For a long time, Frances Nadeau was something of a mystery to the GMM Team. Thanks to her admission records, we knew that she was Irish-born from Co. Armagh, a Catholic, and a mother with a history of post-partum psychosis. She was a patient during Dr. Joseph Workman’s time in charge of the PLA, but … Continue reading Frances Mullen Nadeau
Patient Profile
John Murphy
On 1 June 1869, John Murphy was admitted to the Rockwood Asylum for the Criminally Insane in Kingston, Ontario, as Patient #468. The massive limestone complex on the shore of Lake Ontario had been under construction since the autumn of 1859, built by gangs of convicts from nearby Kingston Penitentiary, and was completed a year … Continue reading John Murphy
Den(n)is McNamara
"In the summer of 1844, Dennis had become increasingly 'restless at night'."
Letitia Stephens
AO, RG 10 20-B-4, 1, Provincial Lunatic Asylum Register, "Letitia Stephens." We’re not exactly sure when Letitia Stephens arrived in the Canadas, but she certainly was part of the pre-Famine wave of Irish immigrants, likely crossing the Atlantic in either the 1820s or the 1830s. Her first committal papers at the Provincial Lunatic Asylum in … Continue reading Letitia Stephens
Gender, Migration, and Madness Research Project 