In 1976, my sister Carol wrote to the Ministry of Health, St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital, asking for information about Gramma. At that time, the hospital preferred to communicate with physicians, so instead of answering Carol directly, they sent a letter to Dr. Wall, Carol’s doctor in North Bay.
The additional information given here is that Gramma was only in St. Thomas Hospital from November 1945 to February 1960 – less than 15 years. She was actually in Toronto for the first 15 years of her commitment, from December 1929 to November 1945. Its very ironic that Mom worked and lived in Toronto in 1942. From Frankish Avenue to New Toronto Mental Asylum is a 50-min transit ride. So close and yet so far!
Carol wrote again in 1980, requesting more information.
From December 21, 1929 to November 9,1945 Florence was at New Toronto Hospital when she was transferred to St. Thomas hospital. This letter says she lived in Mattawa, but all documentation shows she was only in Widdifield.
Below is a picture of the New Toronto Hospital from inside one of the “cottages”.
The Mimico Asylum was referred to as a “cottage system” with underground tunnels connecting all the cottages. This is the best site I found with pictures and history of the hospital. (CLICK HERE). The verandas have been removed and the buildings and property are now the Lakeshore Campus of Humber College.
Interesting side-story:
In all the years I lived in Toronto, I only ever tried to find the “hospital” by just driving around the area where the downtown hospital used to be. I didn’t do a lot of research and only had a foggy idea about the “cottages”. I even took Mom for a drive once to look around in an area I thought may have been where the hospital used to be, but didn’t find anything interesting. Around 2010, I joined a theatre group called Etobicoke Players and volunteered to work as their Front of House Manager. I drove to the building where they held the plays, an older early 1900’s type building, parked the car and looked straight ahead out the front windshield and saw this.
And I knew immediately what I was looking at. It was an epiphany!! 🙂 I remember saying out loud, “Holy crap! Thank you Gramma!”
In 1986, I wrote to the St. Thomas hospital, trying to prob them for more information.
Years later, I went to the Ontario Archives and made a personal request for information and this is all they would give me.
And in 1988, I wrote to Mary Morrison asking for information as I had nothing to lose.
And that was that!