Colchester Work House

[boxted boy]

I always thought that the Colchester Union Workhouse was the building that later became St.Mary's Hospital on Balkerne Hill but why on the 1911 census is the address given as North Station Colchester
I seem to remember a very large imposing building on opposite side of the entrance to the station is this got anything to do with it

[t mo]

hi boxted boy
the building your talking about was originally the station hotel  then became essex hall a mental institution along with turner village and severalls  as you say the union workhouse was st marys it may well have been a workhouse for that parish or the surrounding villages  look at www.workhouses.org.uk it,s the definitive site for workhouse info
trevor

[boxted boy]

Thanks Trevor
Yes I can recollect that that building being a mental institution now you have said that and I always thought that the workhouse was on Balkerne Hill which according to www.workhouses.org.uk it was but it still does not explain why on the 1911 census the address is given as North Station Colchester

[t mo]

yes the poor law union workhouse was in deed on balkerne hill and i,ve just googled essex hall and it states that prior to 1948 it came under the poor law , local authority which means that it was administerd the same as st marys it was still a mental institution but for children according to the nat arc site and became a full on mental hos after 1948 , does this 1911 record actually say that essex hall is a workhouse ?
trevor

[boxted boy]

Well done in finding that out
the 1911 census not only says it is Colchester Union workhouse but also The Royal Eastern Counties Institution for idiots imbiciles and the feeble minded

[t mo]

it looks like we have both learned a bit then from this

trevor

[Past Family]

In 1904 the Registrar General had the law changed so that every workhouse had to have an address that did not state Union Workhouse.

These addresses could be fictional but would ensure that those born there did not have "workhouse" on their certificates.

When the workhouses were closed nearly all of them became hospitals. Hope this helps.

[coombs]

Hi

I have just received the death cert of my ancestor who died in June 1845 at St Mary At The Walls Hospital, Colchester aged 74. James Salmon. Was that the hospital on Balkernes Hill and was it near the Union Workhouse?

Ben

[t mo]

hi ben
they are the same building it was the union workhouse first then became st mary,s hospital till it,s closure some years back but not there now it was pulled down to make way for redevelopement , check out the workhouse site for photo,s of it .
regards

trevor