Genealogy Chat

My Great, Great Grandmother died in Darenth Imbecile Asylum in Sept 1891. She was at home on the 1891 census and I would be interested to find out when and why she entered the asylum. She lived in Poplar, quite a distance away from Dartford where the asylum was. Her cause of death is given as 'Paralysis Syncope' which I believes means someone is in a coma. On the 1891 census she is described as a lunatic. Any help would be welcome as this is the first (certified) lunatic I'm come across in my family so far! Many thanks. Helen

Hello Hellen Try typing http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/4_13_TA.htm into search, its an index of English and Welsh Lunatic Asylums and Mental Hospitals. If you have a problem getting on type Genuki Darenth full contents and it will come up. Shirley

Hi Helen I am from Dartford myself, living in Leicestershire now. I believe the place you mention still exists and is now called Stone House Hospital. It is actually in the Stone part of Dartford. It has a huge watch tower type thingy. It is still used to house mentally ill patients.

Thank you to both of you - I will try that website later and possibly pay a visit to Dartford as well!!! Helen

The hospital is now called Stone House. Address is Cotton Lane, Dartford, Kent DA2 6AU Telephone Nr. 01322 622222 Its about 2 minutes from Junction 1A on M25 (right after the toll booths on Kent side) try this link http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~mchatwin/tour/tour23.htm excert from this site: http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/leisure_heritage/libraries_archives_museums_galleries/clro/pdf/hospitals.PDF " CITY OF LONDON MENTAL HOSPITAL (STONE HOUSE) DARTFORD, KENT The Corporation of London built this hospital, which opened in 1866 as the City of London Lunatic Asylum. From 1892, private patients were admitted. The name of the hospital was changed to the City of London Mental Hospital in 1924, and to the Stone House Hospital in 1948, when the National Health Service took over the administration of the hospital from the Corporation of London. CLRO holds individual patient records for the hospital 1866-1948, which are closed for a statutory 100 years. Access to records within this period may only be obtained with the permission of the current hospital authorities. Otherwise, CLRO does not have the power to release records or information from them. If you want information about a patient within the 100 year closure period, write first for permission to the present hospital authorities (The Trust Administrator, Thameslink Healthcare Services NHS Trust, Archery House, Bow Arrow Lane, Dartford, Kent DA2 6PB). If you obtain permission, send the letter of consent with your letter of enquiry to CLRO, and we will supply brief factual (but not clinical) details. Records within the 100 year closure period cannot be copied, even if permission is given to see them. Modification of CLRO Information Sheet 10 Publication by Corporation of London Records Office, PO Box 270, Guildhall, London EC2P 2EJ (Tel: 020 7332 1251, Fax: 020 7710 8682, E-mail: [email protected]) Adrian

Darenth Hospital now no longer exists - it was torn down about 4/5 years ago (about the time Bluewater was being built) and is now a housing estate. Stone House is a completely different hospital (my nan was an orderly there until the 1980s).

Thank you both for the additional information - I won't bother going to Dartford if the hospital's not there then! I work around the corner to the Guildhall and presume you can just go in and view the records - I will pop in there during a lunchtime. Helen

Hi Helen Stone House hospital exists and has been there for many years, i am pretty sure that this is the lunatic asylum you mention. My friend works at Stone house hospital and it is still used to house mentally ill patients. I checked with her as to whether this is could be the place you mention, and she is pretty sure it is. I will see if she can get any more information to confirm this for you. The hospital has been around for years and is a very old building with the old watch tower still existing. It is not far from the toll bridge/tunnel. If you are visiting Dartford. The library would also be a good place to visit. They have a great reference library and will have loads of info of local history. Regards, Siobhan

This site, gives some interesting info on Darenth Asylum http://www.institutions.org.uk/asylums/england/kent/kent_asylums.htm

Hi All Oooh, getting slightly confused now about whether the hospital is still there but many thanks to everyone for their suggestions! Siobhan, I will have a look at that website, and perhaps pay a visit to the library, thankyou. Theresa, you mentioned that the records were destroyed after 10 years, Adrian mentioned in his earlier reply that I could view the records at the Guildhall - Do you think that the procedure of destroying the records only started recently? I hope so! I'm sure that I've seen stories in family tree mags that mention people getting hold of their ancestor's medical records. I think I will phone the Guildhall! Kind regards Helen

Hi Helen. You have not said what age your gggma was at the time of her death. Don't forget that untill quite recently many conditions that didn't fit into our general medical knowledge were described invarious mental illness problems. If your rellie suffered from Parkinson's disease she would possibly show symptoms which could be described as Paralysis syncope. She may have suffered any of the diseases of old age. Also she may have suffered severe depression (Catatonic Depression bringsabout rigidity) Whatever she died of it would be described and treated differently nowadays. Roger In East Sussex

Hi Roger - the scary thing is that she was only 35! As far as I'm aware her youngest child would have been about 6 so whether this was some sort of post-natal depression seems unlikely (unless, of course she'd had other children that had died). I do remember my grandmother mentioning that an ancestor died of 'a wasting disease' but I'm not sure she meant the same person. I expect it wasn't something that the family were too keen to tell people about so perhaps the 'wasting disease' was something made up to explain her removal to hospital! There does seem to be a bit of a history of depression in the family so I am inclined to think it may have something to do with it - perhaps she'd turned to drink??? I need to find those records!!!!