Asylum Admissions 1890's

[FamilyHistoryStories]

Hello again,

A story of my other half's great grandmother is that she was admitted to an asylum sometime between 1891 and 1891 because she allegedley went "doolally".

Her last known place of residence was Bilston, Staffs on the 1891 census. There was possibly a daughter Dorothy born around 1892 in Wolverhampton.

My query is, if she was indeed admitted to an asylum would it have been where the family lived at the time?

Would admissions registers be available for public viewing, if so where are they likely to be held? I suppose it'd be better to start with Staffordshire asylums.

TIA

Beth

[Olde Crone Holden]

My admittedly limited experience is that Asylum records are not available for public viewing.

However, depending on which authority now holds the records, and depending on your relationship with the patient, you may be allowed to see, under supervision, the parts of the record which apply solely to your relative. Any reference to anyone else will either be covered up or blanked out.

Have you found her in 1901 in an asylum? She may be there under just her initials.

OC

[FamilyHistoryStories]

Thanks OC, I feared as much.

I have attempted to find her... but there are quite a few with her initials... I've possibly found a couple of likely candidates. She was born Catherine Eliza Pagett Bown, but from her marriage onwards she was recorded as Kate Davidson.
I've tried a few combinations of everything too. Would her family have been 'ashamed' enough of her to lie about name, etc? I can't even find a death for her. Nor a birth for the daughter Dorothy in 1892 ish to confirm whether Kate was her mother.. I've written a post on my blog about it tonight actually. This is the frustrating part of research. :(

[Olde Crone Holden]

Oh yes, the family would have done just about anything to cover it up.

OC

[FamilyHistoryStories]

Ahh rats... that isn't good news.

Maybe one day she will find me but until then I will keep coming back to her... :(

[herky]

I have copies of my relative's asylum records that are over 100 years old. She was admitted in the 1890's

My relative was taken to an asylum about 250 miles away and that was common in that area at the time. This was in Scotland though.

[FamilyHistoryStories]

So a death in the 1920's in London City when their last known location was Staffs/Warks wouldn't be completely out of the question then?

[herky]

So a death in the 1920's in London City when their last known location was Staffs/Warks wouldn't be completely out of the question then?

Perhaps, but rural Scotland may be different from a big population centre.
However, in my case, there were nearer asylums but still folk were sent further away - very strange.

Does a census of the asylum you are looking at show the various locations of the patients? - it may give an idea of the "catchment area".
Perhaps it was intentional to send folk away so they were less likely to try to leave or perhaps it had to do with the stigma - if you were unknown in an area you could be "forgotten about".
I hope that doesn't sound cruel as it isn't intended to but peoples attitude towards mental health problems were very different in the 1800's

I know I shed a good few tears when I read my relatives records - oh so sad.

[Mary from Italy]

Some asylum records are definitely available; I've obtained at least 3 asylum files (from Leicestershire and Bedfordshire), including one for a lady born in the 1890s who died in the 1950s.

Have a look here to see which records are available, and where:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/hospitalrecords/?source=ddmenu_search2

[Mary from Italy]

All my "lunatics" (in England) were sent to local asylums.

The family may well have been ashamed of them, but it was the asylum that completed the census records, not the family. In some censuses only initials were given, but full names were given in others (one of mine is shown by initials in 1901 and full name in 1911).

[FamilyHistoryStories]

All my "lunatics" (in England) were sent to local asylums.

The family may well have been ashamed of them, but it was the asylum that completed the census records, not the family. In some censuses only initials were given, but full names were given in others (one of mine is shown by initials in 1901 and full name in 1911).

With my comment about hiding real identities, I was refering to the info on the census is only as reliable as the asylum would have been given by those when someone is admitted. So if James felt it necessary to lie to the authorities to avoid stigma (I have no idea how the committing process worked) then would the asylum have had the correct information to start with?

[Olde Crone Holden]

Actually, thinking about this, your family couldn't have been all that ashamed, because the story has passed down to you through the family. In my family, the poor souls were completely covered up and forgotten about - lied about, in one case. I only found out about mine by doing my family history.

It was easy to lie to any authority if you really wanted to, but it would be quite difficult to get someone committed under a completely false name (unless you had lots of money).

There is also the possibility that she was released from the asylum and started a new life somewhere. One of mine did just that, although she was not actuaslly a lunatic, merely deaf and dumb and wrongly diagnosed in the first place.

OC

[colin taylor]

My relative was admitted to Lanaster Asylum in 1890s and the records show that the costs were charged and paid by Oldham may be because his family lived there. It cost £30 to get a copy of his record but they are available to the public to photocopy if you call at their offices.
There was nothing of interest in the copy but at least now I know.

[FamilyHistoryStories]

Actually, thinking about this, your family couldn't have been all that ashamed, because the story has passed down to you through the family. In my family, the poor souls were completely covered up and forgotten about - lied about, in one case. I only found out about mine by doing my family history.

It was easy to lie to any authority if you really wanted to, but it would be quite difficult to get someone committed under a completely false name (unless you had lots of money).

There is also the possibility that she was released from the asylum and started a new life somewhere. One of mine did just that, although she was not actuaslly a lunatic, merely deaf and dumb and wrongly diagnosed in the first place.

OC

Oh, that's so sad. :(

I hadn't thought of it that way... I guess they wouldn't have been ashamed. I've wondered if she just up and left and started a new life... but can't find anything and why are the children with him? Ahh... I'm really not sure what is going on... lol...

[Olde Crone Holden]

She couldn't have taken the children with her anyway, even if she had just run off. Fathers owned their children, mothers had no rights (especially mothers who left the marital home!).

Still, in either circumstance they would be more likly to say she was dead, than to say she was in an asylum, so I think the asylum story may be the most likely.

In the Victorian era, they started to build huge asylums which were well away from any towns. This was to protect the perfectly sane and respectable ratepayer from any distressing sight of a lunatic, or from any murderous attack by an escaped lunatic.

OC

[FamilyHistoryStories]

Thanks OC.... I'll keep on hunting the asylum route then...

Fingers crossed ay?

[Welsh Joan]

My Gt Grandmother died in Prestwich Lunatic asylum in 1896 (after being admitted with epilespy). I contacted the archives in Manchester and received her admittance report ,together with a photo. Her medical file for the two years she was in there and the Notice of her death. The cost was minimal.
Very sad as she had left three young children to be brought up by their father. It was never spoken of and as far as I am aware no one knew.

[Anne in Carlisle]

I had a relative who was in a private asylum in Bedfordshire in the 1870s. I was able to see the admissions/discharge register at the Bedfordshire archives, no problem .... it was on the shelf!

Anne

[Olde Crone Holden]

As I said before, it really does depend on the attitude of the authority which holds the records. The one I got had everything carefully blanked out which did not apply to MY relative - mine was a workhouse asylum record from 1899 in Lancashire.

OC

[darannon]

My aunt was born in the East End of London in 1918, and was physically and mentally handicapped. Until the age of 21 she was kept quite locally, in Tooting, but I don't think there was any kind of provision then for adults with special needs and she was sent to Leavesden Asylum in Hertfordshire. It wasn't my nan's choice to have her daughter sent so far away, but Leavesden was the nominated Metropolitan asylum. She lived there until her death in 1951. I obtained her records from the LMA, at the time the search cost £17.50, and they photocopied the relevant records (which contained many pages of very sad information).
It was my understanding at the time that Asylum records were closed for 100 years, unless a family relationship was proved. I was told that if I travelled to the LMA they would let me see my aunts original records under supervision - I haven't done this.
The LMA hold extensive records, and answer enquiries quickly, so it would be worth checking with them to see if they have the records you are looking for.
Good luck