Unexpected details about David Ritchie Sr's admission to the London County Asylum

I received a surprise email last week from Judy Lester of Kerrywood Research about my great-grandfather's admission into the asylum at Hanwell. Having become fascinated in the case from reading my blog, she sourced the 1909 admission record and wanted to share it with me at no charge. This is very generous of her.

The admission record is not, as I had imagined, just an entry in a hospital register. On the contrary, it comprises a whole series of letters and documents which detail David Ritchie's removal from the workhouse in Marylebone to the London County Asylum as well as his movements over the preceding years. I didn't think these sorts of documents even existed but they do, thanks to the National Archives and a very good public service administration system.

The information, however, is sensitive. It affects all direct relatives of David Scott Ritchie Sr, including his one living granddaughter, his four living great-grandchildren, his many great-great-grandchildren and all the living descendants of his brothers, William and Thomas Scott Ritchie. Facts of this nature can be disturbing, especially if they come out of the blue and without a framework in which to view them. I shall, therefore, present them over several days, along with some additional background information and suggestions for integrating new pieces of data with existing ideas about self-image and family identity.

What the admission record will show is that David Ritchie was deemed, at the age of 35, to be of unsound mind on the basis of some bizarre behaviours. Once an apparently sane man who was employed and married with a son, he ended up in an institution for the care of paupers. Questions arise about the condition from which he suffered and whether it is genetically transmitted. Also, what did he do that was so bad as to make his entire family abandon him? Are we to be afraid of his legacy or ashamed of it? Does knowing that he was a so-called lunatic open a Pandora's box of ugly possibilities which can never be chased back into the place of unknowing?

Personally, I don't find the information upsetting. What happened was consistent with the way people responded to mental illness at the time. The situation is very different today, thank goodness. As for how we should approach insanity in the family, I believe it can be viewed as an opportunity for improving our own lives. But more about that in my next post.

Photo credit: "Fire Escape" by Judith.