County Asylum in Westminster 1902-1904?

[6dees]

My gt grandfather lived in Westminster and served in the Metropolitan police until 1899 when he was retired due to ill health. Two of his children went into the police orphanage in 1902, and according to their records, my ancestor was admitted to the asylum (diagnosis "insanity"), from where he was discharged in 1904. Sadly he died a few months later from exhaustion and Tb. Can anyone help me to find the location of the asylum in question, and how to go about finding any records?
Many thanks.

[dawnsh]

Hi

In the first instance, have a look at this leaflet produced by the London Metropolitan Archives

http://217.154.230.218/NR/rdonlyres/3431A8D4-AAB4-48DA-80B9-365C28FA05F3/0/4POORLAWRECORDSINLONDONANDMIDDLESEX.pdf

I think the most likely place would be Hanwell or a ward at Fulham Road Workhouse, but you may want to contact the City of Westminster Archives to see if they can offer an institution.

http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/libraries/archives/

[6dees]

Thank you, that's a great help,
kind regards,
Diane.

[Valda]

Hi

The National Archives holds these records

Index to Lunatic asylum patient files

'The registers to the patient files survive in MH 94 for various categories of inmates from 1846 to 1960. The register gives name and sex, name of the institution, and dates of admission, discharge or death.'

The National Archives does not hold patient files. Historic asylum records, where they survive, are held by county records offices but MH94 is very useful for tracking which asylum a patient entered and when. MH94 is a series of indexes in large black ledgers.  You must visit TNA to search these records.


Regards

Valda

[6dees]

Many thanks, I must get myself to London!
Regards,
Diane