WORKHOUSE POPULATIONS IN THE CHELTENHAM AND BELPER UNIONS: A STUDY BASED ON THE CENSUS ENUMERATORS' BOOKS, 1851-1911.

This article examines the changes that occurred in the Cheltenham and Belper workhouse and union populations between 1851 and 1911, with a particular focus on the end of the nineteenth century. The social and economic situation in these two poor law unions was very different. The Cheltenham union had little industry and relied on service occupations and agriculture for employment whist the Belper union covered an expanding industrial area with the development of cotton and iron manufacture. In 1851 the Belper workhouse population was dominated by children, that of Cheltenham by the able-bodied. In 1911 the population of both workhouses was mainly elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]