Wrexham grave of Thomas Humphreys
Thomas Humphreys, d.1837
Thomas Humphreys was governor of Wrexham’s workhouse when he died, aged 39.
Most workhouses were built after the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 but Wrexham already had a workhouse by 1814, when William Lloyd of Plas Power treated the paupers there to a “good dinner”. In 1820 it was reported that workhouse inhabitant Elizabeth Whitley had died, aged 106, having retained all her faculties to the end – including being able to read “the smallest print without glasses”.
Thomas and his wife Frances (known as Fanny) were living at the workhouse by 1826, when he was also working as a butcher. They had several children. In 1830 their address was “Poor House, Salop Street”, and Thomas was still a butcher, but in 1832 his occupation was listed as “Governor of the Poor House”.
Fanny would also have helped with keeping the workhouse. When Thomas died, the Guardians of the Poor agreed that Frances should be the governor. Usually workhouses were managed by married couples. She was in charge when the new workhouse was built in 1837-38 on the western fringe of Wrexham (now the site of the Maelor hospital).
Fanny was also 39 when she died, in May 1839. An obituary said she had been “entrusted by the guardians with the sole management of the workhouse”. She was kind-hearted, had a steady mind and “gained the respect of those over whom she was placed”. Similar sentiments are expressed in the tribute poem to Thomas on the side of his tomb chest.