Week 23 (June 3-9): Health

The theme for #52Ancestors this week is "Health", and this has had me looking back in my records not only for information on the physical health of my ancestors but also their mental health. Over the years of my research I have discovered several ancestors who spent time in institutions such as workhouses, orphanages and lunatic asylums.  Two of my Great Great grandfathers died in lunatic asylums, both from what we understand today to be some form of dementia.

For many families, caring for an elderly relative, especially one who had developed dementia, was simply not possible, and before the rise of affordable nursing homes and old age care there were few places where the elderly could be cared for.  In times when dementia was little understood and any kind of mental illness carried a weight of social stigma for the family as well as the sufferer, hiding the person away in an institution was a frequent solution.  Others, unable to care for themselves because of their deteriorating mental and physical state, were arrested for various reasons and ended up before the courts.  Many were committed to the lunatic asylums, spending their declining years in conditions that today we would consider inhumane and totally unacceptable.

A number of these records are now online.  Did your ancestor spend time in an asylum in Victoria, Australia?  You may be able to access their records through Ancestry and the Public Records Office of Victoria.  

Information on Ancestry includes: Victorian Asylum Records between 1853-1940 from the Public Record Office Victoria.  The following information will typically be found:

• Name of patient
• Age and birth place of patient
• Date admitted into Asylum
• Reason they were admitted
• Photographs and physician notes also occassionally appear

If your ancestor died in a Victorian lunatic asylum, there will also be an inquest into their death.  The inquest records relate to deaths that occurred  when a person died suddenly, was killed, died whilst in prison, drowned, died whilst a patient in an asylum, or was an infant ward of the state and died under suspicious circumstances, among other circumstances.  These are available online at the PROV.  Inquest records up to the year 1937 have been digitised and can be viewed online. Inquest records from 1938 onwards are not digitised and can only be viewed in the reading room after you place an order.

The content of the records varies over time. Each file may contain:

• the Coroner’s verdict on the cause of death
• names of the jurors
• depositions of evidence given by witnesses called
• a copy of the Victoria Police report
• exhibits, photographs, copies of autopsy reports and other medical reports (these are more common from the 1950s onwards).

Edward Beseler was one of my great great grandfathers, and this was to be his fate.

Edward Beseler was born in 1836 in Neubukow, Germany and emigrated to Australia as a child with his parents and 4 siblings.  The family arrived in Adelaide in 1847 on the ship Pauline, living in South Australia for several years before traveling to Victoria, settling on a farm in Ercildown.

Edward was naturalised as an Australian citizen in 1863, and married Emma Flower in 1865.  Emma was born 19 September 1841 in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales and died 1 August 1882 in Donald, Victoria.  Together the couple had 10 children.

By 1900, Edward was in his 60s and showing signs of dementia.  Matters came to a head in 1909 when he appeared in court (see report below) on the charge of having insufficient means of support, was found to be insane and an order of commitment was made.

From the Ballarat Star, 4 February 1909

Edward was admitted to the Ararat Mental Asylum, where he was assessed, found to be suffering from senility, and committed to the wards.  In his asylum record he is described at the time of his admission as being in fair bodily health for his age, clean and tidy but difficult to communicate with as he was quite deaf and illiterate, and described as suffering from delusions.  While there are only a few doctor's notes in his file, by 1917 Edward's health was deteriorating and he died in the asylum on 7 December 1918, only a few months short of 10 years after his admission.  Thanks to Ancestry and the PROV, I have his Asylum record and his Inquest report, giving me a great deal of information about Edward's health late in life, both physical and mental.