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Winson Green Prison

changinman1

changinman1

master brummie
Hi Iv found out that one of my paternal grandfathers Joseph Field was transferred from Winson Green on April 7th 1897 to Rubery Hill asylum, he died in there in 1890 but what I need to know is why he was in winson green in the first place . ???
 
Purely a guess but maybe the powers that be may have realised whatever 'crime' he had committed was down to a mental health problem and transferred him out of the prison?
Perhaps one of our members is able to trace a record of him?
 
some more info here

Winson Green prison

Hi had a relative in prision at Winston Green Prison in 1911, can anyone tell me if I could get his records to see what he had done. He was from Aston and up till that point had a good buisness in the area. Im researching the family at Birmingham Central Library would they hold these records...
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk
 

winson green prison

i have a book listing the 40 people who were hanged at winson green prison. the last murder was of a thomas bates at his newsagents shop at 176 lee bank road, edgbaston in june, 1962. there is a picture of the shop in the book. i was surprised that the last hanging was as late as nov 1962. i...
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk
 
changinman1 said:
Hi Iv found out that one of my paternal grandfathers Joseph Field was transferred from Winson Green on April 7th 1897 to Rubery Hill asylum, he died in there in 1890 but what I need to know is why he was in winson green in the first place . ???
Click to expand...
Please can you check the dates ? It may help with which Joseph Field.
 
I have a vague memory of reading something stating that Winson Green did have an asylum or a section that kept people with mental health issues. Maybe some of the other members can help out?

Of course, he may have been locked up for any number of reasons and then found to be suffering with mental health problems. In those days, mental health problems were not really understood.

Even today, a significant proportion of prison inmates have mental health problems.
 
All Saints Hospital began life as Winson Green Asylum. It had a variety of names - opened in 1850.
Are we sure this gentleman was in prison? As it just says "Winson Green" in post #1. He could just have been transferred between asylums.
Agree that dates don't work. Transferred 1897 but died 1890 - typo somewhere.
 
I think he was transferred on 7 April 1887 from Birmingham Asylum (formerly Winson Green asylum).
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These records on Ancestry do not contain medical information - they simply record the fact he was there.

Frm County Asylums Website:
Calls by the Commissioners in Lunacy to abandon the Winson Green site altogether were not heeded and instead the new site at Rednal, Worcestershire was planned to house inmates of a chronic and incurable nature where dormitory wards could be constructed cheaply to house inmates en-masse who could then be employed in useful work in the extensive grounds. This site became the Rubery Hill Asylum which opened in 1882, from which date the Winson Green Asylum was reserved for reception and acute cases who were considered to be curable where they could be housed in the galleried wards with predominantly single rooms.
 
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