Death records - Convents & Institutions

[lillyburn1]

Hello,

I have two great aunts who were nun's and a great uncle who had Downs Syndrome and died as a teen. I know when my great-aunts died as my mom stayed in close contact with them. However, their deaths does not come up on Scotland's People nor does the boy with Downs Syndrome that died. Any idea if convents or institutions for the disabled (if he was in one) documented deaths? Was it possible they handled these in a non-traditional manner?

Thanks,
tracey

[WilmaM]

Just a thought - somebody better informed will confirm or deny - when women became nuns did they not change their names as well?

So they could be registered under a different first name, not the registered birth name or the one the family knew them as.

[lillyburn1]

You are right, they do change their names I believe once they make their first profession. For example my great aunt became Sister Bernadette de St. Cyril. I did realize my mistake during my research. Silly error, I was entering the wrong last name. So easy to do when you're switching from one person to the next.

But I did go back and look and her death is recorded twice, once as her given birth name and once with her religious name! That's quite interesting.
The other great aunt who was a nun is only registered by her given name.

Thanks for the great idea. Now if only I could find a death record for their brother.

[WilmaM]

If you can give us the chap's name we might be able to help you - bearing in mind we discourage posting recent information, viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6601

but just his name may help, he's maybe hiding behind a misindex or wrong spelling.

[lillyburn1]

If you can give us the chap's name we might be able to help you - bearing in mind we discourage posting recent information, viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6601

but just his name may help, he's maybe hiding behind a misindex or wrong spelling.

Hi WilmaM,

I thought I responded to you late last week but it seems the message did not go through. In any case I ended up finding this young man last night and my instincts were correct. Indeed he was in a hospital/institution, at St. Joseph's in Midloathian. Also known as the Whitehill House. It states that the hospital cared for severely disabled children and I suppose I did not originally consider he could be placed in a hospital near Edinburgh being from north of Glasgow. It would be interesting to learn how many hospitals/homes cared for severely disabled children during the mid-1900's as children/adults may have ended up far from home. Its fascinating the more I learn!

[WilmaM]

good , glad you finally found him.

It's always a good idea to spread the net quite wide esp for deaths -
my Glasgow G'mother died on holiday in Girvan, if I didn't have that knowledge I'd still be searching for her.

[StewL]

Hi Lilyburn1
I was thinking that there would not be a great number of homes for children with disabilities. Having worked in that field for a good 16 years, I know that here in Perth (West Aust) there were around 4-5 government run homes, plus around the same number run by non-government.
As the model here was based on the UK experience, I would say that they would have only had the few, "centralised" institutions to cater for those children, and they would have come from far and wide.
There was also a "policy" that once children were placed in the home, they did not actively encourage parents and family to visit, as sad as that might seem.
Not that they would actually discourage visits, but often the tyranny of distance distance prevented the visits, plus the opening hours.
Also those government run homes, were under the Mental Health Services, until they separated in the 1970's, when they were then managed by dedicated disability authorities. I am not sure of the UK experience though.

[trish1]

....
But I did go back and look and her death is recorded twice, once as her given birth name and once with her religious name! That's quite interesting.
The other great aunt who was a nun is only registered by her given name.

....

Could it be the one death record - but indexed twice - both names were probably listed on the certificate - as with a married woman having her maiden name listed.

Trish