A comprehensive study of the Welsh Poor Law system from the Act of 1597 to the National Health Service Act of 1946. This document establishes a national framework for the Workhouses of Wales project, recording all 47 Welsh Poor Law Unions established after the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, with a detailed methodology for heritage research at each site.

The Llanelly Union Poor Law Institution later Bryntirion Hospital is presented as the first and most complete case study, drawing on original source material kindly provided by Sian Howell of Llanelli. The document includes the full history of the Institution from 1837 to 2000, original floor plans and Ordnance Survey maps, and a transcription of two pages from the original Register of Deaths covering 1942 and circa 1943, presented alongside photographic reproductions of the handwritten ledger pages.

45 individual lives are recorded by name, age, cause of death and place of burial. This is the first document in a series that will ultimately cover all surviving Welsh workhouse sites.

Produced using Fifth Generation Memorial Research methodology.

An interactive Google My Maps companion to this project plots all known Welsh workhouse sites with GPS coordinates, current condition notes, and links to primary source material where available, accessible at: https://tinyurl.com/Workhouse-Project-2026-FB