Results 1 to 7 of 7
  1. #1
    AnnHood
    Guest

    Question Death from Tuberculosis in a Mental Hospital

    The story in my family is that my uncle became ill & as a result had to go to the local mental hospital where he died in 1937.aged 35 years
    So far so good sent for death cert expecting to see syphillus or some other possible cause. However the death Cert shows Pulmonary Tuberculosis.
    Was mental ill health a side effect?
    The TB solves one question I had been trying to solve which was why we had a special 2 roomed hut which I later realised might be a TB hut.
    Note Papworth TB hospital was nearly as close to his home as was Fulbourn Mental hospital.
    Any comments please

  2. #2
    Brick wall demolition expert!
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Lancashire
    Posts
    3,642

    Default

    There is nothing that says that being mentally ill prevents one from contracting TB.

    I think that you may be able unravel some of the mystery if you can find records dealing with his admittance to the asylum. Quite often local record offices hold such records or can at least advise if they exist and where.

  3. #3
    Growing old Disgracefully
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, ENGLAND
    Posts
    3,216

    Default

    Lots of Mental Hospitals doubled as normal Hospitals as did the Workhouse so Mental Health not necessary a side effect of TB.
    did a google search for TB in the 1930 lots of info might give you an insight to the disease and how it was treated.

  4. #4
    Reputation beyond repute
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Kent
    Posts
    16,792

    Default

    Any comments please
    Errr.. You didn't actually tell us the place of death. Fairly important, really.

  5. #5
    Knowledgeable and helpful
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Hampshire. Near Basingstoke
    Posts
    653

    Default

    In my family we had a relative who went in to the workhouse where he was said to be epileptic and from there to two mental hospitals as they were called in those days. He too died of TB in 1917 while still in the second of those institutions. I haven't been able to find out why he was sent from the workhouse to the hospital but I guessed that epilepsy was treated as a form of lunacy in those days justifying admission. But that initial move was many years before his death so he most likely contracted the disease in the hospital rather than being taken there because he'd contracted it outside. In any case it was a mental hospital not an isolation hospital. It seems that contracting and dying from TB within mental hospitals was fairly common due to the close proximity of the inmates and their often insanitary surroundings.
    "People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.” Edmund Burke

  6. #6
    AnnHood
    Guest

    Default

    Fulbourn Mental hospital.......will follow up all ypur comments next time I'm at the Cambridge Local Records office. Many thanks to you all

  7. #7
    Reputation beyond repute
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Kent
    Posts
    16,792

    Default

    Hospital Records Database entry here

    I'd advise you to speak to the Record Office about policy before visiting. Files are likely to be closed for browsing so you may have to rely on staff extracting the relevant records for you.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Select a file: