Susan Whiting 1871-1961

Parents:       John Whiting and Emily Binks (1)
Born:             1871 in Little Wratting. (1)
Baptised:    14th January 1872 at St Mary's Church, Little Wratting.(2)
Married:      None
Children:     None
Died:              1961.(3) 

Bio:                Susan first appears on the 1881 census living with her parents in Little Wratting where she is a scholar. Again on the 1891 census she's residing with them in Little Wratting working as a factory seamstress at the age of 19.

Then, on the 1901 census we see her still at home but with no occupation mentioned. Instead she is referred to as a 'lunatic'. Whether this was preferable to being in the other available category of 'imbecile or feeble minded' is hard to guess!

On the 1911 census in the column for 'infirmity' we find Susan referred to as 'feeble minded'. She is still at home with her widowed father in Little Wratting, her occupation is given as 'nil'. 

Her sister Christiana is a housekeeper with the family, and younger brother William is living with them and working as a agricultural labourer. It seems then that the family looked after Susan while they could, which was no doubt more preferable to her than being stuck in an Asylum. Indeed, on the 1921 census she is still living at home and is referred to as 'mentally afflicted'.

On the 1939 Register, Susan is noted as being 'incapacitated' and among the patients in the White Lodge, Newmark, along with her brother William Whiting, 52, and sister Christiana Whiting, 78 (4).

It's not clear what happened to her in later years, but there is a Susan Whiting who died in the Sudbury district in 1961 who seems likely to be her. 

Sources:      

(1) Birth Index. 4th Quarter 1871, Risbridge District, Volume 4a Page 402
(2) Suffolk Baptism Index, SFHS, Clare Deanery 1812-1900
(3) Death Register. 2nd Quarter 1961, Sudbury District, Volume 4b Page 963
(4) 1939 Register. The National Archives, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/6662i.