Medical Records

[LizzieW]

Thank you for that extra information Andy.  I was never told about asking the Health Authority for permission, although I did speak to someone at Prestwich Hospital who told me I could have the records, but the Archives still told me they were the ones who made the decision and no-one else.

In fact, as my great uncle was a single man when he went into Prestwich and stayed there until his death, the only relatives he had all died before him, that is before 1964.  Of course, there are descendants of his parents, me for instance, my maternal gran was his sister, but we are too far distant to that branch of the family for anyone to be upset.   In my case, I know his records are available, because under protest the archival staff sent me the first page with details of his admission.  By the way from that page, I found that his uncle, so one of my g.g.uncles had also been in Prestwich and died there, but as his death was well over 100 years ago, they sent me his records in their entirety.

[carmay]

This is very interesting, and I'm wondering at this point, why some records were kept, while others weren't.

In my case, my grandmother has no living relatives. I wish she did as I could ask them about all of this. She had a sister, who passed away many years ago (about 35 years ago). My grandmother had two children, my mother and her brother, and they have both passed away. So I'm it.

I'm going to try the Salford Archives and see if they can help. I also have no idea if she was cremated or buried. Does anyone know what the procedure was when someone passed away in a mental hospital? I also wonder about this as my Mom was told at the age of 6 that her mother had died, but she didn't really die until my Mom was 7-1/2. My Mom had no recollection of a funeral, so I also wonder if when my grandmother died, if everything was kept hush hush. My grandfather did give my grandmother's engagement ring to her sister, who subsequently gave it to my Mom, and now I have it. That and one photo is all I have.

Carole