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.

Elizabeth miller

find out more about elizabeth miller

This has been a particularly difficult patient to research, as the name Elizabeth Miller is very common, and there is little personal information given in her case notes. The following biography is of the person who best fits the information available, but there are some dates and ages that don’t match. However, it is not unknown for people to lie about their age in a census return or on a marriage record. Furthermore, with the spread of the railways in the nineteenth century, people were able to travel, so Elizabeth need not have stayed in Worcestershire. And the wider the geographical area to be searched, the more Elizabeth Millers can be found.  

Elizabeth Fawke was born in 1862 to James Fawke, a bricklayer, and Emma, née Bradley. Elizabeth’s birth was registered in Martley in the second quarter of the year, and her baptism record is dated 29 June. James and Emma had married on 27 November 1853 in Leigh, and both were living in North Malvern at the time. James was a widower, and was listed as of ‘full age’. No birth record or previous marriage record has been found. Perhaps they have not yet been digitised. Emma also is listed as of ‘full age’, but fortunately, there is a baptism record, which shows that she was baptised in Hanley Castle on 27 August 1826. That would mean that she was 27 at the time of marriage.

The family’s census return for 1861 shows them living in Leigh, and gives James’ age as 48, which would mean he had been born in 1812 or 1813. Two sons were living with them, William (aged 12) and Arthur (aged 6). Given that James and Emma had been married for nine years, it is more than likely that William was James’ son from his first marriage, and Arthur was James and Emma’s son.

Unfortunately, this family situation did not last long, for James died on 26 December 1862, when Elizabeth was barely six months old. He was buried four days later. On 18 April 1864, Emma married another widower, Zacharias Morris. In the 1871 census, the family were still living in Leigh. Zacharias’ age is given as 73 and Emma’s as 45. In addition to Elizabeth, aged 8, there were two sons, Josiah, aged 6 and James, aged 2.

Emma was once again widowed, when Zacharias died on 4 October 1875. Emma’s census return of 1881 shows that Elizabeth had left home, as only Josiah and James are listed. Unfortunately, no census return including the name of Elizabeth Fawke has been found.

The next official record on which she appears is a marriage record which shows that she married Ernest Granville Miller on 26 September 1882. They both give their age as 20, but there is a baptism record for an Ernest Granville Miller dated 6 August 1865, which would make him only 17. His profession is given as upholsterer, and they were both living in London Road. The marriage took place in Whittington.

There is a baptism record for Alfred Ernest Granville Miller for 24 February 1883. His father, Ernest Granville Miller, was shown as an upholsterer, and his mother as Elizabeth. The date of this baptism means that Elizabeth must have been pregnant when she married. This baptism was held in Horsham.

When Elizabeth was admitted to Powick Asylum on 23 March 1888, her notes mention that she had three children, including a new born baby. Unfortunately, no children of Elizabeth and Ernest Granville Miller have been found, apart from Alfred.

Elizabeth was admitted ‘suffering from Mania (Puerperal). She is very deluded. Says the Doctor and Nurse used to poison her medicine; that her husband married the Nurse; that all her children are dead. Fancies she has seen people here before. Has hallucinations of hearing and sight.’ She also had medical problems. ‘Patient is a thin woman. On admission she looked very ill and had T 101.7˚F. She has systolic murmurs at both apex and base. There is a slight vaginal discharge. She has an old ruptured perineum, the rupture extends through the sphincter of the rectum. She has a slight cough and is very anaemic.’

There is nothing in her notes about any treatment for her medical problems, beyond a thrice-daily dose of Ferric ammonium citrate, which was used to treat anaemia. She was also given ‘a chloral Draught at night owing to her noisiness.’ In May she developed a swelling in her right leg, for which the treatment was a few days’ bed rest.

On 30 March, her case notes mention that ‘Her mind is in the same deluded and incoherent state.’ There is no record of any treatment for her mental state, but she appears to have improved steadily, so that by 7 May her notes read ‘She now appears quite free from any delusion.’ On 9 July ‘She converses sensibly & coherently, has a good memory & has kept free from excitement & delusion. She was today allowed to leave on Trial.’ She was released on 6 August 1888. Elizabeth was one of the lucky patients. She spent a little more than four months in the asylum, seems to have been treated quite well, and successfully, and did not return.

In the 1891 census, the only Elizabeth Miller who fits what we know of her is a woman, of approximately the right age, and born in Leigh, who was boarding at a house in Northampton, along with her son, Alfred, aged eight and born in Horsham, and her daughter Margaret, aged six and born in Leigh. Unfortunately, no birth record for Margaret has been found. This Elizabeth gives her profession as Actress, and her age as 27, when in reality she would have been 29. But, given that she was trying to make a living in a profession in which women are still considered old at 30, perhaps it is understandable that she shaved off a couple of years.

It is notable that Ernest is not included on this census record. No census return for someone of his name born in Horsham in 1865 has been found. Perhaps he left the country, but there are too many Ernest G Millers going to too many destinations to check. There is no census return for either Elizabeth or Ernest for 1901. There is a 1911 census record for an Ernest G Miller, aged 45 and born in Horsham, who was living in a boarding house in Walsall. He gives his profession as Actor, but says that he has been married for 10 years. This is the only aspect of this particular census return that does not gel with our Ernest.

Alfred Ernest Miller, aged 20, married Maud Elizabeth Gilbard on 3 August 1903 in Bristol. He gives his father’s name as Alfred Ernest Miller and his profession as Clerk, but later records prove that this is Elizabeth and Ernest’s son. Alfred and Maud had two children, Ivy Granville, whose birth was registered in Bristol in the third quarter of 1904, and Thomas, who was baptised in Penydarren in Glamorgan, on 21 December 1908. In the 1911 census, the family was still living in Penydarren. Alfred was a milk salesman and gives his birthplace as Horsham.

The index to the Commonwealth War Graves includes an entry for Lance Corporal AE Miller, Royal Munster Fusiliers, aged 31, who served in the Gallipoli campaign and was killed on 9 August 1915. He is buried in Azmak Cemetery, Suvla. His entry records that he was the son of Ernest Granville Miller and Elizabeth Miller, and the husband of Maud Elizabeth Miller. There is also an Irish regimental record which gives his name as Alfred Ernest Miller and his birthplace as Horsham.

This address in Newbridge is where Maud was living at the time of the 1921 census, with her mother, three brothers, a brother-in-law, and children Thomas and Marie, who must have been born shortly after the previous census.

Ernest Granville Miller next appears in the records in marriage indexes, in 1934 and 1937, both times in Liverpool and both times to Clara Britton. Why they should have married twice is unusual. It implies that Elizabeth had died or that the couple had divorced, but no record of either event has been found.

In electoral rolls from 1934 to 1940, Ernest and Clara are recorded at various addresses in Liverpool. In the 1939 Register, they were living at 48 Seymour Street, Liverpool. Ernest gives his date of birth as 22 May [18]65, and his birthplace as Horsham, which match what we know of the man Elizabeth married. Ernest’s death is recorded in the fourth quarter of 1943, in Liverpool, at the age of 78.

Elizabeth seems to have disappeared from the records after the 1891 census. She may have died, or changed her name, or she may have emigrated. Exhaustive searches through census records, death indexes, probate records, tax records, trade directories, and emigration records have not found an Elizabeth Miller with a birthdate and birthplace that match. There are simply too many Elizabeth Millers who might be the right one.

Research by Cathy Broad, 2026

To view Elizabeth’s patient records, click here.

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