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 pugh

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Elizabeth Pugh (nee Wellsted) was born in Gloucester in late 1849 to William Wellsted, a carpenter, and his wife Catherine. They were approximately 26 and 24 respectively at the time of Elizabth’s birth, and already had an older child, James, who was about 4 when Elizabeth was born. Elizabeth was baptised on 10th February 1850 at St Michael, Gloucester.

Baptism and census records indicate that Elizabeth spent her early years in Gloucester: the 1851 census recorded the family living in the Barton St Michael area and in 1861 they were living in Half Street. By then, Elizabeth had a number of younger siblings: Catherine (born c. 1852), William (born c. 1857), and Rachel (born c. 1860). Elizabeth’s father’s profession was given as ‘master carpenter’, meaning he was a skilled craftsman who employed others. Indeed, James (Elizabeth’s older brother) gave his profession as carpenter on the1861 census, and we can speculate that he joined his father in the family business. We can deduce that Elizabeth’s parents valued education and that they were able to afford to educate their children, as James was a ‘scholar’ on the 1851 census, meaning he attended school daily, Elizabeth was described as literate when she entered hospital later in her life, and her siblings signed their own names when they witnessed her marriage.

By the 1871 census, Elizabeth had moved out of home and was living and working as a domestic servant in the household of James Wells in Hucclecote, Gloucester. James Wells was evidently reasonably well-to-do: he farmed 233 acres and employed a number of farm labourers, and his house was run by a housekeeper.

On 13th May 1874, Elizabeth married George Samuel Pugh in the parish church at Castle Morton, Worcestershire. Both Elizabeth and George were 24 at the time of the marriage. George gave his profession as farmer. His father was also a farmer. The witnesses to the marriage were William Wellsted and Rachel Wellsted, presumably Elizabeth’s younger brother and sister.

Elizabeth and George settled in Birtsmorton, where their son Samuel Welsted Pugh was born in 1875 and their daughter Catharine Matilda Pugh in 1876. Both children were baptised in the church at Birtsmorton. The family then moved to Cradley, where daughters Elizabeth and Winifred were born. The 1881 census records Elizabeth and her family living at Moswick Farm, Cradley, Herefordshire, where George farmed 20 acres.

The family moved back to Birtsmorton and Elizabeth and George had two more children: William born around 1884 and Charlie born around 1887. On 6th September 1887, aged 37, Elizabeth was admitted to hospital suffering from melancholia. Her medical notes comment that she ‘worked well with her needle’ – presumably sewing and mending - and that she worked in the ward pantry.

Elizabeth recovered and was discharged from hospital on 8th June 1889. The following year, her daughter Amelia was born. The 1891 census recorded Elizabeth, George, their younger children, and George’s widowed mother living at Heron Lane in Birtsmorton. By then, the older children Samuel and Catharine, had left home and were listed as servants in other households.

On 9th May 1893, Elizabeth was again admitted to hospital with melancholia. Her occupation at the time of admission was ‘messenger’, which could mean someone who had an official role delivering letters or telegrams, or could simply be someone who made deliveries to houses and farms. Her medical notes comment that she worked in the hospital laundry. However, Elizabeth’s health declined and she died on 26th February 1900 aged 50. She was buried at Castle Morton.

Research by Kim Fleet, 2025

To view Elizabeth’s patient records, click here.

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