Olive Laws
William Laws > Benjamin Laws > Edmund Laws > Robert Laws > Charles Laws > Olive Laws > Mary Laws
Olive Mary Laws was born on 3 June 1883 at the Commercial Hotel in Liverpool in Sydney. She was the daughter of Charles Vincent Laws and his wife, Mary Ann (nee McGarry). The family lived at the hotel where Charles was the licensee.
Olive was my great-great-aunt and I became interested in her story when I discovered that she gave birth to an illegitimate daughter in 1904, never married and died in what was then called an 'insane asylum' of the effects of syphilis at the age of only 33. The lot of women who gave birth to illegitimate children in the early 1900s was a sad one and I continue to research her story.
Olive was my great-great-aunt and I became interested in her story when I discovered that she gave birth to an illegitimate daughter in 1904, never married and died in what was then called an 'insane asylum' of the effects of syphilis at the age of only 33. The lot of women who gave birth to illegitimate children in the early 1900s was a sad one and I continue to research her story.
Birth of a Daughter, Mary Laws
On Saturday 11 June 1904, at the age of 21, Olive gave birth to an illegitimate daughter whom she named Mary.
The baby was born at St Margaret's Maternity Hospital in Sydney which at the time occupied four terrace houses in Elizabeth Street in Surry Hills (corner of Cleveland and Elizabeth Streets). The hospital had been founded in 1894 with the primary aim of providing obstetric services to unmarried and destitute women [1].
Mary's birth certificate gives Olive's address as 11 Moorgate Street which was where she was living with her parents and younger siblings. Moorgate Street is now in Chippendale however in 1904 it was considered to be simply part of the Sydney CBD. The Dictionary of Sydney notes that the area was very poor and rundown until the end of the 19th century.
Note that in March 1905 Olive's sister, Lillie, and brother-in-law, Charles Merrin, also lived at 11 Moorgate Street, Chippendale.
The baby was born at St Margaret's Maternity Hospital in Sydney which at the time occupied four terrace houses in Elizabeth Street in Surry Hills (corner of Cleveland and Elizabeth Streets). The hospital had been founded in 1894 with the primary aim of providing obstetric services to unmarried and destitute women [1].
Mary's birth certificate gives Olive's address as 11 Moorgate Street which was where she was living with her parents and younger siblings. Moorgate Street is now in Chippendale however in 1904 it was considered to be simply part of the Sydney CBD. The Dictionary of Sydney notes that the area was very poor and rundown until the end of the 19th century.
Note that in March 1905 Olive's sister, Lillie, and brother-in-law, Charles Merrin, also lived at 11 Moorgate Street, Chippendale.
I don't know what became of Olive and Mary in the years between Mary's birth in 1904 and Olive's death on 18 October 1916.
I haven't been able to locate a death certificate in NSW for Mary so, assuming she was still alive at the time of her mother's death, she would have been just twelve years old when he lost her mother.
Was Mary adopted or did Olive keep her child? There was no formal adoption process in NSW before 1923 so adoptions were arranged privately, sometimes with the help of the hospital staff [2]. Olive may have kept her child or she may have allowed her to be informally adopted, perhaps by a family member of friend or perhaps with the help of the staff at St Margaret's where her daughter was born.
According to the Archivist responsible for the historical records of St Margaret's Hospital, Olive's admission and medical records contain less information than her daughter's birth certificate and no mention of an adoption [2]. We do know, however, that St Margaret's Hospital also operated a foundling hospital in Newtown during this period.
I have been unable to locate a marriage record in NSW for Mary Laws which suggests she may have been adopted and taken a different surname. If so, it's unlikely that there is any record of it [3].
If Olive did keep her child, I've been unable to establish where they lived or how Olive supported her daughter. If Olive kept her daughter, what happened to 12-year-old Mary when her mother became ill, went into hospital and eventually died?
I haven't been able to locate a death certificate in NSW for Mary so, assuming she was still alive at the time of her mother's death, she would have been just twelve years old when he lost her mother.
Was Mary adopted or did Olive keep her child? There was no formal adoption process in NSW before 1923 so adoptions were arranged privately, sometimes with the help of the hospital staff [2]. Olive may have kept her child or she may have allowed her to be informally adopted, perhaps by a family member of friend or perhaps with the help of the staff at St Margaret's where her daughter was born.
According to the Archivist responsible for the historical records of St Margaret's Hospital, Olive's admission and medical records contain less information than her daughter's birth certificate and no mention of an adoption [2]. We do know, however, that St Margaret's Hospital also operated a foundling hospital in Newtown during this period.
I have been unable to locate a marriage record in NSW for Mary Laws which suggests she may have been adopted and taken a different surname. If so, it's unlikely that there is any record of it [3].
If Olive did keep her child, I've been unable to establish where they lived or how Olive supported her daughter. If Olive kept her daughter, what happened to 12-year-old Mary when her mother became ill, went into hospital and eventually died?
Illness and Death
Olive's death certificate states that she died of something called "General Paralysis of the Insane" at the "Hospital for Insane" in Gladesville in Sydney [4]. This condition, also known as "paralytic dementia", is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder which used to occur in patients in the late stages of syphilis in the years before penicillin was developed to treat it [5]. According to her death certificate, Olive suffered from this condition for twelve months before her death. Interestingly, the certificate gives her age as 27 when she died when she was, in fact, 33.
The fact that she died in an insane asylum from a sexually-transmitted disease and as a single woman would have been very shameful in 1916. Mental illness was frequently considered a moral failing in those days and something a family would cover up and not discuss, even among themselves. The records of the insane asylums of the time show that most mentally ill patients did not receive visits from their families. These attitudes probably account for the brevity of the death notice which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald.
LAWS. -October 18, Olive Mary, fourth daughter of Mr and Mrs Charles Laws, 108 New Canterbury Road, Petersham. Private interment Field of Mars Cemetery, R.I.P.
Symptoms of paralytic dementia first appear from 10 to 30 years after infection [4]. This is consistent with Olive being infected around the time she conceived her daughter.
Who was Mary's father and how did Olive come to have a relationship with him? I doubt we'll ever know. I would like to know what became of young Mary Laws, though.
I intend to obtain copies of Olive's records at the Hospital for the Insane when they become available in 2026.
Olive's grave at Field of Mars cemetery is unmarked. (Roman Catholic, Section B, grave #465). Note: cemetery records had her name as Mary Olive Laws but changed this at my request.
The fact that she died in an insane asylum from a sexually-transmitted disease and as a single woman would have been very shameful in 1916. Mental illness was frequently considered a moral failing in those days and something a family would cover up and not discuss, even among themselves. The records of the insane asylums of the time show that most mentally ill patients did not receive visits from their families. These attitudes probably account for the brevity of the death notice which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald.
LAWS. -October 18, Olive Mary, fourth daughter of Mr and Mrs Charles Laws, 108 New Canterbury Road, Petersham. Private interment Field of Mars Cemetery, R.I.P.
Symptoms of paralytic dementia first appear from 10 to 30 years after infection [4]. This is consistent with Olive being infected around the time she conceived her daughter.
Who was Mary's father and how did Olive come to have a relationship with him? I doubt we'll ever know. I would like to know what became of young Mary Laws, though.
I intend to obtain copies of Olive's records at the Hospital for the Insane when they become available in 2026.
Olive's grave at Field of Mars cemetery is unmarked. (Roman Catholic, Section B, grave #465). Note: cemetery records had her name as Mary Olive Laws but changed this at my request.
Searching for Olive's Daughter
Olive's daughter, Mary Laws, was born in 1904. a search in NSW BDM for the period 1920-1950 yields the following possible marriages for Mary, assuming she kept her birth name.
Of these, the only real possibility is the 1928 marriage in Parramatta. Note that the first marriage on the list below is that of Mary's aunt - her mother's sister - who was known as Mollie.
I have the marriage certificate for the 1927 marriage to Colin Glen in Hamilton (see file below). There is hardly any information on the certificate but it does not seem to be my Mary's marriage certificate as the mother's name is given as Susan.
Of these, the only real possibility is the 1928 marriage in Parramatta. Note that the first marriage on the list below is that of Mary's aunt - her mother's sister - who was known as Mollie.
I have the marriage certificate for the 1927 marriage to Colin Glen in Hamilton (see file below). There is hardly any information on the certificate but it does not seem to be my Mary's marriage certificate as the mother's name is given as Susan.
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[1] http://archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110312484
[2] Email dated 7 April 2021 from Roslyn Kennedy, Congregational Archivist, St Margaret's Hospital;
[3] https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/nsw/biogs/NE00959b.htm
[4] The hospital was originally called Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum and subsequently underwent several changes of name. In October 1868 it was known as the Hospital for the Insane, Tarban Creek and in 1869 the Hospital for the Insane, Gladesville. In the Inspector General's Report for 1915, it was referred to as the Mental Hospital and by the mid 1960s was known simply as Gladesville Hospital. The hospital closed in 1997. See: https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/agency/65
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_paresis_of_the_insane
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