Holloway Sanatorium, Egham

Holloway Sanatorium was founded in 1885 by a wealthy entrepreneur, called Thomas Holloway, who had made an immense fortune through the sale of pills. He wished to bequeath his wealth to a suitable philanthropic cause and devised the idea of opening an asylum for the middle classes whose needs had hitherto been largely overlooked by county asylums which received large numbers of paupers and private establishments which took those rich enough to pay.

His aim was to build an asylum for 'Persons of the reduced middle class who [would] pay a moderate income for their support'. It was to hold two hundred patients, of whom none were to be epileptic, paralysed or dirty. No patient was to remain there for more than a year, no hopeless cases were to be admitted, there was to be no readmission (although this rule seems to have been broken within a few years), and all patients were to come from the middle class. Unlike the bleak austerity of county asylums, which were often constructed and furnished more like prisons than hospitals, Holloway's sanatorium was carefully planned to provide comfortable surroundings, exuberantly coloured and decorated in order to distract the attention of the patients from their mental afflictions. The Sanatorium closed in 1981.

Important: please note that any patient records less than 100 years old and staff records less than 75 years old are likely to have access restrictions. Individual records are not available to view through this website. For details on viewing records please see the Access To Mental Hospital Records page.

The main accession numbers to find records for Holloway Sanatorium at Surrey History Centre are 2620, 3237, 3473, 6864 and 7267. Click on the links to see the individual catalogues of these accessions which provide item descriptions.

There is a further catalogue, 3289, containing general ledgers; subsidiary accounting books, balance sheets and accounts (annual and quarterly). This catalogue is not available on-line and any enquiries regarding these documents must be made direct to the Surrey History Centre.

The principal series of records held at Surrey History Centre relating to individual patients are as follows, although there are gaps in some series.

General Registers, 1885-1899
These give the number in order of admission, date of reception order, date of continuation of reception order, Christian and surnames, sex, age, marital status, condition of life and previous occupation, previous place of abode, religion, by whose authority sent, dates of medical certificates and by whom signed, form of mental disorder, supposed cause of insanity, bodily condition and name of disease if any, whether epileptic, whether congenital idiot, duration of existing attack, number of previous attacks, age on first attack, date of removal, discharge or death, state on removal, discharge or note if died, observations.

Admission registers, 1899-1980
These include date of admission, number, date of reception order, name, age, occupation, address, religion, by whose authority sent, dates of medical certificates and by whom signed, medical condition, date of removal, discharge or death, and observations.

Civil Registers, 1907-1912
Recording the date of previous admission, number, date of admission, date of reception or urgency order, date of last continuation of reception order, whether a direct admission or transfer, name, previous place of abode, sex, marital status, religion, union, county or borough to which chargeable, by whose authority sent, dates of medical certificates and by whom signed, date of discharge, transfer or death and state on discharge or transfer (recovered, relieved, not improved), observations.

Medical Registers, 1907-1930
These include the date of admission, number in civil register, date of discharge, transfer or death, name, civil state, occupation, number of times previously certified as insane, age on admission, on onset of present attack and on onset of first attack, whether first attack, duration of the present attack from onset till admission, aetiological factors, bodily state on admission, instances of epilepsy, form of mental disorder, whether deemed suicidal, observations.

Alphabetical registers, 1919-1948
These include the serial status number, date of reception order, date of admission, general reference number, name, civil state, age on admission, religion, whether voluntary, temporary or certified, date of departure, discharge or death, name of nearest relatives, friends or petitioner.

Civil Registers, 1926-1948
These include the date of previous admission, the number in order of admission, date of admission, date of reception order, date of urgency order, name, sex, type of re-admission/transfer, religion, discharged or transferred, died, date of discharge, transfer or death, observations.

Case Books, 1885-1950
Although a good set is held at Surrey History Centre, some volumes became separated from the archive and are now held by the Wellcome Library in Euston Road, London. They comprise the following (note the dates shown are the admission dates):

Female case books
- MS8159; Case-book A: Certified patients admitted Aug 1885-Dec 1887,
- MS5157; no. 2: Certified female patients admitted January-September 1889,
- MS5158; no 4, Certified female patients admitted July 1890-June 1891,
- MS5159; no. 11, Certified female patients admitted May 1898-May 1899,
- MS5160; no. 17, Certified female patients admitted August 1905- March 1907 and
- MS5161; no. 28, Certified female patients admitted November 1924-October 1926.
Male voluntary case book, patients admitted June 1891-March 1897 (MS5162)
Male case books no. 9 Certified male patients admitted February 1898-April 1899 (MS5163) and no. 11 Certified Male patients admitted March 1901-June 1902 (MS8160)

Detailed entries for those volumes can be found on the on-line Wellcome Library catalogue, http://archives.wellcome.ac.uk.

Case Files, c.1940-1981 (weeded)

Card index to patient case files, 1940-1981

Treatment Registers, 1926-1973
These include a register of mechanical restraint and seclusion, 1926-1941, an insulin treatment books, 1952-3 and a register of treatments by drugs and electro-convulsive therapy, 1954-1961.

Departures Registers, 1928-1948
These include the date of departure, discharge or transfer, date of last admission, last serial status number, name, sex, mode of admission, status on admission and departure (voluntary, temporary or certified), condition when departed or discharged, condition on transfer, address to which patient went, whether first attack, age on departure or discharge and on onset of illness, duration of last attack, aetiological factors, form of mental illness on admission, observations.

Service Patients, c.1948-1951
We hold index of service patients treated at Holloway between 1948 and 1951

Register of deaths, 1931-1951
Register of deaths of voluntary, temporary and certified patients.
Gives the following details: date of death, date of last admission, last serial number, status number in civil register, name, sex, age at death and at onset of last attack, status on admission and at time of death (voluntary, certified or temporary), whether first attack, duration of last attack of mental illness, causes of death, aetiological factors, form of mental illness on admission and on death, observations.

Post Mortem register, 1899-1927
This includes the name and number in register of patient, sex, age, previous occupation, date of admission, date of death, form of mental disorder, certified cause of death, case books, date and hour of post-mortem examination, details of post-mortem examination.

Lyne Place registers, 1957-1961
Lyne Place was originally intended to be used by members of staff, but was adapted for patients' accommodation in 1950. We hold an admissions register for Lyne Place that includes the name, date of admission, age on admission, date of departure, days stayed, remarks. From Dec 1959 includes details of religion and a reference number. Includes a register of patients on leave. Also includes an analysis for the years 1957 - 1959 of numbers of admissions, new cases, those previously treated in the last 12 months, those previously treated for more than 12 months.

Medical Office diaries, 1927-1948
One opening per month, one line per day: admissions (certified, temporary, voluntary - names entered, until 1931 divided into patients and boarders only), numbers (male, female, total) in hospital, at seaside house, in cottages, on trial, note of documents sent to Board of Control, discharges and deaths (recovered, relieved, not improved, died), names of those on trial and died, removals to and from seaside house (names), remarks.

Staff registers, 1884-1961

Contributor:Surrey Heritage