RootsChat.Com
Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: Marytm on Thursday 02 May 19 21:24 BST (UK)
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I have been watching the House through Time program and he had the admission details of someone in an asylum. Does anyone know how you get these? And do you have to pay for them?
I have a John Watts born in Oldbury in 1850 who died in 1891 in the County Lunatic asylum Powick Upton on Severn. He was a widow with 5 daughters and I wondered why he was taken into the Asylum?
Thanks Marytm
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Ancestry has these:
UK, Lunacy Patients Admission Registers, 1846-1912
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Thanks I will have a look there.
Marytm
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My great-grandfather died in the Oxfordshire county asylum in 1903 and I have copies of his records from the county archives (Oxfordshire History Centre). They sent them by email and charged a pound per page.
See if Worcestershire has an equivalent service. There shouldn't be a problem as the death was more than 100 years ago.
Carol
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I'm guessing this is the same place:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/hospitalrecords/details.asp?id=381&page=45
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So Worcestershire Record Office it is then :D
Carol
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The Admission Records for my 3 x GreatGrandfather Samuel Dulston to the Oxford Lunatic Asylum are available on Ancestry.
I must admit that I hadn't thought of the Oxford History Centre until Carol mentioned it.
Romilly.
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I've just checked and it was eight years ago when I got those records :o
At that time the Oxfordshire Health Archives were kept at the Warneford Hospital, but they're now at the OHC (formerly St Luke's Church where my parents married and I was baptised!).
Carol
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Hi Carol,
Did the Records that you obtained have much more info than those on the Ancestry ones?
I think that Ancestry's ones for Samuel Dulston were just Admittance Books, with names and dates. I'm just wondering if it's worth persuing any further?
Romilly.
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The records I had from Leicester Records Office were from the Asylum - 3 pages of how his condition deteriorated, details of how long the attack that sent him there had lasted, details of both his son (who had had him admitted) and his GP and best of all a photograph - it also had physical description of him (I still want to know why or how he ended up with one finger amputated)
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The Records that I'm interested in were from the 1870's iolaus
Were the Records on your chap of a more recent date?
How amazing to get a photograph!
Romilly.
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Died in 1911, so about 30 years on from yours
All the ancestry records showed were date of admission and date of death and where he was admitted to
They sent me all the info on a disc for about £15 - IMHO worth it even without the photo
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In the email from the records office they said that the asylum my gr gr grandfather was in had less records than the majority - so try it
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Wow I will see if I can get his admission details.
Thanks for Everyone's help.
Marytm
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Did the Records that you obtained have much more info than those on the Ancestry ones?
I think that Ancestry's ones for Samuel Dulston were just Admittance Books, with names and dates. I'm just wondering if it's worth persuing any further?
Yes! Not a photo sadly, but all the doctor's notes from first admission interview to the day he died. Also the GP's form committing him (first time), and paperwork from the police and a magistrate re-committing him.
The subscription sites won't have access to any of this.
Carol
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You could try here http://theinfirmary.educationhost.co.uk/Search.php.
PatientNo: 5757 Name: WATTS JOHN Age: 39 Gender: Male
MaritalStatus:
Occupation: COACH BUILDER
WorkUnion: WES
Abode: 9 WESLEY STREET OLDBURY
Disorder: MANIA WITH GENERAL PARALYSIS
Outcome: RECOVERED
Admittion Date: 1889-03-25 Discharged Date: 1891-06-02.
You can click on the images of the book pages. [ The images dont show for me in Firefox but they do in Chrome]
Mary M
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Lubylou,
That is great. I have tried looking at this online and it doesn't seem to open when I search.
Do you have to join\log on? As you can tell my computer skills are fairly low.
It is also interesting that they say he was discharged as I think he died there in 1891.
Thanks Marytm
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It might be best to try another browser, as I said I use Firefox but it doesn't show any images. But in Chrome it is fine.
What do you use?
I have never signed in or joined.
Mary M
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Chrome I think.
It takes me to the search page and I put in the details it comes up with a blue number 1 as if it has found him but doesn't show the details.
Mary
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I tried and at first didn't get a result.
Then I tried the 'less is more' approach. Put Watts in as the name , sex as male and age as 39, nothing else and hit enter.
The result came up in seconds. click on the name and you'll see the images.
Click the first image and it opens.
Right click the open image and you can then use the option to save it to your computer.
Rinse and repeat for the second image.
Boo
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Thankyou,
It worked. I have managed to look at and save the information. It all sounds very sad.
It doesn't have his name on the book but the facts check out with the date of death I have too.
Thank You For all your help.
Mary
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Something is askew here.
At the top of the left page, it says Joseph Warren, age 72, and if you search him, you get the same images.
Somehow they attached the wrong images to your John Watts.
The dates would just appear to match as they are all in the same period of time.
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Looking at it, there are 2 images each of which have 2 pages.
The first appears to relate to Joseph Warren and it says he was admitted 24th June 1879 and died 30th June 1879.
The second, though there is no name, begins on 5th Oct 1889 and says he died at 11.40 pm 5th June 1891 so can't refer to Joseph Warren.
So, though its not 'quite right' the OP does say it matches the date and place of death on the death certificate.
If it were me, I'd email the holders of the records, explain the problem and ask if its possible to confirm that pages 295 and 296 'do' relate to John Watts.
Boo
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Yes I think it is him as it fits date wise, I will try and get to the Hive and have a look
sometime. He was a carpenter/Coach builder so that would fit too.
Marym
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It does look like its the right record from what you can see on the death cert.
If / when you do go, please let us know what you find. Knowing how it turned out could well help others in the future.
Plus, of course, I am 'really' nosey!
Boo
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When you contact them, this might help:
The patient number in the index is actually the image number in the url. The book is filmed in order of admission dates, and while tracking them to get to John's date of 25 Mar 1889, his shows that Joseph Warren instead. So Joseph shows at two links:
http://theinfirmary.educationhost.co.uk/Patient.php?PatientNo=4045
and
http://theinfirmary.educationhost.co.uk/Patient.php?PatientNo=5757
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I got it!
The url has the wrong volume number.... see if this works for you
http://theinfirmary.educationhost.co.uk/MagnifiedImage.php?ImageURL=http://staffweb.worc.ac.uk/medicalmuseum/Case%20Book%20Vol.30/Page%20293.jpg
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Thanks bbart,
That is great that is the missing first page with the admission details. Thank you so much for sorting this out.
Mary M
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Happy to help!
You must have the same kind of bad luck I have in finding ancestors; the missing page, or ink-blobbed/torn/burnt census page, ... that will always be the page I need!
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Oh 'very' well done! That is a super find and nicely precedes the pages in the other link that start in October 1889.
I love it when a puzzle is solved!
(though I would contact whoever created the database and let them know, in my experience they too want things to be right)
Boo
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Oh 'very' well done! That is a super find and nicely precedes the pages in the other link that start in October 1889.
I love it when a puzzle is solved!
It was a good team effort! Lubylou supplied the link, Marytm believed the dates were right, and you drew the attention to the fact the pages were mismatched!
It (almost) has energized me enough to go hunting for my GGG grandpa's records. Silly man went to High Mass, and for some reason, tried to raise an army there for some unknown reason and got chucked in an asylum for his efforts!
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Bbart,
That sounds like an exciting hunt.
MaryM