OUTSIDE THE ASYLUM

Can you help George Marshall Medical Museum with a spot of family history research to find out about some people who were admitted to the Worcester City and County Lunatic Asylum in the 19th century?

Our aim is to share more patients’ stories, and to find out about their lives before admission and (where possible) after discharge.

alice smith

find out more about alice smith

Alice Roby was born in 1860 to Reuben Roby and Emma Robinson. They had married in late 1843, a second marriage for Reuben, who had married Eliza Graham in January 1841 in Nottingham. By November that year Eliza was dead. The 1851 census shows the Roby family living in Stourbridge with a daughter, Ellen, a son, Frederick, and Emma’s father.

Alice first appears in the official records in the 1861 census, as a one-year-old. She was ten years younger than her brother – perhaps there had been other children who had been born and died in the years between them. The family still lived in Stourbridge, but at a different address. Reuben had changed his occupation. A lacemaker in Nottingham, he was listed as a Licensed Victualler in 1851, and an Innkeeper in 1861.

By the following census, the family had moved to 40 Kidderminster Street in Stourbridge, and over the next decades, various members of the family lived at different houses in this street. In this census, Frederick has disappeared, but another son, 17-year-old John, is listed. Why he had not been included in the previous census is a mystery.

Alice married William Smith in the fourth quarter of 1877 in Stourbridge. William was born in Hay Green in 1851, and worked at a colliery. Unfortunately, no marriage record exists, apart from the marriage index. But, as their oldest daughter was born in November 1877, Alice must have been pregnant or had just given birth when she married.

She was admitted to Powick Asylum on 3 February 1879, suffering from Puerperal Mania. Her case notes state that ‘This is her second attack of two days’ duration, the supposed cause being premature confinement.’ She was described as ‘pale, rather thin & appears much exhausted as regards Physical Energy. The pulse is quick & the skin harsh & dry & she appears extremely parched and thirsty.’ She was said to be ‘in a state of Extreme Excitement & is violent & frequently tries to bite those around her. Her aspect is wild & excited & she is suffering from Cerebral & General functional disarrangement. She has been ordered a nourishing Diet & four ozs of Brandy daily.’ Her condition improved rapidly and after a month she was allowed out on trial in the care of her father. By the end of March she was discharged.

The cause of her complaint, a premature confinement, has required much detective work. Her baby must have been born very soon before her admission to the asylum, that is, in the first quarter of 1879, but the next census, in 1881, shows no child who would then have been about two years old. Alice and William were living at 39 Kidderminster Street with their daughters Alice, aged three, and Beatrice, aged 14 months.

There are many births registered in Stourbridge in the first quarter of 1879. There are only a few deaths of a child aged less than one year old in that same quarter. Any one of these could have been Alice’s premature baby. The best candidate is Anne Smith, for whom a burial record exists. She was buried on 21 January 1879, aged twelve days. Although her parents are not named, her place of abode is given as Hay Green, William’s home village, and where he was living at the time of the 1871 census. Rather shockingly, most of the burials recorded on this page were of children aged one year or less.

Further evidence for a ninth daughter is included in the 1911 census, in which the number 9 is inserted in the column for the number of children born alive. For some reason a later hand has crossed this out and substituted 8.

The census of 1891 shows the family still living at 39 Kidderminster Street, with seven daughters and Alice’s father. Oldest daughter Alice was a servant at an inn in the town. The 1939 Register required respondents to give their birthdates, so we know exactly when most of Alice’s daughters were born – Alice (10 November 1877), Beatrice (27 January 1880), Emma (26 September 1881), Ellen (6 April 1883), Mary Ann (23 May 1886), Agnes (6 February 1888), and Matilda (12 November 1890). The exception is Sarah, born in 1884, but it has been difficult to find a Sarah Smith who matches with the known facts of her parents and residences. There are simply too many of that name.

From these dates it can be seen that Alice spent most of her life from her marriage in 1877 to 1890 pregnant. Little wonder that she was exhausted when she was committed to the asylum. What is more to be wondered at is that she was never again detained in the asylum.

The seven daughters for whom records can be found all married, and Alice and William had at least 21 grandchildren. William died in 1919 and Alice in 1925. She is buried in Lye Cemetery.

Research by Cathy Broad, 2026.

To view Alice’s patient records, click here.

Go back to find out about more people who were patients at the asylum.