Erskine House again!

[annpa]

I am still trying to find the death of my grandmother's brother, Kames Kelly, who, after being wounded at Gallipoli/Dardanelles in WW!, spent the rest of his life at Erskine House in Renfrewshire.

What Registration District would Erskine House come under?

I contacted Erskine House to ask a) his regiment, and b) date and place of death, but their answer was less than helpful. They said they have no records of the Disabled Servicemen who were there, and even if they had, they would not give me any details.

So. who would have the records of the Disbled servicement who were at Erskine House? surely they haven't been destroyed.

what would be the likely hospital he might have been sent to before his death?
Perhaps this should go on the Armed Forces Forum except for the question on the Registration District.

Uncle Jimmy is my greatest so far. My great grandmothers were easy-peasy compared to him

jope someone can show me the light!
I Think I need a coffee![kettle]

[DavidWW]

Erskine is a registration district in its own right.

If I were you I'd write a letter to Erskine Hospital as it's now known and explain your situation, including your relationship. If he died prior to 1992 then the general interpretation of the legislation is that anyone can look at the hospital records, but the fact that Erskine was a charity may affect this.

See http://www.erskine.org.uk/index.asp .

But since he enlisted before 1920 his army records, if they survived Luftwaffe bombing in WWII, will be at TNA at Kew as that age of record is now open.

It helps to know his regiment, and you may be able to establish that via the medal records, - see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/docu ... medals.asp .

David

[joette]

My Grandfather was an in-patient there too-we have photos of him in the wards.In fact my Granny met him when she was working there.
He continued to work there in their workshops after his rehabilitation.
I have had no response to my repeated attempts to contact them re his Medical records.If Erskine were to come under Greater Glasgow Health Board then I would contact them re their Archives they have been really
helpful with my enquires on another branch of the tree.
I think Erskine may come under Argyll & Bute or Inverclyde(??Am I right Russell?) & I have no experience with them as to whether they are happy to help or indeed have any archived Medical Records.

[Russell]

Hi Joette

Erskine Hospital is a completely independent charity for ex-servicemen and women.
It is an amazing combination of hospital, rehabilitation centre, and long-term residential establishment. They have a wide range of fully trained staff to cover each aspect of the support they offer.
It is wholly voluntarily funded and, although located in Renfrewshire, serves the whole of the UK.
Any resident requiring medical care which is beyond their not inconsiderable capacities would be cared for in one of the Greater Glasgow hospitals according to the specific type of care required but most care is given within clinical services which Erskine Hospital already has.
As an indpenedent hospital they are subject to the same disclosure rules as an other private medical service but this may be complicated by the rules governing military service records which are an integral part of the reason for the patient/resident being their in the first place.
Within their expansive, beautiful grounds they have detached houses where disabled service(ex-service)men and their partners live and some couples have been there for many years.
Having described the place I can't now give a definitive answer on whether they would release records. There may be variables which are unique to the individual concerned.

Russell

[joette]

Thanks for that Russell I knew you would be the Man that could.
I understand also that the Government in it's wisdom-consider how many areas of conflict the British Services are involved in-have decided to close down the many excellent Military Hospitals all over the UK & send the Service Personell to Civilian Hospitals where they deem they will get more comprehensive care??!!!
The Erskine setup is marvelous & I would not exsist if it didn't! That was the only reason my Grandpa ventured West.The rest is history.They retrained him & gave him employment.
I would love to read his medical records as he had multiple problems related to his service-traumatic amputation,skull fractures & brain surgery,
malaria(from Boer War & SA Police Service),Post-traumatic Stress(or whatever it's present formating)etc.His service records do not mention any of this except for date injured & date discharged-nice after almost twenty years service!
As an aside local lore has it there is a gate at in the Grounds which was locked never to be reopened after a daughter of Lord Erskine left the family home to become a RC Nun.He also refused to allow any of the land that he owned to have a RC Church built on it for the same reason.
It is only in the past twenty or so years that OK has had a RC Church finally built.This could all be off course another tale my Granny told me!

[emanday]

As an aside local lore has it there is a gate at in the Grounds which was locked never to be reopened after a daughter of Lord Erskine left the family home to become a RC Nun.He also refused to allow any of the land that he owned to have a RC Church built on it for the same reason.
It is only in the past twenty or so years that OK has had a RC Church finally built.This could all be off course another tale my Granny told me!

This link tells the story of the nun and how she was to be regarded as dead to the family, but says nothing about the gate.

http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/sco ... es0302.asp