Colchester Work House

[vabbott]

Hello again

Have had a look in the library for the workhouse which was being discussed
The earliest Map they had was 1847/8 and the lands surrounding the workhouse building were all parkland no sign of farms or buildings so I guess that it was the first building there
Interestingly ...........to all of you researching Workhouses for your rellies.......
the land to thewest of the building belonged to the parish of Lexden and the land to the East was the parish of Mary at the Wall  But the land which the workhouse/st marys Hospital was built on belonged to the parish of St Botolphs I suppose this means that once they all had to look after their own people when the new laws came in 1834 or whenever that this was the best land available to them and that is where we should be looking for our rellies?? Your comments Trev or any body else
Regards
Ronnie

[t mo]

hi ronnie
thanks ever so for doing that as it,s always good to have a better understanding of what was in a place long before us , i had a feeling that was one of the first things built around that area only like i said rawston rd - manor road would be late 1800,s early 1900,s and the same for all the houses that used to be on the old balkerne hill as it used to be .
i suppose the fact that lexden came down that far isn,t so surprising there borough offices are not that far away now but the fact that st botolphs had an interest up there is a bit intriguing i,m wondering if it was anything to do with the priory that was in that area only when they were excavating for the southway road they found several old graves which they reckoned were monks i remember seeing them when we were building what was then scotts garage the funny thing was these bodies were buried on there backs but with there knees up as if either in a sitting position or they couldn,t be bothered to make the graves longer it,s one of those silly things i ,ve remembered .( just don,t ask me what happened 5 minutes ago i,ll never remember  ), anyway it may be why st botolphs had an interest as the church owned a lot of land in colchester at one time .
as i say thanks again ronnie good work as usual 
all the best
trevor

[vabbott]

you are more than welcome trev  we should be a dab hand at these workhouses now   but I do still wonder if this is why some people look for st botolphs workhouse
Hope this helps someone anyway

Ronnie

[t mo]

morning ronnie
all detail is good for reference and i,m always deeply interested in old colchester especially as to these workhouses don,t forget we learned of one for st botolphs parish somewhere in or around queen st on another post sometime back it was only a small workhouse in use before the poor law union came into being .
best wishes
trevor

[essexalan]

Hi all,
Yes I had a relation in the past by the name of Eliza Beaumont who died in the Colcester Workhouse in 1901.On my research for it found info about it as being on Balkerne Hill.Was amused to find out that is was later converted to St mary's hospital. As when I was about 8 or 9 years old ,I had my tonsils removed there and can remember that I could watch the trains at North Station from my bed. . I can also remember the big imposing building alongside North Station and that it was a Mental Institution at one point init's life history.
Alan.

[vabbott]

Hi Alan
yes you are right about it being a hospital and the other one was the imposing Essex Hall which is now a housing estate.  They say its  progress but we do lose a lot of historical buildings don't we?
Ronnie
Surprised TMO hasn't commented yet lol

[vabbott]

Hi all,
Yes I had a relation in the past by the name of Eliza Beaumont who died in the Colcester Workhouse in 1901.On my research for it found info about it as being on Balkerne Hill.Was amused to find out that is was later converted to St mary's hospital. As when I was about 8 or 9 years old ,I had my tonsils removed there and can remember that I could watch the trains at North Station from my bed. . I can also remember the big imposing building alongside North Station and that it was a Mental Institution at one point init's life history.
Alan.

Hi Alan is that your tree on line with the photos of the workhouse and gravestones
Ronnie

[essexalan]

Hi yes they were great buildings.Am not sure if St Mary's is still standing,but is a pity the one by North Station has gone. . Hi Ronnie my tree on Ancestry is called Theobald Family Tree.Be carefull as there are a couple of other tree's named alike. As several Theobald's are researching the Theobald's. On Eliza Beoumont profile on my I only have a photo of the workhouse,St Leonards Church of Lexden and a couple of stories in PDF file.
Alan

[t mo]

hi alan .
st marys is also a housing estate now as well , as dear Ronnie says so much of Colchester heritage is being lost to so called progress the only thing left now is memories of how the old town looked way back when we were kids a Ronnie  in the good old days  .
best wishes both
trevor