Poor Law Union Minutes – New Ross

The workhouse in New Ross was constructed on a ten acre site at a cost of £7,600 in addition to £1,550 for fittings &c. Built to accommodate 900 persons, it was the largest of the four workhouses in County Wexford and received its first admissions on 22 January 1842 (the earliest extant minute book dates from March 1844). At the height of the famine in mid-June 1847, admissions had risen significantly to 1,120 inmates.

The minutes of the weekly meetings of the Board of Guardians include statistical data on the weekly number of admissions, discharges, births and deaths. They also record the dietary provision of the paupers and brief reports from the Master and from the Visiting Committee. The Earl Grey assisted female emigration scheme (1848-50) will be of particular interest to those researching their family history.

The minute books are being digitised on a phased basis over a three year period, with the first 30 volumes being made available over the course of the next few months in 2021. Each volume is in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format – please note that some files may take a while to download due to their size.

WX-BG132-1-1A27 March 1844 – 7 January 1846PDF 488 MB
WX-BG132-1-1B14 January 1846 – 14 October 1846PDF 393 MB
WX-BG132-1-221 October 1846 – 11 August 1847PDF 529 MB
WX-BG132-1-318 August 1847 – 2 February 1848PDF 349 MB
WX-BG132-1-4A26 January 1848 – 16 August 1848PDF 503 MB
WX-BG132-1-4B24 August 1848 – 19 June 1849PDF 1 GB
WX-BG132-1-526 June 1849 – 25 February 1850PDF 640 MB
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WX-BG132-1-715 October 1851 – 29 September 1852PDF 886 MB
WX-BG132-1-86 October 1852 – 30 March 1853PDF 397 MB
WX-BG132-1-96 April 1853 – 12 October 1853PDF 600 MB
WX-BG132-1-1019 October 1853 – 12 April 1854PDF 534 MB
WX-BG132-1-1119 April 1854 – 27 September 1854PDF 546 MB
WX-BG132-1-1211 October 1854 – 4 April 1855PDF 866 MB
WX-BG132-1-1311 April 1855 – 3 October 1855PDF 935 MB
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WX-BG132-1-2425 September 1861 – 5 March 1862PDF 767 MB
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WX-BG132-1-3418 December 1867 – 27 June 1868 – IPDF 793 MB
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WX-BG132-1-3723 July 1870 – 21 January 1871PDF 764 MB
WX-BG132-1-3828 January 1871 – 5 August 1871PDF 770 MB
WX-BG132-1-3912 August 1871 – 17 February 1872PDF 747 MB
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WX-BG132-1-4122 March 1873 – 27 September 1873PDF 750 MB
WX-BG132-1-424 October 1873 – 4 April 1874PDF 684 MB
WX-BG132-1-4311 April 1874 – 10 October 1874PDF 655 MB
WX-BG132-1-4417 October 1874 – 24 April 1875PDF 938 MB
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WX-BG132-1-4629 April 1876 – 28 October 1876PDF 671 MB
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WX-BG132-1-4824 November 1877 – 25 May 1878PDF 651 MB
WX-BG132-1-491 June 1878 – 16 November 1878PDF 691 MB
WX-BG132-1-5124 May 1879 – 15 November 1879PDF 1.92 GB
WX-BG132-1-5222 November 1879 – 8 May 1880PDF 1.79 GB
WX-BG132-1-5313 November 1880 – 7 May 1881PDF 1.78 GB