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b.1875 – d. 1910
This is a story that will require revisiting once we can obtain more information from the non-digitised Asylum records which may name family members or previous addresses.
Assumptions could be made but are not going to be made here until evidence can be provided.
From the evidence we have available today, Alfred Albert Brown was admitted to Long Grove where he died. From that starting point we can be sure of the following life he had through the Asylum system;
Hanwell Asylum
On 23rd May 1902, Alfred entered the Asylum system, being admitted to HANWELL asylum and discharged ‘Reld‘ ~3 years later on 21st June 1905. There is a request with London Metropolitan Archives to check for any further details. This may need to be paid for.
Rubery Asylum
On the same day of discharge, he enters RUBERY Asylum, in Birmingham. It was common to be moved from Asylum to Asylum. Admission is recorded on 21st June 1905, and discharged ‘Not Improved’ on 27th April 1908. Having spent another ~3yrs here. There is a request with the Birmingham Archives to check for any further information.
Long Grove Asylum
Upon discharge from Rubery, Alfred is finally admitted to Long Grove Asylum on the same day, 27th April 1908.
His Discharge by Death is recorded 2yrs later on 11th July 1910, and he was buried in the Horton cemetery on 14th July 1910, the record states aged 35.
GRO Death: Surrey, v.2a, p.20
Authors Note
Whilst there are potential records which could be Alfred, there is not enough evidence to link them for definite.
There is a very strong chance the Alfred Albert BROWN that entered the ‘Mint Street’ Workhouse aged 15, and discharged himself by own request 2 days later in 1888 could be our Alfred, but we need more evidence to prove this link.
There is a baptism in 1876 of Alfred Arthur BROWN, which shows a traceable birth in June 1874, and parents William and Susan Fry Brown. This then leads on to a census in 1881 and bunch of siblings, but this is really a guess; the Alfred in the workhouse lists a birth year of 1873 and at 15 he should remember.
There is another Alfred Albert Brown around the same time too, who goes on to live well beyond 1910, we mustn’t confuse the two.
A story to be continued...
