The history of Clophill, Bedfordshire, UK
Including historical descriptions, maps and statistical analysis.
Clophill had a workhouse until 1836 when Ampthill Union workhouse was opened.
Since Elizabethan times there have been laws (known as the Old Poor Laws) requiring parishes to supply relief to parishioners who were destitute. There were two types of relief, outdoor relief and indoor relief. With outdoor relief the poor lived in their own homes and were given either money or food and clothes. In contrast, recipients of indoor relief were required to enter a workhouse or poorhouse where they could be fed and clothed. The law required each parish to elect two Overseers of the Poor. The post holders were unpaid and acted under the supervision of local JPs.
Their duties included setting the Poor Rate and collecting it from property owners (rate payers). They then used the money to relieve the poor by giving them either money or food or admitting them to a suitable institution (Indoor relief).
The Deserving Poor, who were unable to work due to infirmity, injury or old age, would be taken into the local almshouse or the parish workhouse. The ill would be admitted to the hospital and orphans would be taken into an orphanage if available.
The Undeserving Poor, who were fit for work but wouldn't, would be taken into the workhouse where they would be set to work on hard tasks such as breaking stones or picking oakum. Oakum-picking was the teasing out of fibres from old ropes and was very hard on the fingers. The loose fibres were then sold to ship-builders for caulking or packing the joints of timbers in wooden vessels. This treatment was to encourage them back to paid employment.
Little is known about it but, according to Mary Phillips in The Clophill Story, "the old workhouse stood next to the house which up till some thirty years ago was the New Inn." (The New Inn was 120 High Street.)
She also says "Another old workhouse and an old brickyard are mentioned in a deed referring to property in the Back Street area to which Edward Crouch was admitted tenant in April 1877 on death and under will of George Crouch."
Over the centuries different houses could have been used as the workhouse.
In 1777 a government report, "Abstracts of the Returns Made by the Overseers of the Poor", counted twenty paupers in the Clophill Workhouse.
As the population of the village in 1801 was 706 this represents about 3% of the population.
In 1832 a Royal Commission into the Operation of the Poor Laws found that the old system was badly and expensively run and so the Poor Law Amendment Act was passed in 1834 (known as the New Poor Law). The Act was intended to impose both order and conformity and reduce the costs of poor relief. Parishes were grouped together in Unions and a central workhouse was built to serve the union. The Cedars in Dunstable Street, Ampthill, was built as the Ampthill Union Workhouse in 1836 to house the 469 paupers from 19 parishes, including Clophill. The architect was James Clephane who was also the architect of the new Wrest Park House built during the same period. The censuses show that there were less than a hundred inmates until 1911 when the number rose to 147, possibly because the Woburn workhouse was closed and its inmates moved to Ampthill. Why such an oversized workhouse was built is not known.
The most widely adopted of the model plans were those produced by the architect Sampson Kempthorne. His cruciform or "square" design featured an administrative block at the front containing a porter's room and waiting-room on the ground floor, with Guardians' board-room above. At the rear, a children's block linked to the supervisory octagonal hub where the Master's quarters lay. Male and female quarters emanated to the left and right of the hub, while kitchens and stores with dining-hall above stood in the wing at the rear.
The square perimeter of the building comprised single storey workshop and utility blocks which also served to enclose the various inmates' exercise yards.
Each of the four areas was often divided by walls into two, allowing up to eight segregated exercise areas. Square-plan workhouse typically accommodated between 300 and 500 inmates.
With the new act, outdoor relief was stopped and the destitute had to enter the workhouse to get relief. It was felt that outdoor relief was abused by the able bodied. People entered the workhouse for many reasons including old age, illness, extreme poverty, pregnancy and, in the case of children, becoming orphaned. Husbands, wives and older children were separated as soon as they entered the workhouse and lived in separate areas.
The Undeserving Poor (the idlers who wouldn't work) were kept away from the Deserving Poor as it was thought that they would corrupt them. The standard of living was kept below that of the poorest independent labourer to encourage the able bodied to leave and start work. The intention was that only the truly destitute would seek relief. The stopping of Outdoor Relief was widely opposed and led to riots, including one in the Ampthill area in May 1835.
Although the Workhouse was feared it did provide better accommodation than most agricultural labourers' cottages and a slightly better diet but still very basic and monotonous (gruel). The inmates received free health care and the children were found work, often apprenticeships.
Extract from the Ampthill Union Workhouse records for inmates born in Clophill
DOB | Gender | Parents | Parish | When baptised | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
09/01/1848 | F | MARDLIN Mary Ann | Clophill | ||
14/05/1849 | F | ODELL John and Sabara | Clophill | 24/06/2013 | Mary Ann |
30/05/1849 | M | WHITTAMORE Heneage | Clophill | 24/06/2013 | William |
09/04/1853 | M | BRYANT Eliza | Clophill | 17/04/1853 | William |
02/05/1865 | F | WALKER Elizabeth | Clophill | 9a.m. | |
11/07/1867 | F | SINFIELD Ruth | Clophill | ||
02/05/1870 | F | PAGE Louisa | Clophill | ||
18/11/1872 | M | BRYANT Rebecca | Clophill | 29/11/2013 | George |
17/04/1873 | F | WELLMORE M. Ann | Clophill | 19/04/2013 | Ann |
26/10/1873 | M | GUDGIN Rachel | Clophill | 11/12/2013 | Charles |
06/11/1879 | M | SlMPSON Ann | Clophill | 22/02/1880 | R. Nov 27/79 |
Name, Age, Born | Offence | Date of Offence | Punishment inflicted by Master or other Officer | Opinion of Guardians thereon | Punishment ordered by the Board of Guardians | Date of Punishment | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LINCOLN Jos, age 36 yrs, Clophill | Neglecting to pick 1 1/2 lb. of Oakum | 10 Oct 1860 | Left for the opinion of the Guardians | The Master directed to take LINCOLN before the Bench of Magistrates now sitting | |||
DAY John, aged 69 years, Clophill | Swearing at James BROWN | 6 Jan 1864 | Dry bread for his supper and breakfast | Approved, | 6 & 7 Jan 1864 | ||
DAY John, aged 69 years, Clophill, | Neglecting his work | 15 Jan 1864 | lb. of potatoes for his dinner | 15 Jan 1864 | Reported by James BROWN |
Follow David Gudgin's (Gudgeon) life after he left the workhouse.
Date | Details |
---|---|
14/09/1871 | Leonard GUDGIN lately an inmate of the Workhouse of the Ampthill Union, a poor child belonging to the parish of Clophill, aged 13 years, apprenticed to Charles WILKES of Short Heath near Wolverhampton, co. Stafford, lock manufacturer, for the term of 8 years. Premium - the said child being provided with an outfit. The father of the above named apprentice has deserted him and his mother is dead |
14/09/1871 | David GUDGIN lately an inmate of the Workhouse of the Ampthill Union, a poor child of the parish of Clophill, aged 13 years, apprenticed to George TUCKLEY of Lane Head near Wolverhampton, co. Stafford, lock manufacturer, for the term of 8 years. Premium - the said child being provided with an outfit. The father of the above named apprentice has deserted him and his mother is dead |
01/08/1872 | James DUDLEY lately an inmate of the workhouse of the Ampthill Union, a poor child belonging to the parish of Clophill, aged 14 years, apprenticed to George TUCKLEY of Lane Head near Wolverhampton, co. Stafford, lock manufacturer, tor the term of 7 years. Premium - the said child being provided with an outfit. The father of the above named apprentice are has deserted him and the mother is dead |
NAME | Age of Males | Age of Females | OCCUPATION if any |
---|---|---|---|
Emma Lincoln | 35 | Pauper of Clophill | |
Sarah Lincoln | 12 | Pauper of Clophill | |
Lucy Lincoln | 9 | Pauper of Clophill | |
Samuel Lincoln | 6 | Pauper of Clophill | |
Elizabeth Lincoln | 4 | Pauper of Clophill | |
Walter ? | 9 | Pauper of Clophill | |
Edith Bottoms | 30 | Pauper of Clophill | |
Mary Maudling | 11 | Pauper of Clophill | |
Eliza Bryant | 8 | Pauper of Clophill | |
John Bryant | 6 | Pauper of Clophill | |
William Bryant | 4 | Pauper of Clophill | |
Ellen Bryant | 2 | Pauper of Clophill |
NAME | Relation to Head of Family | Condition as to Marriage | Age of Males | Age of Females | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ellen Bryant | Pauper Inmate of Workhouse | 11 | Scholar at home | ||
Ann Whittamore | Pauper Inmate of Workhouse | 6 | Scholar at home | ||
Ann Wilson | Pauper Inmate of Workhouse | Mar | 71 | Lacemaker | |
Levi Sinfield | Pauper Inmate of Workhouse | 13 | Scholar at home | ||
Hannah Tomkins | Pauper Inmate of Workhouse | U | 33 |
NAME | Relation to Head of Family | Condition as to Marriage | Age of Males | Age of Females | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Richard Matthews | Pauper Inmate | Mar | 57 | Formally Ag.Lab. | |
Susan Sharman | Pauper Inmate | 15 | Scholar |
Name | Relation to Head of Family | Condition as to Marriage | Age of Males | Age of Females | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
James Walker | Pauper Inmate | Widr | 66 | Ag. Lab. | |
William Payne | Pauper Inmate | Unm | 46 | Ag. Lab. | |
David Gudgin | Pauper Inmate | W | 13 | Scholar | |
John Gudgin | Pauper Inmate | W | 7 | Scholar |
Name | Relation to Head of Family | Condition as to Marriage | Age of Males | Age of Females | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rosa Brown | Inmate | Unm | 12 | ||
William Balls | Inmate | 5 | |||
Ann Stephens | Inmate | Unm | 50 | ||
Eliza White | Inmate | Mar | 64 | ||
George Dinton | Inmate | 13 |
Name | Relation to Head of Family | Condition as to Marriage | Age of Males | Age of Females | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
William Hines | Inmate | S | 57 | Agricultural Labourer | |
Mary Doggett | Inmate | S | 21 | Domestic Servant | |
Ann Stevens | Inmate | S | 61 |
Name | Relation to Head of Family | Condition as to Marriage | Age of Males | Age of Females | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jesse Payne | Inmate | Widr | 75 | General labourer | |
Ann Stephens | Inmate | S | 71 | Charwoman | |
Joseph Webb | Inmate | S | 56 | Drover |
Name | Relation to Head of Family | Age of Males | Age of Females | Condition as to Marriage | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joseph Webb | Inmate | 66 | Single | Formally Farm labourer | |
Samuel Mardlin | Inmate | 84 | Single | Formally Farm labourer | |
George Simpson | Inmate | 79 | Widower | Formally Farm labourer | |
Alfred Cooper | Inmate | 2 | |||
William Cooper | Inmate | 36 | Married | Farm Labourer |