Hartwood Asylum

Asylums, Poor Houses and the like.

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Carole
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:15 pm
Location: Macclesfield, England

Hartwood Asylum

Post by Carole » Thu Aug 29, 2013 4:03 pm

I've just found the death certificate for my aunt who died in April of 1960 at 15 Hartwood Road, Hartwood. The two other deaths on the page also have 15 Hartwood Road, Hartwood recorded as the place of death, so I suspect that this was Hartwood asylum.

I was only six when my aunt died and I have no memory of her and I don't recall her ever being talked about. Her death certificate gives her cause of death as Idiopathic Epilepsy and Terminal Bronchopneumonia.

My aunt (and one of the two others) has a 'usual residence', so she doesn't appear to have been an inmate.

Can anyone confirm if 15 Hartwood Road, Hartwood is Hartwood asylum and does anyone know if by 1960 it was still a psychiatric hospital? If so, would epilepsy alone have been enough for her to have been admitted?

Regards,

Carole
Researching McCabe, Tennant, Hall, Dickson, Muir...

Russell
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Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:59 pm
Location: Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire
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Re: Hartwood Asylum

Post by Russell » Thu Aug 29, 2013 6:56 pm

Hi Carole
I've not had a chance to confirm the Hartwood Asylum address but can confirm that in 1960 there were many patients in the various glasgow and district asylums whose only diagnosis was epilepsy which was severe enough to prevent them from being gainfully employed. In 1960 the Mental health Act (Scotland) was put into law and the name 'Asylum' was dropped thank goodness and the slightly less emotive 'Mental Hospital' was substituted. I was working in Hawkhead Asylum at the time and they even changed the name to Leverndale Hospital. Despite their poor reputation they were actually quite lively places to work in with lots of activities going on. Football teams, lawn bowls, darts, hospital shows, gala days. I was part of the hospital pipe band. Christmas was a very busy time too.
The important thing to keep in mind was that mental illness was poorly understood and rather feared by the population at large. Anti-psychotic medications were in their infancy. There were virtually no anti-epileptic medicines worth talking about and almost no employer would take the risk of adding someone who took 'fits' to their workforce. Even today epilepsy is still poorly understood by the public.
A lot of Scottish records will include 'usual residence' as part of the record. I have seen this often in hospital records as well as Poor Law entries.
Greater Glasgow Health Board has a full archive department who might be able to give you additional information.

Russell
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Carole
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:15 pm
Location: Macclesfield, England

Re: Hartwood Asylum

Post by Carole » Fri Aug 30, 2013 3:02 pm

Thanks Russell, that's a lot of useful information. Your description of the activities sounds much better than the portrayals we often get in the media.

Thanks also for the pointer towards Greater Glasgow Health Board.

Carole
Researching McCabe, Tennant, Hall, Dickson, Muir...

Rockford
Posts: 266
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 11:11 pm
Location: North Lanarkshire

Re: Hartwood Asylum

Post by Rockford » Wed Sep 04, 2013 1:20 pm

Hi Carole,

There is more information about Hartwood here: http://www.bobbysimpson.org.uk/HARTWOOD_HOSPITAL.htm

My 3 x great grandfather was one of the first patients at Hartwood when in opened in 1895. Although he was living in the Motherwell/Wishaw area, his health seems to have deteriorated in the early 1890s and he was initially sent to the Crichton Royal Asylum in Dumfries, before being transferred to Hartwood in 1895.

Best wishes

Brian
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ultimet1
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2015 11:22 pm

Re: Hartwood Asylum

Post by ultimet1 » Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:46 am

The patient records for Hartwood Asylum/ Mental Hospital are held at Hairmyres General Hospital East Kilbride G75 8RG.

http://web.archive.org/web/201403270353 ... ct-asylum/

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