My greatgrandfather, Alfred Hemming, a 50 year old male builder, resident in Worcester (prob. New Street) with his wife, Sarah Letitia (Stanton) Hemming and several children, died July 8, 1875 of what appears to be "pthsis and hematopsis" in what appears from the death certificate to be "Lunatic Asylum, Powick." At an unknown date, there is/was is a Powick Pauper Lunatic Asylum apparently owned/operated by the City and County of Worcester, ab out 2-1/2 miles south of Worcester. However, the conditions he had (misspelled, of course) seem more likely to be related to TB than any other cause, and so far as I can tell from the information regarding the surviving family members and their "station," he was far from being a pauper. How can I find out why he was there? Was the Asylum ever anything other than a "lunatic" asylum? There is a suggestion in the notes of the family member who dug this up (since deceased), that great grandfather may have been an alcoholic. Would thi! s suffice to put him in a Lunatic Asylum? As you can tell, I'm waiting with baited breath for this answer, having found a jailbird in my husband's family, as well as another skeleton or two, I wouldn't be shocked by anything.