Information on 1911 'West Riding Lunatic Asylum' patient - my great grandma

[Jomot]

Apologies if I'm wrong, but having looked at the cover page it gives the address as the Union Workhouse at 90 Park Lodge Lane, Wakefield. Where is the information that its the Lunatic Asylum?

Added: Correction - Union Workhouse & Infirmary

 Ah yes I see that now. The census has all the institutes in the same online book and the work house is directly after the Lunatic Asylum so I didn't realise it was a different place. So she's in the work house not a Lunatic Asylum. That is a more likely place for a child that was abandoned.

As she is listed as a patient rather than an inmate, I suspect she was actually in the infirmary.  Some info here about the Wakefield Workhouse & Infirmary http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Wakefield/

[SarahLuna]

As she is listed as a patient rather than an inmate, I suspect she was actually in the infirmary.  Some info here about the Wakefield Workhouse & Infirmary http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Wakefield/

 Great, thanks so much! Sorry for all the confusion and mistakes, this is all totally new to me.

 Would all orphans be classed as patients or only if they were sick? Or is there no way of really knowing?

[josey]

Great, thanks so much! Sorry for all the confusion and mistakes, this is all totally new to me.

We've all been there & I wouldn't even say now that I'm free from confusion & mistakes 

I suspect only patients in the infirmary are listed as patients. May be worth seeing if the Union Workhouse & Infirmary records still exist, they may show the address from which Emma was admitted. 
There may be limitations on what can be seen as it is only just over 100 years.

[Citizen Smith]

You might find this site useful. It explains the history and set up of workhouses at different times. With the system of Outdoor Relief and Indoor Relief, the workhouses often delivered services that we now see as part of the NHS or the Benefits System.

http://www.workhouses.org.uk

Many illegitimate births happened in workhouses (the most famous being Oliver Twist). Women who were poor or rejected by their family would go in for days, weeks or months to give birth and care for their baby before they were able to earn a living again. Depending on their circumstances, some took their babies out with them while some were forced to leave them for fostering/adoption.

Sarah

[Jomot]

From the early 1900's she is more likely to have been living in one of the Scattered Homes and would only be in the infirmary as a patient. 

[SarahLuna]

Thank you for all the advice. If I order a birth certificate does it legally have to state the name of the parents? Even if they didn't keep their child?

[rosie99]

If she was illegitimate which the index seems to suggest as no mothers maiden name is shown then it will only give details of the mother ie name, abode and occupation if any.  If she was born at a different address to her mothers abode that should also be given.

[SarahLuna]

Thanks Rosie. The birth certificate is going to cost £23 on the government site and on ancestry also. Is this the cheapest price for it? Unfortunately I'm not able to spend that much money on this right now so it might have to wait for a while
 Although I know for a fact her birthday was 10th Oct 1907 as my mother remembers that. So I'm certain its the correct Emma, so she was illegitimate so the lady I found in the asylum cant possibly be her mother as she had been married for 7 years when Emma was born. 

[josey]

See reply #15, certificates cost £9.25 from GRO online.