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.

reuben james

 
 

find out more about reuben james

Reuben James was born in around 1853, to parents John (born c.1833) and Jane James (born c.1835).

In the 1861 census, at the age of 8, Reuben was working on a canal boat owned by his father John James, docked at Rowington, Warwickshire. He was accompanied by his brother, John James (born c.1858), and a steerer called Heron Lad (born c.1841). In 1871, he was at home on Sycamore Lane, Oldbury, with his parents, and siblings John, Stephen (born c.1851), Samuel (born c.1855), Eliza (born c.1860), William Henry (born c.1862), Sarah Ann (born c.1866), and Mary Jane (born c.1869)

In the 1881 census, Reuben still lived with his parents, and three of his younger siblings on Clay Lane, in Oldbury. Later that year, on 18 April 1881, he married Eliza Morton (born c.1853) in Quinton. In 1888, he is listed in the electoral registers as living at 6 Sycamore Lane, Oldbury.

Unfortunately, Eliza died at some point between 1881 and 1891. In the 1911 census, it states that Reuben had been married for 5 years, which suggests that it was around 1886 that Eliza passed away. In the 1891 census, Reuben, described as widowed, was living with his mother and father on Parsonage Street in Oldbury.

Reuben James was admitted to Powick Asylum on 16 September 1892, for dementia with general paralysis. He is listed as a widow, and his occupation was labourer at an Alkali Works (producing soda ash for the glass, textile, soap and paper industries). The case notes state that the cause of his disorder was ‘drink and cerebral softening.’ It also stated that he was ‘paralysed on his right side’. On 15 October 1892, the notes report that Reuben ‘had a slight stroke today, affecting the R[ight] side of the body and L[eft] side of the face.’ This happened on multiple occasions in the next few months. It states that he was given Potassium Iodide, and Potassium Bromide. He was given chloral hydrate after an ‘epileptic seizure’, and later given ‘an alkaline mixture’ and sodium bicarbonate. His condition continued to worsen whilst at the asylum. In February of 1903, the case notes state that ‘before admission he was addicted to drink. He is insane and asylum treatment is best for him but in his present condition he might be allowed to leave under section 79 of the Lunacy Act 1890, if his friends applied.’ Section 79 denoted that a patient could be delivered to the custody of a relative or friend, making them no longer chargeable to a union. Reuben was discharged, more than a decade after he was admitted, on 4 May 1903.

In the 1911 census, Reuben was living at the Union Workhouse in West Bromwich. At this time, his mother Jane was living with two of her children, Samuel and Sarah Ann, in Oldbury.  Reuben died at the Workhouse in 1920.  

RECORD

  • Admitted 16 September 1892 – discharged 4 May 1903

  • Labourer

  • Born: c. 1855

  • Died: January 1920, West Bromwich.

  • Father: John James [1833]

  • Mother: Jane James [1835]

  • Spouse: Eliza Morton, died between 1881 and 1891

  • Children: none

1855 c1855, unable to find. 

1861 Census

Reuben: The Queen [boat], Oldbury, Coal Boat. Master: John James.
Canal Locks in the Parish of Rowington, Warwickshire.

Heron Lad, steerer [20], John James (Jr) [13], Reuben James, driver [8] 

1871 Census

Reuben: Sycamore Lane, Oldbury.

John, Boat man [44], Jane [43] John [23?], Stephen [20], Reuben, labourer [18], Samuel [16], Eliza [11], William Henry [9], Sarah Ann [5], Mary Jane [2] 

1881 Census

Reuben: Clay Lane, Oldbury [all born Langley]

John James, labourer [48], Jane [46], Reuben [27], Samuel [23] Sarah [13], Mary [12]

1881
MARRIAGE: Quinton, Worcester. April 18th, 1881.
Reuben James [27] to Eliza Morton [27]
Residence: cannot read

1891 Census

Reuben: 3 Back, Parsonage Street, Oldbury
[John born Evesham, Jane born Worcester]

John, boatman [64], Jane [65], Reuben, boatman, widowed [38], Samuel, boatman [36], Mary [22] 

1901 Census

Samuel and Jane: Nelson Street, Oldbury

Samuel, single [44], Jane, widow (born staffs, Cradley) [73]

1911 Census

Jane etc: 19 Nelson Street

Jane, 5 children living, 4 dead [83], Samuel [58], Sarah Ann Nutt, daughter, widow [43], Samuel Hunt, brother, widower [77]

Reuben: Union Workhouse, 88 Hallam Street, West Bromwich.

Reuben James, widower, canal boatman [54] 

DEATH: Reuben James, January 1920, West Bromwich.

Research by Maddie Hale, 2026

To view Reuben’s patient records, click here.

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