Glasgow City Poorhouse: Dr John Jones

[jimmain27]

Help, please.
My brother-in-law's great grandfather was Dr John Jones LFPSG who died of cerebral memingitis at Glasgow City Poorhouse on 27 June 1895, aged 38. Initially it was suggested that he may have been on the staff of the Poorhouse but now it appears that he was a pauper!
Can anyone help please. Why did he enter the Poorhouse? Was there a newspaper report of what must have been an unusual death?
Any help or advice would be very gratefully received
Jim

[SarahND]

Hello Jim and
Not sure where you are located, but we have several members who go regularly to the Mitchell Library in Glasgow where the poorhouse records are housed. Someone may be able to look for you or suggest how to send for the records yourself.

If you have access to the 19th century British Newspapers collection you might be able to find a reference to his death in the Glasgow Herald.

All the best,
Sarah

[jimmain27]

Dear Sarah
Thank you very much. I'm in Wiltshire so, I'm afraid, very far from Glasgow. I am trying newspapers but any local assistance would be most gratefully received (particularly from my b-in-l who has MS).
Thank you
Jim

[Currie]

Hello Jim,

I guess that LFPSG means ‘Licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow’. Here’s a list of University of Glasgow graduates but I don’t know whether it’s relevant. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/u ... -hci.shtml

I had a good look in the 19C newspapers, at least the Scottish ones, but didn’t have any luck. I guess that having a profession and letters after your name doesn’t guarantee you’ll be noticed when you die, especially in a poorhouse. Whether he made the newspapers may depend on whether he had made a name for himself and whether he had family, friends, or colleagues who wished to advertise his loss.

Residents of Wiltshire have access to the 19C newspapers. http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/leisureandc ... ources.htm

It can certainly be frustrating when you expect to find something but it’s not showing any signs of being there. Maybe ignoring the search facility and just doing a slow trawl through the online Glasgow Herald pages for the week or so after his death could produce a result.

All the best,
Alan

[jimmain27]

Dear Alan
Thank you. There does not appear to be a Glasgow Herald for 1895 in the Wiltshire archive but I am very grateful for the reference, but I soldier on. The wonders of the web to discuss this with someone so far from here!
Sincerely
Jim

[Currie]

Back again Jim,

I’m not sure now whether you’ve tried the online newspapers, because I wasn’t talking about the paper copies of the Glasgow Herald. Your Wiltshire Library card number will probably give you online access to the 19th Century British Library Newspapers.

Try you number on this page, if it doesn’t work check with the Library for a proper online access card next time you’re there. If you can’t get there give them a ring. http://infotrac.galegroup.com/galenet/w ... n&sserv=no

Hopefully, you’ll be able to read every copy of the Glasgow Herald from the 1840s to 1900 without leaving home, plus at least another 50 UK newspapers.

See how you go with that,
All the best,
Alan

[Lindsay]

I'm assuming he was actually from Scotland? There is a John Jones in the 1887 Medical Register in Glasgow who had the same qualifications, but there are a number of other John Jones from Wales and England who also have this qualification.
John Jones
Address 62, New road, Parkhead, Glasgow
Date and place of registration 1881, Nov 17., S. [NB S = Scotland]
Qualification Lic. Fac. Phys. Surg., Glas., 1881

He is also in the 1891 and 1895 registers under the same address & other details. In the 1883 register he is in under address Unthark road, Bellshill, Lanarkshire [assume this should be Unthank Rd]

I couldn't see this Glasgow John in the next Medical Register on ancestry which is 1899 so I'm hoping this is your man. Whatever happened for him to be in the poorhouse, he was still on the register in 1895.

[jimmain27]

Dear Lindsay
Marvellous - that's him!
He married on 13 April 1884 Agnes Struthers McConnell & had 2 children. In the 1891 census he was at his parents' address at Mordaunt Street, in the Bridgton area of Glasgow and she was with her parents at Thompson Street, Glasgow. Whether or not they were separated or were simply in 2 different areas on that night we are not sure (she did not remarry - John Main, architect - until some 11 years after his death).
Dr John was born in Main Street, Bridgton on 3 February 1857. the son of a power loom tenter, as was his grandfather. His sister was a power loom weaver. How - or why, - I wonder, did he become a doctor.
I am very grateful for your marvellous help.
Very sincerely
Jim

[nelmit]

Help, please.
My brother-in-law's great grandfather was Dr John Jones LFPSG who died of cerebral memingitis at Glasgow City Poorhouse on 27 June 1895, aged 38. Initially it was suggested that he may have been on the staff of the Poorhouse but now it appears that he was a pauper!
Can anyone help please. Why did he enter the Poorhouse? Was there a newspaper report of what must have been an unusual death?
Any help or advice would be very gratefully received
Jim

Hello Jim,

Ill have a look for his application next time I'm at The Mitchell.

Regards,
Annette

[jimmain27]

Dear Annette
Thank you very much - that would be wonderful.
Sincerely
Jim

[carlineric]

Hi Jim

His qualification sparked a bit of interest as I have come across it before and could not work out what it meant. I have found out from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow website that the Licentiate was given to a candidate who had passed the Triple Qualification. This was instituted in 1884 and was granted by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Faculty of Physicians of Glasgow. Students in Glasgow would study in extramural colleges such as Anderson's College Medical School or St Mungo's College and could combine this with attendance at University of Glasgow classes or study elsewhere before receiving their licence. It would be worth contacting RPCSG as they hold the records of those who received the triple qualification. I have a 2nd great uncle who was a miner but went to Edinburgh University Medical School and qualified as a doctor, the records for him from the University filled in a few holes about him and were of interest as they detailed which classes he attended and who taught him.

Regards
Eric

[jimmain27]

Eric
Thank you. It appears that he registered in 1881 so the 1884 date is confusing. My brother-in-law has his diploma so I will ask him to send me a photo of it.
Whatever his qualification his death in the Poorhouse is the real puzzle. Could he really have been a pauper? If so, why?
Fascinating!!
Jim

[nelmit]

Glasgow University graduates are online but I'm not seeing anything about your John in 1881.

[Lindsay]

I think there is some confusion about the dates of licentiates here. The Royal College website states the following:
"Licentiates
The grade of "licentiate" was instituted in 1785 to allow the admission of country practitioners. Details about such licentiates may be gained from the Register of Single Licentiates, 1815-1959 in the College Archive."
http://www.rcpsg.ac.uk/FellowsandMember ... octor.aspx

Your man only had a single licentiate so the 1881 date is perfectly OK.

[jimmain27]

Lindsay
Very clear - thank you.
Jim