St. Mary's August 2015 Magazine

Mary CliftonIn 1765, William Clifton, a Finedonlabourer, married Mary Clarke ofSpaldwick, Huntingdonshire, inFinedon church.Our overseers of the poors’accounts record that, in December1792, the overseers paid SamuelDines £1.7s.6d. to take her toBethlem Hospital, London. Thisinstitution was commonly known asBedlam, and was used toaccommodate the insane.Considering that an adult pauper wasexpected to survive on 1s.6d. aweek, the overseers would not havepaid out such a large sum unlessMary’s condition had been serious.The archives of Bethlem Hospitalrecord Mary’s admission on 27thApril 1793, and in May our overseersgave her husband, William, fiveshillings to go to London to visit her.The Bethlem archives further recordthat on 5th November 1793 Mary,having contracted smallpox, wastransferred to the London SmallpoxHospital, where she died ten dayslater.On 7th December the overseers paidMary Mould three shillings for“Cleaning Wm Cliftons wife’s clothes”with a view to recouping some oftheir outlay, but in March 1794 hadto pay the two hospitals’ chargesamounting to £2.15s.2d.Mary Clifton was not the onlyFinedon pauper sent to Bedlam.Judith Colson, who had to be put inhandcuffs and tied to two stakes, was10