Lilian Maude BOWDLER (nee EVANS) 1885 - 1952 (General)

by JaneyH , Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Saturday, July 06, 2019, 15:25 (1974 days ago) @ JaneyH

Earlier this year another family historian encouraged me to apply for the records for my great-grandmother held at Devon Archives in Exeter. While initially I wanted a trip down there and do the research myself, it's hard to fit it in while working full-time and family life in general. So ... I asked for a quote for having the work done by the staff there and they reckoned it would be about an hour's work, costing £34. This may seem like a lot, but when you compare the cost of travelling from Kent to Exeter, and an overnight stay, it's relatively cheap.

I've now got copies of both medical and administrative records, and a sad story they tell. After agreeing to 'go to Westbury for a few days' as the 1922 newspaper article stated, she ended up staying there for seven years. In 1929 she moved to Gloucester Mental Hospital - I'm assuming this may have been because Westbury closed around then (or at least no longer took patients such as Maud). In 1938 she was moved from Gloucester to Deepway just outside Exeter. The move seems mainly to do with funding: her husband had moved to Devon by this time so Gloucestershire didn't want to fund her care any longer.

She was schizophrenic; she had delusions and hallucinations, and was on suicide watch throughout her time there. No family ever visited, and there are only a small handful of letters from family members. There are various legal letters from 1944-45 relating to my great-grandfather divorcing her, and medical staff having to certify as to her condition. (The Matrimonial Causes Act 1937 had introduced mental incapacity as a grounds for divorce.) She died in 1952 from stomach cancer and was buried in the hospital cemetery. While the hospital has been turned into luxury apartments, the spot that was the cemetery is not built on. I've looked at pictures on google streetview and - perhaps - one day I'll visit tp pay my respects.