Tracing your Ancestors

Unfortunately I do not hold any Medical Records in reference to the hospital but I do have a complete list of all the people buried at the The High Royds Memorial Garden at Buckle, Menston and can check any names you provide.  For this please email me at, mark.mdavis@gmail.com

However by contacting the West Yorkshire Archive Service Newstead Road,Wakefield information may be available, West Yorkshire Archive Service

The public is permitted access to any records 100 years old or older; access to more recent records is restricted.

If you are requesting personal information about a relative who has died within the last 100 years you may be asked to provide proof of this relationship in the form of death and birth certificates and letters of permission from the personal representative of the deceased.

This situation is that basically, records between 30 – 100 years old are indeed restricted, but that access can be facilitated via application to the NHS Trusts via the West Yorkshire Archive Service at Wakefield.

When the West Yorkshire Archive Service at Wakefield have responded initially to say the request has been received, a formal response will be issued within 30 working days as permitted by the Freedom of Information (Time for Compliance with Request) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/3364).  This allows time for the assessment of the request under the terms of FOIA, including consultation with the relevant NHS Trust, and the application of a public interest test where relevant.

 Where access is permitted, West Yorkshire Archive Service needs to ensure that enquirers only have access to information to which no valid exemption applies.  This may mean that it is not possible to grant access to the original physical record but that access to the information may be given by transcribing the relevant sections or by providing a photocopy with exempt information blanked out.

As far as hospital records go, there are many surviving, particularly admission and discharge registers, and the location and scope of such records can be traced via the Hospital Records Database.

National Archives Hospital Database

Do let me know how you get on.

Mark