Ann Lockton PICK (nee THACKER) at Lincoln Asylum
Ann's absence from the family home in the 1871 and subsequent censuses puzzled me a great deal. Husband John was not recorded as a widower, even at the 1891 census which was shortly before his death in the same year. His wife could have been visiting friends or family on the occasion of each census but this seemed unlikely from 1881 onwards as daughter Eliza was described as housekeeper for her father at that time. Finally, a speculative search of census records for inmates of hospitals, workhouses and prisons turned up an Anne Pick aged 39, a labourer's wife, born Corby (Corby is two miles from Burton Coggles) inmate of Lincolnshire County Lunatic Asylum, Bracebridge in 1871 and the same, aged 58 born Grantham, in 1891. I decided that if she was ill it was possible that she was not capable of giving the census enumerator or his representative accurate information about her birthplace. However, she was not to be found in Lincolnshire in 1881 at all which seemed odd if she was an inmate of an asylum. Luckily the Lincolnshire Asylum records for the relevant years had survived and a visit to Lincolnshire Record Office confirmed that this was indeed John Pick's wife Ann.
Some time shortly before Christmas 1870, at the age of 36, Ann discovered she was pregnant with her ninth child. The discovery seems to have been an unwelcome one as on Christmas Day she complained of being ill and said she had "taken some nice poison". Whether she was trying to abort the child or commit suicide is difficult to say but from this point on she appears to have been suffering from a mental illness of some kind - probably schizophrenia. Between the 26th December and 30th she visited the vicar of St Thomas a Becket, Burton Coggles parish church at 11.00am each day asking for food. Her behaviour was sufficiently disturbed for a nurse to be called to care for her, at the expense of the Parish. However, on the following day Ann left the house unattended at 10.00am and was later found wandering the snow-covered fields of Burton Coggles without shoes or stockings.
Ann was admitted to Lincolnshire County Lunatic Asylum, Bracebridge on 4th January 1871 in an apparently emaciated state. She is described as 5ft 1ins tall, weighing 7 stone 1 ¾ ounces with light brown hair and blue eyes. At some time in the past she had broken her right leg which was scared and slightly deformed. The medical certificate describes her condition as 'raving and praying that she may have her lamp lit ready to meet the Bridegroom, and singing God Save the Queen'. The nurse engaged to care for her in Burton Coggles reported to the Asylum that Ann had not slept whilst in her care, took no notice of her children, was unable to recognise the presence of her husband unless told he was there, imagined that people were hiding in the cupboards, was 'naturally' careless, lazy and indolent but temperate (she was not drunk or in the habit of taking strong drink) with a ravenous appetite (due to her pregnancy?).
Once admitted she gave the staff some considerable trouble, raving incoherently and shouting and taking her clothes off. At night she would stay awake singing hymns and God Save the Queen. By the end of January she had quietened down but did not care for herself at all and complained of head pains and by mid February had developed a small abscess on her breast and an ear infection. She appears not to have been communicative throughout despite being in the 'special' care of a nurse. The progress of her pregnancy was noted and on 29th July she was 'confined of a son, a fine child.' Initially Ann took great interest in the child but soon became indifferent towards him. Sadly, by September she is reported as not believing that the child is hers. The final reference to her son in the notes is on 19th September when he was vaccinated. Searches of parish and national records for the birth and/or death registration of a male child with the surname Pick at this time has proved negative. It is probable that he was 'adopted' by another family and the birth registered by them in their name.
For the rest of 1871 Ann's demeanour and health improved and she was put to work in the Asylum laundry. This work came to and end the following June when she became violent towards other inmates. The outbursts of violence continued and in early 1874 she was moved to another ward. Initially this seemed to calm her but soon the violent outbreaks returned and this time she was restrained and given a purgative. For the next three years her condition changed little and providing she was left alone to do needlework or knitting she remained quiet although unable to hold a rational conversation. In December 1879 she contracted erysipelas (a skin infection) on her face which was treated with 'perimbrate(?)' of iron and extra diet. The infection had disappeared by February 1880 when she was described as 'quiet and irrational in conversation, employs herself with some fantastic and useless needlework'.
On 31st May 1880 she was transferred to Wadsley Asylum in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which explained why I was unable to find her in Lincolnshire in the census of 1881 - she is recorded at the South Yorkshire County Asylum, Wadsley as a pauper patient aged 47, housewife, place of birth unknown. At the time of her transfer her weight was recorded as 7 stone 13 ¼ ounces - nearly a stone heavier than at her admission to Bracebridge ten years before. However, by the time she was returned to the Lincolnshire institution in February 1882 she weighed only 6 stone 10 ounces and in April she contracted 'English' cholera which weakened her still further. The following year, 1883, she had recovered sufficiently to be employed in the laundry again - this time folding clothes. But, despite an increase in weight (she is described as 'stout' for the first time) her general health was, by this time, not good and with a pulse of 100 and rosy cheeks she was already, at the age of 49 showing signs of heart disease. The reports indicate that she may have been a little happier at this stage and is described as being at times cheerful although still preferring to be left alone, often looking out into the garden. There is a gap in the records from 1886 to 1891 and it may be that there was no change worthy of note during that period.
In 1890 the 'Recertification Lunacy Act' came into force, which prompted a reassessment of mental cases and in 1891 Ann is described by Assistant Medical Officer, J.W. Marsh as having chronic mania and being, at times, violent. She has 'hallucinations of hearing': imagining she can hear voices when the 'clouds roll'. She also has heart disease. A year later she had lost weight again and had a chronic cough. Over the following four years her mental condition remained the same but her heart gradually worsened and in May 1896 she was prescribed belladonna (digitalis). Ann died at Bracebridge Asylum on 21st December 1896 at the age of 63.
John Pick, Ann's husband, had moved away from Burton Coggles to Somerby some time between 1871 and 1881. He remained living in Somerby village where he died in 1891, five years before Ann's death. It is unlikely that Ann was notified of his death or even that the Asylum authorities were aware that he had died, as on her death certificate she is described as the wife of 'Pick, labourer (Corby, Grantham)'. She, and the Asylum, had forgotten his Christian name and neither he nor the family had kept in touch with the authorities responsible for her care. A sad postscript, but one which was repeated many times in Victorian asylums.
Sue Gordon 3/8/07
Postscript
Ann Lockton Thacker's last child, born in Lincoln County Lunatic Asylum on 29th July 1871, was baptised in Bracebridge parish church on 24th September 1871. The father was recorded as John Pick of Burton Coggles and the mother as Ann Pick of the Lunatic Asylum. The boy was named John, after his father. Sadly, the infant died the following November, aged 5 months, at a house in College Street, Spittlegate, Grantham. Although reportedly born healthy, little John died of 'marasmus' a term used for wasting away, probably from malnutrition. The child's death was reported by 'C Pick', also of College Street. This was probably a widowed aunt, Catherine Pick.
27/2/13
Thomas Pick and Elizabeth Money
Thomas Pick and Mary Wortley
John Pick and Ann Lockton Thacker
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