Grandfather john gunson stephenson

[Myrtle46]

My grandfather born 1896 was thought to be in Blencathra sanitarium in Cumberland,around 1920-25.can't find anything to confirm this.Anyone out there can help?

[Girl Guide]

Wonder if he had TB?  Snippet of info on the sanitorium


1904 | Blencathra was originally a ‘Sanatorium’ and was opened in October 1904 for 20 patients. The Cumberland branch of the “National Association for the Prevention of Consumption and other forms of Tuberculosis” selected Blencathra, which was reported as having perfect drainage, ample shelter, sufficiently isolated from any town or village and having a view over “one of the most striking bits of scenery in the Lake District”. The rainfall was sufficient to ensure the removal of dust from the air and to give a good supply of some of the purest water in England. The site was also found to be free from “stagnant moisture”, which ensured a low humidity; and even today although the clouds may lie on the mountains above, or mist in the valley below, the site itself is very rarely obscured. As we know today it was the discovery of streptomycin which effectively dealt with tuberculosis and replaced the need for sanatoria. However, those original site location factors were ideal for providing the environmental education base which we enjoy today.

Next step would be to try and find patient records for this place.  I'll see if I can come up with anything.

[Girl Guide]

Another little bit of history about the place:-

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/CUMBERLAND/2004-08/1093830199

Perhaps it might be an idea to contact the Carlisle Archive Centre to see if they know anything about patient records for the sanitorium.

email addy is:-  carlisle.archives@cumbria.gov.uk

Phone no is:  (01228) 227284


John is on the 1939 register with his family so presumably he recovered and went back home.

[Myrtle46]

Yes he had t b and Carlisle records say they can't ind him.I know he came back,not sure when,but he was live & kicking until I was married in 1968 and on after.Tried finding patient records & drawn a blank so far.

[Girl Guide]

Hhmm

I just did another google for patient records and someone on Rootschat some years ago was looking into this.

Below is info that was added by a rootschatter back in 2012.  It was in the England section, county of Cumberland and titled Blencathra Sanitorium Burials and the poster was Colin Cruddace.

"Some records of the sanitorium are at Carlisle Archives. The following may be of interest:
T/HOS/10/4  Six vols admissions registers 1904-1958 (continuous)
T/HOS/10/7  Case Files 1904-1915
T/HOS/10/8  Visitors Book 1904-1939"

Try Carlisle Archives again and quote the first number for the admissions registers as the years cover when you think he was there.

It may be that he wasn't at that particular sanitorium and was elsewhere.  In which case you will need to find out what other sanitoriums/hospitals were in the area that he could have been admitted to.

I'm afraid this may be something that you will not be able to get any concrete evidence of.  Presumably there were no family papers giving any clues to this.

Edit - just looked at the 2nd page of this 2012 thread and found:-

"Just to tidy up this posting for those who have read the foregoing. Blencathra records are virtually untouched in Carlisle archives -- still thick with soot from before their deposition."

So as I said might be worth checking with Carlisle again.

[Myrtle46]

Thank you for this - it's really helpful.I'll try again with Carlisle - nuisance that I' m in France & can't go in personally...more info later☺️

[Myrtle46]

Carlisle archives couldn't find any admission record for him at all,but my mother always said that he went there and had to sleep in the garden in a special hut when he came back home.I know he was a miner & involved in the miners strike around 1923,maybe he went to jail and that was a story they told to cover that,but can't find any record of that either,Never realised my grandad was such an enigma

[Girl Guide]

Hmm.   I'm just wondering if it may be worthwhile getting this topic moved to the Cumberland board.

You could ask if anyone would be willing to go to the Carlisle archives and look for you.  It's the remark about the Blencathra records being virtually untouched making me wonder if Carlisle Archives have actually gone through them and indexed them properly.

The other possibility is that your mother got it wrong and he went somewhere else in the area.

Below is a link to a list of hospitals for Cumbria.

http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/archives/Online_catalogues/public/hospitals.asp

Have a look and see if you think one of those could be likely.  In 1939 the family are in Workington and there is a child listed who was born in 1921.  You may like to consider obtaining the birth certificate for that child to see where they were living in 1921 as that seems to be close to when John went 'away'. 

If you can't access the 1939 let me know and I will pm the details.

It must be so frustrating for you having to do your research from afar.

I'll leave you with the above for the moment and you can have a think about what you would like to do.

[Myrtle46]

Thanks again for your speedy response.Yes I know they were in Workington in 1939 & the child in 1921 was my mother.Maybe the stories passed on we're confused,by mistake or deliberately,but I know from mum' birth certificate where they were in 1921, but she seemed to remember as a child she lived in Hayton with her aunt for a period,supposedly whilst he was in Blencathra.She was confused sometimes,but not quite as confused as this seems to indicate.Anyway,I'll try the hospital links you gave me.Really do appreciate this.