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Burials for Inmates of the Worcester County Lunatic Asylum, Powick.

B

Brummie On Exmoor

master brummie
This post is not unlike Shortie's of last August under the heading 'Asylum/Hospital at Bromsgrove', but the question is a little different. It relates to burials at the Worcester County Pauper and Lunatic Asylum, Powick, Worcestershire. I know this is not quite Birmingham, but as so many parts of western Greater Birmingham spill into Worcestershire, and Powick was the only asylum for the county, I am hoping this is acceptable. I also thought it was possible that other people on the Forum might have some experience of this.

After a long fruitless search, I discovered yesterday that my 3 x Great Grandfather, George JAMES, a shoemaker from Worcester, died in Powick Asylum, aged 76. This was in June 1856. George had a wife still living (in Worcester) and quite a large family, including a son also called George, who was a hairdresser in Congreve Street, Birmingham. George JAMES (Jnr) was buried in Key Hill.

I am trying to find out where George JAMES (Senior) was buried after his death in Powick. There is no sign on the NBI on Find My Past. The family was not well-off and I am certain his sojourn in Powick was being paid for by the Poor Law Union. His wife was buried in the new Civic Cemetery on Astwood Road in Worcester when she died in 1875, but it was not opened till about 1858, so he was not buried there.

Please can anyone advise me about what normal practice was for those who died in Powick? Was there a burial ground attached to the site? Were people buried in the local church? Or were they usually returned to their home parish for burial? In this case, he had lived in Friar Street in the medieval centre of Worcester.

Incidentally, if anyone is researching family members in Powick, there is a fantastic website containing all the IMAGES of the medical/patient records. I quote: Under a lottery-funded project, the George Marshall Medical Museum in Worcester has scanned and indexed records from Powick Lunatic Asylum in conjunction with the University of Birmingham. This digital archive can be searched by name and accessed online. They are available on the Bromsgrove Branch website of the BMSGH. The search engine is a bit 'clunky' (not my own description) but is shortly to be overhauled. And the images are so good, it is worth persevering.

Many thanks

Jane



 
Most asylum's had their own burial grounds - whether the one at Powick (where my grandmother was born) did I don't know but someone on the forum will.
Sheri
 
My Gt Grandmother was in Powick asylum in the early 1890's she lived in Basall Heath which was then in Worcestershire, when they moved the boundries so Basall Heath came under Warwickshire she was moved to Rubery asylum where she died in 1893 after viewing her record in both asylum's we discovered she was buried in Rubery asylum buriel ground, although most of the asylum grounds as now been built on there is one area that has been left in recognision to those who were buried there. Pat
 
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Dear Jane
I can't tell you where he is buried - but more information about his time at Powick can be viewed at the George Marshall Medical Museum site:
https://www.medicalmuseum.org.uk/archive.aspx
type his name into the search box and an image of the hospital record will be displayed - then click on the 'detach view window' to see this full screen (you can then save a screen shot).
I had an ancestor who died at Powick, but was then buried in his home parish.
Regards
Andy
 
Thank you Sheri, Pat and Andy for your very helpful replies. I think the answer seems to be that he might have been buried in Powick's own burial ground because they probably had one, or he might have been taken home if his family could pay - and I am not sure they could.
Yes Andy, the George Marshall Medical Museum site is great isn't it, it is the one I have described on my post. It is just amazing that the actual medical records are there to be read, though the content is terribly sad. However, I am not downcast by poor George's time there. His records show that he had what today we would recognise as a stroke before he was admitted. Also, I understand that by the mid 19th century, these asylums were not like 'Bedlam', but were actually often a lot better in terms of conditions and treatment than being in the Workhouse.
Best wishes
Jane
 
Hi Jane,
Doubt if he is yours but there is a George James buried 1857 in Warstone Lane Grave A 345
He is with Sophia Pasco 1895 & Mary Ann Brinton 1892

Brian

ps There wwere burials in the 1950's in Warstone Lane from Powick - I have seen them in the Grave Registers held at Handsworth.
They appeared to be either elderly impoverished people or still born & young children and were amongst similar burials from the old workhouse wards of Selly oak & Dudley Road hospitals in Public Graves.
 
Thanks Brian. No it is probably a bit too long afterwards. Interesting though. George's son, also George (my 2 x GGFather), his wife, several daughters who died young of TB, and an unmarried sister, are all buried in Key Hill.

Best wishes

Jane
 
Hi Jane, thought it might be an outside chance, although quite some time before dying & burying - maybe enquiry?

I assume you Key Hill George is the one in P 626 with Alfred, Charles & William Samuel James, Ann Simpson, Caroline Bushnell ?
I note there is a Memorial Inscription - Is itone buried in the 1960's or is it still above ground?
Must have a look when i next visit!
Brian
 
Hi Brian,

Actually no, it is George JAMES H5v, Elizabeth H6v, sister Amelia G7v, Sarah Elizabeth B43 and Ellen Amelia A31. It is quite odd, as other large family groups that are buried there of my other lines (eg HINDS K653, PRATT Q777) are largely buried in the same grave (and both those do have wonderful memorials still extant).

Best wishes

Jane
 
Hi Jane - they are all Public graves, rather than Private graves - Just means they were normal everyday working class types, rather than slightly moneyed middle class!
I don't think anything remains to mark the A & B graves - these sections are very denuded of memorials.
The G & H are vaults with faded memorials on the wall - Only a small percentage of those buried there are recorded however, since it was an additional cost.

Brian
 
Ah, that would make sense Brian. The HINDS grave was in the name of Dr William HINDS, older brother of a 2 xGGfather, and he was not only a GP who was a Medical Officer of Health, advisor on 'lunatics' to the Workhouse authorities and other such from the 1840s to 1880s, but he was also Professor of Botany at Queen's College, the precursor of the Medical School. Interesting man however, he was the son of an Ag Lab from Middleton near Tamworth, and started life in Bhm as a Cabinet Maker! And he did lectures at the Bhm & Midland Institute for decades, besides campaigning on issues such as the (mis)use of arsenic in flock wallpaper! And his wife and her sister ran a Dame School in Birmingham in the 1830s.
Mind you, not all the family who got a place in the grave were so well-placed.

Jane
 
Key Hill - K 653
In affectionate remembrance of William HINDS M.D. who died October 18th [1881] aged 69 years. (Damage): And of Marianne widow of the above who died on the 6th November 1882 also of John HINDS who died February 3rd 1897 aged 78 years. Also Valentine Edward elder son of John HINDS who died December 5th 1909 aged 61 years and his sister Edith Mary COPE who died February 27th 1942 aged 92 years. Notes: - 83" flat slab.

This is the memorial Inscription for him
Brian
 
Hi Pat,

Thank you very much for this. This looks a good bet - I still have not found poor old George buried anywhere else. Have you any idea where the burial records may be (other than pres. in Worcestershire Records Office)?

The pics of Powick are wonderful. I saw them last year when I was digging online. If it was you who took them, thank you very much indeed, they are a wonderful record. So many of these old hospitals, asylums and workhouses have disappeared without any record surviving, which is a great pity when they played such a big part in the lives of our ancestors.

Very best wishes

Jane
 
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