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AP Wolf
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 1282
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Friday, August 20, 2004 - 5:25 pm: | 
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I have a feeling that we aint ever going to recover records from this particular institution:
Terrible fire at Colney Hatch Asylum
Researched by Henry Rollin, Emeritus Consultant Psychiatrist, Horton Hospital, Epsom, Surrey
A fire, attended with the most disastrous consequences and involving a fearful loss of life, occurred early yesterday morning at Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, the large hospital for the pauper insane belonging to the London County Council, and situated at New Southgate...
A few minutes after half-past 5 yesterday morning the steam siren at the asylum sounded the fire alarm, and the inhabitants of New Southgate, Barnet, and Edmonton, the parishes surrounding the asylum, who swarmed into the streets, saw a startling glare showing from the asylum grounds. It was evident that a disastrous fire, which had already obtained a strong hold, was in progress. A number of local residents climbed the wall of the asylum at the rear with a view of rendering assistance, but their aid was refused. The fire which had broken out so suddenly and was destined to end so tragically began at the bottom block of the temporary wards. It burnt from the outset with great fury, and in a few seconds the whole of the southern block, known as X ward 5, was involved. The buildings, being erected on timber frames and lined with matchboarding, of course fed the flames, and there being a high wind blowing at the time, every element necessary to assist the blaze was present. The asylum house fire brigade at once resolutely attacked the fire, but apparently they were in difficulties owing to the lack of water, and they were also short-handed for a task of such magnitude as that which confronted them, there being less than a dozen of the asylum staff drilled as firemen resident inside the walls. The heat and smoke created by the fire were also bad elements to contend with, it being im- possible to approach the burning block. In these circumstances it was not surprising to the spectators to observe after a very few minutes that X Ward 4 had burst into flames, which had swept along the commu- nicating corridor, meeting with no opposition, while by this time the iron sides and roof of X 5 were almost at a white heat.
The Hornsey Fire Brigade had been the first to get their steamer to work, but they were unable to do any effective duty until they had dammed a brook at the bottom of the slope, about 400 yards from the fire. When they began to play upon the flames it was too late to prevent the total destruction of the temporary wards, which, in little more than an hour after the outbreak was discovered, had been burned out from end to end and had crumpled down. One after another the doomed huts burst into flames. For a while each burned with a brilliant glare, the flames shooting high into the air through the slightly-constructed roof. Then the roof and walls collapsed amid a shower of sparks, and the fire swept on to claim its neighbours. One by one in this rapid way all five of the wards tumbled down, a heap of smouldering ruins.
When day dawned, while some of the firemen pumping water from the brook below continued to play on the red hot débris, others began the terrible task of searching the ruins. Then it was discovered that the fire had claimed many victims...
REFERENCES
The Times, 28 January 1903.
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AP Wolf
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 1284
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Friday, August 20, 2004 - 5:42 pm: |
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Apparently Colney Hatch was full of nutters:
'In 1932, for some unknown reason, Aleister Crowley decided to visit the Colney Hatch Asylum in North London. It was here that Crowley's first wife, Rose Kelly, had been committed for alcoholic dementia, but during this visit he came to see his present wife, called 'The High Priestess of Voodoo'-Maria Teresa de Miramar. He had married Maria in Germany on August 16th of 1929 and about a year later in July she took up residency at Colney Hatch. It was during this visit that the Great Beast met Dr. Alexander Cannon. He records in his diaries on July 5th, "Cannon has rather a bug in his brain over hypnosis. He advised me to leave Maria severely alone. He agreed that the case is hopeless, even should sanity temporarily return." (3) It is obvious that Crowley agreed with the doctor's advice since he left Maria at Colney Hatch. Then again, Crowley had already replaced her with a new Scarlet Woman named Bertha Busch. When Maria was finally released she would return to Nicaragua where she would die in a seedy hotel room from an overdose of heroin.'
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AP Wolf
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 1379
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 - 3:46 pm: |
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As I've been out of touch recently this might well be old hat, but this site does seem to contain a wealth of information about the residents of Colney Hatch - and other lunatic asylums of the Metropolitan area - including admittance records for exactly the time period we require; and even records of inmate's behaviour and condition:
library.wellcome.ac.uk/assets/wtl039744.pdf
(containing extensive records of the London Metropolitan Archives). |
Bronwyn Flack
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Monday, September 19, 2005 - 12:36 am: |
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I am loking for information on an attendant at Colney Hatch. Sidney Benjamin SMITH was employed there during the 1881, 1891 and 1901 census.
Is there anywhere I can obtain any other information on him eg section he worked in? |
Robert Charles Linford
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Robert
Post Number: 5116
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 05, 2005 - 6:46 am: |
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Bronwyn, there are some records at
http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/leisure_heritage/libraries_archives_museums_galleries/JAS/lma/records_held.htm
Robert |
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