RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Warwickshire => Topic started by: Robtim on Tuesday 01 November 11 10:25 GMT (UK)
-
I recently found out that my unmarried mother was admitted to Hatton Mental Hospital shortly after my birth, during the war years. I was brought up in care and discouraged from seeking out the truth. Social Workers led me to believe that she had got married and had more children. I didn't want to upset her new life. My mother was at Hatton from the 1940's until the hospital closed in 1995. She died in 1997 so I never met her. I would like to know more about life at Hatton for patients at that time. I would like to know whether they had jobs, their daily routine, whether they celebrated birthdays, whether they were taken for days out? I would like more specific information on the welfare of my mother during her time at Hatton but I don't know if ex-staff would be allowed to discuss a former patient. I have purchased a book called Central Hospital Remembered. I have been in touch with the NHS, but her records have been destroyed. I am also in touch with Warwick Records Office where they are searching for information about her.
If anyone does have any information about patients at Hatton Hospital from 1940's until 1995 I would be very interested.
-
That must have been a difficult piece of news to absorb, I do hope The archive can find you some useful info.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/features/general/where_i_live_feature.shtml
Has an account of people who worked there. It might be possible to track down former employees who were there at the time of closure?
http://www.search.windowsonwarwickshire.org.uk/engine/theme/default.asp?theme=936
Photos of the asylum.
PM
-
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/WARWICK/2008-11/1227231960
A link to a comment about how lovely a hospital central was as a hospital.
http://dictionary.sensagent.com/central+hospital,+hatton/en-en/
-
Warwick Records office is the best place. My 4 x great grandfather was in Hatton too. The only problem you may have is that some of the records are closed due to other patients in there could still possibly be alive. I think though you will still be able to request your mothers records under the freedom of information act.
However, wait and see what Warwick come back with. Contact Warwickshire Family History society and also the author of the book.
Lisa
-
Thanks for all your help. I will let you know how I get on.
If you have any more thoughts please let me know.
-
Also try Solihull Heritage & Archives
http://www.solihull.gov.uk/heritage/default.htm
-
I have just had a reply from cath151 to a message I wrote to her about Hatton. I have copied her reply so that others have the chance to see it. I am relieved to keep on hearing about the community spirit there.
Thanks very much,
Robtim
Hi Robtim,
Both my mum and dad worked there occasionally my dad was a lab technician and my mum a medical secretary (in the 1940s) . I m not sure how long they worked there, not long I think.
We lived a couple of miles away. Unfortunately i can t ask as they ve both passed away and they said very little about it really. My Grandma died there and she had alzheimers or some form of dementia.
I think at one stage it was nt a very pleasant place to be but became a much much more patient friendly place in later years.
My mum said there where people there who should never have been there , for petty crimes ,very minor mental problems etc.
They tended the gardens and grew vegetables and a couple where well known in the area, absconding occasionally. In fact my dad chased a patient for about a mile until he was thwarted when the unfortunate? ( I think not!) fellow stripped and swam the canal.
My mums abiding memory is arriving the first day and having to ride her bike up a long slow hill with residents cutting the hedges with massive billhooks, she was a bit worried but said she soon learnt that they were just unlucky and unfortunate to be there. Sorry to hear your Mother was there for such a time, i can t really say what life was like for her , but there were staff there who cared greatly for the residents in later years ( and I m sure ,before that).
Perhaps a look round on the web and you may find some info, there may be possible sources of records somewhere, especially if you are a relative.
Best wishes
Cathy
-
I have had a reply from a former member of staff at Hatton Hospital. They can't remember my mother but they are putting me in touch with a former colleague who worked on her ward. My mother was one of many women in Hatton because they had children out of wedlock. It's been upsetting to discover that so many women were admitted to places like Hatton for these reasons. It wasn't until The 1959 Mental Health Act that patients had to have a mental illness to be admitted to an asylum. This was too late for my mother and others of her generation, by the time this came into force they were institutionalised and some had developed mental illnesses due to the medication and treatment they were given, and also the stress of being forcibly and permanently separated from their children.
However, attitudes towards mental health did change whilst my mother was at Hatton, and I have been told by a member of staff that in the later years the patients were well cared for; birthdays and Christmases were celebrated. When the hospital closed staff often went with the patients to the hospital/ nursing home which they had been moved to, to help settle them in. Also funerals were well attended by staff. It has been a great comfort to find this out.
I'm still looking for members of staff or visitors who have memories of Hatton Hospital. It's important that these memories aren't forgotten.
Yours
Robtim
-
I am trying to send you a message but having difficulty. I may be able to help you as my mother was a nurse at The Central Hospital for almost 40 years. She is away until the weekend so I will talk to her upon her return. I worked at the hospital for a couple of years in a part time capacity and then at the new hospital.(I was actually on duty on the day the last wards closed.) My mum is a fountain of knowledge and I'm sure she will help you if she can. Could you message me your mothers name?
-
Robtim
Its nice to hear that the patients were looked after. I'm sorry that your mum had to go through such an awful experience though. When my 4 x great grandfather was in there in the 1870's, it was obvious from his records that he was very well looked after. The reasons for him being in there weren't really mental illness either. He had an operation that went wrong which made his nerve endings bad. This resulted in him not being able to sleep, so his nights in the workhouse were always bad and he disturbed the other inmates. This concluded with the nurse and the vicar writing to Hatton saying he was a danger to himself and others - which he wasn't. But I think they knew that the only way he would get the care he needed was by being taken to Hatton. These days he would have been in an old peoples care home.
I really hope you find someone that remembers your mother and get some special stories.
Lisa
-
I am trying to send you a message but having difficulty. I may be able to help you as my mother was a nurse at The Central Hospital for almost 40 years. She is away until the weekend so I will talk to her upon her return. I worked at the hospital for a couple of years in a part time capacity and then at the new hospital.(I was actually on duty on the day the last wards closed.) My mum is a fountain of knowledge and I'm sure she will help you if she can. Could you message me your mothers name?
The private message facility on Rootschat will work once you have made three postings - so you just need to post a couple more times. To send a message click on the green scroll under the name of the person you wish to contact and a box will pop up for you to type in. Robtim will get a nofitication that there have been more posts made on this thread anyway so he will see your message. However he can't send you a PM either until you've posted a couple more times.
It's great you may be able to give him more information about his mother's life.
Heather
-
Many thanks Heather x
-
Post
-
I have just had a reply from cath151 to a message I wrote to her about Hatton. I have copied her reply so that others have the chance to see it. I am relieved to keep on hearing about the community spirit there.
Thanks very much,
Robtim
Hi Robtim,
Both my mum and dad worked there occasionally my dad was a lab technician and my mum a medical secretary (in the 1940s) . I m not sure how long they worked there, not long I think.
We lived a couple of miles away. Unfortunately i can t ask as they ve both passed away and they said very little about it really. My Grandma died there and she had alzheimers or some form of dementia.
I think at one stage it was nt a very pleasant place to be but became a much much more patient friendly place in later years.
My mum said there where people there who should never have been there , for petty crimes ,very minor mental problems etc.
They tended the gardens and grew vegetables and a couple where well known in the area, absconding occasionally. In fact my dad chased a patient for about a mile until he was thwarted when the unfortunate? ( I think not!) fellow stripped and swam the canal.
My mums abiding memory is arriving the first day and having to ride her bike up a long slow hill with residents cutting the hedges with massive billhooks, she was a bit worried but said she soon learnt that they were just unlucky and unfortunate to be there. Sorry to hear your Mother was there for such a time, i can t really say what life was like for her , but there were staff there who cared greatly for the residents in later years ( and I m sure ,before that).
Perhaps a look round on the web and you may find some info, there may be possible sources of records somewhere, especially if you are a relative.
Best wishes
Cathy
-
I recently found out that my unmarried mother was admitted to Hatton Mental Hospital shortly after my birth, during the war years. I was brought up in care and discouraged from seeking out the truth. Social Workers led me to believe that she had got married and had more children. I didn't want to upset her new life. My mother was at Hatton from the 1940's until the hospital closed in 1995. She died in 1997 so I never met her. I would like to know more about life at Hatton for patients at that time. I would like to know whether they had jobs, their daily routine, whether they celebrated birthdays, whether they were taken for days out? I would like more specific information on the welfare of my mother during her time at Hatton but I don't know if ex-staff would be allowed to discuss a former patient. I have purchased a book called Central Hospital Remembered. I have been in touch with the NHS, but her records have been destroyed. I am also in touch with Warwick Records Office where they are searching for information about her.
If anyone does have any information about patients at Hatton Hospital from 1940's until 1995 I would be very interested.
-
If you'd like to send me a private message I can see if my family know anything?
My family are from Hatton and both my mother and father (as well as two of my aunties) were nurses there during the 70's, 80's and 90s until it closed and at the other facilities after that.
I grew up in the 80s playing in the grounds, visiting the wards etc as my grandfather was a supervisor there and I used to go to his office with him.
-
hello robtim and yellow1'i am also a child who's mother was at hatton hospital.i never knew her because she was in the hospital when i was around 6 years old went into care then at the age of 9 my mother died.all i yearn for is to know something of her life,why she was in the hospital,to have a photo to see what she looked like.after mum died my father destroyed all trace of her,he of course never answered question that where asked and he died with his secrets.i have been trying for the last 20 years to try and find something about her life,i have done her family tree so know that part of her life,it's just after her marriage and illness i just cannot get a trace.i am quite elderly now so as you can imagine there are no relatives around to ask.i found this site while browsing and it is so helpful knowing others looking and helping each other.i would be interested to here from members of staff as to what years they worked there.my mum was there i would say 1950 to 1956.hope to hear from you.sonia.
-
Dear Sonia
I'm very sorry to hear about the loss of your mother so early in life. I know it's very difficult growing up without having a picture of your mother in your mind.
At present we have only tracked down staff who worked there from 1979 until 1995, though we do intend to keep on trying. Due to Hatton being such a large institution, we have found it very difficult to get specific information on my mother, especially in the early years that she was there, the 1940's and 50's.
I have gone to the Warwick Records Office to request information on my mother. I am still waiting for their reply. When they do reply I'll let you know how useful their search has been, what type of information we have received.
I hope we can be of mutual support to each other in our correspondence.
Kind regards
Robtim
-
thankyou so very much with your reply,yes it is so hard not knowing what your mother was like or looked like,i often wonder who i would be today had i had that influence from her growing up.i did rebel in my early years but i have coped with life ,married had 3 children,i have 4 grandchildren and with self pride i know i have done very well,it is just this yearning now the years have past that i am searching for my own self obsession.please do let me know how thing go with your enquiries into records from hatton.i am possitive the record must hold a photograph of my mother so if you get a response then i will apply.thankyou once again.yours truly.sonia
-
Dear Sonia
We had a reply yesterday from the Warwick Records Office. They had found my mothers records of admittance to Central Hospital in 1940 and again in 1945.
We also went to visit the memorials to the deceased patients at Hatton Park. They were buried there until 1961, no gravestones remain though the sites are a place for quiet contemplation. There are two sites both on Barcheston Drive, Hatton Park. One is opposite the picnic tables and behind the notice board the other is opposite the new Village Hall at Hatton Park.
http://www.hattonpark.net/
This link should take you to the website for Hatton Park Village Hall.
The Warwick Records Office are still searching for information on my mother, I will let you know more when I have more to tell.
Yours
Robtim
-
Hi I know this is an old thread, but if anyone is on here still posting, particularly @JME79, I'd be really interested to find out more about Hatton. A relative of mine was in there, and I'm searching at the moment for more info.
-
Hello, I only just saw this, if you're still around, get in touch!
-
I don't know if you are still looking for information about the hospital. I was a patient there myself for five years, from 1966 to 1971. Although I was told that I would spend the rest of my life in hospital and would never be able to live independently, that was not the case.
I escaped in 1971, lived rough for a while, eventually found my feet, married and had children and grandchildren. (I've also campaigned vigorously for patients' rights and helped other sufferers, but that's another story!)
What is the truth about Central Hospital? On the one hand, the nursing staff were, on the whole, very kind to the patients. Most patients would have formed lifelong friendships with other patients on their wards. The routine was pretty undemanding. Patients carried out "occupational therapy" in workshops (which, in my case, involved putting the tops onto bottles of washing-up liquid) - yes, honestly! It was all we were thought fit to do. Some patients worked in the laundry; or, if they are lucky, on the farm. It was a simple life, without the stresses and demands of the outside world.
On the other hand, the medicals treatments were, quite simply, barbaric and damaging. E.C.T. without anaesthetic (but being held down by every available nurse) is horrific and never-to-be-forgotten. Insulin-shock treatment involved being injected with insulin first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, so that one went into a "diabetic" coma; from which one would be revived (hopefully) around lunchtime with glucose fed down a rubber tube through the nose and into the stomach. (It was believed that the deep rest of the coma was beneficial.) On top of this, hospital patients received massive doses of tranquilisers.
The end result was that we all walked around like zombies. Sadly, many patients were reduced to this state by the treatment they were receiving and not by their original illness (which, in your mother's case, I would imagine, was most likely puerperal psychosis, which would nowadays be treated by hormone therapy).
Sadly, also, at that time, virtually any psychotic state was often wrongly categorised as "schizophrenia".
I hope this is not too distressing for you. The truth is that your mother would have had a reduced experience of life; but would, nonetheless, most probably have been reasonably content. She would have had a simple, but safe and secure existence. Within the confines of the hospital she would, no doubt, have had her friends and would have been treated as an individual.
Yes, there was a large ballroom in the hospital; and, in the sixties we had regular discos. There was a cricket field, and I can remember afternoons spent sunbathing there. Trusted patients were also allowed to walk down into Warwick when they wished to do so.
It wasn't all bad and it has to be understood in the context of the time.
I hope this reaches you and that it is some help to you.
-
I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this thread but I'm also looking for some information.
My great grandad died in a Warwick Asylum in 1972. He had dementia. His name was George Harry Dunn, born August 28th, 1884. His wife was Eugenie Maggie Dunn; I believe she went by Maggie. She died in 1970. I'm not sure when George was admitted. He had 3 children, Marjorie, Bessie and Noel. Noel was my grandad. He moved to Canada in 1956 so would have only visited George once or twice. Bessie apparently worked at the Asylum at one point.
I was hoping to find someone who may have worked there and possibly knew him. My grandad rarely talked about his family. I only met his sister Bessie once or twice. Any information I could get would be greatly appreciated.