Attempted Suicide - Prison, Asylum or Home?

[BlueSavannah]

In my tree I have a Martha Ann Allwood who married Charles Daykin in Sheffield on the 1st April 1895. They are together with their children in 1901 and 1911 at 36 Surbiton Street, Sheffield.

I've found a newspaper article in the Sheffield Evening Telegraph dated 10th Sept 1913 which states that Martha was rescued from the South Yorkshire Canal in Sheffield after she had thrown herself in. The article ends with "Prisoner told the magistrates that she was very depressed at the time" and that she was remanded until the following day so that her husband should attend court.

I haven't found any further article which gives any info on if/what happened the following day and wondered whether she may have just gone home with the husband or she was sentenced to prison or an asylum. I wondered if anyone could shed any light on what the likely outcome may have been as I am aware that suicide was a crimal offence then.

I have found another article in the same newspaper dated 12th February 1915 which states "I, Charles Daykin, Miner, 134 Fitzmaurice Rd, Darnall, will not be responsible for any DEBT or DEBTS that my wife, MARTHA ANN DAYKIN, same abode, may contract from this date". Signed in presence of John R. Keyworth, Newsagent. I've never seen any article like that before and wondered whether it was something to do with Martha's mental state again?

Martha & Charles have a child in the March quarter of 1915 in Sheffield.

Martha died in 1919 aged 44. She is buried at Tinsley Park Cemetery, Sheffield with her abode given as 134 Fitzmaurice Road, Darnall. However, the death registration is in Wakefield which would suggest either she was in prison or an asylum when she died.

Can anyone shed any light for me on what might have become of Martha after her suicide attempt and why she might have died in Wakefield?

Many thanks in advance.

[kiterunner]

The advert saying that Charles would not be responsible for Martha's debts would presumably be because the couple had separated. Are you sure that Charles was the father of the 1915 child?

I did come across an attempted suicide case when I was tracing the family of a woman who was mentioned in my 2xg-grandfather's will, but it was a 19th century one (1880); a solicitor's clerk (John Walter Lee) who was in court for attempted suicide in Manchester. The judge ordered him to "remain in custody until the rising of the court".

[BlueSavannah]

Without the certificate, I can't be sure that Charles is the father of the child born in 1915 but she is buried with Charles and her burial record states the 'wife of Charles'. I know that isn't proof that they were still together but thought that there is more evidence that they were rather than they weren't.

Couldn't Martha have just put Charles as the father on the certificate anyway even if he wasn't?

Its funny how an article can be interpreted in different ways. I just presumed it was something that was connected to her mental state because of the first article 2 years earlier. Maybe when she was ill, she had a tendancy to just buy stuff they couldn't afford. I was wondering if the birth of that child had triggered a major relapse of her depression.

[Olde Crone]

Her death cert might give you a clue as to why she died in Wakefield.

In the 1950s, a neighbour attempted suicide and she received a prison sentence of nine months.

I remember seeing notices in the newspaper - "repudiation of debt"? - certainly in the 60s and I am sure in the 70s as well. The law has only relatively recently changed and until it did, a husband was responsible for his wife's debts. I agree with Kate, it was almost always a sign that the wife had left him.

OC

[BlueSavannah]

Thank you OC. This lady is not a direct ancestor of mine but I feel I do need to get this certificate. I think it might be interesting to see who registered her death also.

I thought it was highly likely she would have received a prison sentence in 1913 for her attempt but there doesn't appear to be any more newspaper articles which reference what, if anything, did happen to her.

[Olde Crone]

Yes, I agree, prison or an asylum. The Courts did not have any sympathy for or understanding of mental illness and I think it very unlikely she was just allowed to go home.

OC

[Mary from Italy]

The advert saying that Charles would not be responsible for Martha's debts would presumably be because the couple had separated.

Yes, I found a similar notice in the Australian papers in the 1940s, and I know the couple in question divorced not long afterwards.

[Mary from Italy]

Couldn't Martha have just put Charles as the father on the certificate anyway even if he wasn't?


Yes, the husband's presumed to be the father of the children, and doesn't need to be present when the birth is registered.

[Olde Crone]

...and actually, unless you have seen the birth cert, you don't know if her husband is named as the father, or whether there is just a blank for the father's name - she was still entitled to call herself Mrs Daykin, no matter who was the father of her child.

OC

[Janet]

Claire, my George Spence was quite obstreperous about wanting to commit suicide, and all it got him was that he was dragged home by the ear by his loving wife. This was 1881 in Leeds (Headingley).
MMF George Spence - which one, where? (http://www.genealogistsforum.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=187530&postcount=43)

[BlueSavannah]

Thank you everyone.

I think I need to convince the hubby to let me buy the death certificate and the last child's birth certificate in the New Year :)

Re-looking at the burial disk, she is buried in the next grave to Charles, not the same one. She's described as the wife of Charles and her abode is the same one they were living at in the newspaper article (and the same one her husband was at decades later when he passed away).

That's interesting Janet, looks like its possible all that happened to Martha was she was dragged home too. I noticed from the burial disk that a month after this suicide attempt, their 8 month old daughter Martha was buried. That can't have helped her mentally at all. It would have been good to have had another article which confirmed what actually did happen to her.

[Phoenix]

I don't remember the exact sequence of events, in an example in my family, but I think it was:

repudiation of debt
husband leaving home
wife in workhouse
husband ordered by board of guardians to provide for her.

repudiation of debt is a pretty desparate step "washing your dirty linen in public" but the couple may end up still under the same roof simply because there is nowhere else for either of them to go.

[Jill]

Going back to your original query about sentences for suicide attempts I've just come across two at Lewes Assizes for 1886 while looking for someone, both were men, one "Found to be insane, arraignment to be kept in strict custody", the other "Entered into recognizance of £20 and one surety of £20 to keep the Peace" while another woman had 1 month's hard labour and another £20 surety.