There are many anomalies in life and even more in researching one's ancestors. This page has been written in an attempt to cover one for anybody looking for ancestors in Whitstable on the 1881 census.

We have already seen that Whitstable was still half Seasalter in terms of parishes. In addition to this the registration district was Blean. This is a village halfway between Whitstable and Canterbury. Now Blean district covered not only Whitstable, Seasalter and Swalecliffe, but Herne Bay and it's parishes such as the village of Herne.

Where this is leading to is that it is possible that the people you are looking for may have been in the local workhouse. This workhouse was not in the town. It was in Herne and was known as Blean Union Workhouse. Therefore you could have been searching in the wrong place.

Peter Higginbotham has written some pages about the history of this workhouse here. The buildings were later converted into a hospital and more recently been developed into a residential area known as Canterbury Fields.

In looking at the census data for the Blean Workhouse in 1881 we found that the information was broken down into sub-sections. We assume this was for the different wings that housed men, woman and children separately. After we had extracted the data for Whitstable born people we then put it into alphabetical order for ease of your perusal. We then found that we had in some cases joined families back together.

Many of these people were here because of circumstances beyond their control. For many widows, orphans and the infirm the workhouse was just one step up from dieing of starvation on the streets.

That said, it was not a place, or a life that anyone today in this country would have to endure. Hopefully many of these people did not end their days here and managed to carry on their lives back where they belonged.

Whitstable born people recorded at the Blean Union Workhouse.

| 1891 | 1901 |