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b. c1881-d.1914
Introduction
There must be many patients buried in the Horton Estate Cemetery who died alone, without family or friends. Not only was there the stigma of mental illness, some families were advised to forget their loved ones and leave them in the asylum. John was one of those anonymous people. It is hoped he found some comfort from the staff, fellow patients and the protective environment he had been taken to and in which he spent nearly three years.
We won’t forget John Burns, even when so little is known about him.
What do we know about John?
In the few records we can find, there is no mention of any family or friends. He sits alone in a family tree. John had been admitted to Horton Asylum on 14th March 1911 when he was 30 years old. The 1911 census was taken two weeks later on Sunday 2nd April 1911. It gives no indication of his place of birth. John could have come from anywhere. On his death certificate a few years later, it records his last address as ‘The Albert Home Lodging House’, Essex Road, Islington. John’s death was due to 1. Fibroid Disease of the Lungs. 2. Epilepsy.
John’s admission to Horton was recorded in the UK Lunacy Patients Admission Register. The name John Burns is a very common one. There do not appear to be any case notes for him, this may be because Horton Asylum records are patchy, some years are missing and some unfit to be viewed but the search will always continue.
What we do know about John are the years leading up to his admission at Horton, and his frequent admissions to the workhouse and the infirmary in St John’s Road, Islington. It’s through these records we get a glimpse of John’s life. Using his address prior to admission ‘The Albert Home Lodging House’ Essex Road, Islington, it is then possible to follow him back for a few years but the records show little information. John had lived in Islington but without knowing about any family or where he came from, John remains anonymous. Was there anyone around his time at the boarding house, to help and support John, as he navigated life in London?
The Years before Admission to Horton
The first time we can match John in any records is in 1905, when he had a three day stay at St John’s Road Workhouse. He was a Roman Catholic aged 24. His occupation then was given as an Organ Grinder, this may have been a street musician who played a barrel organ. They could be rented for the day; literature often portrays these as men of lower classes who played the organ to collect money. Many cities had legislation prohibiting organ grinders and the police would treat them like beggars or public nuisances.
The Lodging House
The Albert Home Lodging House at 87 Essex Road, Islington was the address John used on several occasions. Essex Road is an old street going back many centuries and still holds some of its old character today. Common Lodging Houses in London were usually for the destitute, the vagrants, tramps and the homeless. The residents paid a small sum of money, around fourpence a night. They were notoriously overcrowded and not only was bed sharing common but there could be a two-way relay system where the beds were used by different people day and night. People generally stayed ‘by the night’ rather than long term, so the residents might have alternated between rough sleeping and staying there, depending on whether they had earned any money. At times John is also recorded as homeless on the workhouse records, so it is likely he got accommodation only when he could afford to.
Albert Home was owned by Mr. James Shuttleworth, and he had many other lodging houses and taverns around London. In 1901 there were over 80 men in the Albert Home, most recorded by just their initials, no occupations were noted.
The preference to a common lodging house over the workhouse casual ward was that it did not demand a stint of hard labour but otherwise it was quite similar.
Admission to Horton and death
In the workhouse admission and discharge records, we do see John’s age and occupations. From 1905 to 1911 John had several admissions, where he usually stayed only a few days before discharging himself.. Over the different admissions, his many jobs were recorded as a labourer, organ grinder, vanguard and a hawker. It looks like John was scraping a living as best he could. Prior to his going to Horton Asylum John’s admissions were getting all the more frequent.
When John died, the death certificate had stated that John had epilepsy and it could be possible that his frequent admissions to the workhouse had something to do with his fits. Some of the workhouse records indicate John was admitted to ‘Ishmael Ward’ in the Infirmary. One particular admission records ‘the admission of an unknown man’ and later John’s name is added. Usually, John stayed at the workhouse only a few days at a time. There were few treatments for epilepsy available at this time. Many people still thought it to be contagious, perhaps even rooted in demonic presence. Phenobarbital was discovered just after John was admitted to Horton, perhaps a little too late for him. Epilepsy was still poorly understood, employment prospects were virtually nonexistent, many with this diagnosis ended up in workhouses or asylums.
John stayed nearly three years at Horton Asylum before he died on 16 Jan 1914. He is buried in an unmarked grave at the Horton Estate Cemetery. He will be remembered.
Author’s Note
It is possible John came over from Ireland to get work. His Catholic religion, occupations and lack of named relatives suggest this may be the case. He worked but possibly epilepsy made that difficult. Admission to Horton Asylum would have been a place of refuge and hopefully some comfort to him.
