How do I find out a death in a workhouse

[lisachloe]

My husbands maternal grandmother remembers having to identify a mans body in 1933 in a Pontefract (West Yorks) workhouse when she was around the age of 10.
She thinks it could've been a family member & if it was she thinks the surname would've been Hallatt.
Also, she thinks another family member was in the mounted police in Leeds his name was Albert Hepworth - how do I access both of these records?
Thanks in advance

[Welsh Jen]

You can view all GRO death entries in England and Wales from 1837 to near enough the present year. If you live in England or Wales find your local records office and search the year in question for the surname of interest.

Does your husbands maternal grandmother remember the Christian name? Once this information is found you can then purchase the death certificate for more information, although if he died in the workhouse his details may be quite skant.

Another avenue would be to find out who paid for the funeral ~ Parish by the sounds of it, if in the workhouse. You may be able to find out which cemetery was the most likely place for your ancestor to be buried, also contact the archives to see what documentation they hold on workhouse inmates, most areas only have the account books but those books sometimes give excellent information. Some (quite rare though) have personal records of inmates, you will have to contact the archives in that region though to find out what they hold.

Really your 1st port of call is to chat to your husbands maternal Grandmother to see if she can recall the man's 1st name.

[casalguidi]

Hi Lisachloe

Workhouses had their own admission and discharge registers (death is a reason to be entered in the discharge book).  Enquire at the local county record office/archives for the discharge registers for that particular workhouse.  They may also have had death registers also.  You can also work back in the admissions register to see why they were in the workhouse in the first place.  For a lot of ordinary folk, it was the only place to go if you were ill, infirm or aged etc..

Good luck

Casalguidi

Casalguidi

[lisachloe]

Thanks to you both Iwill try your suggestions

[Oxfordshire FHS]

Workhouses had their own admission and discharge registers (death is a reason to be entered in the discharge book). 

They may also have had death registers also. 

Hi Lisachloe/Casalguide

As an aside, it's worth bearing in mind that some workhouses might have baptism registers, these comprising the baptisms of children born in the workhouse and baptised in the workhouse chapel.

For the Oxford City workhouse, the members of this society have transcribed and indexed a baptism register which covers the period from 1841 to 1893. Several hundred baptisms are included therein, often with details of the Oxford parish from which the mother originated.

Presumably similar registers might survive for other workhouses ?

Best wishes.

Paul Gaskell
Oxfordshire Family History Society
Website : www.ofhs.org.uk