TRAGICALLY and suddenly orphaned, infant Mary Goodwin could have become one of the first to live in the squalid conditions of an Essex workhouse.
That is the theory of Maggie Andersen, Mrs Goodwin's great, great granddaughter, who on Thursday was keenly rummaging through documents at the record office in Wharf Road, Chelmsford.
"I want to know what happened after she was born, it's been driving me crazy," said the 66-year-old, one of eight researchers invited.
"It's a bit like why did they climb Everest – because it's there, I want to find out. It's your genetic roots and I really like solving puzzles."
Ms Andersen's friend Tessa Barker, by her side at the office last week, was the first to discover an archived article documenting Mrs Goodwin's parents' death in the Essex Chronicle.
Edward Goodwin dropped dead suddenly in Ilford in June 1837, thought to have died from shock the same day his wife died giving birth to daughter Mary.
As an orphan it's highly likely she would have been taken under the wing of the Romford Union workhouse, built on a five-acre site in 1838.
While Ms Andersen failed to trace her ancestor's name in one of the many parish records spread out on a table last week, she said: "I am equipped with the knowledge and the know-how now."
Workhouse unions were established across the country following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834.
While they offered some education and medical care, life was deliberately intended to be harsh to deter the able-bodied poor and to ensure only the truly destitute applied.
Like Romford, the Chelmsford, Maldon and Braintree Union workhouses were formed in the 1830s, and soon resembled the institution portrayed in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist.
The Chelmsford Union workhouse, which could accommodate 400 and cost £5,650 to construct, was built in 1835 on what is now the old St John's Hospital site in Wood Street.
A census conducted in 1881 reveals Chelmsford housed 243 people, some as old as 89, categorising each person under one of four headings, whether they were blind, deaf and dumb, an imbecile or a lunatic.
Access and participation officer Hannah Salisbury said people visit the record office to find out not only whether their ancestors lived in a workhouse, but what life was like for them.
"It's interesting," said Hannah.
"You may well search for your ancestor on the census and you find you have their name, whether they were living there, or died there, that is the first indication.
"But when doing your family history some people find it more interesting to take that further and find out what life was like for them.
"It's all part of finding out their journey, whether they were in there late or earlier in their life, or what happened to them, did they escape?
"The idea of someone ending their life in a workhouse is so terribly sad."
For more information on the record office call: 01245 244644 or visit www.essex.gov.uk
Anyone who believes they are a descendant of Edward Goodwin is also asked to contact Ms Andersen on 07877 923 474
