1911 census mystery

[carolegif]

I have used up all my credits, but found the ancestors, however, my father's older sisters were not in the family home. I have looked up on the 1911 site and they are listed as being in an institution. Nothing in the family was ever mentioned about this and my Dad knows nothing (he was born in 1919). I have got two lots of credit today already so it means I will have to wait. What kind of institution could it be?

[Tallulah!]

Marshalsea or some other prison, Workhouse or even Mental Home? Boarding School The Forces.

[moonshadow]

Possibly a children's home, at that time if people couldn't look after or feed their children they placed them in the care of the local authorities. If Catholic they also had their own institutes run by nuns for this purpose.

[carolegif]

I knew these ladies in their old age and neither had learning difficulties, although another sister did. Lizzie lived until she was in her 90's. The family were living in a house in Liverpool with a brother aged 10 and another aged 19months and they even had a lodger!

[dot.hawkes]

Possibly they were in a hospital wing of the local workhouse suffering from something like measles, that was quite common before Hospitals became seperate institutions in the cities

[carolegif]

Thanks dot. I just spoke to my Dad and he said that he had a sister who died of measles, so perhaps they all ended up in hospital, or taken as a precaution with a baby in the house.

[dot.hawkes]

what you could do is locate her death certificate and see if she died in the same institution

[dot.hawkes]

Measles could also be the reason for the other sisters learning disabilities as the side effects could be devastatiung including blindness

[Mr Veritas]

I think that on the 1911 Census,"Institution" just means any large building that is not the family home/house.
So it could be a sinister meaning,but it could also mean a Hotel/boarding house/or the place they were employed in that provided accomodation.
After reading about it,I looked up King George V & Queen Mary,and both their entries have "Institution" listed,so I don't think Buckingham Palace could be classed as a Mental Hospital.
On second thoughts................

[carolegif]

Found them! They were in the East City Hospital, Old Swan, Liverpool. Dad thinks that they may have had measles, but the sister that died with measles died in 1904. They've also had their names spelt wrongly so hopefully I will get some credits from FMP.

[dot.hawkes]

If the names were transcribed wrongly you may well get credits. but if the name on the original was wrong you won;t.
may have some info on that hospital for you too

[carolegif]

Hope you can get some info, I would be grateful. I think the hospital is still used as a minor injuries unit. I could only get one page of the hospital for one sister and a transcription of the other as it would be too expensive to pay for pages and pages of hospital inmates listed on the census. The name is correctly spelt on the form, but wrongly transcribed. I ran off another sheet for a relative that had 10 spelling mistakes for a family of 4!
I look forward to hearing from you.

[dot.hawkes]

Bez asked about the hospital and she thinks it is the Rathbone now:
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool- news/regional-news/2008/12/30/celebrities-send -get-well-messages-to-new-liverpool-hospital-u nit-for-mentally-ill-64375-22571909/
which would fit in as it says in that link it was a former fever hospital

[carolegif]

Thanks dot & Bez. Their nearest hospital was on Smithdown Road, but that was linked to the workhouse which probably explains why they were in Old Swan. My Dad is sure it was measles and as they had already lost one daughter to it several years before when she was the same age as another sibling in 1911, they took no chances.