Genealogy Chat

Sorry for the delay in offering my thanks to you all,but my mom is very ill in hospital at the moment.Looks like my Ggrandfather had been playing away from home.Again many thanks to you all for your replies.Lindy

Nell You mean it could be something other than the drink????? Olde Crone

Ah, nice one nell! MMM

And what is incoherence a symptom of, Olde Crone? nell

MMM No, I missed out a bit! Because of my Awful Fascination with this disease, I seem to home in on anything which mentions it - my Mentor told me at the time that many people still died of it (1960s) but even he obviously did not know how many. The 1995 figures were explained as being the outcome of WW2 - untreated Syphilis taking anything up to 40 years to show its hand. Olde Crone (who suffers from incoherence at times)

Ah, Olde Crone, so you have psychic abilities too.....??? Knowing in the '60's what the statistics were going to be in 1995!!! lol (well that's what I read lol) MMM

Aw, Nell, you have stolen my thunder! It is normally me who imparts this solemn piece of news to innocent descendants. What you didnt mention though, is that in 1995, yes, 1995, death from untreated/undiagnosed syphilis was the FOURTH most common cause of death in this Country (Cancer, Stroke and Heart Failure being the top three). AIDS was something like number 98. (How does she know all this, you are asking yourselves suspiciously?) Well, in the 60s, I temped at UCH, in the Medical Library.One day I found a book, in glorious technicolor, describing and showing untreated Syphilis. So engrossed in this was I, that I did not see the 'Big Man' approaching. When he saw what I was reading, and the look on my face, he laughed. Then treated me to an hour-long lecture on the subject, including the important fact that you will never see a Death Cert with Syphilis given as the cause of death. This is partly to save the feelings of relatives but more prosaically, so that the said relatives would not worry about having it - if they did, there was no cure, so why worry them unneccessarily. It was widely believed that Syphilis was hereditary and if you married someone who had a family member who was affected, your children would be tainted with madness. It put me off sex for years!! Olde Crone

I googled, and apparently the tertiary stage of syphilis lasts only a few years and symptoms include mood swings and dementia similar to Alzheimer's disease. nell

Lindy Seems I was right, got this from Archaic Medical Terms site: 'General paralysis Will invariably mean General Paralysis Of The Insane i.e. syphilis' It also says: Tertiary syphilis of the nervous system is called neurosyphilis and manifests as general paralysis of the insane, locomotor ataxia and tabes dorsalis occur. This stage may or may not be fatal' There's a lot of other info about syphilis - there are two types, and they are only infectious at certain stages. See www.paul_smith.doctors.org.uk/ArchaicMedicalTerms.htm for more info. nell

Post mortems were done as a matter of course for people in prison or criminal lunatic asylums, so they may have been routinely done in lunatic asylums generally too. Paralysis sometimes means a stroke, but I think that 'general paralysis of the insane' was a term used to describe people in the final stages of syphilis. Sorry! nell

Hello, I found this about the asylum on the net. Hope it comes out OK Staffordshire County Asylum (Stafford) Administrative records go back to 1812 A County/Subscription Hospital Opened 1.10.1818 Architect: Joseph Potter. Early form, later adapted to corridor. Accommodation for 120, but only 65 patients in 1820 Superintendent 1841 to 1855: James Wilkes Reported in 1842 that an improved system of warming and ventilation had been introduced. Previously, dysentery had been prevalent, but no cases had occurred since. (1844 Report p.17) 1.1.1844 245 patients. 183 pauper and 62 private. 1851 Subscribers' representative Thomas Salt 1879 Extended 1881 Census: The County Lunatic Asylum, Hopton and Coton, Stafford. William Thompson Pater (unmarried, aged 46, surgeon) Superintendent 1884 Extended Became St George's Hospital, Corporation Street, Stafford, ST16 3AG

Thank you for your help MMM.Will contact them ,Lindy

Google is being very frustrating in that it doesn't want to tell me where the archives for the Asylum are kept!! I suggest you contact Staffordshire County Record Office (google that!) - they should be able to point you in the right direction. The only thing I did find is that the official title was ''Staffordshire County Asylum'' for what that's worth.... It is definitely worth pursuing - I have had a wealth of info for two rellies who were classed as lunatics. Good Luck MMM

As a patient please Jess .Lindy

On Him as a person ... or of him as a patient in the assylum? Jess x

I have just recieved a death certificate for ,who I am almost sure,is my GGrandfather.He died 1n Jan 1901 in Stafford Lunatic Asylum .A post mortem was done and his death was caused by 'General Paralysis' whatever that was.Does anyone know where, or if it's possible, to get further details on him please.Lindy