Board of Guardian Minute Books
TitleBoard of Guardian Minute Books
ReferenceBG/43/A
Date
1847-1924
Scope and ContentA record of meetings and decisions made by Bantry board of guardians in administering the workhouse and poor relief generally. At meetings, administrative, financial, rates, and medical books were examined, officers’ reports and committee findings heard, correspondence read and considered, and applications for admission decided on. Matters arising with regard to the workhouse, staff, provisions, bills, rate collection, the Poor Law Commissioners/Local Government Board, and other issues, were also discussed. The minutes also include weekly statistics of admissions, discharges, and deaths in the workhouse, and of outdoor relief. Gaps are indicated where they occur.
Missing volumes/dates: A/1([Apr] 1845-19 Oct 1846); A/5 (12 Sep 1849-23 Jul 1850); A/25 (29 Nov 1866-3 Dec 1867); A/27 (3 Dec 1868-7 Dec 1869); A/44 (15 Apr 1880-18 Oct 1880); A/77 (19 Aug 1896-22 Feb 1897); A/97 (4 July 1906-14 Jan 1907); A/99-A101 (3 July 1907- 12 Jan 1909); A/105 (15 June 1910-9 Jan 1911); A/112 (17 Mar 1915-31 Jan 1916); A/114 (20 Dec 1916-26 Nov 1917)
Includes (for example):
3 Nov 1846 Medical officer’s report recommending that the fever hospital be prepared for reception of patients as there is fever in the locality ‘and there is every probability that it will spread very extensively this season in consequence of the great distress existing among the poorer classes and be very disastrous in its consequences’.
19 Jan 1847 Medical officer’s report urging ‘the necessity which exists however disagreeable the duty of positively refusing to admit any more paupers’, owing to overcrowding and unsatisfactory sanitary conditions. [746 inmates]
6 Apr 1847 Medical officer’s report containing suggestions regarding additional accommodation in the workhouse. Dr Nagle (medical attendant pro tem) also reports ‘the majority of deaths occurred among young infants, children with broken down constitutions, persons brought into the house in a dying condition and very old persons’.
13 Apr 1847 Resolved, ‘that three or four shell coffins be provided for the conveyance of the deceased paupers to the burial place and that they be interred after they be got without coffins in the same manner as the poor persons who die who are not inmates of this house’.
18 May 1847 Resolution expressing strong disapprobation at ‘the gross neglect of the master in allowing bodies to remain unburied in the manner mentioned to the board’.
7 Sep 1847 Master’s report stating that on 6 Sep a crowd of ‘between seven and eight hundred persons’ gathered before the house and ‘began to root both the potatoes and turnips’, until they were stopped by the military and police. ‘Their business to the workhouse was for something to eat as stated by themselves as the outdoor relief was stopped’. The master offered to admit as many of them as possible, ‘yet none of them troubled him afterwards’.
12 Oct 1847 Resolution regarding the PLC’s decision to dissolve the board ‘on the ground that through the default of the guardians the duties of the board have not been duly and effectually discharged’.
1 Feb 1848 Letter to PLC ‘relative to the employment of female paupers in stone-breaking’. The vice guardians note ‘the habits of the inmates of a rural workhouse... differ altogether from those to be found in cities or large towns, as they are accustomed to field work from their infancy and therefore quite ignorant of all other modes of employment’.
7 Nov 1848 Letter from the Poor Law Boundary Commissioners ‘stating their intention to form a new union at Castletown Berehaven’.
21 Nov 1848 Total inmates: 1875. Out door relief: 4751 persons.
12 Jun 1849 Medical officer’s report stating that there has been an outbreak of cholera, and that owing to ‘the debilitated constitutions of those attacked’, mortality is high, with 22 of 55 cases so far proving fatal.
18 Sep 1850 Order fixing the days on which relieving officers are to attend their districts to hear applications. One relieving officer covers the following districts: Bantry and Mealagh; Ahil, Douce and Kealkil; Glengarriff and Kilcaskin. The other covers the following districts: Glanlough, Seefin and Sheepshead; Durrus East, Durrus West and Scart; and Whiddy.
28 Jan 1880 Resolution representing to the LGB the ‘great want of employment in a portion of the said union and consequent distress’, and ‘that profitable employment might be given upon works defined in the schedule attached to the Under Secretary’s letter... of 13 January last’.
26 Mar 1907 Letter from Rev O’Grady requesting permission to remove a [Protestant] girl ‘the only child in the workhouse belonging to his communion, as he can get her into a good home in Dublin where she will be carefully taught and put out in life’.
18 Aug 1920 Master’s report stating that ‘the main building was now taken over by the military authorities… and that all the inmates were now in the infirmary and fever hospital in a very congested state’.
31 Aug 1921 Resolved, that the board and Bantry Rural District Council ‘now completely sever our connection with the English Local Government Board and from hence forward altogether recognise the authority of Dail Eireann as the duly elected government of the Irish people’.
18 Jan 1922 Local Government Department order stating ‘that the premises occupied by the enemy forces shall on evacuation by them remain closed and shall not be opened presently in any circumstances. The workhouse as such shall be abolished as at this date’.
23 Jan 1924 Medical officer’s report recommending the erection of a district hospital as ‘a matter of urgency’. He notes that Mrs Leigh-White made Bantry House available as a temporary hospital when the former hospital was burned down over three years ago, but that she now wishes ‘to get back Bantry House’. He adds that the agreement made with her did not allow treatment of infectious or malignant cases, and gives the view that the lack of proper accommodation may have contributed to the high mortality among children during a severe whooping cough epidemic two years ago.
2 Apr 1924 Resolution protesting ‘against the proposal to have the home for the aged and infirm for the western portion of the county of Cork fixed at Clonakilty, it being at the extreme end of the area embracing the unions concerned and off the main railway line’.
Missing volumes/dates: A/1([Apr] 1845-19 Oct 1846); A/5 (12 Sep 1849-23 Jul 1850); A/25 (29 Nov 1866-3 Dec 1867); A/27 (3 Dec 1868-7 Dec 1869); A/44 (15 Apr 1880-18 Oct 1880); A/77 (19 Aug 1896-22 Feb 1897); A/97 (4 July 1906-14 Jan 1907); A/99-A101 (3 July 1907- 12 Jan 1909); A/105 (15 June 1910-9 Jan 1911); A/112 (17 Mar 1915-31 Jan 1916); A/114 (20 Dec 1916-26 Nov 1917)
Includes (for example):
3 Nov 1846 Medical officer’s report recommending that the fever hospital be prepared for reception of patients as there is fever in the locality ‘and there is every probability that it will spread very extensively this season in consequence of the great distress existing among the poorer classes and be very disastrous in its consequences’.
19 Jan 1847 Medical officer’s report urging ‘the necessity which exists however disagreeable the duty of positively refusing to admit any more paupers’, owing to overcrowding and unsatisfactory sanitary conditions. [746 inmates]
6 Apr 1847 Medical officer’s report containing suggestions regarding additional accommodation in the workhouse. Dr Nagle (medical attendant pro tem) also reports ‘the majority of deaths occurred among young infants, children with broken down constitutions, persons brought into the house in a dying condition and very old persons’.
13 Apr 1847 Resolved, ‘that three or four shell coffins be provided for the conveyance of the deceased paupers to the burial place and that they be interred after they be got without coffins in the same manner as the poor persons who die who are not inmates of this house’.
18 May 1847 Resolution expressing strong disapprobation at ‘the gross neglect of the master in allowing bodies to remain unburied in the manner mentioned to the board’.
7 Sep 1847 Master’s report stating that on 6 Sep a crowd of ‘between seven and eight hundred persons’ gathered before the house and ‘began to root both the potatoes and turnips’, until they were stopped by the military and police. ‘Their business to the workhouse was for something to eat as stated by themselves as the outdoor relief was stopped’. The master offered to admit as many of them as possible, ‘yet none of them troubled him afterwards’.
12 Oct 1847 Resolution regarding the PLC’s decision to dissolve the board ‘on the ground that through the default of the guardians the duties of the board have not been duly and effectually discharged’.
1 Feb 1848 Letter to PLC ‘relative to the employment of female paupers in stone-breaking’. The vice guardians note ‘the habits of the inmates of a rural workhouse... differ altogether from those to be found in cities or large towns, as they are accustomed to field work from their infancy and therefore quite ignorant of all other modes of employment’.
7 Nov 1848 Letter from the Poor Law Boundary Commissioners ‘stating their intention to form a new union at Castletown Berehaven’.
21 Nov 1848 Total inmates: 1875. Out door relief: 4751 persons.
12 Jun 1849 Medical officer’s report stating that there has been an outbreak of cholera, and that owing to ‘the debilitated constitutions of those attacked’, mortality is high, with 22 of 55 cases so far proving fatal.
18 Sep 1850 Order fixing the days on which relieving officers are to attend their districts to hear applications. One relieving officer covers the following districts: Bantry and Mealagh; Ahil, Douce and Kealkil; Glengarriff and Kilcaskin. The other covers the following districts: Glanlough, Seefin and Sheepshead; Durrus East, Durrus West and Scart; and Whiddy.
28 Jan 1880 Resolution representing to the LGB the ‘great want of employment in a portion of the said union and consequent distress’, and ‘that profitable employment might be given upon works defined in the schedule attached to the Under Secretary’s letter... of 13 January last’.
26 Mar 1907 Letter from Rev O’Grady requesting permission to remove a [Protestant] girl ‘the only child in the workhouse belonging to his communion, as he can get her into a good home in Dublin where she will be carefully taught and put out in life’.
18 Aug 1920 Master’s report stating that ‘the main building was now taken over by the military authorities… and that all the inmates were now in the infirmary and fever hospital in a very congested state’.
31 Aug 1921 Resolved, that the board and Bantry Rural District Council ‘now completely sever our connection with the English Local Government Board and from hence forward altogether recognise the authority of Dail Eireann as the duly elected government of the Irish people’.
18 Jan 1922 Local Government Department order stating ‘that the premises occupied by the enemy forces shall on evacuation by them remain closed and shall not be opened presently in any circumstances. The workhouse as such shall be abolished as at this date’.
23 Jan 1924 Medical officer’s report recommending the erection of a district hospital as ‘a matter of urgency’. He notes that Mrs Leigh-White made Bantry House available as a temporary hospital when the former hospital was burned down over three years ago, but that she now wishes ‘to get back Bantry House’. He adds that the agreement made with her did not allow treatment of infectious or malignant cases, and gives the view that the lack of proper accommodation may have contributed to the high mortality among children during a severe whooping cough epidemic two years ago.
2 Apr 1924 Resolution protesting ‘against the proposal to have the home for the aged and infirm for the western portion of the county of Cork fixed at Clonakilty, it being at the extreme end of the area embracing the unions concerned and off the main railway line’.
Extent108 vols.
Persons keywordBantry Board of Guardians
AccessHard copies: Accessible to Readers by appointment. Access restrictions apply to some collections. Digital object/copy: see Download Media and/or Digital Reference
RightsLicensing information available on request by email to archivist@corkcity.ie Copyright Cork City and County Archives, Cork City Council, unless otherwise indicated. All Rights Reserved.
Levelseries
RepositoryCork City and County Archives