Wandsworth Asylum / Springfield

[MidwinterSun]

Hi

I read an interesting thread here https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=766694.0 about records for Springfield Asylum, which I believe are held between Surrey Council and the London Metropolitan Archives. However, no luck identifying which records are held at LMA, as their catalogue seems to be down. 

I believe my great grandmother, Annie Woodcock (nee Burgess) was a patient at Springfield. I don't know the date of her admission but she was there until she died, aged 77, in 1947. 

My mum remembers being taken to see her as a child, before WWII, and described "a small woman, very kind". It didn't sound as if she was ill, at that stage. They only visited her once - I guess the War was a factor.

I'm very much hoping to find out when Annie was admitted, what the diagnosis was (suspect just "mania"), and any/all details about her time there, including any medical notes.

I'm prepared to spend some time looking for all this, but - does anyone know if the catalogue has been unavailable long term? 

[jonwarrn]

Hi
Annie Woodcock is on the electoral registers at 5 Richards Cottages, Acton, 1918-22, bot not thereafter.
However, looking at the 1921 census free index, she doesn't appear to be there with James and the rest of the Woodcock family.
She might be Annie Woodcock, born 1869, birth place Not Known, parish Wandsworth Borough, Reg. Dist. Wandsworth.

The LMA catalogue has been known to go down for short periods, weekends can be dodgy, should be up again before long. You can then check for the Springfield records.
The local poor law union would be Brentford, unfortunately not too many records survive, and I can't see anything relevant online.

[MidwinterSun]

Hi
Annie Woodcock is on the electoral registers at 5 Richards Cottages, Acton, 1918-22, bot not thereafter.
However, looking at the 1921 census free index, she doesn't appear to be there with James and the rest of the Woodcock family.
She might be Annie Woodcock, born 1869, birth place Not Known, parish Wandsworth Borough, Reg. Dist. Wandsworth.

The LMA catalogue has been known to go down for short periods, weekends can be dodgy, should be up again before long. You can then check for the Springfield records.
The local poor law union would be Brentford, unfortunately not too many records survive, and I can't see anything relevant online.

Yaay, thanks Jon - really helpful about the 1921 census, as setting aside a visit elsewhere that does help date her admission, and an admission date of about 1918-early 1920s would fit with the family narrative about the presumed reasons for what's thought to have been a nervous breakdown.
Richards Cottages is right; Annie was born in Furneux Pelham in Hertfordshire around 1870 but she and other siblings found work in London.

Annie's admission was a source of sadness or regret for the family - not what's often assumed about a male relative wanting to be rid of a troublesome woman. I was told they simply couldn't cope with her at home. I've often wondered whether she recovered while she was in Springfield - it seems unlikely that she'd have lived to 77 with serious illness or without being relatively well looked after. Regular visits by family members don't seem to have been the done thing in those days.

I'll have another look at the LMA cat later!