Catalogue description HANWELL ASYLUM

See also Committee to enquire into the state of pauper lunatics in Middlesex, 1827, MJ/SP/1827/LC/1-24.

Views of the Asylum and descriptions of events held there can be found in the Print Collection (Reference: Ealing BB).

Middlesex County Asylum at Hanwell, 1831-1889

London County Asylum, Hanwell, 1889-1918

London County Mental Hospital, Hanwell, 1918-1937

St Bernard's Hospital, Hanwell, 1937-1980

Records of Hanwell Asylum, later St Bernard's Psychiatric Unit, Ealing Hospital, Uxbridge Road, Southall, Middlesex, transferred to the Greater London Record Ofice, 40 Northampton Road, London EC1R 0HB under the terms of Section 4(i) of the Public Records Act (1958) on 14 August 1983 (Acc 1874), on 4 September 1985 (Acc 2171) and on 29 May 1986 (Acc 2283).

In the History Library there are three reprints of Dr Conolly's books, the introductions to which give valuable information about Hanwell Asylum 1831-1852. They are shelved at reference 26.2 CON and are:-

The Indications of Insanity, by Dr J Conolly, with introduction by Richard Hunter and Ida MacAlpine. Psychiatric Monograph Series 4 (Dawsons, London, 1964)

The Treatment of the Insane without Mechanical Restraints, by Dr J Conolly, with introduction and notes by Richard Hunter and Ida MacAlpine. Psychiatric Monograph Series 5 (Dawsons, London, 1973)

The Construction and Government of Lunatic Asylums, by Dr J Conolly, with introduction by Richard Hunter and Ida MacAlpine. Psychiatric Monograph Series 6 (Dawsons, London, 1968)

There is also a history of the Asylum written by a former chaplain to the Hospital, Rev H A Norris (Ref: 26.21 HAN), and two articles about the threat of demolition to the Asylum buildings, both by Katrin Fitzherbert, in Illustrated London News September 1984 and Country Life 22 May 1986.

• Hanwell, London
• Hanwell, Middlesex
• Health services
• Psychiatry

Hanwell was the first pauper lunatic asylum for the county of Middlesex. It opened in June 1831, originally to take 500 patients, but the building was enlarged in 1831, 1837, 1857 and 1879 to cope with the increasing demand for beds. In 1888 the Asylum had 1891 patients. Hanwell achieved great prominence in the field of psychiatric nursing due to the work of two of its first Medical Superintendents. Dr (later Sir) William Ellis, the first Medical Superintendent at Hanwell (1831-1838) introduced his idea of "Therapy of Employment", which encouraged patients to use the skills and trades which they had acquired before entering the Asylum, to occupy themselves, for the benefit of the Asylum and as an aid in their treatment by restoring their self respect and by reviving an aspect of their lives from before their illness. This was the forerunner of occupational therapy and industrial therapy. In time the system was somewhat abused and patient labour was used to provide some of the essential services of the Asylum, so reducing its running costs.

Dr John Conolly, the third Medical Superintendent at Hanwell and later its Visiting Physician (1839-1852) abolished all use of mechanical restraints to control patients at the Asylum. Although he was not the first to use more humane methods of treating the insane, the abolition of mechanical restraints at Hanwell was the first time that the idea had been applied on such a large scale and on so many different types of patients. It was a huge success and attracted visitors from all over England and encouraged the abolition of mechanical restraints in other Asylums. By using Ellis's system of employment for therapy, and with padded rooms and periods of seclusion or solitary confinement, and some sedatives, Conolly was able to control even the most violent patients without resorting to mechanical restraints. Protective clothing was sometimes used to prevent patients tearing their clothing or breaking crockery etc, but these never restricted their movements. No mechanical restraints were used at Hanwell between 1840 and 1890.

Hanwell's full title was the Middlesex County Asylum at Hanwell. In 1889 the Asylum was taken over by the newly formed London County Council and became the London County Asylum, Hanwell. In 1918 it became a County Mental Hospital. In 1937 its name was changed to St Bernard's Hospital. From 1948 to 1974 it was part of the North West Metropolitan Region with its own hospital management committee. In 1974 it became part of North West Thames Regional Health Authority and was within Ealing Health District. In 1980 it was absorbed into Ealing Hospital and is now known as the Psychiatric Unit, St Bernard's Wing, Ealing Hospital. It still functions as a psychiatric and psycho-geriatric hospital for long stay patients. It has 950 beds.

In 1827 a Committee of Visiting Justices was appointed to arrange the building of the Asylum. Their minute books 1827-1831 survive in the records of the Middlesex Sessions (Ref: MA/A/J1-J2). Land in several places was offered as a site for the Asylum (Ref: MA/A/J3) but the Committee chose land in Hanwell owned by the Earl of Jersey (see also Acc 436 Bdle 40). A mortgage of £63,000 was raised to finance the building (Ref: MA/D/A1/79-80). Contracts and Contract plans survive for the original building and later additions (Ref: MA/DCP and MA/D/A1). Account books for county grants of money for later building work survive in the Hanwell records (Ref: H11/HLL/D15) and files concerning the grants survive in the additional deposit of Middlesex Sessions records (Ref: Acc 1154/19-20).

From 1831 to 1839 the Asylum was administered by a Committee of Visiting Justices, also known as the Committee of Visitors. These were Justices of the Peace and were elected at the beginning of each year. The Committee considered all aspects of the Asylum's administration. Draft minutes and presented papers, reports, legal records and correspondence are listed in Section A. Amongst the records of the Middlesex Sessions there are several classes of records which relate to the administration of the Asylum. There are reports by the Committee to the General Court of Quarter Sessions (Ref: MJ/OC for manuscript copies, MA/RS and H11/HLL/A5 for printed reports); copies of returns of lunatics, notices of discharges and deaths (Ref; MA/A, see also H11/HLL/A/10-A/11, and H11/HLL/B/09-B/17); superannuation allowance claims (Ref: MF/485); financial records including ledgers and county rates (Ref: MF/1-272, 321-326 and MF/A); and records of property owned by Hanwell Asylum (Ref: MA/D/A1). In the additional deposit of Middlesex Sessions records there is also a record of provisions supplied to the Asylum (Ref: Acc 1154/21). Only one minute book (Ref: LCC/MIN/1068) survives for the Committee of Justices' meetings and this is in the records of the London County Council, which took over the Asylum in 1889 and administered it until 1948 and the formation of the National Health Service. The LCC Asylums Committee (later the Asylums and Mental Deficiency Committee and from 1922 the Mental Hospitals Committee) with the Hanwell Sub-Committee administered the Asylum. Minutes of their meetings can be found in the records of the LCC Committees (Ref: LCC/MIN/544-669 and LCC/MIN/1069-1116). Other records of the administration of the Asylum during this period are listed in Section A. Other records of the Asylum which are held in LCC classes are registers of staff 1900-1914 (Ref: PH/STA/5). There is also a financial history of the Asylum written between 1841 and 1842 (Ref: Acc 977).

• View Record
• View Record
• View Record