Richard Orr (1845-1890)

Richard Orr was the last child born to John and Magdalene (Bird) Orr. He never married nor had any known children.  His census records always show him living with family or boarding so he probably never had a home of his own.  I can find no mention of him in newspapers.  He only lived at most about 45 years (his death record list him at 40 years of age.)  But his life was quite unique and troubled.
In her book  Ancestry of W. M. Richards and A. Elizabeth "Betsey" Gwinner, Mary Beth Dunhaupt Figgins cites some correspondence giving his birth date ad 26 May 1845.  She also offers other possible birth years as well but since this is the only source giving a day and month, I will take this as the most likely date.  It should probably be noted that almost none of the items concerning Richard point to that year.  Here is a table of sources which give his age and the date of each source and the extrapolated year of birth assuming he was born on 26 May of some year.

Source	Date of Source	Age	Extrapolated Year of Birth
1851 Census	30 Mar 1851	3	1847
1861 Census	07 Apr 1861	15	1845
1871 Census	02 Apr 1871	24	1846
Gartnavel Admissions	27 Feb 1874	30	1843
1881 Census	03 Apr 1881	32	1848
Death Record	16 Feb 1890	40	1849

While the exact date may be in question there is little doubt he was born at Drumbathie, near Airdrie, Lanarkshire.  He shows up in the 1851 Scotland Census as shown in the clip below.

Figure 1: 1851 Scotland Census, Drumbathey House, Burgh of Airdrie, New Monkland, Lanarkshire.

Richard's age appears to be "3" despite the extraneous markings on the page.  However he also is listed as "Scholar" which would indicate he is in school -- an odd thing for a 3-year-old, but perhaps I don't understand the use of the word or the educational system at the time.

Early years

In the 1861 Census, Richard's brother James and family are living at "Drumbathy Rd. Farm" and (in a adjacent census entry) Richard is living with his mother Madeline in "Drumbathy Rd. House".  It would seem that they all lived at Drumbathie but that there were two separate residences.  James was farming the land (about 45 acres) and his house is marked as having one room "with one or more windows."  Madeline's and Richard's house has two such rooms.  The average number of such rooms in a Lanarkshire residence was 6.3 and was 4.3 for all of Scotland.
Also in 1861 Richard's occupation is given as "Draper (Apprentice)".  A draper was probably a dealer in cloth, although it could apply to those who made cloth.  The weaving industry was prominent in the Airdrie area.  I have no information if he worked for one of the drapers in town (there were several) or perhaps he worked with his mother who was listed as a "Staymaker" (i.e. maker of corsets.)

Figure 2: 1871 Scotland Census, 15 Montgomery Pl., South Leith Parish, Edinburgh Scotland.

The 1871 Census (see partial image in Figure 2) finds Richard lodging at 15 Montgomery Place in South Leith Parish of Edinburgh.  I have found a Montgomery Street in South Leith in the time period and assume that Montgomery Place was nearby.  This is within a mile of where his brother Alexander was enumerated in the same census. The entry for Richard raises several issues with little resolution to any of them.

• His occupation is listed as "Student" but no indication of what or where he was studying.
• There are several households listed at the same address.  I don't know if these were in separate buildings or it was some sort of apartment building.
• He is listed as a "Lodger" with the only other person in the household, Helen Higgie, who is listed as the head of the household.
• He and Helen are both listed as married (ditto marks in that column) but it is obvious they are not married to each other for he would be listed as "Head" or "Husband" instead of "Lodger".  Since no other source lists him as married, I believe the census taker is in error for Richard's entry
• Other research indicates Helen Higgie was probably the second wife of Samuel Higgie, a "Traveller" in the cork business.  A traveller was similar to modern-day sales representatives, or traveling salesman.  This probably explains Samuel's absence although other explanations are possible.  I find no connection between the Higgies and the Orrs

Although the entry raises more questions than it answers, I believe it is the right Richard Orr (it lists his birthplace as Airdrie for instance).  It also serves as the closest indication that he ever lived "on his own."

A Troubled Mind

That Richard had trouble in life becomes obvious with the next record of his life.  He was admitted to the Royal Lunatic Asylum at Gartnavel (in Glasgow).  It would appear that at the time Richard was back in the Airdrie area living with his mother.  The admission paperwork (see Figure 3) lists the address for both of them as "Reevies Land Flowerhill, Airdrie".  Drumbathie Road turns into Flowerhill St as it proceeds toward town.  There was a family of Archibald Revie who was a cotton weaver living at 65 Flowerhill St. (1861 Scotland Census) and kept a shop at 71 Flowerhill St. (Slaters, Directory of Scotland, 1878).  This leads me to believe they were living on the lands of the Revie family on Flowerhill St. in Airdrie.  This is less than a mile from the old home place, Drumbathie, which was then occupied by his sister Madeline Armour and family.

Figure 3: Wellcome Library Archives, Records of Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Reference: HB13/7/81

Two certificates (i.e. affidavits) from qualified medical personnel were required by law to admit a patient of "unsound mind".  They were both filed from examinations taken at the "Burgh Police Office" at Airdrie and declare him to be a pauper and thus the hospital bills will be charged to the Lanarkshire Government.  The observations provided are from two general practitioners -- Patrick Rankin and James Paterson -- with additional observations from Captain Sinclair and Lieutenant Nelson.
Rankin observes that he has a "Peculiar expression", is "incoherent" and that he imagines "that he is controlled by some power that continually annoys him and plans to injure him."  Sinclair says he is "of a peculiar religious turn of mind."  Paterson apparently knew Richard.  Here is a clip of his observations.

Figure 4: Wellcome Library Archives, Records of Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Reference HB13/7/81

Transcription: Morose silince -- would neither speak nor in the least recognise me though he well knew me -- Previous Knowledge  Peculiar expression of countenance.

Richard was kept at Gartnavel Asylum from 27 Feb 1874 until 5 Feb 1875.  The Surgeon's  Reports continue to describe him as "morbidly suspicious", "taciturn and morose", continually reading and writing  "letters that are not quite coherent".   He frequently "writes letter[s] complaining of secret agencies, which he styles 'low organic powers', acting upon him."
Although his dismissal was termed "Relieved" I don't know that he had improved. The only dismissal statuses recorded are "Recovered", "Relieved" or "Died" and he certainly doesn't fit the other two possibilities.  The last entry in his case file is recorded 22 Dec 1874.

Figure 5: Wellcome Library Archives, Records of Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Reference HB13/7/81

"His brother" mentioned in Figure 5 is likely Alexander who lived in Edinburgh.  There was only one other brother living in country (Thomas) and there is nothing to suggest they maintained much of a connection.  It was certainly in Edinburgh that Richard lived out the rest of his life.  On 19 Sep 1878 he was admitted to the Royal Asylum in Edinburgh (aka Morningside) still suffering from delusions and paranoia.  It seems oddly coincidental that this was only nine days after his sister, Madeline, had entered the Bothwell Private Asylum.  Richard's residence is given as "8 North Pitt St." which is the address of Alexander's shop at the time as given in this ad from March.

Figure 6: The Scotsman; 29 Mar 1878; pg 3

Physically his entrance documents describe him as "thin"," tall and sallow" (he weighed 147.5 lbs. and he was 5' 10") with black hair and grey eyes.  He had been brought in by the Sheriff Substitute of the county with the required two Medical Certificates attesting to his mental issues.  One certificate states "His mind is deranged, chiefly on the subjects of religion and dress" and that his brother stated that he "is incapable of taking care of himself."  The second Certificate corroborates his sad state and elaborates that his brother says "he is very extravagant in his notions and conduct - e.g., he set for Syria without means or assistance."   His patient records say he "Wishes to go away to find employment as an agricultural labourer, and mixes that up in an absurd manner with some idea of preaching."  Indeed his entrance document lists his occupation as "missionary" despite the fact other documents show him as a general laborer or clerk.
On 22 Sep his patient record entry notes that he is "taking his food well, and sleeping fairly well", but notes that he is still suffering from delusions.  It also notes that "he spends a great portion of his time in drawing squares, circles, etc. on paper, and putting down figures, as if making abstruse calculations and when asked why he does so, will not answer the question, or says that these are his property."
On 1 Dec the entry says in part, "No change mentally.  Has now the parole of the grounds, and so far has not abused his liberties in any way."  That would not last long as the last two entries in his record show.

Figure 7: Lothian Health Services Archive: LHB7/51/32/p2; Patient Records for Richard Orr.

Transcription: Dec 15, [1878]: Escaped when on Parole; Jan 12, 1879: 28 days having elapsed since his Escape he was this day discharged.   Not Improved

Richard shows up in the 1881 Scotland Census at the home of Alexander at 8 North Pitt St. in Edinburgh.  Also living with them is their mother Magdaline at age 77.  The census indicates that Richard is a "General Labourer" and that Alexander employees 6 men and 2 women, but doesn't say that Richard worked for his brother.

Richard's Death

As to what happened to Richard in the 1880s, I would speculate that he continued to live and work in Edinburgh where his brother and mother could look after him.  I have not exhaustively searched to determine that he was not admitted to an asylum again at some point.  Much of what I know is from Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh records where Richard was admitted on 14 Feb 1890 and passed away two days later.  There were several causes of death listed in his death records and his post mortem report including acute Bright's disease, acute oedema of lungs, pleuritic effusion, hypotrophy of heart.  He had been living at 44 Pitt St. as was his brother Alexander who reported Richard's occupation as "Commercial Clerk".
I know nothing of his burial.  I am told that there might be undertaker records at the Scottish Business Archive at the University of Glasgow, but I have not probed this source.  The undertaker was Moir & Co. of Edinburgh.