Family Mystery - Hollow Meadows?

[Vulcan B2]

Right - I have read a lot of threads on here about Hollow Meadows Mental Hospital, and have a family mystery to work out.

My paternal Grandfather was a patient at Hollow Meadows from the late '40's to the late '60's, when he was released into the care of his twin brother due to suffering from cancer. He died in '69, just a few months after release.

 

 

The mystery is that nobody knows WHY he was sent there - his friends maintained that, although he was "not very bright", he was NOT suffering from mental problems, and pointed the finger at family members 'stitching him up'. My Dad remembers family members coaching him to repeat phrases to some sort of officer, but he was only 7 at the time, and would not have understood the implications. My Mum remembers visiting him in the mid '60's, and is also of the opinion that he was sane. He loved my brother, and was eagerly awaiting my birth, but sadly he died 6 weeks before my birth.

 

 

I find it hard to understand what was said to get him sent there, after all, in the late '40's there was a shortage of working men following the losses incurred in the war, and indeed it was known how hard a worker he was.

 

I don't know where to start with this - would records still be available? If so, are they confidential? The family has now dwindled, and I cannot find any further info. Can anybody help please?

[HughW]

If you search for Hollow Meadows at Access to Archives and look at the first hit (heading: Middlewood Hospital), there is some information about records for Hollow Meadows. It is not clear whether these are patient records, but Sheffield Archives would be the people to ask and they will advise on access, which will certainly be restricted.

 

Contact details for Sheffield Archives can be found here.

 

I hope you find what you are looking for!

 

Hugh

[Plain Talker]

vulcan, sadly, back then people of all ages were sent to these sort of facilities for what today would be considered the most spurious, scurrilous, and paper-thin reasons.

 

-a child who was a bit disobedient, (who may well have been diagnosed with aspergers or ADHD today

 

-or perhaps one who had a "mental handicap" (mild or more severe!) that his/ her parents could not deal with,

 

-a young woman who had become pregnant whilst unmarried (who would be diagnosed as having "moral turpitude"- a lack of morals)

 

People were even put in such institutions, and under the then equivalent of a "section" when perfectly well, and sane, but "great-uncle Hubert" had them put away, like that, in order to get his hands on their inheritance.

[Vulcan B2]

Thanks Hugh, I've been in touch with archives who inform me that the files are closed for 100 years UNLESS I can obtain a copy of his death certificate to prove he is no longer alive, in which case they are happy to research his record for me. One problem - archives have no record of Hollow Meadows - am I right in thinking that it was an annexe of Middlewood Hospital? If so, will the records be stored with those of Middlewood? I intend to get the death certificate, and just wanted to clear up the confusion over the name of the hospital.

 

Plain Talker - Thanks for your reply, I hoped you would see the thread as I understand you are trained in this area? Funnily enough, having talked to my Mum about it, she said much the same as you - that people were locked up for hardly anything, and she quoted a case where a relative of a friend was locked up because she had a child out of wedlock, on the grounds of nymphomania!

 

I don't know what I hope to gain from this exercise - and am prepared to not find much information at all, but certainly my Dad feels he was robbed of what he describes as a good father. Maybe I can shed a bit of light on it.

 

Thanks for your replies.

[Vulcan B2]

I've done some more digging, and found a thread here on SF about Hollow Meadows, which pinpoints it's location on the A57. I've also found a picture of the still standing buildings. However, I still could do with advice about how to find records - archives have records for Middlewood, but could not find anything for Hollow Meadows. Any ideas? Thanks;)

[Plain Talker]

Thanks Hugh, I've been in touch with archives who inform me that the files are closed for 100 years UNLESS I can obtain a copy of his death certificate to prove he is no longer alive, in which case they are happy to research his record for me. One problem - archives have no record of Hollow Meadows - am I right in thinking that it was an annexe of Middlewood Hospital? If so, will the records be stored with those of Middlewood? I intend to get the death certificate, and just wanted to clear up the confusion over the name of the hospital.

 

Plain Talker - Thanks for your reply, I hoped you would see the thread as I understand you are trained in this area? Funnily enough, having talked to my Mum about it, she said much the same as you - that people were locked up for hardly anything, and she quoted a case where a relative of a friend was locked up because she had a child out of wedlock, on the grounds of nymphomania!

I don't know what I hope to gain from this exercise - and am prepared to not find much information at all, but certainly my Dad feels he was robbed of what he describes as a good father. Maybe I can shed a bit of light on it.

 

Thanks for your replies.

 

(my bold) that's pretty much the grounds they called "moral terpitude". It was horrific, looking back, at what utterly pathetic grounds a body could be "shut away" for:- it's so scary.

 

Yes, I did a few years in Mental Handicap nursing, before doing a stint in Psycho-geriatrics (alzheimers/ parkinsons/ stroke etc)

 

We were bound by the Official secrets act, and weren't permitted to speak, outside the hospital, of our patients and their conditions.

 

(trying to think laterally, about the dates your grandpa was in HM)

If your grandpa was in HM in the late forties, is it possible that it could have been something akin to shellshock he may have suffered from? (was he in the Forces?)

 

sometimes people had something called "nervous exhaustion" which was like a small nervous breakdown, where life simply became too much to cope with, and the person needed to go into an asylum for a "rest-cure" (this happened to my Godmother) until they felt strong enough to cope, once again, with the melee of general life.

[Vulcan B2]

(my bold) that's pretty much the grounds they called "moral terpitude". It was horrific, looking back, at what utterly pathetic grounds a body could be "shut away" for:- it's so scary.

 

Yes, I did a few years in Mental Handicap nursing, before doing a stint in Psycho-geriatrics (alzheimers/ parkinsons/ stroke etc)

 

We were bound by the Official secrets act, and weren't permitted to speak, outside the hospital, of our patients and their conditions.

 

(trying to think laterally, about the dates your grandpa was in HM)

If your grandpa was in HM in the late forties, is it possible that it could have been something akin to shellshock he may have suffered from? (was he in the Forces?)

 

sometimes people had something called "nervous exhaustion" which was like a small nervous breakdown, where life simply became too much to cope with, and the person needed to go into an asylum for a "rest-cure" (this happened to my Godmother) until they felt strong enough to cope, once again, with the melee of general life.

 

I think I'm gonna have to sit my Dad down and get as much info as I can. My oldest son will be 21 this year, and when he was born, we gave him the middle name Thomas - my Dad was thrilled, and said it was his Dad's name. I think it's strange that we never knew that before. He hardly ever talks about his Dad - I don't think he remembers him much, as he was only 7 when his Dad was admitted to HM. Shell-shock would seem to be a good bet - again, I don't know if he was in the forces. One thing I do know is that while at HM he had a part time job at the Rising Sun in Grindleford, and apparently he was a very hard worker.

 

Some more research methinks:) Cheers for your help x

[HughW]

If you check the A2A entry I mentioned, it lists NHS3 as the catalogue reference for Middlewood. The Hollow Meadows reference is...

 

NHS3/6/2 Hollow Meadows, 1924 - 1976

 

...so it is clearly part of the Middlewood archive. But I don't know if it will include patient records. You could quote that reference to the people at the Archives.

 

Hugh

[Vulcan B2]

If you check the A2A entry I mentioned, it lists NHS3 as the catalogue reference for Middlewood. The Hollow Meadows reference is...

 

NHS3/6/2 Hollow Meadows, 1924 - 1976

 

...so it is clearly part of the Middlewood archive. But I don't know if it will include patient records. You could quote that reference to the people at the Archives.

 

Hugh

 

Thanks Hugh, I looked at the A2A site, it's very interesting. I have noted the number, and hope to visit the archives soon, once I've got the copy of his death certificate. I'm grateful for your advice. Cheers x

[Vulcan B2]

If you check the A2A entry I mentioned, it lists NHS3 as the catalogue reference for Middlewood. The Hollow Meadows reference is...

 

NHS3/6/2 Hollow Meadows, 1924 - 1976

 

...so it is clearly part of the Middlewood archive. But I don't know if it will include patient records. You could quote that reference to the people at the Archives.

 

Hugh

 

Thanks Hugh, I've called archives with that ref. and they've found it straight away. Hopefully they can find my Grandad on the discharge register which will give them an admission number. Then, they can search for an individual patient record, which are present for around 70% of former patients. If they find it, I can then make an appointment to go and view it. I am sending off a research request in the next few days, and will keep you informed. Thanks:)