Children in Mental Asylums

This week someone asked me about children admitted to mental asylums. From notes that I made while indexing records at Queensland State Archives, I was able to give a few examples. The list below (which is in random order) shows the child's age, mental disorder, and my comments based on what I read in various sources.

[21 April - From comments received here and on Facebook, I can see that I should have included a warning:  Records from previous centuries contain many terms that, though considered normal then, are offensive to us today. Conversely, we now use certain 'swear words' (eg, the B words) in everyday language, but a hundred years ago we would have been arrested for saying them in public. Police watchhouse charge books are full of examples! Putting information into the proper historical context is a challenge faced by all family historians.]

• Age 3, 'idiocy from the age of six months'. Died of pneumonia five years after admission.
• Age 14, 'imbecility; epilepsy for five years'. Transferred to Toowoomba. Died aged 40.
• Age 15, 'dementia; epilepsy'. Discharged into the care of a sister four months after admission. Father had several attacks of insanity and committed suicide.
• Age 8, 'idiocy; epilepsy'. Died five months later. Post mortem held.
• Age 5, 'idiocy; congenital'. Died six years later (epilepsy).
• Age 15, 'imbecility; epilepsy'. Died the following year. Post mortem held.
• Age 9, 'imbecility'. Died five months after admission.
• Age 9, 'idiocy since birth'. Died seven years later. Mother was already in the asylum and father was admitted later.
• Age 9, 'idiocy since birth'. Died from measles six weeks after admission.
• Age 5, 'idiocy; epilepsy'. Always climbing; tried to get onto the roof.
• Age 7, 'idiocy; congenital'. Died six years later.
• Age 12, 'imbecile; fell on her head'. Suggestion of hereditary syphilis. Died four years later.
• Age 15, 'imbecile; congenital defect'. Mother is deficient in intelligence and earns a living as a washerwoman, and can't look after the child, who wanders around the street. Transferred to Toowoomba.
• Age 11, 'imbecility since sunstroke at age 5'. Child was taken home by father the following month, and died two years later.
• Aged 13, 'dementia; epilepsy for two years'. Always asking about her mother and says she is lonely without her. Always nurses a doll. Transferred to Toowoomba. Died aged 19.

These particular examples are from the 1890s and early 1900s. Surnames of the children are (in alphabetical order, not the order shown above) AHNFELDT, BULCOCK, CHAMPION, DUMPHY, HAY, HORN, JOHNSON, KYLE, MANSFIELD, McKENZIE, MORRIS, PATTEN, PEDERSON, STUBBINGS and WEBB.

For more information about these children and their families, use Goodna Asylum case books and Public Curator insanity files, and various other records, as explained on my Web site.

Problem with recent Queensland death indexes

Following on from my hasty post ('More Queensland death indexes online') a couple of days ago... and before we all get too excited about the release of Queensland death indexes up to 1983...

My grandfather died in Queensland in 1967. Yesterday I noticed that his parents are not shown in the online death index entry, but their names are on his death certificate. I also noticed that in Grandad's index entry, columns for 'father' and 'mother' had blank spaces (not the dash that usually appears in the index when a death certificate does not include a parent's name).

An experiment with a common surname revealed that certain years seem to be worse than others. For example, there are 371 SMITH deaths in 1975-1976, but only 10 of them list the parents.

I don't want to waste time doing what someone has already done, so if you have asked the Queensland Registry of BDMs why they omitted parents' names from many of the later death index entries, please let us know the answer by leaving a comment here.

More Queensland death indexes online

Queensland Registrar-General's indexes to births to 1914, marriages to 1938 and deaths to 1983 are now online - but note that some indexes (births to 1919 and marriages to 1939) are available on microfiche but not online.

Once you know a year of death, it's much easier to search for a recent Supreme Court probate file - which, if it exists, will include the death certificate, thus saving you a lot of money.

There are other tips about Queensland birth, death and marriage records on my Web site and in the book Tips for Queensland Research. See also 'Free certificates in Archives files'.

Family history talks at Taroom, Moura and Biloela

Next month (9th, 10th & 11th April 2013) I will be visiting Taroom, Moura and Biloela to give talks about sources and techniques for family history research. I last spoke at Banana Shire Council libraries in 2009, and I was delighted to be invited back again.

Admission to the talks is free. Refreshments will be served, so to assist with catering please make a booking by contacting the relevant library. For more information (topics, times, venue addresses and telephone numbers), see the 'Talks' page on my Web site (www.judywebster.com.au/talks.html).

You will be able to buy my books after the talks, but you will need to pay by cash or cheque because I will not have EFTPOS facilities there.
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SCHOLEFIELD and CHARLES: Birth Certificates in Land Files

In 'Free Certificates in Archives Files' I mentioned some record series in which I had found birth, death and marriage certificates. I recently came across another example.

Birth certificates for Edward George SCHOLEFIELD (1906) and Ethel Irene Rose CHARLES (1904) are in a 'dead farm' (land selection) file.

The source location is Queensland State Archives item ID 73066, file no.6297. If you can visit the Archives and inspect the file (which is quite large), you can take digital photographs of the certificates.

Illuminating Blogger Award

I was surprised and honoured when two of my blogs received multiple nominations for the Illuminating Blogger Award. At what was a sad and chaotic time in my life, these comments were a comfort.

Fiona said:   Queensland Genealogy was the first geneablog I found, and Judy has flung open so many doors for me. Judy also runs the Genealogists for Families Kiva group which has done so much to help so many.

Alona said:   Judy has a number of different blogs, but I've chosen to nominate her Queensland Genealogy blog because since she took up the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge she has been highlighting various Queensland records – and every one of them has taught me something new.

Helen said:   Judy Webster is a well known Queensland professional researcher and a personal friend. Judy is very generous with her knowledge. Her website is full of useful information for anyone doing Queensland research. Her latest entries in Alona's 'Family History Alphabet Challenge' showcase fascinating records. Judy does a number of blogs including one about her father's early life. In honour of her father she started the Genealogists for Families project where people make micro-loans via Kiva enabling other families to make a better life for themselves.

Jill nominated the Genealogists for Families blog:   'Genealogists for Families' Project team leader and blogger, Judy, is an inspiration as she encourages genealogists to reach out and help families in third world countries with micro-loans. Judy's enthusiasm for this project and her personal generosity know no bounds.

Having received the award, it is now my duty to tell you one random fact about myself (my hobbies include paper-making and collecting postcards) and to give the award to five other blogs with illuminating content. They are (in no particular order):

• The Legal Genealogist: The author is a certified genealogist with a law degree. She writes about 'genealogy, the Law, and so much more'. Categories include Constitutions, Copyright, Court Cases, DNA, Legal definitions, Methodology, Primary Law, Resources, Statutes, Terms of use.


• Historical Medical Miscellany: I find this blog both interesting and informative, especially as I am a medical scientist and an indexer of hospital and mental asylum records.


• Sassy Jane Genealogy: Practical advice from a genealogist who is also an archivist.


• London Roots Research: I have lots of London ancestors, and Rosemary writes about both basic and unusual sources (for example, Fire Insurance records).


• Dance Skeletons: Fiona's sense of humour is often a ray of sunshine in an otherwise dull day. Thank you for making me smile!

Blog Birthdays and Simple Gifts

I have been preoccupied with personal and family issues, so I almost forgot that this blog will be three years old on September 16th. Another blog that is even more dear to my heart ('Genealogists for Families') will celebrate its first birthday on September 27th.

In "It's My Blogiversary, and I Want Presents", Shelley asked for 'presents' in the form of corrections on Trove. I was happy to do that. Now it is my turn to ask, and what I would like you to do is...

Spread the word about the 'Genealogists for Families' project!

If you are not familiar with it, read about how the project started. After just one year, our genealogy team on Kiva has made a huge difference to the lives of thousands of families around the world. Your gift could be any one of these simple tasks:

• Mention 'Genealogists for Families' to your family history group, seminar audience, etc.
• Spread the word via your online social networks (our Twitter hashtag is #KivaGFF).
• Raise funds by doing paid online surveys.
• Put a link to 'Genealogists for Families' (http://genfamilies.blogspot.com/p/background.html or http://www.kiva.org/team/genealogists) in:
• Your email signature.
• Your stationery or flyers.
• Your profile on Blogger, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.
• Your blog posts (see these examples).
• A stand-alone page on your blog (Pauleen's page is a good example).
• Your business cards or genealogy conference 'trading cards' (I design my own cards at VistaPrint:
  

On behalf of everyone who will benefit if you encourage more people to join 'Genealogists for Families'... Thank you!

J is for Jurors and Justice Department

This week's 'Family History Through the Alphabet' challenge focuses on the letter 'J'.

J is for...

• Jurors.  Yesteryear Links published an index to jurors and witnesses in cases heard at Charters Towers (Queensland), 1920-1937, in the Circuit Court, District Court, Criminal Court, Police Court, Coroner's Court etc. The index gives names, addresses and often occupations of jurors and witnesses, and it states whether the original document includes that person's signature.


• Justice Department.  Queensland State Archives hold many series of Justice Department records for which there are indexes. They include Registers of Criminal Depositions, Inquests (magisterial enquiries), and Preliminary Enquiries. For one series of Preliminary Enquiries (1931-1961) there are separate indexes to the deceased and other people mentioned. If there was also an inquest, the Preliminary Enquiries file gives extra details.

You can find out more about all of these indexes by referring to my books Specialist Indexes in Australia: a Genealogist's Guide and Tips for Queensland Research, which are held by many libraries.

More tips for family history are in my other articles in this series. If the information and advice is useful, have a look at this page.

D is for Dunwich Benevolent Asylum

Continuing to the next letter, 'D', in the 'Family History Through the Alphabet' challenge... D is for Dunwich Benevolent Asylum.

Dunwich was established on North Stradbroke Island, Moreton Bay, Queensland, in 1865. When it closed in 1946, inmates were gradually transferred to Eventide at Sandgate. The function of Dunwich (as defined by the Benevolent Asylum Wards Act of 1861) was to provide for poor people who because of age, accident, infirmity or otherwise were unable to care for themselves. The inmates thus included not only the elderly but also younger people.

Sources (many of which are held at Qld State Archives) include:

1. Index to Colonial/Home Secretary's Office applications for admission to Dunwich with associated correspondence, 1890-1922.


2. Typed index to many Dunwich sources for various dates between 1859 and 1971.


3. Card index to Dunwich records.


4. Immigration Department register of applications for admission to Dunwich 1902-1904.


5. Index to Dunwich weekly returns from Qld Government Gazette notices, 1885-1907.


6. Index to Eventide (Sandgate, Qld) registers of deaths 1954-1959.


7. Index to selected names from 1860s/1870s Colonial Secretary's Office in-letters.


8. Home Secretary's Office: registers of letters received.


9. Indexes to various series of mental asylum records.


10. Index to old age pension records.


11. Police Station watchhouse charge books.


12. Books:  Brisbane: Moreton Bay Matters and Moreton Bay People, vols. 1-3.


13. Brisbane Courier, 25 Oct 1927, p.9: detailed article that includes photographs of the matron, nurses and other staff, Private WILKINSON aged 99, Mrs ROWE aged over 90, and other elderly residents.

Some of the Archives sources give excellent biographical details. These may include address, age, country of birth, religion, occupation, length of time in Qld; married or single; names, addresses and circumstances of applicant's sons and daughters; names, addresses and circumstances of other relatives; names and addresses of employers during the past 2 years, and length of time with each; real or personal property; aid received from hospitals or other charitable institutions during the past 2 years; reasons for desiring admission; through whom applying; and applicant's signature.

For a detailed explanation of the sources available (with Archives location numbers where applicable) and access restrictions that apply to some records, see the most recent edition of my book, Tips for Queensland Research. It is described in the Publications list on my Web site.

You will find more tips for family history in my other articles in this series. If the information and advice is useful, have a look at this page.

C is for Cooktown, Croydon and Cunnamulla

For the letter 'C' in the 'Family History Through the Alphabet' challenge, I was tempted to write about cemeteries, churches and family surnames such as Campbell, Capsticks, Clark and Corduex. Instead I decided to list three Queensland towns whose records I have indexed.

C is for...

• Cooktown.  In the 1800s, Cooktown was the main port for the North Queensland gold fields. Local hospital records, which are very useful for family history, give information about people from all walks of life, including miners, sailors and railway workers. Many had spent time in other parts of Australia and in New Guinea and New Zealand. I have indexed Cooktown Hospital admission registers and some local petitions and school records.


• Croydon.  Another North Queensland mining town for which I have indexed hospital admission registers. During the 1880s, 70% of those admitted to Croydon hospital were born in Britain or Ireland, and about 15% were born in Australia's southern states, especially the Victorian goldfields. Some residents of Croydon moved to Western Australia when gold was discovered there.


• Cunnamulla.  My home town! I have indexed various records for Cunnamulla, Eulo and Thargomindah in southwest Queensland.

You will find more tips for family history in my other articles in this series. If the information and advice is useful, have a look at this page.