where was he buried?

[allibaker]

william rowswell baptised 25th dec 1883 barrington somerset married may marks 26th april 1915 south petherton. was gassed in the first world war and institutionalised in the bath and somerset lunatic assylum  in bishops lydeard where he died from none other than influenza on 29th april 1922 does anyone have any ideas as to where he might have been buried?
he was not returned to his native ilchester where wife and 5 kids were living.
any help would be gratefully received
regards
alli

[Alders]

Did you ever find out?
There is an cemetery attached to the asylum "Mendip Hospital Cemetery"
the records for this can be found at the southwest heritage group  http://www.swheritage.org.uk/#!somerset-archives/wytx7   maybe he was buried there? It could be possible as i doubt there was much money with 5 children  him in the asylum.

[allibaker]

hi alders
unfortunatley no i have not found his burial yet. unfortunatley the burial records you are talking about are for a different assylum to the one that william died in. i have looked at the burial records for the assylum he was in and his burial is not there
regards
alli

[BumbleB]

If I've read Mr Wiki correctly, there was a second asylum opened in 1892 at Cotford St Luke, which is some 2 miles from Bishop's Lydeard.

Have you contacted the Somerset Records Office, or Somerset Heritage Centre, to see if they can throw any light on his burial whereabouts?

I think he would have been buried in a nearby churchyard/cemetery, rather than transported the 30 miles to Ilchester.

[Alders]

Have you tried the friends of the cemetery?

http://www.mendiphospitalcemetery.org.uk/history.html

[allibaker]

hi
yes i have spoken to the records office. i have personally looked through the assylum burial records and he is not there. i have also checked the nearby parishes and not there also
regards
alli

[BumbleB]

I don't know the area at all, so you will have to forgive me.

So, he's not in the asylum cemetery, nor surrounding parish graveyards.  Was there a council-run cemetery or crematorium near to the asylum?

It has been suggested, on another thread, that Taunton cemetery might be the answer. 

[allibaker]

no the cremetorium was not open in 1922 and there are many cemetary's in taunton

[phenolphthalein]

Sorry I never know enough about other countries' or states' registration system.
BUT would not the death certificate have shown place of burial.

The Spanish Flu as it was called was a terrible "pandemic"
and you may be able to find reports on it and even film footage.

My grandfather was sent from the battlefield to England
after the armistice with Spanish Flu.
Returned to his unit in Belgium in 1919
before home to Australia.

In Australia it appears that everyone wore masks
and most burials (or possibly cremations) happened very quickly.
I think there may have been common graves but don't quote me on that.

Basically the impression is of a major emergency situation.

You may find it interesting to look at Trove a free site for Australian Newspapers: at
 
 The Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser (NSW : 1886 - 1942)


 Fri 30 May 1919   /   Page 5   /   THE TRUE SPANISH 'FLU and  THE TRUTH ABOUT IT

I hope you find the burial.

Your fellow's lungs would have been weakened from the gassing
and hence he would have been more susceptible
to the complications following the "FLU".

This is why we all should have our yearly flu vaccines.
It also helps slow the rate of spread
and so protects those who can not be or are not vaccinated for various reasons.

Regards
phenolphthalein (who is not the same person as pheno)