Hi I trained as a nurse at Cherry Knowle between 1978 and 1981 and there were still patients there diagnosed with GPI. At that time the daily routine in the hospital for the short term patients in the Willows was to go to the OT unit where they could try various craft activities or just socialise. They returned to the ward for lunch and went back to the OT unit for the afternoon. On an evening there were films shown in the hall or other recreational activities such as Bingo. The hospital had a swimming pool as well, and patients could go there during the day. There was a small cafe on the corner where they could go for a coffee. We used to take some of the long term patients for walks down to the beach at Ryhope. Some of the long term patients were also allowed to make their own way down to the local shops. Many of the staff, I worked with said that when they retired they were going to book themselves into the hospital, so they could enjoy three meals a day and all the social activities! It was a nice place to be. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marie Kerr" <[email protected]> To: "ENG-DUR-SUNDERLAND-L" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, September 16, 2007 1:19 AM Subject: Re: [ENG-DUR-SUNDERLAND] Sunderland Borough Asylum (Ryhope) & TheLonnen > Sans St or Villiers St - both of which were side streets off High St > East - > were situated in the East End not Hendon. > As Stan has already pointed out General Paralysis of the Insane or > Dementia > Paralytica was one of the results of syphilis in its tertiary stage > affecting the higher centres of the brain & the pyramidal motor > tracts.Signs > & symptoms include : > progressive dementia - sometimes with delusions of grandeur > progressive paralysis of both legs > fits are common > very marked fine tremor of lips & tongue > Argyll Robertson pupils (present in all neuro-syphilitic diseases) with > unequal, very small & irregularly outlined pupils which fail to contract > to > light. > Patients with GPI often also have another form of neuro-syphilis: Tabes > Dorsalis characterised by deformed but painless swollen joints and a > distinctive ataxic gait where the patient walks with feet wide apart with > marked stamping of the feet. > If your ancestor had ataxia it might have well have resulted in a fall > which led to his diagnosis as these patients do tend to fall about > especially when the eyes are closed or they are in a dark environment. > There were still patients with this dreadful disease in the 60s when I > nursed at Cherry Knowle - the Mental Hospital in Ryhope - and at least one > lady in > her late fifties was newly diagnosed at this time. > Hope this "fleshes out" the diagnosis for you, Rob. > Regards > Marie > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "ROB SHEPHERD" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2007 9:34 PM > Subject: [ENG-DUR-SUNDERLAND] Sunderland Borough Asylum (Ryhope) & The > Lonnen > > >> My great-grandfather George McIntyre died at the Sunderland Borough >> Asylum >> in Ryhope in 1912; his death certificate recorded "general paralysis over >> one year" and family legend would have it that he fell down a lift shaft >> whilst working for the Sunderland Gas Company at Ayre's Quay. I thought > the >> asylum was only for mentally ill patients. Did they take other patients > such >> as those paralysed, or should I be led to believe that his injuries > affected >> him mentally and this was the reason he was there? >> >> Also, does anyone know where "The Lonnen" was in Hendon. My grandmother >> recalls that she and her sister used to walk from Grangetown through "the >> Lonnen" to Hendon (the Sans Street and Villiers Street area) and recalls > it >> was a rough dirt track but can't remember exactly where it was? Any ideas >> anyone? >> >> Thanks >> >> Rob

Hello All My Relatives lived in Ogden St area of Millfield , would anybody know the name of the abattoir nearby as my father talked about it being there when he as lad in the 1920s/30s Thanks Allan Robson

There were two articles published in Volume V, 1904, of 'Antiquities of Sunderland', - the journal of the Sunderland Antiquarian Society : 'The Antientt Chappel in the Corn Market, Sunderland-near-the-Sea' by George Washibngton Bain, and 'The Rev Samuel Turner, sometime Minister of the Corn Market Chapel, Sunderland' by Rev. J. T. Middlemiss. Alan Vickers. __________________________________________________ Tiscali Broadband only £7.99 a month for your first 3 months! http://www.tiscali.co.uk/products/broadband/

Whellan's History, Topography, and Directory of the County of Durham, 1894 has the following information: Ryhope. The Sunderland Borough Lunatic Asylum, at present in course of erection, is splendidly situated on Silksworth Road, near thewater- works. It is a fine building of brick with stone dressings, with accomodation for 350, and will cost about £50,000 when completed. Alan Vickers. __________________________________________________ Tiscali Broadband only £7.99 a month for your first 3 months! http://www.tiscali.co.uk/products/broadband/

Whellan's 1894 Directory has the following information: Gas Works (Sunderland Gas Company, Limited). The original works were established in Russell Street in 1825, and now their principal worls are in Commercial Road. Smaller works are at Ayre's Quay, Hind Street, Strand Street, and Hallpath Street. This company was incorporated in 1846, and supplies an area co-extensive with the parliamentary borough, comprising 2200 public lamps. The cost per 1000 feet to the consumer is 1s. 11d. to 1s 6d. nett, and the average annual consumption amounts to 700,000,000 cubic feet. There are eight gasometers, some of the largest having a capacity of 1,000,000 cubic feet. The principal office is in Fawcett Street. Ward'sDirectory for 1899 - 1900 has the following: Sunderland. Wellington Lane. Ayre's Quay Gas Works. Grant J. Superintendent. Alan Vickers. __________________________________________________ Tiscali Broadband only £7.99 a month for your first 3 months! http://www.tiscali.co.uk/products/broadband/

In a message dated 16/09/2007 10:24:27 GMT Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: I guess what I'm asking is how can I obtain a report of any subsequent inquest? ___________________________________________________________________ Hi Margaret, You best bet is a report in the Sunderland Echo, as once Coroners Records are 15 years old they can be 'weeded' - destroyed or sampled, for example - by the coroner concerned. A schedule of destruction is laid down by a Home Office Circular 250/1967. While Coroners Records are within the definition of public records, for whose preservation the Lord Chancellor is responsible, and should be open to the public after 75 years, many will not survive. However there are exceptions to the 15 year destruction, and apparently it is not compulsory so some coroners choose not to destroy them. Stan

In a message dated 16/09/2007 09:45:44 GMT Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: An acquaintance of mine is putting together a CD collection of old photographs of Sunderland and family groups relating to Sunderland Families with the intention of making them widely available purely on a cost only basis for the benefit of family and local historians. ___________________________________________________________________________ Be aware that original photographs would be the copyright of the photographer for a period of years after the death of the photographer. This is currently 70 years. Sending a scan privately of an individual photograph would probably be acceptable, but including them in a collection for sale is a different matter. Stan

One last posting for today....does anyone know more of then history of Sunderland Gas Company? Rob

An acquaintance of mine is putting together a CD collection of old photographs of Sunderland and family groups relating to Sunderland Families with the intention of making them widely available purely on a cost only basis for the benefit of family and local historians. I've got quite a few original postcards, photographs or other scanned images which I can contribute but would appeal to all the Sunderland "listers" out there, and if anyone has ANY images of Old Sunderland they would like to contribute please email me a copy and I will forward them on. When (and if) sufficient are collected I will let everyone know how to get hold of a copy of the CD. I know from personal experience how such images can really bring a family history to life. Thanks Rob [email protected]

Thanks Stan for the information about the Corn Market Chapel and The Lonnin I can see the footpath marked on a map I have from the turn of the century just as you describe.Was there another well known "lonnin" in the area? At a later date in the 1960s my mother and aunt remember cutting through a "lonnin" from Brian Mills Factory to the Villette Road area. Any ideas Stan? Thanks Rob

Thanks very much for the answers from Stan and Susan regarding my ancestors "general paralysis" I was not expecting him to have died from tertiary syphilis! Can anyone give me more history about the Asylum or life in the Asylum around 1912? Also, what was the treatment for venereal diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhoea at this time? Can anyone recommend a website with details about old medical remedies? Thanks Rob

Hi all, Many thanks Stan for your detailed information about the Corn Market Chapel. Anyone baptised here, assuming they stayed with the Calvinistic Presbyterians, where would they most likely be buried? Did they have there own burial ground which is now no longer there? Do you know of a memorial plaque or anything to indicate the site of the chapel today? Many thanks Claire Moores --------------------------------- For ideas on reducing your carbon footprint visit Yahoo! For Good this month.

Hi Rob, Go to http://gis.durham.gov.uk/website/interMAP/viewer.htm and do a Post Code Search for SR2 8PL and you will see that there are allotment gardens south of the school. It could be this area your aunt remembers. Stan

In a message dated 16/09/2007 09:38:56 GMT Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: Also, what was the treatment for venereal diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhoea at this time? Can anyone recommend a website with details about old medical remedies? ___________________________________________________ Hi Rob, See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syphilis#History_2 Stan

See http://www.my-ryhope.co.uk/hospitals.htm Stan

Sans St or Villiers St - both of which were side streets off High St East - were situated in the East End not Hendon. As Stan has already pointed out General Paralysis of the Insane or Dementia Paralytica was one of the results of syphilis in its tertiary stage affecting the higher centres of the brain & the pyramidal motor tracts.Signs & symptoms include : progressive dementia - sometimes with delusions of grandeur progressive paralysis of both legs fits are common very marked fine tremor of lips & tongue Argyll Robertson pupils (present in all neuro-syphilitic diseases) with unequal, very small & irregularly outlined pupils which fail to contract to light. Patients with GPI often also have another form of neuro-syphilis: Tabes Dorsalis characterised by deformed but painless swollen joints and a distinctive ataxic gait where the patient walks with feet wide apart with marked stamping of the feet. If your ancestor had ataxia it might have well have resulted in a fall which led to his diagnosis as these patients do tend to fall about especially when the eyes are closed or they are in a dark environment. There were still patients with this dreadful disease in the 60s when I nursed at Cherry Knowle - the Mental Hospital in Ryhope - and at least one lady in her late fifties was newly diagnosed at this time. Hope this "fleshes out" the diagnosis for you, Rob. Regards Marie ----- Original Message ----- From: "ROB SHEPHERD" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2007 9:34 PM Subject: [ENG-DUR-SUNDERLAND] Sunderland Borough Asylum (Ryhope) & The Lonnen > My great-grandfather George McIntyre died at the Sunderland Borough Asylum > in Ryhope in 1912; his death certificate recorded "general paralysis over > one year" and family legend would have it that he fell down a lift shaft > whilst working for the Sunderland Gas Company at Ayre's Quay. I thought the > asylum was only for mentally ill patients. Did they take other patients such > as those paralysed, or should I be led to believe that his injuries affected > him mentally and this was the reason he was there? > > Also, does anyone know where "The Lonnen" was in Hendon. My grandmother > recalls that she and her sister used to walk from Grangetown through "the > Lonnen" to Hendon (the Sans Street and Villiers Street area) and recalls it > was a rough dirt track but can't remember exactly where it was? Any ideas > anyone? > > Thanks > > Rob > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Does anyone know more about the Old Meeting Or Corn Market Chapel High Street, Sunderland? Several of my ancestors were baptised here in the late 1700s. Rob

My great-grandfather George McIntyre died at the Sunderland Borough Asylum in Ryhope in 1912; his death certificate recorded "general paralysis over one year" and family legend would have it that he fell down a lift shaft whilst working for the Sunderland Gas Company at Ayre's Quay. I thought the asylum was only for mentally ill patients. Did they take other patients such as those paralysed, or should I be led to believe that his injuries affected him mentally and this was the reason he was there? Also, does anyone know where "The Lonnen" was in Hendon. My grandmother recalls that she and her sister used to walk from Grangetown through "the Lonnen" to Hendon (the Sans Street and Villiers Street area) and recalls it was a rough dirt track but can't remember exactly where it was? Any ideas anyone? Thanks Rob

Hi Rob, The Calvanistic Presbyterian congregation of Sunderland built their first chapel on Half-Moon Lane, an entry near the old Corn Market in the east-end of the town in 1711. This lane was at the West end of the exchange Building, opposite Spring Garden Lane. It was known as the Corn Market Chapel, or Salem Chapel, and was built partly in the garden of George Wilson, who became the first minster. It was probably Sunderland's first purpose-built chapel. Durham Record Office have the Baptism records for Corn Market Congregational Chapel 1717-1837. these are also available on fiche from the Northumberland & Durham Family History Society, You can see the location at 'N' on the map at http://aesica.dur.ac.uk/pip/singlezoom.asp?img=p2387&ref1=2258 Stan

In a message dated 15/09/2007 21:35:11 GMT Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: My great-grandfather George McIntyre died at the Sunderland Borough Asylum in Ryhope in 1912; his death certificate recorded "general paralysis over one year" and family legend would have it that he fell down a lift shaft whilst working for the Sunderland Gas Company at Ayre's Quay. I thought the asylum was only for mentally ill patients _______________________________________________________________________ Hi Rob, General paralysis will invariably mean General Paralysis Of The Insane i.e. syphilis Stan