DEATH OF THOMAS WRIGHT (1820 - 189-?)

[greenman]

My g-g-grandfather was born in Colham Green, Hillingdon, Middlesex in June, 1820. He was the son of Robert Wright and Mary (whose maiden name I have not yet found.)

Thomas's wife, Esther, was born in the same year, and died in 1900 in Wandsworth lunatic asylum, having been kept in an institution for nearly 40 years, suffering from 'mania'.

Her death certificate describes her as the widow of Thomas Wright, gardener, of New Road, Hillingdon, Middlesex. (Thomas appears in the 1891 census, resident with his son Arthur in Crouch End. How long he stayed there, I have no idea! The rest of his life was based in Hillingdon.)

Can anyone help me find the date of his death and/or his burial ?

Their children were all baptised in the church of St John the Baptist, Hillingdon.

FreeBMD comes up with a couple of results for the mid 1890s, but the dates don't fit with the age of Thomas, who would have been nearly 80 by the time of his death.

Many thanks in advance, as always.

[CaroleW]

There is only one death on freebmd in Uxbridge which was the registration district for Hillingdon but that was in 1901 so he must have moved to a different area

[greenman]

Hello - yes, that's what I was afraid of. Many thanks for letting me know. Such a pity he didn't have a really unusual first name!

All the beat, and Happy New Year!

[bubs]

sad to be in an institution for all those years    that poor women

[greenman]

Yes, and apparently there was nothing wrong with her - I think she was suffering from depression, and was also menopausal. The very few comments about her condition that I've managed to find speak of nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing more unusual than 'a slight bruise on the upper arm'.  She certainly was not a raving lunatic.

Frightful and frightening to think that this fate awaited so many people in her position at that time. And why did it happen to her ?

Thanks for your response. Appreciated.
Francis

[LizzieW]

Severe menopausal symptoms caused many women to be put in mental asylums years ago and if they weren't mad when they went in, I'm sure the conditions and being locked up with genuinely insane people would send them mad.

My menopausal symptoms were very severe and my GP told me that if I had been around in the 1800s/early1900s before HRT had been invented, I would have been a candidate for an asylum.   Thank God for whoever invented HRT.

Lizzie

[greenman]

Hear, hear!