Hi
My 2 x Gt.Grandmother, Mary Steel (Seden) is stated as being a Receiver of Alms in the 1851 Sheffield Census. Does anyone know if there are any records of who received Alms at this time in Sheffield?
The census is a good place to start.
On FMP a search of 1851 census for Sheffield and, in Optional keywords, Alms gives 39 results, including your ancestor.
Switch to Wortley and you get 23.
Switch to Ecclesall Bierlow and you get 38
If you have subs you can view all the original records.
Some may be duplicated.
Dave
I have a 1923 Kelly’s directory. In the general introduction there is a section “Charities, Almshouses and Benevolent Societies.” This lists all the charities which gave out alms, and under what conditions. If you could find a directory of the 1851 period you might be able to see which ones were active at that time, and if the archives have records for them.
The main distributors of Alms were the various churches and the Company of Cutlers. The Company of Cutlers administered several charities, the largest by far being Hanbey's Charity. On 29th June each year, the dividends from the investment of £5000 of Thomas Hanbey's bequest was appled to poor men and women - 20 shillings in cash, a blue coat and a black hat.
The Sheffield Archives has a copy of a Register of Applicants for Charitable Assistance (ref PR138/B6/6) but this begins in 1874 which is later than the period you are interested in, but does include both church and other charities. The Cutlers Company Archives may hold records of their charitable activities.