The following list of people were connected with the management of the workhouse throughout its history, 1842-1942. The list, while not definitive, gives an insight into some of the characters who served in the workhouse and opens the door for further research.
[this section to be finalised and subdivided into masters, matrons, porters, nurses etc]
- Miss Metcalfe- infirmary nurse, 1892
- Miss Allen – matron, 1892
- Miss Conway- infirmary nurse
- Miss McKitterick – infirmary nurse
- Samuel Mawhinney – porter
- Charles Heron- chair of the BOG
- Louis Smyth – vice chair of the BOG
- Smylie Robson – deputy vice chair of the BOG
- John Donaghy – Lunatic assistant
- Hugh Johnston- thirty-two years as shoemaker in the workhouse
- Lawrence Gallagher- ward master
- Mary McNally- cook in the workhouse for fifty years.
- Mrs Carse 1841-49, matron of the workhouse
- Mrs Lindsay 1849-71, matron of the workhouse
- Isabella Walker, 1871-1888, matron of the workhouse
- MJH Allen, 1888-1941, matron of the workhouse
- Charles McCusker, porter- 1921
- George Nicholl- sometime assistant in the lunatic ward
- Mary A. Hutchinson— infirmary nurse, 1873
- Anne Glenane, teacher, 1896-1901
- Hugh Donnelly, of Magherafelt, was appointed mason on the 15th January, 1852, at 10s per week,
- John M’Laughlin, of Drumrainey, was appointed carpenter at the remuneration of 2s per day.
- Mrs. Martha Jane Irwin, Newtownards, was appointed infirmary nurse on the 8th September, 1853, but resigned after a fortnight’s experience,
- Miss Ann Charles (the infant schoolmistress in the workhouse) wrote accepting the position
- John Esdale was appointed shoemaker, 1857
- James M’Ateer, tailor of the workhouse, in June 1857.
- Miss Maggie G. Bell, daughter of the then station master of Desertmartin, probationer nurse, 1896
- Miss Charlotte Henderson, probationer nurse, 1896
- Henry Thompson, chief medical officer of the Workhouse, 1880
- Dr SR Moorehead, MD and vaccinator for the Draperstown portion of the Magherafelt PLU
- James Johnston, 1852 a defaulting rate collector for the workhouse
- John A Higgins, Clerk in the 1920s.
- Richard Gilmore, master for the workhouse, 1886
- Robert Carse, Master of the Workhouse, died of fever aged 35 in 1847;
- RW Andrews, Dispensary doctor, Bellaghy
- RA James, first clerk of the Union
- John Steele, Clerk in the 1850s-1870s
- Anne Montgomery, Schoolmistress
- Mrs Spratt, Fever hospital nurse, 1848-1858 (complaints made to remove from her position because of claims she was ‘hard of hearing’; died 1858)
- Mrs. Martha Jane Irwin, Newtownards, was appointed infirmary nurse on the 8th September 1853, but resigned two weeks later;
- Miss Ann Charles, infant schoolmistress, later infirmary nurse.
- Rose Ann Barr. of Maghera, was appointed infirmary nurse, 1857
- John Esdale was appointed shoemaker, 1857 (resigned 1858)
- Samuel Brown, Killyboggin, was appointed shoemaker at a salary of Is 3d per day.
- James M’Ateer, tailor of the workhouse, in June 1857.
- John Pollock, relieving officer, was directed to attend the relief depots throughout the Union once every fortnight.
- Miss Mary Ann Hutchinson, of Ballynagowan, was appointed infirmary nurse at £10 a year, 1860
- Thomas Hepburn, who then resided in Bellaghy, was appointed tailor,
- James Aiken, of Ballyronan, was appointed tailor in succession to Mr. Thomas Hepburn;
- John Smyth, of Sprucebank, was appointed rate collector.
- In 1873 Miss Garret, from the Lurgan union, was appointed Infirmary nurse,
- Mr. Palmer, the master, died on the 26th September, 1875
- Henry Thompson, Magherafelt, was appointed master in 1875
- George Patterson, porter in the workhouse c1897
- Henry Johnson, chief medical officer for the union, c1880
- William Hastings, Clerk c1909
- George Moore, d 1855, Workhouse tailor
- Richard Gilmore, Master, 1886
- AGMON B. VESEY, Medical Officer to Magherafelt Union Workhouse and Fever Hospital, Consulting Sanitary Officer, etc., County Derry, 1878
- Dr. J. S. Vesey, son of the Rev. Agmondisham Vesey, Rector of Magherafelt; Doctor in Medicine of the University of Glasgow, etc., and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. For upwards of thirty years, he was Medical Officer to the Magherafelt Union Workhouse, Fever Hospital, and Dispensary; and was also Medical Attendant to the tenantry on the Salter’s Estate and to the Royal Irish Constabulary; and was Local Inspector of Army Recruits, and Registrar of Births, Marriages, and Deaths for this district. Dr. Vesey had an extensive practice, and is much regretted
- Dr. A. Hegarty, J. P., who succeeded Dr. A. B. Vesey, J. P., as Medical Officer of Magherafelt Dispensary and Workhouse, had been Medical’ Officer of Draperstown Dispensary District from 1887, prior to which he had an extensive practice in Kilrea.
- Francis McKenna, porter, c1910
- William Palmer, boiler attendant c1911
