections purely technical’.
14 Oct 1847 Resolved, that the Courceys fever hospital be maintained, and that Kinsale fever hospital be rented by the year for the use of the rest of the union.
21 Oct 18 47 Resolved, ‘that it is highly expedient that the inmates of this workhouse be kept as far as practicable in constant employment’.
28 Oct 1847 Resolutions regarding a government order requiring the union to pay current and future monies on hand to the Relief Commissioners until the £3859 6s 6d advanced by the government has been repaid. It is stated that ‘this unexpected order’ deprives the union of all money or credit ‘rendering it quite impossible for them any longer to relieve the poor of the union’. 11 Nov 1847 Resolutions expressing opposition to the proposed formation of a separate union in the eastern part of the present union district. It is insisted that ‘no partiality’ in admissions is given to ‘any particular locality’ and that ‘if the inhabitants of Carrigaline did not desire to avail themselves of the accommodation they have no one to blame but themselves’. It is added ‘we are fully alive to the necessity of extending the workhouse’. [See also 23 Nov 1848] 13 Jan 1848 Resolved, in response to a memorial to government from certain ratepayers, that a ‘great part of the letter’ does not relate to the poor law system, and that ‘ample accommodation exists in the workhouse at present and that our relieving officers have been… attentive to their duti es and ready at all times to receive applications for relief’. 16 Mar 1848 Report by the Medical Officer to the PLC regarding the use of the old jail ward, which last year was found to be too confined and badly ventilated. He thinks it ‘well adapted for t he reception of about 200 aged and infirm men, a
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 11 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
class not so likely to suffer from confinement as the children who last year formed the majority of the inmates and suffered from the then prevailing epidemic’. [Total inmates this week: 1167] 13 Apr 1848 Resolved, that the Board ‘gladly avails’ of the offer by the Commissioners of Colonial Lands and will pay for the voyage to Plymouth ‘of such orphans as shall be selected by the proper officer’, the orphans to be between 14 and 18 years’ old. [Emigration t o Australia. See also 18 May 1848 and 29 Mar 1849] 3 Aug 1848 Resolved, to inform the PLC of ‘the sudden and rapid spread of disease in the potato crop’, which is of an ‘alarming’ character and has affected ‘ every field ’ . [See also 24 Aug 1848, referring to ‘the calamitous prospects of the country’ and to the ‘bad appearance’ of the wheat crop, and requesting that repayment of government loans be suspended] 26 Oct 1848 Resolved, in the context of the PLC’s recommendation that the Roman Catholic chaplain’s salary be increased, ‘that we object to the principle that the salary of any officer… should fluctuate with the number of paupers’. 30 Nov 1848 Resolutions regarding a rebate for voluntary rates payment, reduction of the number of relieving officers, and appointment of a committee to report on ‘the chief defects of the present Poor Law’. 18 Jan 1849 Resolved, in reply to PLC order, to inform them that the brewery ward is being altered to take 200 more paupers, and that the dockyard stores, taken at a yearly rent, will hold 600 more. [See also 8 Feb and 8 Mar 1849. Total inmates this week: 1814]
1 Feb 1849 Resolved, that the Sisters of Mercy be admitted into the workhouse and auxiliary workhouses to provide religious instruction.
1 Mar 1849 Notice of note ‘enquiring as to what course or process of manufacture of flax is intended to be carried on in this workhouse’.
19 Apr 1849 Resolved, that the PLC be asked not to insist on repayment of government loans at present, as it is found ‘that destitution is rapidly increasing, the cholera in our neighbourhood, and the ratepayers totally unable to bear the imposition of a new rate till after the harvest’.
7 Jun 1849 Resolved, that a new valuator be advertised for ‘cholera having deprived us of our revisor (M r DL Howe)’.
26 Jul 1849 Resolved, in response to a Central Board of Health letter, to state that relieving officers ‘are fully authorised… to procure coffins and provide for the speedy interment of all persons dying of cholera… and that a ward of the hospital is still open for the reception patients afflicted with this epidemic’.
5.
2 Aug 1849 – 22 May 1850
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 12 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
Enclosure added: blank ‘Return of the Number of Inmates’, to be completed by the clerk, ‘185 - ‘.
6. 7. 8. 9.
30 May 1850 – 16 Jan 1851 23 Jan 1851 – 6 Nov 1851 13 Nov 1851 – 23 Dec 1852 30 Dec 1852 – 30 Mar 1854 6 Apr 1854 – 29 Mar 1855 5 Apr 1855 – 27 Mar 1856 3 Apr 1856 – 26 Mar 1857 2 Apr 1857 – 13 May 1858 20 May 1858 – 26 May 1859 2 Jun 1859 – 7 Jun 1860 14 Jun 1860 – 6 Dec 1860 13 Dec 1860 – 6 Jun 1861
10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.
Missing
12 Dec 1861 – 5 Jun 1862
Missing
11 Dec 1862 – 4 Jun 1863
Missing Missing Missing
8 Dec 1864 – 1 Jun 1865 8 Jun 1865 – 30 Nov 1865
Missing
7 Jun 1866 – 29 Nov 1866 6 Dec 1866 – 30 May 1867 6 Jun 1867 – 28 Nov 1867
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 13 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
31.
5 Dec 1867 – 26 Nov 1868
Contains, following ordinary minutes, supplemental sheets for recording proceedings under the Medical Charities Act and the Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention Acts 1848 and 1849. These include reports of the number of successful vaccinations carried out by the medical officers of dispensary districts.
Includes:
12 Dec 1867 Motion to rescind permission given to the Master allowing his children to reside in the workhouse defeated.
6 Feb 1868 Notice of motion, ‘that in consequence of the great number of children now in the house, and the consequent impossibility of the schoolmistress attending to them all, a temporary assistant be appointed to look after the boys’, there being 60 boys in the school. 26 Mar 1868 Selection of chairman and of members of the Finance and Visiting Committee and ex officio members of the Committees of Management of Dispensary Districts for the year ending 25 March 1869. 7 May 1868 Resolved, that the management committees of dispensary districts also be committees under the Sewage Utilisation Act, the Nuisance Removal Act, and the Diseases Prevention Act. 20 Aug 1868 Letter from Charles Gray Jones, Inspecting Commander, who is charged by the Government to collect information regarding ‘the wants and habits of the Kinsale fishermen’. He requests ‘statistical facts… such as the number of fishermen rece iving relief at certain periods’.
10 Sep 1868 Clerk directed to advertise for six months’ supply of articles such as boiling milk, bread, meat, candles, blankets, and shoes [a recurring item].
29 Oct 1868 Resolved, that a deaf mute from the Union who was sent three years ago to the Cabra Deaf and Dumb Institution, Dublin, be continued there for six months more and no longer.
26 Nov 1868 John Clerk, scripture reader, allowed enter the workhouse hospital ‘for the purpose of attending the protestant paupers and catechising them’.
32. – 68.
Missing
69. 70.
5 Dec 1888 – 21 Aug 1889 28 Aug 1889 – 15 May 1890
71. – 74.
Missing
75. 76. 77.
23 Jun 1892 – 15 Dec 1892 22 Dec 1892 – 15 Jun 1893 22 Jun 1893 – 14 Dec 1893
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 14 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88.
21 Dec 1893 – 14 Jun 1894 21 Jun 1894 – 13 Dec 1894 20 Dec 1894 – 13 Jun 1895 29 Jun 1895 – 12 Dec 1895 30 Jan 1896 – 23 Jul 1896
30 Jul 1896 – 17 Dec 1896 (also contains 2-23 Jan 1896)
24 Dec 1896 – 10 Jun 1897 17 Jun 1897 – 2 Dec 1897
9 Dec 1897 – 5 May 1898 (also contains 19-26 Dec 1895)
12 May 1898 – 3 Nov 1898 10 Nov 1898 – 27 Apr 1899
Contains, following ordinary minutes, supplemental sheets for proceedings under the Medical Charities Act, Vaccination Acts, and Dispensary Houses Act, and for proceedings under the Public Health Acts. From 15 April 1899 on, the Public Health pages are used to record minutes of meetings of Kinsale Rural District Council, which first met on that date.
Includes:
10 Nov 1898 Letter read from th e Local Government Board (LGB) ‘regarding transitory arrangements under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898’ ; ordered, that a defaulter under the Compulsory Vaccination Act in the Courceys Dispensary District be prosecuted [a recurring item] 17 Nov 1898 Resolution, adopted following a special meeting, explaining why the rates assessment for the standard year (1896-97) is in excess of the average assessment for the three years ending with the standard year.
1 Dec 1898 Resolution regarding extra payments to union officers for services in carrying into effect the Registration (Ireland) Act 1898.
8 Dec 1898 Resolution in response to a letter from the Irish Workhouse Association regarding a proposed new ‘Catholic and Protestant Home for the training of workhouse girls between the ages of 12 and 15 years in order to fit them for domestic service’. 15 Dec 1898 Deputation seeking the appointment of an engineer to report on the best means of supplying water to the townlands of Crosshaven, Crosshaven Hill, and Knocknagore, received by the Board acting as a rural sanitary authority under the Public Health Acts. [See also subsequent Public Health minutes] 29 Dec 1898 Master reports that ‘the Misses Bleazby gave the school children their annual treat on the 27 th inst when they also distributed a variety of toys amongst them’. A Resolution of thanks by the Board to the Misses Bleazby follows, ‘for their goodness in catering for the happiness of the school children’.
12 Jan 1899 LGB letter sanctioning a loan of £220 for a burial ground at
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 15 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
Ballinaboy [see also 26 Jan 1899 regarding an illegal burial at this graveyard]; report of two cases of diphtheria at Meadestown, Carrigaline.
9 Feb 1899 Resolved, ‘that considering the extent and valuation of the Kinsale rural district’, the LGB should ‘assign to it six district councillors’. It is added ‘its valuation is £11,623 whilst that of the urban district is only £5,527’. 23 Feb 1899 Resolution, following a special meeting on areas of charge for small sanitary works, stating the Board’s view that substituting a general Union charge for charges against a particular locality ‘would be calculated to discourage the spirit of strict economy which ought to exist among the representatives of divisions and thereby lead to increased taxation’. [See also 16 Mar 1899] 16 Mar 1899 LGB letter forwarding school inspector’s report noting ‘fourteen children were present for examination… the proficiency displayed was on the whole rather mediocre’. [Schoolmistress’s report in response: 23 Mar 1899] 15 April 1899 LGB letter regarding the revised scale of dietary, suggesting that infants be fed as to their individual requirements rather than by a fixed dietary, and that ‘the dietary of growing youths should be both liberal and varied’.
89.
4 May 1899 – 7 Sep 1899
The supplemental sheets for proceedings under the Public Health Acts continue to be used to record minutes of meetings of Kinsale Rural District Council throughout this volume. Supplemental sheets for financial minutes are inserted among ordinary minutes of the Board of Guardians throughout this volume. Similar sheets for financial minutes of Kinsale RDC are inserted from 6 July 1899 on.
90.
14 Sep 1899 – 8 Mar 1900
This and subsequent volumes do not contain RDC minutes.
91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99.
15 Mar 1900 – 6 Sep 1900 13 Sep 1900 – 7 Mar 1901 14 Mar 1901 – 5 Sep 1901 12 Sep 1901 – 6 Mar 1902 13 Mar 1902 – 11 Sep 1902 18 Sep 1902 – 11 Mar 1903 18 Mar 1903 – 9 Sep 1903 16 Sep 1903 – 2 Mar 1904 9 Mar 1904 – 7 Sep 1904 14 Sep 1904 – 1 Mar 1905 8 Mar 1905 – 30 Aug 1905 6 Sep 1905 – 28 Feb 1906 7 Mar 1906 – 29 Aug 1906 5 Sep 1906 – 27 Feb 1907 6 Mar 1907 – 21 Aug 1907 28 Aug 1907 – 12 Feb 1908 19 Feb 1908 – 5 Aug 1908
100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107.
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 16 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
108. 109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129. 130. 131.
12 Aug 1908 – 3 Feb 1909 10 Feb 1909 – 28 Jul 1909 4 Aug 1909 – 26 Jan 1910 2 Feb 1910 – 20 Jul 1910 27 Jul 1910 – 18 Jan 1911 25 Jan 1911 – 12 Jul 1911 19 Jul 1911 – 10 Jan 1912 17 Jan 1912 – 10 Jul 1912 17 Jul 1912 – 8 Jan 1913 15 Jan 1913 – 25 Jun 1913 2 Jul 1913 – 17 Dec 1913 24 Dec 1913 – 17 Jun 1914 24 Jun 1914 – 16 Dec 1914 23 Dec 1914 – 9 Jun 1915 16 Jun 1915 – 8 Dec 1915
Missing
7 Jun 1916 – 29 Nov 1916 6 Dec 1916 – 13 Jun 1917 20 Jun 1917 – 12 Dec 1917 19 Dec 1917 – 12 Jun 1918 19 Jun 1918 – 11 Dec 1918 18 Dec 1918 – 11 Jun 1919 18 Jun 1919 – 9 Jun 1920 17 Dec 1919 – 9 Jun 1920
Contains supplemental sheets for proceedings under the Pauper Children (Ireland) Acts 1898-1902, Infant Life Protection Act 1897, and Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act 1904 [left blank throughout]; Financial Minutes; Statistical Minutes; and proceedings under the Medical Charities Acts.
132.
Missing
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 17 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
133.
8 Dec 1920 – 11 May 1921
Contains supplemental sheets for proceedings in relation to the boarding or hiring out of children and under the Children Act 1908 [left blank throughout]; Financial Minutes; Statistical Minutes; and proceedings under the Medical Charities Acts. By this time, meetings were generally not held weekly, instead occurring monthly or fortnightly. Very few meetings are recorded for Feb-May 1921. The statistical returns of numbers receiving indoor and outdoor relief, preceding each set of minutes, were still completed weekly, and some supplemental sheets, particularly the statistical minutes, were more frequently completed. The last attended ordinary meeting held is that of 20 April 1920.
Includes:
15 Dec 1920 Master’s report, with item: ‘That the children are now going to the convent national school every day’; Letters from J O’Neill & Sons Ltd regarding a bread price increase, explaining that contracts for goods under government control ‘are subject to any changes that may be made in such control’ . 5 Jan 1921 Master’s report, with item: ‘That Mr Gleeson sent a supply of tobacco and snuff for the inmates at Xmas, and that Mrs Good sent fruit & c for the children and old people’. 19 Jan 1921 L etter received regarding the Board’s r ecent resolution that no goods be purchased in the shop of CJ Barry. This is attributed to a ‘false rumour… that he or one of his employees was implicated in a recent regrettable and discreditable incident that took place in town’. It is added that the ‘slur’ ‘jeopardises the friendly relations that have existed between the different denominations in the town’. Letters read from the LGB and from Dail Eireann [LGB letters not noted in minutes after 2 Feb 1921]
p286 Note: ‘See new book taken by military on 6 April 1921 for minutes of last meeting’.
16 Apr 1921 Total inmates this week: 88 [subsequent statistical returns blank]
134. 135. 136. 137. 138.
Missing
10 Aug 1921 – 15 Feb 1922 9 Mar 1922 – 20 Dec 1922 17 Jan 1923 – 21 Nov 1923 19 Dec 1923 – 16 Apr 1924
Includes minutes relating to boarded out children. Following the minutes of the final meeting of the board on 16 Apr 1924, newscuttings are inserted reporting on the first meeting of the South Cork County Board of Health and Public Assistance on 28 Apr 1924.
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 18 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
BG/108/AA
Kinsale Board of Guardians Rough Minute Books
Scope and Content: Draft record of minutes of meetings of the board of guardians. Some of the draft minutes present help fill gaps in the set of approved minutes.
Date : 13 Jun 1861 – 16 Jun 1892
Level : Series
Extent : 43 volumes
1 – 17.
Missing
18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.
13 Jun 1861 – 5 Dec 1861
Missing
12 Jun 1862 – 4 Dec 1862
Missing
11 Jun 1863 – 3 Dec 1863 10 Dec 1863 – 2 Jun 1864
24.-26.
Missing
27. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58.
7 Dec 1865 – 31 May 1866 3 Dec 1868 – 27 May 1869 3 Jun 1869 – 26 May 1870 3 Jun 1870 – 24 Nov 1870 1 Dec 1870 – 23 Nov 1871 30 Nov 1871 – 30 May 1872 6 Jun 1872 – 28 Nov 1872 5 Jun 1873 – 27 Nov 1873 4 Dec 1873 – 28 May 1874
Missing
22 Oct 1874 – 15 Apr 1875 22 Apr 1875 – 14 Oct 1875 21 Oct 1875 – 13 Apr 1876 20 Apr 1876 – 12 Oct 1876 19 Oct 1876 – 12 Apr 1877 19 Apr 1877 – 11 Oct 1877 18 Oct 1877 – 11 Apr 1878 18 Apr 1878 – 10 Oct 1878 17 Oct 1878 – 10 Apr 1879 17 Apr 1879 – 9 Oct 1879 16 Oct 1879 – 15 Apr 1880 22 Apr 1880 – 14 Oct 1880 21 Oct 1880 – 13 Oct 1881 20 Oct 1881 – 13 Apr 1882 20 Apr 1882 – 19 Oct 1882 26 Oct 1882 – 19 Apr 1883 26 Apr 1883 – 18 Oct 1883
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 19 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74.
25 Oct 1883 – 17 Apr 1884 24 Apr 1884 – 16 Oct 1884 23 Oct 1884 – 23 Apr 1885 30 Apr 1885 – 22 Oct 1885 29 Oct 1885 – 29 Apr 1886 6 May 1886 – 4 Nov 1886
Missing
26 May 1887 – 30 Nov 1887 7 Dec 1887 – 30 May 1888 6 Jun 1888 – 28 Nov 1888
Missing Missing
22 May 1890 – 20 Nov 1890 27 Nov 1890 – 4 Jun 1891 11 Jun 1891 – 10 Dec 1891 17 Dec 1891 – 16 Jun 1892
BG/108/AL
Rural Sanitary Authority Minute Books (Labourers Acts)
Scope and Content: Volumes recording minutes of proceedings of the board of guardians acting as the rural sanitary authority under the Labourers (Ireland) Acts, 1883, 1885 and 1886. Meetings were generally held weekly, and minutes are signed by the clerk, acting as executive sanitary officer. The principal subject is schemes for erecting labourers’ cottages, and related actions. These include appointing local committees, appointing engineers, selecting and acquiring sites, seeking and approving tenders, receiving loans from the Commissioners of Public Works, monitoring progress, letting to tenants, rents, disputes, and communicating with the LGB on all aspects of each scheme. In December 1886, an inquiry was held by the LGB inspector after it was found that many of the intended cottages were uninhabitable. The Kinsale Union Labourers Order 1887 was consequently passed to facilitate execution of approved schemes. There are many gaps in the minutes after 1892, and no business was transacted at most of the meetings in 1897 and 1898. Under the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, labou rers’ cottages became the responsibility of Kinsale Rural District Council.
Date: 28 Jan 1886 – 6 Oct 1898
Level: Series
Extent: 2 items
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 20 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
1.
28 Jan 1886 – 21 Mar 1888
Includes:
(inside back cover) Letters enclosed among the minutes, 11 Feb 1886 – 13 Jul 1887, including from LGB, engineers’ tenders, and some copy resolutions and rough notes, all relating to labourers’ cottages. [16 items] 28 Jan 1886 Printed enclosure, memorandum of instructions as to applications to the Local Government Board for Ireland for provisional orders under these [Labourers] acts. 11 Feb 1886 Agreed, ‘that each dispensary committee with the addition of the PP [parish priest] of each district be a committee for the purpose of selecting sites for labourers’ cottages in conjunction with the engineer’. 20 May 1886 Resolved, to rescind a previous resolution fixing the area of charge for cottages on electoral divisions, and that union rating be adopted instead. [divisional versus union rating a much debated issue]
23 Sep 1886 Enclosure, LGB letter regarding confirmation of 18 improvement schemes under the Labourers’ Acts.
9 Dec 1886 LGB letter read stating that Col Spaight, LGB inspector, will hold a local inquiry into the propriety and deficiencies of the scheme, and local objections, on 21 Dec. 10 Feb 1887 LGB letter read forwarding copy of special report [not present] ‘relating to the houses proved to be unfit for hum an habitation at the local inquiry’. The report recommends erection of 42 of the 102 cottages in the scheme.
18 Aug 1887 LGB letter read regarding the board’s loan application for executing improvement schemes under the Kinsale Union Labourers Order 1887.
2.
28 Mar 1888 – 6 Oct 1898
No minutes present from Feb-Nov 1891; Apr-May 1892; Jul 1892 - Sep 1896; Nov 1896 – Aug 1897
Includes:
(inside back cover) Letters from Robert Gregg (lawyer) regarding conveyance of lands to the union, 19 Jan – 8 Dec 1891 [5 items]
4 Apr 1888 Resolved, that cottages at Knocknabinny, Lisaxon, and Wilton Hill be let to Timothy McCarthy, Michael Daly, and Laurence Spillane, respectively, at one shilling per week, and that the land attached to a cottage at Ballymackean
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 21 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
be let to John Coughlan, provided he attend to perfect the agreement.
5 Dec 1888 Extracts from LGB inspector’s report on cottages erected and in course of erection.
6 Nov 1890 Resolved, that no rent be charged of tenants from 1 Jan to 1 Jul 1891, provided all arrears be paid up to 1 Jan. [LGB response read on 20 Nov]
18 Feb 1892 LGB letter read suggesting amendments to plans, specifications, and estimates for cottages submitted to them by the union.
18 Nov 1897 Application from tenants in Ballymackean for a rent reduction, on the grounds that ‘they had no potato crop this year and cannot get employment’. Refused.
2. Correspondence
BG/108/B
Outgoing Letter Books
Scope and Content:
Letter books containing carbon copies of outgoing letters sent by the clerk of the union. Many of the letters transmit decisions and resolutions by the Board of Guardians, while others deal with suppliers and routine issues. Some letters are faded and difficult to read. The clerk of the union also acted as clerk to Kinsale Rural District Council, and the three volumes present, particularly BG/108/B/1, contain copies of outgoing RDC letters. Correspondents addressed include the Local Government Board, the Department of Local Government, Irish Land Commission, Office of Public Works, Cork County Council, Cork County Insurance Committee, Central Army Pension Issue Office, Cross-channel Transportation and Coal Controller’s Department, banks, insurers, suppliers, and so on. BG/108/B/4 contains hardly any letters to public bodies, consisting mainly of letters to suppliers, union and RDC officers, and individuals. Only two letters are present between those dated 27 Oct 1917 and 3 May 1923. John Murphy, clerk of the union and of the RDC for all of the first two volumes present and much of the last, was succeeded by Eamon Murphy in May 1923.
Date: 24 Jan 1899 – 28 Jul 1920 [Gap Sep 1903 – Sep 1913]
Level: Series
Extent: 3 vols
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 22 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
1.
24 Jun 1899 – 14 Sep 1903
990pp. Includes:
p146 (28 Apr 1900) Letter to Kinsale Urban District Council notifying them of a sanitary nuisance brought to the attention of the Board of Guardians by the Rural District Council, concerning ‘sewage from the workhouse being conveyed in an open drain to the stream on the River Glen and thence into the sewer opposite the old Brewery’.
p345 (22 Jan 1901) Letter to the LGB forwarding copies of consents of occupiers to changes to sites for labourers’ cottages [an RDC function].
p522 (9 Nov 1901) Letter to the guardian of a [boarded out] child regarding non- atte ndance at school, noting ‘if you can’ t satisfactorily account for his non- attendance the guardians must take him from your custody in accordance with the terms of the agreement entered into’.
p663 (20 Jun 1902) Letter to Mr MacDonald regarding land and legal issues arising out of the proposed water supply to Carrigaline village [an RDC function]
p775 (10 Nov 1902) Letter to Captain E Daly expressing the clerk’s and the board’s condolences on the death of his brother, a guardian and ‘true gentleman’.
pp978-80 Account of remuneration owed by Cork County Council to John Murphy, clerk of Kinsale Union, for preparation of jurors’ lists.
p989 Copy of notice that at their meeting of 13 September 1900, the Board of Guardians will consider tenders for the supply of certain goods. [Some letters and notices from 1900 occur at the back of the volume].
2. 3.
Missing
29 Sept 1913 – 30 Dec 1920
Includes:
13 Nov 1913 Letter to Rev E Bann regarding a blind boy in his care.
19 May 1917 Letter to a father forwarding accounts for the maintenance of his children in the union hospital.
12 October 1917 Letter to the Cork County Insurance Committee regarding the transfer of an inmate with tuberculosis to the Cork County and City Sanatorium.
25 Mar 1920 Letter transmitting a resolution of sympathy and condolence to Mrs Tomas MacCurtain on the death of her husband.
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 23 of 35
Kinsale Board of Guardians IE CCCA/BG/108
4.
13 Jul 1917 – 28 Jul 1923
Includes:
16 Jul 1917 Letter to M Roche, Patrick’s St, Cork, regarding a price for re -plating the sanctuary lamp of the workhouse chapel.
18 Mar 1921 Letter to RA Leslie, Cork Blackrock Railway, regarding opening and cleaning of the drains of a reservoir erected for the use of the workhouse.
25 May 1923 Letter regarding committal of four children to industrial schools.
[24 Jul 1923] Statement guaranteeing that the Board of Guardians and the Rural District Council will not interfere with the equipment of the Technical School while using the school as temporary offices, and that they will take responsibility for any damage.
BG/108/BB
Inward and Outward Letter Book (Poor Law Commissioners)
Scope and Content: Letter book containing copies of correspondence of the board of guardians, 1839-41, maintained by J Hosford, clerk of the union. At the front of the volume are letters to and from the Poor Law Commissioners [7 Apr 1839 – 31 Dec 1841]. Letters from the PLC have reference numbers, and are referred to in board of guardian minute books. Enclosures referred to in letters are not included in the volume. [See BG/108/A/1 above] After a few blank pages, the volume contains copies of correspondence with WJ Voules, Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, Villa Nova, Cork [7 Apr 1839 – 11 Dec 1841]. There follow two letters regarding charges on rates forwarded from the Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners [29 Feb and 10 Sep 1840], and a letter to LJ Shea, guardian [30 Jun 1840]. These are succeeded by copies of correspondence with George Wilkinson, the PLC architect, and his office [12 May – 6 Sep 1839], and with KA Deane, secretary to Mr Voules [24 Jun 1840 - 21 Oct 1841]. Also present is a copy of a letter to Patrick Leahy, County Surveyor, and of his reply [29 Apr and 13 May 1840], and copy correspondence with rate valuators [31 Oct 1839 – 11 Dec 1841]. Other correspondents include the Provincial Bank, Cork, auditors [16 Sep 1839 – 8 Aug 1840], Mr Thom, printer [7 Oct 1839 – 31 Dec 1841], W Woodhouse [prepared seal of the union, 4 Dec 1839 – 18 Oct 1840], G and I Gliesson [forwarding copy of Vacci nation act, Oct 1840], MF O’Donovan [regarding Irish manufactures, 31 Dec 1840], W Harrington, druggist [22 Nov – 3 Dec 1841], Thos Harvey & Son, insurers [23 Nov – 8 Dec 1841], James Hogg [tinware, 22 Nov – 20 Dec 1841], John Daly [blanket supplier, 22 Oct – 7 Dec 1841], and Mangen and Hawsworth [clockmakers, 5 and 20 Dec 1841]. A single item dated 11 Jun 1890, from Kennan & Son, Dublin, to the Master, forwarding a drawing of ‘continuous iron bar fence’ [drawing present], not originally in this
Cork City and County Archives 2011
Page 24 of 35
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35Powered by FlippingBook