HENRY MILEHAM
Subject Name: Henry Mileham (Milam) (b1820 – d1881)
Researchers: Mike Brock, Carol Thompson
The life of Henry Mileham, like so many of the inmates of the Guildford Union Workhouse, was an extremely difficult one. He lost both parents before reaching the age of 14 and was then struck down with a debilitating medical condition which was to plague him for more than 20 years until his death in 1881.
Henry was born in Worplesdon, probably in 1820, the fourth and final child of James, a labourer, and Jane Mileham, nee Alderton. He was baptised at St. Mary’s Church on 5 November that year under the name of “Milam”, one of a number of different spellings found of the family name as neither of his parents were able to read or write (1, 2).
Although Henry was the fourth child, he only had two living siblings – James born in Pirbright
in 1812 and Caroline in Worplesdon in 1817 (3). William, born in 1810 in Pirbright just a few months after the marriage of his parents, died less than three weeks after his baptism in May that year (2, 4).
In 1823, with Henry age three, his father James passed away at just 36 years old in Worplesdon, leaving Jane with three children under the age of 12 to look after (5). At that time, as a widow with dependants and probably no or limited income, she may have received assistance from the Worplesdon Poor House. Although no records exist of its day to day running, we know Jane died there eleven years later in August 1834, age 48, and was buried at St. Mary’s on 20 August (6).
Jane died just over three months after the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act had been passed.
This abolished individual parish poor houses in favour of larger more centralised workhouses,
which were expected to be more economical and efficient to run.
600 locally elected Boards of Guardians were established, including the Guildford Poor Law Union on 14th August 1834.
Worplesdon was initially considered as a site for the new workhouse, but eventually Guildford was chosen. It opened in 1838, replacing 21 parish poorhouses in the area, including Worplesdon (7).
Henry, although not yet 14, would probably have been working at the time of his mother’s death. The 1841 census shows him to be an 18-year-old labourer living in the village of Ash, about five miles west of Worplesdon (8). Henry’s sister Caroline, 25, had married Alfred Blatch in 1839 and was now living in Stoke-next-Guildford with their one-year-old daughter Selina, before they eventually settled in London (9). Henry and Caroline’s brother James was living on a farm in Chobham to the north of Worplesdon in 1841 (10). He went on to marry Ann Harvey in Chobham
three years later (11), but poor health no doubt brought about by poverty ravaged James and his family. Wife Ann (12) and one possibly two of their three children died in the early 1850s (13) before James himself died from smallpox in the Guildford Union in 1862 age 50 (14).
Henry next appears in the records on the 1851 census as a 28-year-old unmarried agricultural labourer, visiting licensed victualler Alfred William Ede at Perry Hill, Worplesdon (15). Although not noted on the census, this was most probably the New Inn, more recently known as the White Lyon & Dragon (16). Unfortunately, the census does not tell us the purpose of Henry’s visit, or where he was actually living and working at that time.
Henry hasn’t been found on the 1861 census, so the next record for him is in the 1864 Guildford Poor Law ending Lady Day (25 March). Half-Yearly Accounts, which noted that 43-year-old Henry had been receiving indoor poor relief for 182 days (17). This means that for this entire six-month accounting period, Henry would have been resident in the Guildford Union Workhouse.
No admission records exist for the Workhouse, so the most likely explanation for Henry’s change of circumstances appears in his death certificate in 1881 (18). Here the doctor certified that Henry had been suffering for 21 years from a perineal fistula. Unlike now, there would have been no treatment available for this extremely unpleasant condition. Henry was not married, would not have been able to hold down a job, and had no close relatives living locally to turn to, so his only option from around 1860 was the Guildford Union. His absence from the 1861 census is probably explained by 191 inmate names having been lost from the Guildford Union records
(19).
Despite Henry’s dreadful situation, the Guildford Poor Law accounts 1864 to 1871 (17) note that
at various times he had taken himself out of the Union Workhouse – for a six-month period in 1869, he only received 20 days indoor relief, perhaps suggesting that he was still trying to look after himself elsewhere. However, as the new decade began, his time spent living in the workhouse rapidly increased and almost certainly he became a permanent resident, being classed as an “inmate” in the 1871 census (20).
Remarkably, Henry lived for another ten years, still a Guildford Union Workhouse inmate in
the 1881 census (21), before passing away there on 8 June 1881, age 60 (18). He was buried in home soil at St. Mary’s Church, Worplesdon on 11 June (19).
October 2021
References
(1) Henry Milam Baptism 5 November 1820. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Baptisms, St Mary Worplesdon 1813-1854, Reference: WOR/4/1, page 32. Ancestry.co.uk
(2) James Mileham and Jane Alderton Marriage 17 October 1809 (both parties “made their mark” meaning illiterate). Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Marriages, St John the Evangelist Stoke next Guildford 1801-1812, Reference: SRK/2/3. Ancestry.co.uk
(3) James Milam Baptism 15 March 1812. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Baptisms, St Michael and All Angels Pirbright 1733-1812, Reference: PI/1/4, page 44. Ancestry.co.uk
Caroline Milcham Baptism 23 November 1817. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Baptisms, St Mary Worplesdon 1813-1854, Reference: WOR/4/1, page 20. Ancestry.co.uk
(4) William Milam Baptism 6 May 1810. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Baptisms, St Michael and All Angels Pirbright 1733-1812, Reference: PI/1/4, page 43. Ancestry.co.uk
William Milam Burial 24 May 1810. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Burials, St Michael and All Angels Pirbright 1733-1812, Reference: PI/1/4. Ancestry.co.uk
(5) James Milam Burial 17 December 1823. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Burials, St Mary Worplesdon 1813-1878, Reference: WOR/4/1, page 28. Ancestry.co.uk
(6) Jane Milam Burial 20 August 1834. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Burials, St Mary Worplesdon 1813-1878, Reference: WOR/4/1, page 58. Ancestry.co.uk
(7) “Guildford Union Workhouse – Early Years” The Spike Heritage Centre. Charlotteville.co.uk
(8) Henry Milam 1841 England Census, Ash, Farnham, Surrey. Reference Class: HO107; Piece: 1080; Book: 1; Enumeration District: 2; Folio: 18; Page: 6. Ancestry.co.uk
(9) Caroline Milam and Alfred Edwin Blatch Marriage 3 March 1839. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Marriages, St Nicholas Thames Ditton 1837-1883, Reference: 2568/1/10, page 17. Ancestry.co.uk
Alfred, Caroline, Selina Blatch 1841 England Census, Stoke-next-Guildford, Guildford, Surrey. Reference Class: HO107; Piece: 1080; Book: 3; Enumeration District: 8; Folio: 39; Page: 29/30. Ancestry.co.uk
Alfred, Caroline, Ann Blatch 1851 England Census, Waterloo St John, Lambeth, Surrey. Reference Class: HO107; Piece: 1570; Folio: 278; Page: 31. Ancestry.co.uk
(10)James Milam 1841 England Census, Chobham, Chertsey, Surrey. Reference Class: HO107; Piece: 1074; Enumeration District: 1; Folio: 7; Page: 7. Ancestry.co.uk
(11)James Milham and Ann Harvey Marriage 14 April 1844. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Marriages, St Lawrence Chobham 1837-1891, Reference: CHOB/2/4, page 25. Ancestry.co.uk
(12)Ann Milam Death 2nd quarter 1851. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915, Surrey, Chertsey, volume 4, page 73. Ancestry.co.uk
Full certificate, cause of death pneumonia, available from the General Register Office GRO.gov.uk
(13)James Mileham Death 2nd quarter 1852, age 2. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915, Surrey, Chertsey, volume 2a, page 15. Ancestry.co.uk
Full certificate, death at Chertsey Union Workhouse, cause of death atrophy some months, available from the General Register Office GRO.gov.uk
William Mileham Burial 10 April 1852, age 2. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Burials, St Peter Chertsey 1813-1888, Reference: CHY/5/2, page 97. Ancestry.co.uk
(Note : not clear from records if this is James, or William, or both)
(14)James Mileham Death 1st quarter 1862. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915, Surrey, Guildford, volume 2a, page 30. Ancestry.co.uk
Full certificate, cause of death smallpox, available from the General Register Office GRO.gov.uk
(15)Henry Milam 1851 England Census, Worplesdon, Guildford, Surrey. Reference Class: HO107; Piece: 1594; Folio: 147; Page: 34. Ancestry.co.uk
(16)“A Look Back at Perry Hill’s New Inn and a Family that Once Ran It”, The Guildford Dragon. Guildford-Dragon.com
(17)Henry Mileham of Worplesdon. Guildford Poor Law Half Yearly Accounts, BG6/33/1. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey.
– Half Year Ended Lady Day 1864 page 13, 182 days “indoor relief”
– Half Year Ended Michaelmas 1864 page 12, 34 days “indoor relief”
– Half Year Ended Lady Day 1865 page 13, “indoor relief”
– Half Year Ended Lady Day 1866 page 13, 42 days “indoor relief”
– Half Year Ended Lady Day 1867 page 15, 99 days “indoor relief”
– Half Year Ended Michaelmas 1867 page 14, 189 days “indoor relief”
– Half Year Ended Lady Day 1868 page 14, 149 days “indoor relief”
– Half Year Ended Michaelmas 1868 page 14, 35 days “indoor relief”
– Half Year Ended Lady Day 1869 page 14, 85 days “indoor relief”
– Half Year Ended Michaelmas 1869 page 14, 20 days “indoor relief”
– Half Year Ended Lady Day 1870, page 14, 142 days “indoor relief”
– Half Year ended Lady Day 1871 page 12, 162 days “indoor relief”
– Half Year Ended Michaelmas 1871 page 14, 177 days “indoor relief”
(18)Henry Mileham Death 2nd quarter 1881. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915, Surrey, Guildford, volume 2a, page 52. Ancestry.co.uk
Full certificate available from the General Register Office GRO.gov.uk
(19)1861 England Census Returns. Missing Pages: Guildford Union Workhouse: 5-12 (end) 191 persons. Discovery.NationalArchives.gov.uk
(20)Henry Mileham 1871 England Census, Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke-next-Guildford, Surrey. Reference Class: RG10; Piece: 813; Folio: 82; Page: 9. Ancestry.co.uk
(21)Henry Milcham 1881 England Census, Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke-next-Guildford, Surrey. Reference Class: RG11; Piece: 778; Folio: 94; Page: 10. Ancestry.co.uk
(22)Henry Milsham Burial 11 June 1881. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Burials, St Mary Worplesdon 1879-1946, Reference: WOR/5/2, page 8. Ancestry.co.uk