Hi all,
Glad to be back after a long absence! Now I'm back, I could do with your help.
I have discovered that two of my ancestors died in asylums. One at Powick in 1919 and the other at Barnsley Hall in 1926.
I am interested in accessing patient records for these institutions and know they are kept at Worcestershire Archives. Trouble is, the records remain closed for 100 years after the date of last entry due to data protection laws.
There are dozens of records I have identified on their online database which I want to view but it seems like a lot of hassle to get the information I need. I have been told that I need to contact someone at the NHS for permission, then prove that I am next of kin by ordering birth certificates and then pay the archive people to do a search for me. This will end up costing a small fortune for all the records I'm interested in Plus, some of the records I'm interested in are for events that occurred more than 100 years ago, but they are still restricted because there are more recent events in the same file! Even burial records are restricted, despite containing details of deceased individuals.
Does anyone know of a quicker and cheaper way of accessing restricted records that I might have missed? As always, your help is much appreciated.