Scotland, Mental Health Institutions Registers & Admissions

The records were compiled by Emma and Graham Maxwell from records retained by the National Records of Scotland. Stuart Farrell has provided the Inverness District Asylum records. The amount of information listed varies, you may be able to find a combination of the following information about your ancestor:

• Name

• Age

• Birth year

• Birth place

• Death year

• Death date

• Occupation

• Former residence

• Place found

• Year

• Institution

• Institution county

• Patient identification number

• Notes – may provide detail about the condition of the original records

• Archive

• Archive reference

This collection of admission and register records includes records that were transcribed by Graham and Emma Maxwell from the original records held at the National Records of Scotland. The records for Inverness District Asylum have been provided by Stuart Farrell.

The admission records are part of the MC2 series, Notices of Admissions by the Superintendent of the Mental Institutions. The 52 institutions are listed below, among them are poorhouses and asylums. During the nineteenth century, treatment for mental health vastly improved. In the first half of the century, it was recognised that people suffering from a mental health disorder should be treated separately and facilities were created. Various campaigns continued to improve the conditions of those housed in these institutions.

The register records are part of the MC7 series, General Register of lunatics in asylum. The register covers patients admitted to an asylum in Scotland. The records include a death date for the patient.

Newspapers are an excellent source to find out more about the living conditions for those in asylums as well as the number of patients and their disorders. On 18 August 1859, the Caledonia Mercury published the 32nd annual report of James Murray’s Royal Lunatic Asylum in Perth. The report listed melancholia and despondency, monomania, acute mania, and chronic dementia as the reasons some patients were held at the asylum. The report also mentioned one patient whose condition was ‘connected with the celebration of the Burns’ centenary’. The centenary of the birth of the national poet Robert Burns took place in 1859. However, it did not provide any further information about how a centenary celebration lead to this person being admitted to a mental health institution. The report also revealed that female patients outnumber male patients and the average age found in the asylum was between 40 and 50.

Abbey Asylum, Paisley

Alexander Chalmers' Asylum, Musselburgh

Asylum, Elgin

Asylum, Greenock

Asylum, South Leith

Barnhill, Glasgow

Burgh Asylum, Paisley

Campie Lane House, Fisherrow

City Parish Asylum, Glasgow

Crichton Royal Institution, Dumfries

Cunninghame Combination Poorhouse, Irvine

Eastport House, Musselburgh

Englishton House, Kirkhill

Englishtown House, Inverness

Garngad House, Glasgow

Gartnavel, Glasgow

George Davie's Asylum, Tranent

Gilmore House, Liberton

Hallcross House, Musselburgh

Hawkfield House, South Leith

Institute For Imbecile Children, Dundee

Inverness District Asylum

James Murray's Royal Asylum, Perth

John Scott's Asylum, Musselburgh

Lilybank House, Musselburgh

Longdales, Bothwell

Middlefield, Old Machar, Aberdeen

Millholme House, Musselburgh

Newbigging House, Musselburgh

Poorhouse Asylum, Falkirk

Poorhouse, Dunfermline

Poorhouse, Edinburgh

Poorhouse, Govan, Glasgow

Poorhouse, Greenock

Poorhouse, Irvine

Poorhouse, Linlithgow

Poorhouse, Old Machar, Aberdeen

Poorhouse, Paisley

Poorhouse, South Leith

Poorhouse, St. Cuthberts, Edinburgh

Poorhouse, St. Nicholas, Aberdeen

Poorhouse, Stirling

Poorhouse, Stranraer

Poorhouse, Thornhill

Royal Asylum, Aberdeen

Royal Asylum, Dundee

Royal Asylum, Montrose

Royal Asylum, Tranent

Royal Edinburgh Asylum

Saughtonhall, Edinburgh

Seabank House, Musselburgh

Southern Counties Asylum, Dumfries

Spring Bank Retreat, Garscube Road, Glasgow

Whitehouse, Inveresk

• Begin your search broadly with just a name.

• While searching for a specific institution, remember that many asylums and facilities changed their names repeatedly during their years of operation. For example, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Glasgow, first opened as the Glasgow Lunatic Asylum. After it received a royal charter in 1824, it became the Glasgow Royal Lunatic Asylum. In 1931, it was renamed the Glasgow Royal Mental Hospital, and in 1963, it adopted its present name.

• If needed, you can narrow your results by including additional search criteria such as a year or additional keyword.