Searching the 1939 register to find John Walden Poulson – the Wastrel – I located him in Brighton – a place we have no family connections  (that I know of).  “Elm Grove Home (temporary)” was noted by the street addresses on Vernon Terrace were I found the Wastrel’s name.

A little digging in old newspapers and web searches revealed that in 1930 The Brighton Poor Law Union handed over responsibility to the local council and only the elderly and infirm remained in the Elm Grove Home. In 1935, The Brighton Municipal Hospital took over the workhouse building and the Elm Grove Home residents were moved to vacant properties in the area. The era of workhouses and Poor Law Unions was ending.

So far, I have no idea how or when John Walden ended up in this old people’s home for the poor, but he had turned 69 that January and I’m assuming things hadn’t looked up much (or at all) since the embezzlement problems in Goole, Yorkshire. Continue reading Poor Law, Salvation Army, and a David Poulson story →