Lock Hospital, Paddington

[Delia]

Hi Everyone,
I have a Family History Mystery to solve.
An Ancestor of mine Harriet Gant b1866 in Hutton Cranswick, East Yorkshire who, sometime, between 1871 & 1881 became a patient in the Lock Hospital in London.
I decided to research this place and discovered it was an institution for the treatment of Venereal Disease. It was assumed at that time that all women suffering from these diseases were prostitutes. The Lock not only treated them but also rehabilitated them.
My burning questions are... she was 15 years old, why was she there? and what had happened to that poor girl? She came from a quiet village way up north and ended up in that place.
How can I find out?
Kind Regards
Delia

[bwarnerok]

I got the impression from what I've googled up that the Lock tended to treat "locals" although maybe they thought she was a leper. Seems like they'd have a Yorkshire place to treat Syphillis since it was so prevalent which makes me think she had somehow gotten herself to London otherwise.

Have you picked her up after 1881? I tried to find her before & after with no luck, but then I can see where they could really muck up a name like Gant in transcribing.

It appears there are lots of books, etc written on that hospital.. mostly dealing with its medical treatments, but perhaps something in them will give other clues. Was there a workhouse connected to it or another one in the parish?

I checked my book on Victorian London (Eliza Picard) and she never mentions the hospital but I imagine there might be something in a library.

betsy

[keith9351]

It looks like they still hold records for Lock Hospital.

Try :- http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=859&inst_id=9

Keith

[AnnB]

Hi Everyone,
My burning questions are... she was 15 years old, why was she there? and what had happened to that poor girl? She came from a quiet village way up north and ended up in that place.
How can I find out?
Kind Regards
Delia

She could have been service in London, or have travelled to London with a family she was in service with from 'up north'.

She may have contracted syphillis from being raped. I did read an article in The Times (whilst looking for something totally different) about a young servant who was 'assaulted' by her employer and died from the resulting syphillis. The employer was not prosecuted.

Best wishes
Ann

[Delia]

Thank you for your replies.

Harriet was living with her mother Martha during the 1871 census. Her father Martin was recorded as a servant nearby.
I too have been unable to find her after 1881. I have looked at marriage registrations in the London area and also deaths. But no sign of her.
I wouldn't of thought that she was a likely marriage candidate for any prospective husband having an incurable transmissable disease.
Harriet has set me a mission, I know I am very unlikely to ever discover how she came to get a Venereal Disease. But I can imagine, knowing how society was in those times.

Thanks again, I will investigate the link and try to see if there are any admission records surviving for the Lock.
Regards
Delia