Obituary
We greatly regret to record the death of Mr. Ernest W. Locke, Superintendent and Secretary of the Western Counties Institutions, Starcross, which occurred on Friday, August 10th. The following account kindly sent to us by Mr. S. J. Towill, of Seafield House Institution will give our readers some idea of the value of his work for mental defectives and of the loss which their cause has suffered through his death:?
For the past 43 years he had been connected with the Institution, the last 23 of which he was Superintendent and Secretary, succeeding his father, the late Mr. William Locke who was Superintendent for 25 years. Thus the name of Locke has been synonymous with the Western Counties for nearly 50 years.
Mr. Locke was well known for his work amongst mental defectives and all who have visited the Institution must have been struck by the splendid results attained under his excellent management. He was a strong believer in manual and industrial training for defectives and the highly efficient state of the Western Counties’ Institution testifies to the indefatigable efforts of his father and himself?both died in harness?the pioneer and the developer.
Under his management the Institution expanded; two wings were built, the workshops extended, an up-to-date Laundry and Recreation Hall erected, three house snear by added to the Institution to increase accommodation and Hospital Blocks added to the Boys’ and Girls’ sides. He was just contemplating a Recreation Hall for the Girls and the addition of a Chapel to the Male Recreation Hall. His energy was never at rest and up to the last he was actively planning improvements to the Institution and for the welfare of those in his care.
The loss of Mr. Locke is a sad blow to the Western Counties’ Institution and to the cause of Mental Defect generally. Practically his whole life was devoted to the work and to the advancement of the methods of dealing with Defectives. He lies buried within the view of the Institution of which he was so justly proud, and, if any monument is needed, one had only to turn to the huge pile of buildings to see the best monument any one can leave behind?the result of his work. May he rest in Peace.
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.