Wolstanton and Burslem
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Victoria County History of Staffordshire BURSLEM Burslem relieved its poor through its own parish vestry, independently of
the mother parish of Stoke.24 There were three overseers of the poor, one each for Burslem, Sneyd, and
Hulton, during most of the 18th century at least, 25 but
in 1793 the vestry appointed a salaried overseer for the whole parish. 26 By
1835 there were four overseers with tow paid assistant overseers 27 With the establishment of the Wolstanton and Burslem Union in 1838 Burslem
was given a representation of eight on the board of sixteen guardians. 28 In 1922 the ten civil
parishes of the union joined with the five of the Stoke Union to form the Stoke
and Wolstanton Union. 29 The expenditure on poor relief increased in the course of the 18th
century. Thus in 1714 one levy raised £1-7s-8d from Hulton and 12s-6d from
Sneyd. 30 in 1802-3 the parish rates,
assessed at 10s in the £ on houses and 20s. on land, brought in £2,125-11s-10d.
and the expenditure on the poor amounted to £1,726-14s-5.5d in out-relief and
£326-2s-0.75d in workhouse relief. 31 There was considerable fluctuation in expenditure in subsequent years:
nearly £7,400 was spent in 1817-18, just over £2,500 in 1823-4, and just under
£4,000 in 1836-7. 32 Burslem's contribution to the union in the first half of 1857 was fixed at £3,629-5s-7d.;
33 its contribution for the
second half of the financial year 1921-2, the last before the amalgamation with
Stoke, was £9,520, out of a total of £46,637 from the ten parishes then
comprising the union. 34 In the early 18th century the main form of relief was monthly or weekly
pay. In 1707 there were 24 poor in the parish in receipt of such relief - 14 in
Burslem, 4 in Sneyd, and 6 in Hulton; the largest individual payment was 1s-3d a
week. 35
Occasionally
relief took the form of payment of rent. 36 In 1802-3 184 adults and 165
children under 15 were given out-relief, 413 persons occasional relief, and 39
work-house relief. 37
By
1834 there were two parish surgeons. 38
There was a parish workhouse
by 1741 39 with
a capacity of 60 in 1775. 40
A
new workhouse was built at Greenhead in 1780 41 and was enlarged in the 1830's to hold 300. 42
It
had only 152 inmates in 1838, but this figure was a large increase on the average
for the previous few years. 43
The
union workhouse in Turnhurst Road, Chell, was built c. 1838-9. 44 The old parish workhouse was
leased out as in infantry barracks by the early 1850's 45
and
was sold by the guardians in 1857 for £1,000 after several unsuccessful attempts
to secure more. It was bought by James Vernon who converted it into the Scotia
Pottery. 46. This was demolished
in 1958. 47. References TUNSTALL Relief of the Poor. The poor of Tunstall were relieved by the officers of
Wolstanton parish until 1838 when Tunstall became part of the new
Wolstanton and Burslem Union. 73
The
union workhouse was built in Turnhurst Road, Chell, c. 1838-9 `a palatial structure' costing £6,200
and providing accommodation for 400 inmates. 74 A range was built to the south as a hospital in 1894. 75 References. Inmates
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