Name: Cyrus Elliott
Burial Number: 0004
Gender: Male
Occupation: Surgeon
Born: 14/11/1809
Died: 07/03/1874
Buried: 14/03/1874
Story
Cyrus Elliott was baptised on the 10th Dec 1809 at St Mary, Newington, Surrey, son of Cyrus and Mary Elliott.
In 1841 he was listed as a Surgeon in a ”Licensed Madhouse” in Old Brompton. (I have found no evidence for his qualification as Surgeon.)
In 1857 he was resident at Munster House in Fulham. It was a leasehold house and premises for which he paid £150 per year.
From a History of Fulham: Munster Road was first recorded in 1397 when it was a rough path running through farmland known as ‘Fulham Fields’ which stretched from North End Road to the River Thames.
In the 16th century the area was dominated by Munster House. Set in eight acres at the junction with Fulham Road the house became known as ‘Monster House’ due to two hideous stone lions adorning its frontage. It stood for around 400 years and was used variously as a school and a lunatic asylum before being demolished in 1894.
In the 1861 census at London Rd., Munster House, Fulham were Cyrus A Elliott 50 proprietor of Asylum; Martha P Leech Matron; Plus Assistants, Attendants and Servants.
Between 1861 and 1867, Dr Elliott moved to Worthing. He is at Elm Villa, Broadwater Street, in an 1867 Worthing Directory. (The Elms, at 66 Broadwater Street East, was built in 1827 next to the former Elm Villa, which itself dated back to the 1800s.)
At some time during the 1860s, Dr Cyrus Elliott built on his land (originally known
as The Quashetts) an arch made of large flints that he had collected from the chalk hills around Worthing. It was originally intended to be a screen to the town beyond, the arch stood collecting ivy until 1967 when its condition became precarious and it was demolished. Today, the road leading to the site of the arch has been re-named Ivy Arch Road, and The Quashetts retained as a footpath between Little High Street and Broadwater Street West. (From the Folly Fellowship)
In 1865, in Brentford, he married Anna Maria Duncan, who was born in Chelsea about 1830.
In 1867 land which Cyrus Elliott owned was taken over for the building of the Gasworks in Worthing :
Cyrus Elliott built a vinery at his home, reputedly using large panes of glass left over from Crystal Palace – the first Worthing ‘glasshouse’ using large panes of glass. (The hefty tax on glass was repealed in 1845)
He made a donation of £105 towards the building of St Botolphs Church, and was one of the Proposers, in 1873, at a meeting to discuss a Church at Heene.
He died in February 1874, at Elm Villa.
“23rd April 1874, Will of Cyrus Alexander Elliott late of Elm Villa, Broadwater in the County of Sussex Esquire proved by Anne Maria Elliott of Elm Villa Widow the Relict,
Researcher: Liz Lane
The Grave
Location in Cemetery
Area: EB Row: 5 Plot: 31
Exact Location (what3words): buddy.seat.tubes
Ashes or Urn: Unknown
Headstone
Description:
The fourth burial in Heene Cemetery and the oldest gravestone to still be seen. Highly Polished Granite. Hipped roof on top of altar tomb
Inscription:
Cyrus Alexander Elliott Esq., Elm Villa, Broadwater died March 7th 1874 aged 64
Further Information
Birth
Name: Cyrus Alexander Elliott
Gender: Male
Born: 14/11/1809
Town: Newington
County: Surrey
Country: England
Marriage
Maiden Name: Not applicable
Marriage Date: 14/10/1865
Spouse First Name: Anna
Spouse Second Name: Maria
Spouse Last Name: Duncan
Town of Marriage: Brentford
County of Marriage: London
Country of Marriage: England
Information at Death
Date of Death: 07/03/1874
Cause of death: Unknown
Address line 1: Elm Villa
Address line 3: Broadwater Street
Town: Unknown
County: Sussex
Country: England
Obituary
No obituary has been entered.
Personal Effects
Money left to others: No value recorded
Current value of effects: Not calculated
Census Information
1841
Living at Cowper House, Old Brompton – Cyrus Elliott, 36yrs, Surgeon
1861
Living at Munster House, London Road, Fulham: Cyrus A Elliott 50yrs proprietor of Asylum, Martha P Leech Matron plus Assistants, Attendants and Servants
1871
Living at Elm Villa, Broadwater Street: Cyrus A Elliott 61yrs Asylum Keeper, Anne 35yrs, plus a visitor and servants – Gardener, Coachman, Cook, Housemaid
Miscellaneous Information
London Gazette November 26th 1867
“A close or piece of arable land situated in the parish of Broadwater, in the county of Sussex, now belonging or reputed to belong to and in the occupation of Cyrus Alexander Elliott, Esq, bounded on the north and east by land belonging, or reputed to belong to Harriet Newland, Frances Newland, and Emily Rowland, and now in the occupation of Mr Nelson Laker, on the south by land belonging …. the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company, and on the north west by the highway leading from Worthing to Broadwater.”
Research carried out by John Bell and shared with Friends of Heene Cemetery:- 30/8/2021
Dr Elliott was given licence to conduct business at Munster House as the proprietor of a private lunatic asylum in 1850: 5th Annual Report of the Commissioners in Lunacy to the Lord Chancellor, 30th June, 1850. Metropolitan: Mr C.A. Elliot is licensed to run Munster House as a Private Lunatic Asylum, with 35 private Male Patients. in the book on Fulham, there is a quote from his advertisment card, in which he gives full details of the many desirable features of Munster House. There were many rooms, and he appears to have built an extension to provide for more patients.
Received from John Bell 31/8/2021
Today, I found the record for Cyrus appearing as a witness at the Old Bailey in a case concerning a contract for a horse. Giving his evidence, Cyrus says, “I live at Cowper-House Asylum, Old Brompton…The prisoner came to me respecting a horse which I had for sale….”The date of the action was 1st Jan, 1844. The census for 1841 has the Cowper-House record: “Public Institutions: Name of Institution: Cowper-House Licensed Madhouse, Old Brompton, Little Chelsea, Parish of Kensington.” There appear to be two Elliots in this record, and initials alone are not used, so it is not simple to decide who was staff and who was a patient, though someone selling a horse does not sound like a patient with all the restrictions. For Cyrus, there is this entry, ” Cyrus Elliott surgeon, 36″, and the other Elliott appears as “Mr Elliott 26, surgeon.”
I have found that CYRUS was not only the proprietor of the Munster House Asylum, but of two others, and that his sister, MARY THERESA ELLIOTT was the proprietor of the ELM HOUSE Asylum in Chelsea. Cyrus wrote the publicity advertisement for this place, but seems to have been the proprietor of COWPER HOUSE and EFFRA HOUSE as well as Munster. He is also associated with at least one farm, which might explain how he was able to sell a fine horse.
Received from John Bell 4.9.2021
The Editors of the London Medical Directory for 1845 inform the public, that there are impostors in the Metropolis, in considerable numbers, who take houses and call themselves surgeons. I am afraid Cyrus Alexander Elliott appears to have been such an impostor. The registration of a Medical Practitioner was mandatory, and as mentioned in my last mail, no such registration has been found for Cyrus. Your own researcher seems to have come to the same conclusion after her search.
There was a younger brother called WILLIAM THEODORE ELLIOTT, who did register his name. His qualifications are impressive, and he contributed to the Lancet. Eventually he is found residing at Rotherhithe, but his death is recorded for Munster House, with burial in private ground in Old Brompton on the 18th December, 1871. He is also found in the 1841 census, together with his brother Cyrus, at the Cowper-House Asylum, but his name is squashed between that of “a Lady” and that of “a Lady”, so that it is not immediately clear as to his status. Was he a patient or a medical helper ? His brother appears falsely in that census as a surgeon, as he does in other papers, except in the ones that matter. I will be getting his death certificate.
In Cyrus Alexander’s marriage record, there is a statement that Cyrus Alexander Elliott’s father was a Captain in the Royal Navy. In his Will, dated to 1830, the father is a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and since he died the following year, he had a very short time [being weak in body], to proceed through the rank of Commander to Captain. The new rank of Commander was introduced in 1827. This Will has nothing to relate about the children, and leaves everything of whatever kind to his wife, MARY, whose maiden name was ALEXANDER.
There is the Munster House census return for 1861,in which Cyrus Alexander Elliott gives Gosport as his place of birth. In this census he appears as the “Proprietor of Asylum”. It is certain that he was born in Southwark, St Mary Newington, Surrey, and not Gosport. There will be a reason for this falsehood. The original Register entry for St Mary Newington has survived. His parents were Cyrus Elliott, a Royal Navy Lieutenant, and Mary Alexander [hence her son’s middle name].
