1851 The population of Preston reaches 72,000

The Preston workhouse (now Sharoe Green Hospital) on Watling Street Road.
The workhouse housed over 600 people.
Most of the people in the workhouse were old, disabled or children
This photograph was taken around 1900.

The national census of 1851 recorded over 72,000 people in Preston. Preston was no longer a small county market town. It was a major industrial centre. Tens of thousands of people came to Preston from the surrounding countryside and from places further away such as Ireland, Scotland and the Yorkshire Dales looking for work.

This rise in population prompted a number of new services and institutions to be built in the town. This included the town's first hospital, Preston Royal Infirmary, which opened in 1866. The Preston Workhouse (now Sharoe Green Hospital) also opened in 1869.

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