Walsall Union

[KayM]

I was looking up family members in GRO and shocked to find two of great grandfather's older siblings births were registered in WALSALL UNION.

Does this mean they were born in the workhouse?

on BCC as ROLLINSON

ROLLASON, MARANDA HOLMES Order GRO Reference: 1840 J Quarter in THE WALSALL UNION Volume 17 Page 266 and
ROLASON, MATTHEW HOLMES Order GRO Reference: 1847 M Quarter in WALSALL UNION Volume 17 Page 246

intervening children in Wolverhampton and Seisdon and later ones in WALSALL

[Northern Lass]

Yes Walsall union was a workhouse
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Walsall/

[BC Wench]

On Freembd it gives Walsall as being the district where Maranda's birth was registered.

Yes, there was a Walsall Union Workhouse, but as far as I'm aware, when a child who was born in any workhouse, the birth was registered at the local Register Office with no mention on the GRO or Freebmd indexes that it was a workhouse birth. There are birth certificates which say that they were born in a workhouse and others where they give a number of a road/street of where the workhouse was situated.

I think that the word Union in Walsall Union, may have something to do with Walsall and Walsall Foreign joining together? Sorry, but I don't fully understand the Walsall side, perhaps somebody else might know.

[rockyfowler]

Hi
its as BC Wench says Nothing to do with Workhouses
The Superintendent Registrar got all the local sub districts and sent them to the registrar general
One of my Union births attached


When civil registration was first introduced, it was the responsibility of these Registrars to see that births and deaths were registered in their own sub-districts. Each Superintendent Registrar gathered these records from the sub-districts and sent copies to the Registrar General in London, four times a year. This situation lasted until further legislation was introduced in 1874.

[KayM]

Thanks everybody. That's a relief!

[Northern Lass]

this looks completed so will move to BC arc section.