alfred wooldridge

find out more about the wooldridge family

The Wooldridge family has a fascinating history intertwined with both Worcester and Powick Hospital. Below is a simplified family tree to show the relations between the people this article will discuss.

CONTENT WARNING: THIS POST DISCUSSES THE SUICIDAL FEELINGS OF A FORMER PATIENT AT POWICK ASYLUM IN THEIR OWN WORDS.

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Henry 1807-1888

Henry Wooldridge (1785-1854) married Lucy Sidaway on the 10th of February 1804 in Old Swinford, Worcestershire. The birth dates of Lucy and Henry vary between censuses but are estimated as 1784 and 1785 respectively. The couple had their first child in 1807 named Henry Wooldridge, baptised on the 23rd of August. By 1841, the family had expanded drastically, Henry and Lucy still lived in Old Swinford with their first son Henry, but also with children Richard, 15, Elizabeth, 15, Jonah, 10, and Ann, 5. At this time, Henry and his children were all recorded as Nailer’s by occupation. In Victorian England children from working class families often had to work from a young age. In 1851 Henry and Lucy still lived with their son Jonah as Nailers in Woolscote Lye, Worcestershire. The couple’s eldest son Henry was not recorded in the 1851 census but appears in Powick Hospital’s admission records just a few years later.

Henry Wooldridge was admitted to Powick Hospital on the 18th of November 1858, at age 51. In his case notes it was recorded he worked as a Nailer, a claim consistent with the census records. Henry’s case notes state he was married at the time of admission. There is a marriage record for Henry Wooldridge to a Phoebe Baker on the 5th of May 1850, in Lye, Worcestershire. The marriage record shows Henry’s father was named Henry, which matches the Henry from Powick Hospital. There is no information on the couple after this marriage record or on Phoebe Wooldridge. It is difficult to know how this marriage may have contributed to Henry’s admission.

Henry was diagnosed with both dementia and monomania of fear; according to his case notes, he had been in this mental state for the past two years. His character at admission was described as “quiet but not reserved” and “peaceable and contented.” During his stay at Powick Hospital he attempted to escape, but Henry was unable to travel far as he had an ulcer on his leg at the time. Henry worked in the garden at Powick for a number of years. By 1880 Henry still lived at the Hospital, his case notes explained that “he amuses himself when not at work with a book or paper and seems content.” However, by 1888, his case notes described the opposite, as he made “no effort to employ or amuse himself” and was “seldom speaking to anyone.” By this time Henry Wooldridge was 79 years old, and with his age and long stay at the institution, the change in his character is unsurprising. In total Henry Wooldridge stayed at Powick Hospital for 30 years and died at the institution on the 8th of December 1888.

Alfred 1864-1904

As previously mentioned, Henry and Lucy Wooldridge still lived with their son Jonah in 1851. Jonah was born to the pair in 1831 and baptised on the 10th of July of the same year. He was brought up to be a Nailer like his parents and his brother Henry. In 1853 Jonah married Jane Parish in Saint Thomas Dudley, Worcestershire. The pair had their first child Albert in 1856 and their second, Walter, in 1860. In 1861, Jonah, Jane, Albert and Walter lived in Lye, Worcestershire. Jonah’s mother Lucy, aged 77, also lived with Jonah’s family in 1861; Lucy was widowed in 1854. Jonah and Jane experienced hardship, sadly the records suggest Walter Wooldridge passed away at a young age. A death record exists from December 1861 for Walter Wooldridge, and he cannot be found in any census after this year.

Jonah and Jane had at least eight children: Albert, Walter, Jonah, Alfred, Ellen, Joseph, George and Fanny. Their youngest, Fanny, was born in 1874. Jonah’s occupation varied between census’, he was listed as a frost cog maker, a nail maker, and a horse nail maker. Jonah and Jane’s children were expected to begin working in their fathers profession at a young age. By the age of 15, their first-born son Albert had joined Jonah and Jane in their work as nail maker’s. Jonah and Alfred also became horse nail maker’s once they hit their teens. The family lived in Wollescote Worcestershire until at least 1891.

The person of concern for this article is Alfred, Jonah and Jane’s fourth child born in 1864. Alfred was admitted to Powick Hospital on the 15th of July 1892 at the age of 27. Alfred was recorded as a Nailer in his Powick case notes, consistent with census records. Alfred’s condition was believed to be a result of “predisposition” as his “Uncle Henry Wooldridge died here” at Powick. Henry was of course the subject of the previous section and died in 1888, four years prior to Alfred’s admission to the same institution.

Alfred was admitted to Powick due to him being “suicidal and dangerous to others.” On one occasion Alfred had “attempted to throw himself down a well 80 years deep.” As a result of his mental state, Powick staff believed it “necessary for him to be strapped down.” Alfred also had a fear of conversing with others, “shrinking from the questioner, whimpering and turning away.” With his diagnosis of mania, Alfred also had delusions and believed a “bad passion was persecuting him to make him do some wicked thing.”

On December the 13th of 1894, Alfred’s case notes explained “he wrote a letter stating that he was ill-treated, sick, and miserable” at Powick Hospital. The same was written three months letter when staff claimed, “he has written a letter full of delusions as to the ill treatment he received at which is here inserted.” One of the letters written by Alfred survived in Powick Hospital records and still exists in the archive. Such a source is extremely enlightening into Alfred’s state of mind, his understanding, and his experience of living at Powick Hospital.

Alfred’s letter reads like a continuous train of thought without punctuation or pauses. The letter is addressed to a Mr Freeman of which we know nothing about. It could have been that Mr Freeman was someone in Alfred’s life, or someone he knew had influence. His letter begins “it is with tearful eyes I now write these few lines my weak body trembles with fear and suffering.”

Immediately, this demonstrates Alfred’s unhappiness and distress whilst living at Powick Hospital. The letter is written erratically as Alfred jumps between points and topics, “just think Mr Freeman, be a lunatic asylum to be made a goal of – wretched outcast as myself Mr Freeman you know I was used to go to the coffee house lye there I had a magazine placed in my hands.”

Within these lines Alfred makes some very real accusations of mistreatment within the institution. As mentioned in his case notes Alfred was often restrained, in the letter he describes the impact this had on him both emotionally and physically: “Mr Bond the vicar here came in the ward when I asked him what I had done to him that he should punish me so inhumanely I showed him my wasted wrists and arms and asked if he was not ashamed.” He also describes being made to “hold my water” in reference to not being able to go to the toilet. Although we know Powick staff believed it ‘necessary’ due to his dangerous and violent nature, the dehumanizing treatment clearly took a toll on Alfred.

The letter also conveys Alfred’s general attitude toward being institutionalised. He described his Powick admission as a “sentence” counting it as “20 months” in. Alfred felt he was “locked up” and had become a “wretched outcast.” This was likely due to the negative stigma around British asylums during this era. Perhaps Alfred felt the impact of this stigma, as an outcast of society, separated from the rest of the public in what to him, was a prison.

CONTENT WARNING. THE NEXT PARAGRAPH INCLUDES DETAILS OF ALFRED’S SUICIDAL FEELINGS.

The letter also gives insight into Alfred’s general mental state. He continually referred to “the faculties of men” as a powerful being. He also described his thoughts of self-harm; he wrote he had often thought about drinking the disinfectant attendants carried around with them as a “poison.” Alfred also appears to write about wanting to “tie a string around my neck.” Alfred crossed out this line of the letter making it difficult to read. It is unclear as to why it was removed, perhaps he crossed out this line as he was passing the letter on to his mother, “I sent home some bits of paper by mother I hope you read them.” Alfred states his mother, Jane, had been to visit him that week. It could be suggested she passed this letter on to Powick staff, hence its existence in the Hospital records.

Such a source gives amazing insight into the mental state of a Powick Hospital patient. The letter is an emotive read as Alfred describes his mistreatment, feeling of societal rejection, and his negative thoughts of self-harm. Nevertheless, such evidence is important to humanise the patients of Powick so they can tell their own experiences through their own words with their own voice.

By the summer of 1895 Alfred Wooldridge was still having a difficult time at Powick Hospital. On August the 6th at 5am Alfred attacked a night attendant named Yarnell after “lying in wait.” His case notes claim Alfred “pummelled him in the face.” Two other night attendants heard the commotion and “came to the night attendants assistance.” According to reports “Yarnell was badly bruised on the face” and Alfred also had “bruises on the neck.” Alfred said that “he was under the delusion that if he struck Yarnell he would get out of the asylum more quickly.” Such an event demonstrates Alfred’s distress and desperation to leave Powick Hospital. Case notes about patients give a one-sided account of events, and it must always be assumed they do not tell all sides of the story.

Alfred lived at Powick Hospital for a total of 12 years before he passed away in June 1904 at age 39. Limited details are available on his cause of death, but he was reportedly buried in Lye, Worcestershire.

Henry 1840-1913

Henry and Lucy baptised Charles Wooldridge on the 25th of October 1818 in Old Swinford, Worcestershire. Unlike his brothers Henry and Jonah, Charles was not living with the family in 1841, hence he did not appear on the census with them. This was due to Charles’ marriage to Danah Skelding on the 15th of December 1839. Interestingly, Dinah Skelding was born to George and Elizabeth in 1821, her father George was also a Nailer.

Dinah and Charles had their first child soon after their marriage and baptised their son on February the 14th, 1841. The couple named their first-born Henry, after both his Grandfather and Uncle. Charles Wooldridge was a horse nail maker, and the couple had at least four other children, Emma, Nori, Eliza, and Joseph. In 1861 the whole family were working as Horse Nail Makers, even Eliza who was 14 at the time.

Henry Wooldridge, Dianah and Charles’ first born, had a particularly interesting life and career. On the 21st of October 1868 Henry Wooldridge, age 28, married Elizabeth Wakeman in Lye, Worcestershire. By 1871, Henry and Elizabeth already had two children, their son Sydney aged 1, and their daughter Mary, just one month old in the census. The family were wealthy enough to have a domestic servant, Phoebe Green, aged 12. Henry Wooldridge had evidently established himself in his profession as a horse nail master.

By 1901, Henry and Elizabeth lived at a large house called The Lawns on Hagley Road with their seven children, six of whom were now over the age of twenty. The family had two servants living with them and Henry recorded himself as a Frost Stud Horseshoe Employer. In 2006 the Stourbridge Historical Society posted about famous people from the area, “A number of celebrities were born in Lye including: Henry Wooldridge (1840) inventor of the frost-cog for horses in icy weather.” In ‘The Book of the Horse,’ published in the 1880s it stated that the Frost Cog was a “recent invention” that involved “punching a square hold at the end of each branch of the shoe … and inserting into it a square … with a sharp point projecting beyond the lower surface of the shoe.”

Henry became very wealthy from his invention and profession and was able to set up his own business. The 1908 Midlands Trade Directories stated, ‘Henry Wooldridge and Son,’ was a frost nail manufacturers.

The family

The children of Henry and Lucy Wooldridge went on to have very different lives that intertwined in a multitude of ways. The whole family from Henry, his sons, and their children, entered the nail making industry. The nail making profession provided his grandson Henry Wooldridge with the skills to invent the Frost Cog and have a successful career. Henry’s Uncle Jonah was also recorded as a Frost Cog Maker in 1861, suggesting the invention provided other members of the family with more work. Henry and Alfred Wooldridge, patients of Powick Hospital, also worked as nail makers. Not only was the profession shared between them and their entire family, but the two were also linked by their admission to Powick. This story brilliantly demonstrates the complexities of working-class family life in the nineteenth century. Alfred’s letter also demonstrates the importance of retelling the stories of 19th-century asylum life through the people that lived through it.

Research by Alice Fairclough, 2025.

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