Alexander Allison

Alexander Allison was a shoemaker.  That was a common occupation in Linlithgow and not only was his father a shoemaker but his father-in-law was as well.  As yet I don't know if he was working in a factory in the town or whether he had his own business but the 1861 census has Alexander, his wife and one daughter living in a 4 roomed house, indicating some status so there is a good chance he did have his own business.  His wife was a grocer in later censuses so the shop-owner possibilities seem likely. 

As stated, Alexander's father was also a shoemaker as was his father-in-law.  In fact, over a third of the employed male population worked in the boot and shoe industry and related trades such as tanning.  It is said that the secrets of leather-working and boot-making were learned from Cromwell's soldiers when they were billeted on the town.  The loch, of course, came in handy for the work but the place must have stunk.

I lost Alexander in the 1871 census for a while, finding his wife without him but still married, not widowed.  Any thoughts of infidelity melted when I found him in the Larbert Lunatic Asylum.  He must have been one of the first inmates as the asylum only opened its doors in 1869.  I manually trawled the Medical Health records at the National Archives and have located the medical notes which were taken at and before his admission to the hospital and the salient points are listed below -

The MC2 register gives all the papers relating to his admission including two doctors' reports from GPs in Linlithgow. Much of it is standard wording and recording but some parts are worth noting. The front page starts with matter of fact details but gives his condition on entering as -

"he is labouring under melancholia. With respect to his bodily health and condition he is very weak and emaciated, but is apparently a little stronger than when admitted".

Various facts were then listed

Admitted - 9 September 1870
male 64 years
Married
Journeyman Shoemaker
Protestant
Linlithgow (to pay)
Length of time insane - several years, worse since October 186? - last digit obscured by binding but looks like it should be 9
Whether first attack - Only attack
Supposed cause - no cause
Epilepsy - No
Whether suicidal - Threatening
Whether dangerous to others - Threatening
Next of kin - Dorothy Hardy, Linlithgow, wife
Family known to have been insane - Not known
Signed off by George Hardie, Inspector of Poor of Parish of Linlithgow

1st Medical Report Doctor Geo Dallas Baird FRCS Edinburgh GP Linlithgow

Facts indicating Insanity observed by myself
Has a very haggard look, moves his feet incessantly as if walking. He had a morbidly watchful look, and repeated words and dwelt upon triffles (sic).

Other facts (if any) indicating Insanity communicated to me by others
By his wife and son
that he was labouring under constant apprehension and suspicion, that he often hinted that he might commit suicide, and felt a desire to injure others, sometimes was much agitated took hold of his wife's arm and screamed.

2nd Medical Report George Hunter Doctor of Medicine GP Linlithgow
Facts indicating Insanity observed by myself
Has a watchful suspicious look. Continually talking & repeating himself. Imagines people are stealing his money and property. Fancies he sees people in positions where it is impossible they could be.

Other facts (if any) indicating Insanity communicated to me by others
From his son
Has threatened to commit suicide, that he has sometimes a strong impulse to kill. Won't permit his wife to follow her usual avocations.

 

He was discharged on 18th February 1872 to his wife but wasn't noted as being cured, just "relieved".  He had been in for 17 months.  He survived for another seven and a half years but we have no way of knowing what quality of life he had, whether he could be treated with sedatives or whatever.

Strawberry Bank, where he died, is entered from the canal towpath.  He died of apoplexy which could be a stroke but there is no indication of a connection with his previous problems.

Wasn't it cruel to put the Asylum in Goukhill?  Of course maybe the address came later!  (Note - Subsequent checks show that Goukhill farm predated the hospital so they actually chose to put it there). Gouk or Gowk is a Scottish word for cuckoo and also for a fool, as in Huntegowk.

My brother Stuart, who has experience of working with such patients says -

We get so used to depression being a treatable illness nowadays, it was a pretty awful illness before any understanding of the causes or therapies, still can be. It mentions a several years duration of illness prior to admission so I assume things must have been pretty bad at the point it was decided his wife could no longer cope. You get a sense of how fearful he must have been, and I doubt Larbert Asylum would have allayed those fears! It sounds like he had become quite deluded and hallucinated, probably hadn't been able to attend to his own hygiene for years and was probably anorexic. Although it refers to suicidal and violent thoughts it doesn't mention whether he had self-harmed at any point, though I don't know to what extent anything like that would be kept off record?

In 1870 I can't think what they would have had in the way of therapy. Very little of any effect I would have thought. When I first worked in Craighouse I had to pass through an underground tunnel with vaults off, where 'experimental' therapies had been tried over the years, from cold towel baths to insulin comas, lobotomies to early ECT, but those were mainly in the 20th century, in the 19th I imagine waiting for some remission was often the best that could be hoped for.

Nowadays with luck Alexander would stay at home and get effective pharmaceutical therapy, possibly assisted by psychological therapy and functional and emotional support in his own environment.