Union-level pauper statistics from the Local Government Board's Returns to Parliament for July, in 1907 onwards.

Table ID:

PLAW_U_JULY_1907_11     (1252731)

Contents:

Union-level pauper statistics from the Local Government Board's Returns to Parliament for July, in 1907 onwards.

Approx. number of rows:

2,730

Table type:

Raw Data

Documentation Author:

Humphrey Southall

Geography:

Reporting units are identified by:
   Union (Poor Law) County
   Poor Law Union
   Poor Law Union Number

Chronology:

The data cover the period 1907 to 1911.
Dates and times are identified by:
   Month
   Year

Sources:

1. Holds data taken from the 'Returns to Parliament' made by the Local Government Board, listing numbers of paupers in each union on the 1st of July from July 1907 onwards. In 1911 it includes all unions in London ('The Metropolis'), Lancashire and Durham plus selected major urban unions (defined as in 'plaw_u') for 1st July only. In 1907-1910 it includes all unions in England and Wales. This is a full transcription, containing all columns other than the change since the previous year.

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Notes:

1. From 1907 onwards, the Returns to Parliament provided more limited data for July than for January. This table therefore contains a complete transcription of the former, with relevant information added to the transcriptions held in 'plaw_u'.
2. Initially, only July 1907 was held for all unions as this particular set of data was needed to replicate a map in the Atlas of Industrialising Britain. These data were input at QMW in October 1998 by Eileen Longland. In summer 2017 Harold Price in Portsmouth added the data for all unions for July in 1908, 1909 and 1910.
3. The values of neither plu_num nor plu_name are unique within a single report, but combinations of plu_num and plu_name are unique. For example, there were two unions called 'Newport' and two called 'Richmond', while there are, for example, separate rows for 'Keynsham' and 'Keynsham Out-Relief' which have the same code.

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Checking:

1. As these data were typed in, the total numbers of indoor and outdoor paupers were checked against the sums of the relevant sub-categories. The sum of the total numbers of indoor, outdoor and lunatic paupers was compared with the overall total number, although the adjustment for double-counting made in the original report meant that small differences were possible.
2. Combinations of plu_num and num_sfx were checked for uniqueness when indexing the table within the database.
3. The geographical units have been cross-checked against the GBHGIS administrative unit gazetteer to ensure that all units are correctly identified. Each unit has a unique unit ID assigned to it and this can be used to cross-reference against other data-sets. Only one unit is without a g_unit value, that is "CHORLTON AND MANCHESTER JOINT WORKHOUSE COMMITTEE CASUAL WARDS". This was a co-operative arrangement between the two unions to cover particular aspects of poor relief and was not a separate administrative unit.

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Indices:

Index	Type	Column(s) indexed
plaw_u_july_1907_11_idx	Unique	plu_cnty, plu_name, year, month, plu_num, num_sfx

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Columns within table:

Column	Type	Contents
year	Integer number.	Year to which data refer
month	Integer number.	Month to which data refer
plu_num	Integer number.	Numerical code identifying union within the individual report.
num_sfx	Text string (max.len.=14).	Letter part of identifying code; generally absent but covers, eg, 463A or 515A1.
plu_name	Text string (max.len.=84).	Union to which data refer (Max. 60 chars.) NB 'union' is a reserved word in SQL, hence unusable as a field name.
plu_cnty	Text string (max.len.=28).	Union county.
g_unit	Integer number.	Unit ID for the union, as defined in the AUO.
cnty_unit	Integer number.	Unit ID for the county containing the union, as defined in the AUO.
pop	Integer number.	Population of union, usu. at previous census. NB included in dataset to facilitate simple analyses, but interpolated figures from separate census data are preferable.
i_ab_a	Integer number.	Indoor able-bodied adults.
i_nab_a	Integer number.	Indoor not able-bodied adults.
i_child	Integer number.	Children under 16 on indoor relief.
i_insane	Integer number.	Indoor insane.
i_casual	Integer number.	Indoor casual pauper (not for 1911).
in_tot	Integer number.	Total of indoor paupers
o_ab_a	Integer number.	Outdoor able-bodied adults.
o_nab_a	Integer number.	Outdoor not able-bodied adults.
o_child	Integer number.	Children under 16 on outdoor relief.
o_insane	Integer number.	Outdoor insane.
o_casual	Integer number.	Outdoor casual paupers (not for 1911)
out_tot	Integer number.	Total of outdoor paupers
casuals	Integer number.	Casual paupers (computed from i_casual+o_casual except for 1911)
lunatics	Integer number.	Lunatics in County and Borough Asylums, Registered Hospitals and Licensed Houses.
total	Integer number.	Listed total number of paupers relieved. NB this is sometimes less than the sum of in_tot, out_tot and lunatics as it had been adjusted for double-counting.
notes	Text string (max.len.=1004).	Comments; rarely used, and generally explains why data are absent.