Copy Of Measured Drawing Ma/Dcp/50B Showing Entrance Block Elevation And Plan Of 'Pauper Lunatic Asylum' At Hanwell

Date:
11 Nov 1991
Location:
Middlesex County Asylum, Uxbridge Road, Southall, Ealing, Greater London Authority
Show all locations
Hanwell Asylum, Uxbridge Road, Southall, Ealing, Greater London Authority
London County Mental Hospital, Hanwell, Uxbridge Road, Southall, Ealing, Greater London Authority
Hanwell Mental Hospital, Uxbridge Road, Southall, Ealing, Greater London Authority
ST BERNARD'S HOSPITAL, UXBRIDGE ROAD, SOUTHALL, Ealing, Greater London Authority
Reference:
BB91/25107
Type:
Photograph (Negative)
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Description

The 'Middlesex County Lunatic Asylum', also known as the 'Middlesex County Asylum' or 'Hanwell Asylum', was opened in 1831. It was renamed as the 'London County Mental Hospital, Hanwell' in 1918 and in 1929 this changed to 'Hanwell Mental Hospital'. In 1948 the hospital was again renamed, this time to St Bernard's Hospital. Ealing General Hospital was built on part of the site in the late 1970s.

The term 'pauper lunatic', in the title of this record, referred to patients who were admitted to any public or local authority 'asylum' (early forms of psychiatric hospitals) in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A patient was referred to as a 'pauper lunatic' if the Poor Law Board of Guardians was required to make any financial contribution towards their admission and in-patient treatment. If a patient could afford the full cost of treatment, they were referred to as 'private patients'. Some 'asylums' admitted both 'pauper' and 'private' patients, others were 'pauper lunatic asylums' only.

Sources: Hilton, Claire (2022), ‘Pauper Lunatics were not Paupers’, Royal College of Psychiatrists website, accessed 08/08/2024.

Roberts, Andrew (1981), Glossary - Mental Health History Words: ‘Pauper Lunatics’, Middlesex University, Archived 2007, accessed 08/08/2024.

Content

This is part of the Job: 99/01011 St Bernard's Hospital, formerly 'Middlesex County Asylum'; within the Volume: BF038801 St Bernard's Hospital, Southall; within the Series: RCH01/008 Hospitals Project; within the Collection: RCH01 Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) Archive

Rights

© Greater London Record Office

People & Organisations

Curator: Holmen, Jill

Photographer: Kendall, Derek