06 October 2015

Maud Milverton and the Asylum in Porirua




Recently I was writing an assignment and came across a family member called Maud Mary Milverton whose probate record said she was from Palmerston North, but temporarily of Porirua. Maud had died in 1909 and I had collected her coroner’s report several years ago not really paying much attention to it. I do seem to have a thing with not really reading records due to the messy handwriting, but it is a skill that has to be learnt especially in the age of the internet and typed documents. It never twigged to me why she would even be at this location let along temporarily. It only dawned on me when I translated the coroner report on her death.

Over the weekend when I decided to fix up my records and put them back in their correct locations after I had used them for a separate assignment on probate records and deaths. I decided to try and decipher the hand written coroner report. After getting some help from a fellow family historian in translating the names of the doctors and coroner involved, I had my story. The record was only three pages long with a report from the doctor and the nurse who was present during the event. There were no recommendations or anything else that would say what needed to be done. The place at Porirua was actually the mental hospital located in Porirua just north of Wellington. Maud had been admitted in December 1908 suffering from Mania later developing erysipelas which is a rash that appears on the body. She later developed pneumonia, which lead to her death in March 1909.

With a little bit of research, I found I could visit the asylum now a mental hospital museum. They offer tours once a week and I found the story to be interesting especially the changes in the mental health acts within New Zealand. The facility is actually located within the hospital grounds so no longer separate from the rest of society. Accessing records to patients will be tougher as you do need permission as the records are still restricted. At least I do know the records are accessible. You never know what records you may have in your possession even if one lot of records are a little vague. The records if they can be accessed might provide an insight into what happened with Maud. I did have a little confusion between the coroner being a medical examiner, but he was a legal expert, not a medical doctor. There does seem to be many stories about the hospital from when it began in the 1800s until the mid 1900s.

Sources
Porirua Lunatic Asylum

Porirua Hospital Museum

New Zealand National Archives, Mental Health fact sheet

Coroner report National Archives New Zealand
Coroners inquests - Case files - Wellington - Milverton, Maude Mary - [Use copy MICRO U 5451] (R23733208)

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