When we discover that our ancestor was in an institution such as an asylum, prison, or workhouse, we can learn much about their experience by researching the institution. My 2nd great-grandmother, Sarah Jane (Miller) Creer, resided in the Boston Union Workhouse in Lincolnshire, England at the age of 10. Wanting to learn more about this specific workhouse, I queried AI and was pleased with the accurate and informative report created by Claude 3.7 Sonnet. AI can greatly enhance our historical research and save us time in writing about our ancestors!

Sarah Jane’s Life Summary

Nicole researched Sarah Jane extensively several years ago and wrote a biography based on various sources.¹ She uploaded that to Sarah Jane’s profile on FamilySearch. I asked Claude AI to provide the following summary of Sarah Jane’s life based on the biography.²

Sarah Jane Creer (née Miller) was born on July 1, 1841, in Swineshead, Lincolnshire, England. Born into poverty to unwed parents, Ann Miller and Thomas Bradley, Sarah Jane’s early life exemplified the hardship typical of the era. By 1851, at just 10 years old, she lived with her mother in the Boston Union Workhouse as “pauper inmates.”

Sarah Jane’s life changed dramatically when she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), being baptized on February 22, 1856, in the Surfleet Sea’s-End Branch. Her devotion was evident when she donated 5 shillings to the church just a month after baptism, a substantial sum for someone of her means.

At age 14, Sarah Jane emigrated from England with her mother, Ann, and stepfather, James Warner, sailing on the ship Samuel Curling in April 1856. Upon reaching America, they joined Edmund Ellsworth’s Handcart Company, walking 1,300 miles from Iowa City to Salt Lake City. During this arduous journey, Sarah Jane often pulled the handcart while her ill mother rode upon it, her feet frequently bleeding from the difficult trek.

After arriving in Spanish Fork, Utah, Sarah Jane married William Creer on January 21, 1858, when she was just 16 years old. The couple initially lived in a dugout, then a one-room log cabin, eventually building a proper frame home in 1877. Sarah Jane bore nine children, raising eight to adulthood (her firstborn son died in infancy). Known for her orderliness, cleanliness, and devotion to family, she helped establish a righteous posterity while her husband served as choir president, city alderman, and attorney.

Throughout her life, Sarah Jane remained faithful to her religious convictions and focused on her family. She passed away from pneumonia on November 22, 1902, at age 62, remembered as “a tiny black-eyed lady with natural wavy hair” whose legacy lives on through her numerous descendants. Her life journey—from workhouse poverty in England to respected pioneer mother in Utah—stands as a testament to faith, perseverance, and the transformative power of pioneering.

Querying AI

Sarah Jane has many stories and records detailing her later life, but few about her early life before emigration to Utah. I particularly wanted to understand more about the Boston Union Workhouse so I turned to AI and gave Claude the following prompt. Notice I provided the role AI should use, my goal to learn more about the workhouse, the task to research the history, and the output – an in-depth report. I selected the extended thinking model and enabled web search so the AI could find sources.

You are an expert family historian. My ancestor, Sarah Jane, is listed in the 1851 England Census as residing in the Union Workhouse in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. She is age 10 and a female. Please research the history of this institution and provide me with an indepth report about it. I’d like to know why people were sent there, how they got out, and what the living conditions were like.

Before Claude issued the report, it did some initial research. Because I gave it specifics about Sarah Jane and the year, it knew to focus on the Victorian era and the plight of children. The following screenshot shows the AI’s extended thinking.

Expanding the results for each statement provided direct links to the sources found on the Internet. I was especially pleased with the sources used about children in the workhouses, as shown in the screenshot below.

After gathering the sources, the AI compiled the desired report on the workhouse stating:

Based on my research into the Boston Union Workhouse in Lincolnshire, where your ancestor Sarah Jane was residing as a 10-year-old in 1851, I’ve compiled this detailed report on the institution, its history, and what life would have been like for a child there.

I’ve included the full report here with the sources that Claude provided. Notice how the AI created headings and wrote in an informative style. I’ve selected “normal” as my preferred style, but I could easily change this to concise, explanatory, formal, or historical storyteller. I added the sources AI provided in brackets.

At the end of the blog post I’ll provide some tips on using AI for adding historical context to an ancestor’s life.

The Boston Union Workhouse: A Historical Report³

Historical Background and Establishment

The Boston Poor Law Union was formed on September 22, 1836, following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 (often called the New Poor Law) which established the Victorian workhouse system. The Boston Union comprised 27 parishes in the Boston Registration District, with a combined population of 29,898 according to the 1831 census.[Workhouses]

In October 1836, the Boston Board of Guardians advertised for plans for a new workhouse designed to house 300 inmates and costing no more than £5,000. On November 15th of that year, they accepted plans submitted by George Gilbert Scott, a prominent architect who designed many workhouses during this period.[Workhouses]

The Boston Union Workhouse was built in 1837 at the south side of Skirbeck Road, north of Boston Dock. The capacity was increased to 350 inmates, and the final cost was approximately £8,000. The design followed Scott’s typical layout with a single-story entrance block with an archway at its center, the Guardians’ board room at one side, and a chapel on the other. It consisted of an entrance range, the main workhouse building, and an infirmary situated between workshop and laundry ranges.[Historic England] [Workhouses]

Administration and Governance

The Boston Poorlaw Union Board of Guardians met on alternate Saturdays at the workhouse. Staff records from 1842 show that Rev. Dr. Roy was Chairman of the Board of Guardians with Richard Calthrop as vice-chairman. Thomas Silvester served as workhouse master, and Philip Brierley and his wife Ann were appointed as schoolmaster and schoolmistress in September 1842.[Genuki]

Under the workhouse system, individual workhouses were administered by a Board of Guardians with representatives from each parish within the Union. The Board, led by an elected Chairman, met weekly or fortnightly to discuss issues related to running the workhouse and specific pauper cases.[Findmypast]

The daily management fell to various officials: the Master oversaw the entire establishment, while under him were positions such as Schoolmaster, Schoolmistress, and Porter. Perhaps the most important administrative role was the Clerk to the Guardians, who kept records that provide valuable insights into the operation of the workhouse.[Findmypast]

 Why People Were Sent to the Workhouse

The workhouse was intended as a last resort for the destitute who had no other means of support. Several categories of people commonly ended up in workhouses:

The people who lived in Victorian workhouses came from all walks of life. They included the very poorest of the poor, as well as criminals, the homeless, unmarried mothers, the elderly, and the mentally ill.[Victorian Children]

Children in the workhouse often included “orphans, or deserted children, or bastards, or children of idiots, or of cripples, or of felons.” According to the 1909 Royal Commission, around half the children under care of Boards of Guardians in the nineteenth century were without parents or close relatives.[Workhouses]

For a child like Sarah Jane, there could have been several reasons for her presence in the workhouse:
– She may have been orphaned
– Her parents may have been too poor to care for her
– Her family might have entered the workhouse together due to destitution
– She might have been abandoned or deserted

When a person applied for poor relief, they would be questioned about their place of settlement, whether they had relatives who could maintain them, any income from other sources, and other circumstances to determine their eligibility for assistance.[Findmypast]

Relief could be given as “out relief” (assistance while living outside the workhouse) in cases of illness, or an “order for the House” (admission to the workhouse) in other cases. The New Poor Law of 1834 attempted to restrict outdoor relief and force people into the workhouse system instead.[Findmypast]

 Life in the Workhouse

 Daily Routine

Life in the workhouse followed a strict regimen:

Inmates were woken in the morning by a tolling bell, and this same bell called them to meals and other activities throughout the day. The days were strictly scheduled, with specific hours for waking, meals, work, and limited leisure.[Victorian Children]

Conditions were harsh and treatment was often cruel. Families were divided upon entering the workhouse, with children separated from their parents. As a female child, Sarah Jane would have been placed in the girls’ section, away from any male relatives.[Historic UK]

Living Conditions

The conditions inside Victorian workhouses were generally appalling. Inmates lived in poverty and squalor, with most being malnourished and poorly clothed. Food was scarce and often of low quality. Between meals, inmates had to earn their food and bed by performing assigned work tasks. Living quarters were typically cramped and unsanitary.[Victorian Children]

By the 1830s, most workhouses operated with prison-like conditions. Mortality rates were high, especially from diseases like smallpox and measles that spread rapidly in the crowded conditions. Accommodations were cramped with beds placed close together, minimal space for movement, and poor lighting.[Historic UK]

Upon entering the workhouse, Sarah Jane would have experienced a profound loss of personal identity:

New inmates were issued uniforms made from durable materials like wool and linen. These uniforms replaced their personal clothes, which were disinfected and stored until their departure. This practice maintained hygiene but also symbolized the stripping away of individuality upon entering the workhouse system.[Victorian Children]

Food

The diet in workhouses was deliberately plain and monotonous, designed to discourage dependency on poor relief:

The typical food available in the workhouse was often of very low quality and sometimes rotten. For breakfast, inmates were served gruel, a kind of porridge made from oats and water. The main meal of the day typically consisted of a broth or soup made from low-quality meat and whatever vegetables were in season.[Victorian Children]

While the diet was meager and monotonous, it was regulated and likely provided more consistent nutrition than many impoverished children might receive outside the institution.

Work and Education for Children

For a 10-year-old girl like Sarah Jane, life would have involved both work and education:

In workhouses, education was considered a primary means to raise children out of poverty and to eliminate “the germs of pauperism from the rising generation.” Despite the workhouse’s reputation as a place of discipline, disgrace, and hardship, it was viewed by poor law guardians as a setting for the “reclamation and future redemption of children.”[Historyofeducation]

Workhouse children, especially in the decades prior to the 1870s, may have actually received a better education than children living in very poor families outside the institution. By law, workhouses were required to provide at least three hours of schooling daily. This education covered basic but valuable skills like reading, writing, and arithmetic, along with religious studies.”[Historyofeducation][Victorian Children]

The quality of workhouse education varied considerably. In some workhouses, children’s lessons took place in three daily sessions: 6:30 to 8:00 am, 10:30 am to 1:00 pm, and 2:00 to 5:00 pm, potentially totaling seven hours of education per day, though only a minimum of three hours was required.”[Historyofeducation]

Both boys and girls were taught writing in copybooks and on slates, learning arithmetic and reading the Bible. However, gender-specific training was common, with girls taught “sewing, knitting and housework” while boys might be employed in gardening or other manual tasks. Recreation and play time was sometimes allocated between lessons.”[Historyofeducation]

When not in lessons, female inmates typically engaged in housekeeping duties, while males undertook more physically demanding tasks. [Victorian Children]As a 10-year-old girl, Sarah Jane would have spent part of her day learning domestic skills that were considered appropriate preparation for her likely future as a servant.

Boston Workhouse Specific Information

Some records specific to the Boston Union Workhouse that might be relevant to Sarah Jane’s experience include:

The Lincolnshire Family History Society has preserved the Boston Workhouse Girls School Admissions/Discharge register for 1850-1872, which would likely contain information about Sarah Jane’s education. This could be a valuable resource for understanding her specific circumstances.[Genuki]

By the 1920s, the Boston Union had established a cottage home for 13 pauper children at Brothertoft Road, Boston, showing an evolution in the care of workhouse children over time.[Workhouses]

According to historical records, in 1842 (just before Sarah Jane’s time), Philip Brierley and his wife Ann were appointed as the schoolmaster and schoolmistress at the Boston Workhouse. By 1872, Thomas Sowden had become schoolmaster with Miss E. Wells as schoolmistress.[Genuki]

 How People Left the Workhouse

There were several ways children like Sarah Jane might have left the workhouse:

Family Reclamation
Inmates could leave whenever they wished after giving “reasonable notice” (typically three hours). If a parent discharged themselves, their children would also be discharged to prevent abandonment. If Sarah Jane had family members who improved their circumstances, they might have reclaimed her.[Workhouses]

Apprenticeship
The apprenticeship system was commonly used by parishes to place workhouse children with employers, thereby unburdening the rate-payers from supporting them. Under the Settlement Act of 1662, an apprentice took settlement from their place of apprenticeship, which meant the receiving parish would become responsible should they later need poor relief.[Workhouses]

While boys were typically apprenticed to learn “husbandry” (agricultural work), girls were taught “midwifery” (a term that in this context often broadly covered domestic service rather than actual midwifery). These pauper apprentices were effectively laborers and household servants rather than learning highly skilled trades.[Workhouses]

In Shrewsbury, for example, workhouse girls were tasked with spinning, making gloves, and other jobs considered “suited to their sex, their ages and abilities.”[Wikipedia]

Domestic Service
Girls were often trained specifically for domestic service, as this was considered the most appropriate employment for females. Once old enough (usually by age 12-14), Sarah Jane might have been placed in service with a local family.

Age of Independence
When older (usually 16 or above), residents could choose to leave on their own to find employment.

It’s important to note that the treatment of workhouse children varied considerably:

An 1841 report advised that care should be taken in the selection of schoolmasters “lest we introduce a tyrannical despot rather than a father.” While schools inspector Jelinger Symons did not believe that “cruelty or severity of discipline” was common in workhouse schools, he acknowledged such practices existed in some unions. Corporal punishment, while not as widespread as often depicted, was a common means of discipline.[Historyofeducation]

Parish apprenticeships for workhouse children were not the same as traditional apprenticeships that resulted in a skilled tradesperson. “Parish apprentices” were often placed with employers simply requiring their “nimble fingers and little bodies” for tasks adults couldn’t perform, with little concern for preparing them for meaningful work in adulthood.[English Ancestors]

Conclusion

Sarah Jane’s experience in the Boston Union Workhouse in 1851 would have been characterized by strict discipline, basic education, gender-specific training, and institutional routine. While conditions were harsh by modern standards, the workhouse did provide basic necessities—shelter, food, clothing, and education—that might have been scarce or nonexistent for the poorest children outside its walls.

The most likely outcomes for Sarah Jane would have been either placement in domestic service when she reached the appropriate age, apprenticeship to a trade or household, or being reclaimed by family members if their circumstances improved. Her educational opportunities, while limited, would have provided basic literacy and domestic skills intended to make her employable and self-sufficient.

To discover her specific path after the workhouse, I would recommend consulting the Boston Workhouse Girls School Admissions/Discharge register for 1850-1872, held by the Lincolnshire Family History Society, which might contain details about her departure from the institution and subsequent placement.

Further Research Resources

For more detailed information about Sarah Jane’s time in the Boston Union Workhouse, these repositories might be helpful:

The Lincolnshire Archives (St. Rumbold Street, Lincoln LN2 5AB) holds extensive records including Guardians’ minute books (1836-38, 1841-1930), Admissions and discharges registers, Schools admissions/discharges (girls 1850-1901), and more.[Workhouses]

The Lincolnshire Family History Society has published several volumes of Poor Law Miscellany that include Boston Workhouse records, including the Girls School Admissions/Discharge register covering 1850-1872, which would contain information from exactly when Sarah Jane was there.[Genuki]

Tips for Using AI for Historical Context

Historical context can be a challenge and time-consuming. We may want to spend hours on a deep dive into a specific aspect of our ancestor’s life when writing about them. However, we could also use AI to speed up the process and make it easier for us to digest the multitude of information that might be on the internet. In the case of Sarah Jane, I greatly appreciated the ease with which I received details that educated me on the workhouse and her possible experience there. Here are some tips if you want to try this for your research.

1. Take the time to create a detailed prompt. Include some information about your ancestor and the specifics you’d like to know.
2. Use a model with Deep Research capabilities, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or Claude’s Extended Thinking.
3. Experiment with different models to learn which response you like best.
4. Be sure the AI provides sources that you can fact-check.
5. Then, fact check!
6. Cite the use of AI in your writing.

 

Best of luck in all your genealogical endeavors!

 

1. Nicole Elder Dyer, “Biography of Sarah Jane Creer,” contributed 6 August 2013, Sarah Jane Miller (1841-1902), KWJZ-4VJ, Memories, FamilySearch ( https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/memories/KWJZ-4VJ : accessed 4 May 2025).
2. “Summary of Sarah Jane Creer’s Life,” Claude, Version 3.7 Sonnet, chat with user Diana Elder, 4 May 2025, Anthropic (https://claude.ai/new/ : accessed 4 May 2025).
3. “The Boston Union Workhouse: Life of a 19th Century Resident, Claude, Version 3.7 Sonnet, chat with user Diana Elder, 4 May 2025, Anthropic (https://claude.ai/new/ : accessed 4 May 2025).