Royal Seabathing Hospital

[sueannbowen]

This hospital was founded in 1791 and was used as an infirmary for those with Tuberculosis. Sufferers were brought in from London by barge in the belief that the sea air and bathing in the salt water would offer a cure. It is now closed and was sold for development some years back.

Would it be reasonable to assume that if someone from London died at the Hospital, they would be buried in Thanet? I am having no luck whatsoever finding the death of one Emma Simpson who was married to Francis William and who was alive in 1891 living in Streatham. He remarried in 1897 (I have the certificate) and declared himself a widower on that. In 1901 Emma's youngest child born in 1889 was living with another family.

There is an Emma Kate showing up in free BMD about the right time - Wandsworth, Oct 1893 1d 558 but my Emma has no other records anywhere that refer to her as Emma Kate and I am reluctant to dish out £9.50 on such a thin chance. I cannot find a parish record on Ancestry for that particular burial although the Wandsworth records are there. That led me to wondering whether she died somewhere else and since most of my Wandsorth Balham lot died of TB I thought about the Sea Bathing. For those who have survived reading this without falling asleep - any views would be appreciated.

[Jan1954]

Have you checked out what hospital records may be available? Have a look at the entry on the Hospital Records Database. I wonder if the East Kent Archives Centre would be able to help at all.

[Coromandel]

By the 1890s the majority of Londoners were being buried in public cemeteries, not churchyards, so you're unlikely to find burials in this period in the 'London Parish Registers' on Ancestry. It may be helpful to identify which cemeteries catered for people in the Wandsworth area, and to find out where their records are today. What we need is a London expert . . .

[Peter Goodey]

I am reluctant to dish out £9.50 on such a thin chance

Don't order using a GRO reference - GRO will search for you - use the husband's name for checking purposes.

[Kerrywood]

use the husband's name for checking purposes.

As far as I can see this option is no longer available on the order form.

You can specify age (already known), last known address (too risky), occupation and marital status.

So you could at least specify that this Emma Kate should be married. If it turns out that she wasn't, they'll refund your fee in full.

[Peter Goodey]

As far as I can see this option is no longer available on the order form.

The husband's name would normally be in the 'Occupation' column. Back in the bad old days her occupation would be shown as "wife of..." or "widow of...".

When ordering, I think the Occupation should be specified as "Wife of Francis (or Francis William) SIMPSON.

I don't think I would mention "Kate" in the order.

[sueannbowen]

Thanks everyone - plenty to keep me going here. I had not realised there even was an East Kent Archives service (shame) Jan so could get there in my lunch break. Coromandel - I can work on that angle - will check with the borough council - would not have occurred to me as I have spent so long with parish churches.

Peter and Kerrywood - TVM will send for this 'stificate with the parameters built in as it is definitely worth ruling this one out.

[sueannbowen]

By the 1890s the majority of Londoners were being buried in public cemeteries, not churchyards, so you're unlikely to find burials in this period in the 'London Parish Registers' on Ancestry. It may be helpful to identify which cemeteries catered for people in the Wandsworth area, and to find out where their records are today. What we need is a London expert . . .

After you posted this I Googled and came up with this. What a fascinating and informed document. It completely answers your question.
https://homepage.ntlworld.com/hitch/gendocs/cem.html

I don't think this breaches copyright.

[Kerrywood]

Going back to your original question ...

Would it be reasonable to assume that if someone from London died at the Hospital, they would be buried in Thanet?

It's more likely than not, if only because any other option would be more costly. But unless there is a death registration for an Emma SIMPSON in Thanet RD that fits, I wouldn't trouble to look for a burial in that area.

By the 1890s the majority of Londoners were being buried in public cemeteries, not churchyards, so you're unlikely to find burials in this period in the 'London Parish Registers' on Ancestry.

Looking for a burial in London after mid-1850s without a death certificate is almost a non-starter -- unless it happens to show in one of the outlying churchyards or cemeteries for which the records are deposited at LMA and indexed by Ancestry. These include some cemeteries for which LMA has the early BTs (e.g. Norwood, Nunhead, Highgate).

Other than the above, Islington and St Pancras cemeteries are gradually being covered by Deceased Online, Victoria Park Hackney is at BMDregisters.co.uk, Abney Park (Stoke Newington) has its own website. There isn't much other online coverage.

Most cemeteries will charge a fee to do a search, and most won't search at all unless you have the date of death. This is because most London/Surrey cemetery records are still not computerised, though the Friends of Surrey Cemeteries have done a lot of indexing, including Brookwood, and can be contacted for help (google for them).

If it turns out that this Emma Kate SIMPSON is the right person, you could try West Norwood, Lambeth or Wandsworth Cemetery. Streatham Cemetery opened in 1893 and is a marginal possibility. The local authority cemeteries department should be a first port of call.

www.
lambeth.gov.uk/Services/CommunityLiving/DeathsFuneralsCremations/Cemeteries.htm

www.
wandsworth.gov.uk/info/200032/deaths_funerals_and_cremations/86/cemeteries_and_crematorium/10

[Peter Goodey]

I had not realised there even was an East Kent Archives

EK-MH-T1 - ROYAL SEA BATHING HOSPITAL, MARGATE

Description The records of the hospital, which span a two hundred year period, are very varied. They include minutes of governors, directors and committees, correspondence, various registers and other records of patients, reports, rules and plans of the hospital, financial records, some staff records and a few records relating to the hospital school and chapel. Unfortunately, there are large gaps in some of the series of records. Partly this is due to a great many documents being lost when the hospital's London headquarters were bombed during World War II; a number of the financial volumes have clearly been scorched which may well be as a result of this damage. Additionally, a large number of records were destroyed or damaged by a burst water tank which was not discovered for a considerable length of time. The medical registers and sundry administrative documents seem to have borne the brunt of the damage. Many of those which have survived have been rendered illegible, either wholly or in part, and a number of others are at the point of disintegration. Consequently, quite a few have had to be marked as unfit for production.

The death register seems to have survived!

I believe East Kent Archives is down to close when the swish new Archives Centre in Maidstone opens (contracts were signed before the election!!!!)