First Patients
Initially, 'difficult' patients, were referred to the asylum from the workhouse by the issue of a
reception order by the Relieving Officer of the Parish.
The first male patient (No1.). admitted to the hospital from the workhouse on 3 rd January
1851 was Matthew Holmes age 26, a tailor from Ireland, and a Roman Catholic. He died on
11 December 1871, age 46 after 20 year in care. The Asylum was nowhere near self-
supporting, and many patients were employed in sewing rooms, kitchens, coir (basket
weaving) and laundries in order to reduce the costs of running the hospital, so it is probably
no coincidence, that those patients with practical skills became long term patients .John
Redfern, who was a painter, and Philip Payne, who was a shoemaker, were inmates for 38
and 28 years respectively. Other patients were found wandering by the police or were
transferred from local prisons. The hospital, therefore, also became home for prostitutes,
brothel keepers and murderers.
Louisa Catlin
One of the first woman patients (No.29), was Louisa Catlin, admitted on 24 January 1851,
She was a married woman, a Catholic aged 45, and a dressmaker, who came from Haydock
Lodge Manchester, which was a private asylum. In the 1851 census, her birthplace was listed
as Prestwich. It is not possible to trace her in the 1861 census because there is only one page
remaining of the female patients listings and that contains just twelve names, but by 1871,
she has become a widow and the records now give her birthplace as France, and a British
subject. She died on 21 September 1895 age 89 of Acute Bronchitis after 44 years in care.