The above image is of the Hamilton Insane Asylum taken circa 1910 in the Public Domain, courtesy of the Toronto Public Library Archives.
Catharine may have arrived from London to Canada in 1876, on the “Peruvian” ship, docking in Quebec, accompanied by William and Robert Chipchase.
Catharine Immigrating from London on “The Peruvian” in 1876; Source: ancestry.ca
Catharine arrived at the Poorhouse in December 1877. She was discharged from the House just a few months later on March 8, 1879 and was “Sent to Gaol as Dangerous lunatic”.
“Sent to Gaol as dangerous lunatic” from House of Industry and Refuge Logbook, page 93; Source: Waterloo Region Archives
She was accompanied by another inmate, Frederick Helwig, who were both too dangerous to be staying at the House.
House of Industry & Refuge
Berlin 5th March 1879
The Standing Committee met this day –
Present Messrs Chapman, [Halter], Jaffray, Shoemaker, Walter and the Warden, & the Physician.
Mr Chapman in the Chair –
Bills and Claims from No. 504 to No. 511 both inclusive were audited and allowed –
Moved by Mr Jaffray and seconded by Mr. Walter That the Physician, Inspector and Keeper be and they are hereby instructed to take the necessary steps to procure the commitment to the County Gaol of Inmates Frederick Helwig and Catharine Chipchase as dangerous on the ground that they are insane and dangerous to be at large –
Carried
At some point over the next year, Catherine was sent to the Asylum for Insane in Barton, Ontario where she died at 26 years old, March 22, 1882. Her death record lists her as dying from “Epilepsy many years” which is what she entered the Poorhouse with in 1877.
Catherine Chipchase’s death record 1882 at Asylum for Insane Barton; Source: Ancestry.ca
