Dear Stevie The Wadlsey Asylum became part of what was known as Middlewood Hospital which closed in the early 1990s. The site has now been redeveloped with houses but some of the original buildings have been preserved and converted into luxury apartments. As far as staff records are concerned the rules are that the staff file must be kept until the individual reaches the age of 70 after which it can be destroyed. I would think therefore that your grandfather's file was probably destroyed in about 1965. However as Jeremy stated there may be some records in the Sheffield Archives. The following is a link to the UK National Archives website which gives a bit more detail about hospital records http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/hospitalrecords Hope this helps Ewan Armstrong Sheffield UK -----Original Message----- From: John & Stevie Smith [mailto:john.stevie@escape.net.au] Sent: 24 April 2005 10:19 To: ENG-SHEFFIELD-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [SHEFF] Wadsley Asylum Hi Listers My grandfather Fred Portman b 1895 was a nurse at the Wadsley Asylum Sheffield and later a gardener there. I do not know exactly what years he worked there but I know he was working in a coal mine until after his marriage in 1916 so it was post that time. I found a site on Google which told me that it had been demolished. Will it still be possible to find records of my grandfather's working life there or will they be protected by privacy laws? If anyone has any knowledge of the Wadsley Asylum I would be interested to hear from them. All the best Stevie Smith Perth Western Australia ==== ENG-SHEFFIELD Mailing List ==== It helps others to know which message your replying to, so always add a little of the text from the message to which you are responding. Some subscribers (myself included) have short memories. ============================== Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx