KEENAN FAMILY  in Australia

Henry John Keenan (1842 - 1889)

Last updated: 8 November 2024

"He is a wretched looking illnourished man, 5 feet 4 inches in height with a face indicative of considerable recutal faiu (?). He has a red beard, darker hair, blue eyes, a straight nose and a clear complexion. It is extremely difficult to understand what he says oweing to Constant Choreiform movements of the trunk areas and head. He at any rate seems to be considerably demented tho evidently intelligent and anxious to explain anything connected with himself. He needs assistance to walk. He takes his food, is cleanly in his habits and sleeps well."

The reason for his admission is recorded as: "Medical certificates state that he: "threatened to injure his wife and burn down the house. Believed that one of his children was pregnant and was incoherent in speech...." .  I have not seen the medical certificates. I note that the medical certificate was signed by Mason and Lyttleton. (A Dr J W Mason of Tumut was Government Medical Officer in 1945. In 1903 a Dr William Margrate Lyttleton of Adelong was a Government Medical Officer, and in 1885 he was a medical practitioner.) Under the law at the time - the Lunacy Act of 1878 - any doctor who signs a certificate must have formed the opinion that the person is insane.

Henry's admission to hospital appears to have been what is now called an "involuntary hospitalisation". Presumably Nancy/Ann and family, or perhaps a police officer, formed the view that, owing to mental illness, Henry required care, treatment, or control for his own good or in the public interest, and was incapable of managing himself or his affairs. It appears that based on that view, the police decided to "arrest" Henry and take him to the Gladesville Hospital.  Presumably the intention was that he be given treatment for his mental illness and, if and when he improved, be released to return to Batlow.

The Notice of Death signed by Eric Sinclair, Medical Superintendent of the hospital on 22nd June 1889 states that the apparent cause of such death "as ascertained by Port Mortem examination, was chronic Brain Disease." (See below for a copy of the Notice of Death.)

In 1884, the year before Henry was admitted to Gladesville Mental Hospital, four of his children died:

1. Annie, aged 14, died in April 1884 from typhoid fever ;
2. Elizabeth, aged 15, died in June 1884 from typhoid fever;
3. Isabella (Bella), aged 18months, died in July 1884 when she accidentally burnt to death; and
4. Stuart, aged 4, died in September 1884 from typhoid fever.

According to Dorothy Lovering, writing to me (Peter Keenan) in 1995, her grandfather, John Keenan (1873-1957), told her that Isabella had died "while the others had diptheria and to keep warm they had a big log fire out in the yard to keep the family out of the house (from infection)". Newspaper reports of baby Isabella's death say that when Isabella fell into the fire, Henry "stood laughing and gesticulating by himself".  They also say that Henry "suffers from St. Vitus Dance and is half imbecile".  (See the page titled 1884 News Articles for details.)  It may be that Henry's demeanor and lack of action on this occassion, together with the newspaper reports, started the process by which he was committed to the Gladesville Mental Hospital.

Speaking of hardships, it is worth mentioning too that in about 1884 Henry's son - named identically as Henry John Keenan (born 1878) - got a spinal infection and suffered from epilepsy. The existence of a son with epilepsy is recorded in the Gladesville Mental Hospital records, alongside the prompt/question titled Insane Relations. (Henry's son, Henry, died aged 11 in the same year that Henry died, i.e., 1889. The precise date of the son's death is not known.)

Shortly after Henry's admission in September 1885, the hospital records state that "(His) Choreiform movements are less constant  ... and are absent at night". 

About a month later the medical record says: " He has marked delusions of persecution and believes that he is to be divorced from his wife". 

For the next few years his condition was only described as "No change".

But on the day of his death it is recorded that: "He has gradually grown thinner altho the choreie movements have been kept in check by Hyosoqamine/ Mereki Auiorthous ...”

A postmortem was then carried out to examine his brain. In the summary of the report it is said: "Excess of fluid in the membrane well marked. Macroscopic Structure (?) of the grey matter of the Brain”.

[For more on Henry's time in the Gladesville Mental Hospital see the extract from hospital records that I prepared several years ago.  Also, see further down this page for the copy of extracts made by me in June 1994 from records kept at the Mitchell Library in Sydney.]

I did not find in the official papers any record of letters written to Henry.  Even if his wife and family still loved him, this is not unexpected in the circumstances at that time. His wife, Nancy/Ann, could not write or read. [According to Anita Arnold, Nancy was eventually taught those skills by her grand-children. All of them were not born until after Henry died.] Also, perhaps Henry's sons and daughters - who were aged from twenty-one to one when he was admitted to hospital - could not write either.

Nor could I find any record of Henry receiving visitors while in hospital. But that too is not surprising. His family lived in Batlow, which is a long way (about 280 miles/450 kilometers one way) from Gladesville; and the only means of travel in those times was by horse drawn carriage.

Click the next link for more information about the Gladesville Mental Hospital and its cemetery.

Deceased: 22 June 1889 at Gladesville, New South Wales, Australia.  Death certificate: Registration number 8959/1889; father " age 47 years"; "died Gladesville"; district Ryde, NSW. [There is another death certificates for a Henry John (registration number 14003/1889, but that is for his son.]

Causes of death: See Hospitalisation note above and the link. Henry died without making a will; administration of his estate was granted to his widow, Nancy/Ann Jane Keenan, in April 1891. ( Ann remarried in July 1892, to Robert Hopson, and from then on became known in Batlow as Granny Hopson.)

Buried:  Gladesville, NSW. See section on "Hospitalisation" (above) for background information. The "Burial Register" exhibited below shows that Henry was buried in the Protestant section of the Gladesville Hospital Cemetery, grave number 1089.  However, my research shows that these graves can no longer be located.  But thankfully, the buriel grounds have been preserved, are well cared for and may be visited by the public.  I visited the hospital and its cemetery in mid-May 2024 and said "hello" to Henry. At that time I may have been the only one of his descendants to have visited the cemetery. 

Children:  See the page on  Batlow Pioneers or page on Nancy Jane Keenan (nee Gamble) 1844.

Gladesville Hospital Medical Case Book No. 48, 11/7/1884 to 22/12/ 1885 (4/8175)