Norfolk: Poor Law after 1834 Act

Swaffham Union

Union history

• 1834 - Swaffham Poor Law Union was formed.
• 1836 - Workhouse at Watton Road, Swaffham, PE37 7EN , [Map reference is TF824081].
• Description is in Whites 1845 directory
• 1930 - Union dissolved.
• 1933 - Kelly's directory has a section "Norfolk No 11 Area Guardians Committee" but old Union buildings are not mentioned.
• 1937 - Kelly's directory - as 1933
• The site (just off the Watton Road) is now under "The Oaklands" and other roads in a housing estate.

Before 1834 some of these parishes had their own Work or Parish House (WkHse) as shown.

Poor Law Records - Images

Online images of some poor law registers, admissions books etc. from 1796 to 1900 are available at the

• LDS familysearch website https://www.familysearch.org/ (UK+Ireland records section)

1. Go down the "Historical Record Collections"
2. Select Title - "England, Norfolk Poor Law Union Records, 1796-1900"
3. Select "Browse through xxx images"
4. Under County pick - "Norfolk"
5. Under Poor Law Union select the "Required Union"
6. Records are under headings such as "District, Workhouse & Unknown etc."
7. Alternatively use a search engine for "familysearch" "Norfolk Poor Law Union Records"

Other Websites

Acts, descriptions, maps, some pictures etc. can be found at :-
                www.workhouses.org.uk (The Story of Workhouses).

Further information can be found:

• about locations in the Towns and Parishes pages.
• about which hundred a parish occurs in.

See also the Poor Law page and the Post 1834 Unions page

These pages are for personal use only. They may not be copied, and the links within them may not be harvested for use on your own web pages. Please see the Copyright Notice.

Copyright © Mike Bristow.
May 2011