Free Castleton Poor Roll Index

We have just uploaded another PDF to our website, the Index to Castleton Poor Roll 1846-1864. Although quite interesting itself the index is a key to further information.

The full record has lists of children of the recipient as well as details relating to emigration, employment and education. The columns in the original book are as follows:

1. Name of Pauper
2. Present residence
3. Married or single, widow, or widower. If child, orphan, deserted or bastard.
4. Name of each dependant living with Pauper
5. Age – Years
6. Place of birth
7. Trade or occupation
8. If wholly or partially disabled
9. Description of disablement
10. Means and resources of Pauper besides Parochial relief
11. Names and weekly earnings of Parents
12. Names, ages, and earnings of children not living with Pauper, and whether marries, and number of children.
13. Date when admitted on Roll.
14. Amount of relief in money.
15. Amount of relief in food, clothing, fuel, lodging, or of any other kind.
16. Date and cause of removal from Roll.
17. Remarks

So as you can see the form was quite detailed, sadly not all entries have every column filled in but all the entries are of interest if they are related to you!

 Castleton Poor Roll Index

Use of Maiden Surname in Scotland

I came across this question today on www.rootschat.com:

“Can someone please clarify something for me?

When a woman married in Scotland, did she always retain her m.s. name?”

I thought the answer might be of use to everybody who reads this blog so here it is:

Yes, this can be a little confusing but also helpful when you understand what’s going on.

In Scotland a married woman can legally be known by both her maiden name and her husband’s name. In fact on gravestones it is usually a woman’s maiden name that will appear and it will say something like “wife of John Smith”. This still happens to this day.

In the census it is a little more haphazard, usually she will be listed with her married name but it is not unusual to see a maiden name. The 1841 census can therefore be confusing as there are no relationships listed but then again in most families it is quite obvious.

In our own census indexing project we have indexed these women under both married and maiden name (when it is obvious) to save confusion. We have added an alternative surname column too.

So if you do come across the maiden name in the census it will make it much easier to find a marriage.

Another thing to remember is that if the woman is a widow the chances of her being listed under her maiden name increases dramatically and if you don’t know what to look for these widows can be hard to find. I usually look for her children in the hope she is living with one of them.