General Chat

When my great-grandparents died around 1946, in their wills which I have, they left some money for the care of a daughter who was always described as "mentally deficient". My only memory of this lady, my grandma's sister, was when she was ill and in a darkened room at Grandma's and I think Grandma looked after her until she died which was in the 1960's.

I can only assume that she must have been mentally disabled in some way from childhood or even from birth: there is no explanation of her condition anywhere, even her death certificate simply says pneumonia or some such illness.

Has anyone got any ideas about this? I know my parents didn't know what had caused her problems and were worried it might be genetic - since no-one knew better then - but there are no others with any such problems anywhere in the family. My great aunt was apparently quite child-like all her life (a bit like some alzheimers sufferers) and not able to look after herself.

Any suggestions that might help with this puzzle would be appreciated, thanks.

Helen x

If you can remember her I assume she didn't look different and therefore was not downs syndrome.

Maybe she was born normal and had brain damage from meningitis or something.

Or maybe she was just special needs as we would say now (backward my Mum would say.) I wonder if you would ever know.

Do you know how old your Great Grandmother would have been when she had her?

I had an Great Auntie "not quite right" said my grandad she had
hydrocephalus which is water on the brain ...she had a funny shaped head and was backwards said my grandad ( his sister) she lived at home and was cared for by her mum but was later put in a home and died in her late 30s

I know these head spine problems were quite normal and often they lived but not for long so 30s was old .
This condition still happens today together with spina bifida but often a shunt is put in to allow the badies liquids to drain to the stomach ....sadly often these children again are slow learners .This is often called a genetic problem

Pnemonia could have come from this condition

Some good suggestions, thank-you.

Ann, yes, she looked normal; her mother was 32 when she was born and my grandmother was the next child a couple of years later. Not Downs Syndrome, anyhow. She certainly was "backward", I hadn't thought of an infection but that could have had something to do with it.

KempinaThermalhat, her head wasn't at all misshapen, (I know what you mean about hydrocephalus) she lived until she was almost 70.

Helen, it could have been something as simple as lack of oxygen during birth, maybe if the cord was round her neck. I can remember going to school with a little girl (primary school) who was 'simple' as my Mum said. Being born in the late 19th century birth was a hit and miss affair.

Yes, could well have been that, too. Poor lady. Thank-you.

One of my great uncles apparently 'fell on his head' as a baby - or so, so my gran said, my great gran claimed!!
Great uncle Arthur never spoke, but DID have a paper round and could count - he had a great head for figures and was never wrong with the change when he collected the paper money from his customers.
As an adult, he got a job as an upholsterer of trains.
When my g grandparents died, Arthur (the edest) lived with his youngest brother and his family, (he couldn't look after himself) until retirement, when he bacame a little 'difficult' and went into a home.
He was well into his 70's when he died.
From this information, I can only assume he wasn't 'dropped on his head', but was on the Autistic spectrum. Had he been born now, he would have had sooo much help! He also seemed okay when working, but couldn't cope with inactivity/retirement.
My g grandparents never put him down on the census as being in any way disabled either!!

I had an 'inkiling' about Arthur, but never found out about the whole story until after he'd died. Shame really, as, in my youth, when he was still alive, I lived just down the road from the home he was in.
I also live just around the corner from another great uncle at this time - we used to go to the same pub - only found out at a great aunt's funeral some years later, when I met him - but by then I'd moved!!!
(I didn't know many of my great aunts & uncles - all 10 of them - and partners- because we moved around so much)