Adam Burrows was born sometime around 1842 and was the older brother of my Great Great Grandfather Alexander Burrows. I know a bit of his life history from the previous letters I have shared in earlier posts. For some reason, Adam was not able to live by himself and was dependent on his family to take care of his needs. He ended up living and working in the Sligo Union Workhouse after his father, Alexander Burrows of Drum, died in 1889. Adam lived there until his death in 1915. How did he end up there? What kind of life did he experience? I was fortunately able to find quite a bit of information online and DNA cousins added other resources to help with Adam's story.
Adam was at home in Drum as late as August of 1890 when both Jane White and Emy Burrows wrote to Alexander in Grass Valley, California. Drum House was in a state of disarray and Adam was not able to get his meals; he went to Crawford's farm next to Drum House to eat. He was sleeping alone at night. At this point, it looks like the family had no one to take care of him at home, and the house was to be sold. Adam's appointed guardian, his brother Tom, was not in the area and though expected home, apparently never came back to take over his responsibilities. Sister Emy was already planning on going back to New York. Sisters Jane White and Margaret Porteus lived a distance from Drum and had homes of their own to take care of. Adam's brothers Alexander and John had been living in America for quite some time. Adam's life was in the hands of the Reverend Thomas Moulsdale, the executor of Alexander of Drum's will and the Rector of Ballysumaghan Church.
By December 1890, when Jane White last wrote to Alexander, Adam was "in the poor house..his legacy is doing him little good...Moulsdale won't allow anyone to interfere with him..". The Reverend Moulsdale had placed Adam in the Sligo Union Workhouse.
The new Sligo Union Workhouse was erected in 1840-2 on a nine acre site a mile to the north of Sligo. Designed by the Poor Law Commisioner's architect George Wilkinson, the building was based on one of his standard plans to accommodate 1,200 inmates. (see map above). The buildings in the Sligo Workhouse followed Wilkinson's typical layout. An entrance and administrative block at the south contained a porter's room and waiting room at the center with the Guardian's board room on the first floor above. The main accommodation block had the Master's quarters at the center, with male and female wings to each side. At the rear, a range of single story utility rooms such as the bakerhouse and the washhouse connected through to the infirmary and idiots' wards via a central spine containing the chapel and dining hall. Adam was most likely living in the idiots' ward.
The Workhouse housed the poor, sick and starving of Sligo during the Great Famine in the mid-1840's, and there is now a memorial to those buried in the workhouse graveyard that you can visit. The fever hospital is the only building left of the workhouse. The site is now the home of St. John's Hospital. (Information taken from The Workhouse in Sligo, Co.Sligo https://www.workhouses.org.uk/Sligo/).
Note the location of the Famine Graveyard in the map below (in green letters). I also noticed the location of the St. Joseph's Special School nearby. It currently serves children ages 5-18 with profound to moderate to mild learning disabilities. Also note the location of the Clayton Hotel Sligo to the right. It was the location of St. Columba's Hospital in the mid to late 1800's through 1922 and was the county asylum.
By the second half of the 19th century the makeup of the workhouse population reflected the changing role of the institution. At the end of the 1800's around 75% of the inmates in Ireland's workhouses were officially classified as sick or as "other", a group which probably comprised mostly the elderly and the infirm. (thestoryofireland.blogspot.com). Adam was around 48 years old when he went into the workhouse at the end of 1890 and was 73 years old when he died there in 1915. What exactly was his infirmity?
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According to this newspaper article written on the 7th of November, 1896, Adam was classified as an imbecile as well as a lunatic. The term imbecile implied someone of limited mental ability who was unable to manage themselves or their own affairs (comparable now to an IQ of 25-50 or someone with a moderate learning disability). In the 1911 Irish Census, Adam was classified as someone with dementia. Dementia was also used interchangeably with the term imbecile on that census. (Ireland Census 1911). We can safely say that Adam had some kind of mental deficiency which prevented him from living by himself or taking care of himself. The court was being petitioned to have him declared a lunatic. According to the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act of 1871 ..."the word 'lunatic' shall be construed to mean any person found by inquisition idiot, lunatic or of unsound mind and incapable of managing himself or his affairs.." (www.irishstatutebook). Robert Porteus, the husband of Margaret Burrows, was asking the court to take control of Adam as a lunatic and that his trust be used by the court for his continued maintenance. As of 1896 Robert had become Adam's guardian, most likely because Tom was in South America.
Why had the family given up responsibility for Adam? In the letters of 1890 both Emy and Jane mentioned the difficult circumstances at Drum after their father had died. Emy mentioned her "sufferings in Drum" and how she suffered as her "poor mother did, which you are well aware of". Perhaps she was referring to taking care of Adam at home. Adam asked her to stay, but she said "that I dare not do". Taking care of a family member with disabilities can be extremely difficult, especially without help. She also mentioned that her older sister Margaret wanted Adam to go to the asylum. Once Emy left for New York, there was only the Rev. Moulsdale looking out for Adam's interests. Why wasn't Moulsdale fulfilling his duties pertaining to the will?
Two years earlier, the Sligo Champion Newspaper reported the death of Reverend T H P Moulsdale on the 26th of May, 1894. He unfortunately met with a serious accident at cemetery hill in Carraroe Townland as his trap overturned while he was passing another horse and cart on the lane on the 19th of May. Thomas did not survive the accident. His wife Amy Moulsdale was injured in the fall, but survived. The newspaper article described Thomas Henry Platt Moulsdale as being "exceedingly popular in Ballysumaghan where he had resided for more than eight years past. He had previously been in Manorhamilton for a considerable time and was there also much respected and esteemed". He was buried in the Ballysumaghan graveyard along with several other Burrows family members. (Thank you, KKelley for sharing this article).
It is sad to think that after all the planning Adam's father had done to make sure he would be taken care of Adam would end up living in the workhouse with provisions from the will under control of the court. His family was no longer willing to watch over him and the Rev. Moulsdale was dead. What little legacy Adam had left to him was just enough to maintain him in the workhouse, the place where the most vulnerable in society ended up.
What were conditions like there? The British Medical Journal published reports on workhouse conditions in Ireland in 1895-6, including the Sligo Workhouse Infirmary. Adam would have been housed there during their commission visit. I have taken excerpts from the report to share here (you can see the entire report on the Sligo Workhouse at workhouses.org.uk/Sligo/ under BMJ Reports on the Nursing and Administration of Irish Workhouses and Infirmaries, 1895-6). Using our modern era to compare levels of care it was very difficult to read this report.
..."There is an average of 140 patients, who were thus distributed: the men in the hospital proper, where also we found the female lunatics placed at one end of the block and the male lunatics at the other. In this block there were about 70 beds....At the time of our visit there were 70 women and 38 men...."
..."The patients in this hospital included a cretin of 23 years of age, who in size and general appearance resembled a child of 5 or 6. The poor little creature seemed to be a general pet in the ward, or perhaps we should rather say that he furnished some amusement to the inmates.....The bedsteads in this division are "harrow" frames, with straw ticks and pillows; a board let into the wall forms the bed head. The majority of the cases were helpless old age and chronic diseases..."
....."There is no night nurse for these patients. The day staff is quite inadequate, and, in the words of Dr. Murray's report, 'the night nursing is in the hands of paupers.' ....The listless, apathetic air of the idiots and epileptics (in the female ward) showed that nothing was done in the way of occupation for the lightening of their unhappy lot. The male lunatics are slightly better off; they have the use of an airing court, such as it is, some of them find occupation about the house, and they are not so overcrowded. As the workhouse is close to the county asylum the more dangerous inmates are removed thither as there is room in the asylum..."
...."It is the same old tale, almost nauseating in its iteration, of the entire absence of anything like decency or sanitation, when we come to the conveniences provided for the inmates. Outside are privies on the waggon system; indoors, bucket, pails and commodes are used in the infirm wards...a basin and a round towel are provided for common service among the sick, and a bath or two, without hot water. Every drop of water has to be carried to the wards for use, and carried away when used, and when warm water is required it must be heated in a kettle or fetched from the main kitchen..."
Starting in 1899 the Sisters of Mercy provided the nursing staff in the workhouse infirmary in Sligo. The Roman Catholic Religious Order was associated with their care for the poor and sick, and were also employed as teachers. They were used in other workhouses around Ireland as well. Hopefully, the conditions in the workhouse improved with the addition of the more qualified nursing staff.
What was Adam doing in 1901? The 1901 Census of Ireland is the earliest complete census to survive the Public Records Office explosion during the Irish Civil War. Adam was listed on this census, number 28 at the bottom....
Adam Burrows, Irish Church, Cannot Read, aged 59, Occupation/None, not married, born in Co. Sligo, Imbecile. How long affected? 50 years.
Adam died in the Sligo Union Hospital on the 19th of December, 1915. He was 73 years old.
