Maud Quarterly
Simon uncovers a sad story of recurring illness in the digitised records on Findmypast
Maud Quarterly was a 25-year-old housewife from Portsmouth whose husband was away at sea for long periods. She suffered from epilepsy, but on 14 January 1910 she was admitted to Portsmouth Corporation Mental Hospital with a diagnosis of “insanity” that had started two weeks before.
On admission, Maud was described as violent and dangerous. She was restless, talkative, experiencing hallucinations, using bad language and constantly demanding alcohol. She believed that the workhouse she had resided in before admission was a brothel. She also came to believe that the upstairs of the hospital was a railway station, and that there were animals in her bed. Maud was observed and supervised, denied alcohol, given sedatives, and encouraged to be calmer. By 30 January she was said to be “quiet, rational, tidy in her dress and well-conducted”. On 18 March she was released back home for a trial period which was successful, so she was discharged as “recovered”.
However, Maud was admitted again for three months in October 1913. She was frightened, tearful and depressed, and believed that God was talking to her directly and asking her to do things. Her admission followed a similar course to the previous occasion, and she was discharged in January 1914. In October 1916, Maud’s behaviour attracted police attention, and she sadly died not long afterwards following an epileptic fit complicated by heart failure.