Two photos I added to my collection recently really brought home to me changes in our society over the last 100 years. They were of two brothers Fergus Kay Crook and Laurence Gilmer Crooks taken in the 1920s. The sons of Robert Kay Crooks and his second wife Edith Margaret Crooks (Nee Smith) they were born in Wigan Lancashire at a time after so many families had been torn apart. Sadly the eldest son Fergus was born with what would be called today a learning disability. In the 1920s however, it was a different time. He must have been so loved. His parent took him to the same studio as his brother to have his portrait taken but over the next few years the bothers paths separated. Lawrence lived with his parents but by the time of the 1939 register Fergus was registered at the Royal Albert Asylum. The hospital was built between 1868 and 1873 and was originally called "The Royal Albert Asylum for idiots and imbeciles of the seven northern counties" It's hard to even imagine a time when this was considered an acceptable title for an institution. The hospital was established under the Lunacy Act 1845, at a time when there was little understanding of the difference between learning difficulties and mental illness but by 1909 it had been renamed "The Royal Albert Institution, Lancaster". There was no mainstream schooling for children such as Fergus in those days and there would have probably been little choice for his parents but an institution. 

Royal Albert Asylum Lancaster
By the time of the introduction of the National Health Service in 1948 the hospital had 886 patients and it was renamed "The Royal Albert Hospital", and by 1968 on it's 100th anniversary there were over 1,000 patients. It wasn't all bad though, many of the staff worked very hard and there are records of an annual staff play, a toy jazz band, football and cricket teams and children’s shows. The implementation of the ‘Care in the Community’ policy in the 80s meant that mentally disabled people were to be treated and cared for in their homes rather than in an institution, Royal Albert Hospital’s patients started relocating back into the community. However it was too late for a new start for poor Fergus. He died in the hospital that had been his home his whole adult life, in August 1981 aged 62 years. The hospital closed in 1996.

Fergus Kay Crooks Dec 1924Read Fergus's story here

Fergus's younger brother Laurence appears not to have married or had children. He lived in Wigan all his life coincidentally dying exactly three months to the day, in December 1981, after Fergus aged 60. Both brothers are buried in Lower Ince Cemetery in Wigan. I really hope they are together.

Laurence Gilmer Crooks Jan 1925Read Laurence's story here

 One of the memorial cards I have had in my collection is to Rose Bourne, a 21 year old young woman who died in 1921 aged just 21 years old. When Rose Bourne was born in January 1900 in Eastbourne, Sussex, her father, Spencer, was 32, and her mother, Jane, was 30. She had four brothers and three sisters. The family lived at 15 Carlton Road in the town. The house still stands, a pretty well tended terraced house, minutes walk away from the seafront. Rose lived with her father Spencer, who on the 1911 census is listed as a refuse destructor. This role appears to literally mean he was responsible for the destruction of the waste after it's collection. Rose was an 11 year old at school on this census and there was no record of any disability for her. She must have been a normal happy young girl, with the fun of living at the seaside and lots of brothers and sisters to play with.

The Wish Tower Eastbourne 1920s
At some point after this census was recorded Rose must have become ill. The family's carefully chosen words on her memorial card give a hint to how much poor Rose must have suffered. 

Memorial Card Rose Bourne Front Memorial Card Rose Bourne Inside 1 Memorial Card Rose Bourne Inside 2 Rose died on the 31st May 1921 and was buried in the family grave at Ocklynge Cemetery, Eastbourne with her mother who only died the year before at the age of 50. It seemed all so sad but searching on Ancestry the large family seem to have produced many descendants to remember Rose. At a time in the country of the great loss of the First World War this family certainly seemed to have their own heartache.

I am lucky enough to have in my collection this photo of Alfred James Stubbs with his daughter Winifred, taken on 27th November 1959 at Great Witchingham Norfolk. The more I researched this elderly man the more impressed I became.

Alfred James Stubbs Aged 101 With His Daughter Lucy Winifred Chilvers (Nee Stubbs)Taken on 27th November 1959 at Great Witchingham Norfolk.

  Alfred was born on the 28th March 1858 in Norwich, Norfolk. He was the tenth of 11 children of Charles and Sarah Stubbs (Nee Smith). The family lived at no 3 Woolpack Yard, Golden Ball Street, Norwich and Alfred's father Charles worked as a poulterer. After his father's death in 1878 Alfred took over the family business. In 1887 he married Jane Louisa Smith and the couple had six children, four surviving to adulthood.  For nearly 80 years he ran the family business. When their home was bombed out during World War 2 and they moved out to Great Witchingham, Alfred continued to travel into work until he was 95.

 The couples second daughter, Lucy Winifred is pictured here with her father in 1959. Lucy was born on the 25th Jan 1894. On the 15th August 1915, at 21, Lucy married Henry Chilvers, a 21 year old young man who also lived in Norwich. Henry had volunteered to become a soldier in the Norfolk Regiment during world war one and Lucy served herself in France during the war with the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. Tragically Henry was killed in action in France, less than two years after their marriage, on the 23rd April 1917. Like so many young widows at the time Lucy never remarried and she lived with her parents until her mother's death aged 95 in 1951 and with her father until he died on 12th December 1960 at the incredible age of 102. Because of his longevity Alfred had been quite a local celebrity giving interviews to local papers. Only retiring six years before his death he gave the secret of his long life to eggs and more eggs. So maybe that should be a lesson to us all! Lucy died four years after her father in 1964 aged 70 years old. This photo was taken outside their home at 2 King's Head Terrace, Great Witchingham Norfolk where the family lived in the final years of their lives.