Some years ago (when I still had my Anxioustree subscription) I spent many a frustrating hour going through the 1891 and 1901 censuses for Johanna James in Cornwall. I tried Johanna, Joan, Jenny, Hannah, Anna and every spelling variant I could think of without success. I ruled out everyone I could find whose age was within 10 years of Johanna's age. It took ages, and increased the amount of grey in my hair! Then a cousin found a reference to an asylum near Salisbury and the search revived. I bought a copy of the hospital record, my cousin bought a copy of the death certificate and we were back on track in Wiltshire.
The last unanswered question was: where was Johanna living between the periods when she was committed to Fisherton House asylum. Now I believe the answer has been found. It is most likely that Johanna remained in the asylum as a voluntary patient in a unit for which records have not survived. I believe that Tony's find on the 1891 census is Johanna - the similarities are too great to ignore.
It occurs to me that my next step would be to hunt for financial records or the family solicitor's file if anything survives.
This thread has been very successful - my thanks to groom and Russkie for your interest and questions which helped clarify where I had previously searched and why I said Johanna could be in Wiltshire in 1891. My thanks to redtonyt for finding the census information - Tony you are a star!
Yet again - proof that Rootschat is a great site and Rootschatters are wonderful people!
Philip
