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b.1876-d.1911
Who was Bridget O’Halloran?
Little is known about Bridget O’Halloran. We can never be completely sure where she came from. Despite searching extensively, there is an absence of conclusive records for her younger years. Her name is common and there are many Bridget O’Hallorans.
I have been unable to trace a family for her. I looked at O’Halloran families in the Southwark and surrounding areas but I had no luck.
So, her story can only be told from when she was 33 years old and she was admitted to the Workhouse in a desperate state.
Admission to the workhouse
Fortunately, there is a record of her examination at Newington Workhouse which at least tells us why she was sent to Long Grove Asylum.
So, what do we know? We know that on 31 August 1909 Bridget was admitted to St George’s Workhouse on Mint Street in Southwark. She is, we are told, a single woman who works as a servant and is aged 33. Her religion is Roman Catholic.
On 24 Sep 1909 she was transferred to Newington Workhouse. I assume she remained there until she was examined on 2 November 1909 by Alexander Smith (Justice of the peace) and John Frederick Williams (medical practitioner). She is deemed to be a pauper of unsound mind, and nothing is known of her background or medical history. In the event of her death the Southwark Guardians are to be notified.
Bridget’s mental health problems and transfer to Long Grove
The facts indicating insanity are as follows:
“She is excitable, restless and noisy. She states patients are being injured and that she is going to be hurt as well. She uses foul language, and she is not in a fit condition to take care of herself”.
She is deemed to be in a fit bodily state to be removed to Long Grove.
Poor Bridget lasted just over a year at Long Grove when she caught Dysentery and died 4 days later. She was buried in Horton Cemetery on 11 January 1911 in Grave 1510a.
Author’s Thoughts
Poor Bridget seems to have been all alone in the world by the time she was admitted to St George’s Workhouse on 31 August 1909. Her medical examination states nothing is known about her medical history, and she has no known family or friends.
It is possible she was of Irish birth, but I have no evidence to confirm this.
There so many Bridget O’Halloran’s it’s difficult to trace our Bridget. There is another UK Lunacy Register entry for a Bride O’Halloran who was admitted to Essex Asylum on 31 July 1906, and she was relieved on 2 July 1907. Presumably her condition had improved. Is this Bridget? Sadly, I can find no corresponding workhouse entry, so this is pure conjecture on my part.
Below is an article from the Coventry Evening Telegraph dated 1 August 1906 which explains why this Bridget O’Halloran was admitted to Essex Asylum. There is no evidence to support the supposition that this is the Bridget I am looking for.
Then there is an entry in the 1901 Welsh census of a Bridget Halloran aged 27 born in London who was working for a Mr Walter Brockington, his wife and their 7 children under 12 years as a Nurse at 40 Plasturton Gardens on the Riverside in the parish of St John’s Cardiff. It is a possibility, but again there is nothing to confirm it is her.
Sadly, poor Bridget seemed to have no one, and her past was lost long before she even entered the workhouse. She could not look after herself. With no home or employment, no support system and mental health issues so severe, there was only one known solution at that time. So, she was sent to Long Grove where she succumbed to an infectious disease that was rife in these institutions, and she was laid to rest in Grave 1510a in Horton cemetery. A victim of circumstances lost to those who knew and loved her once.
