University of Wales Trinity Saint David the Development of the Glamorgan
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University of Wales Trinity Saint David The Development of the Glamorgan County Lunatic Asylum and Mental Hospital 1830-1930 Denzil Jones MPhil 2017 DECLARATION SHEET This sheet MUST be signed and included within the thesis This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being currently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed……D H Jones…………………………………………………………… (student) Date………24 July 2017………………………………………………………… STATEMENT 1 This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Where correction services have been used the extent and nature of the correction is clearly marked in a footnote(s). Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed………D H Jones…………………………………………………………… (student) Date…………24 July 2017……………………………………………………… STATEMENT 2 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed………D H Jones………………………………………………………….. (student) Date…………24 July 2017…………………………………………………… STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my dissertation, if accepted, to be available for deposit in the University’s digital repository. Signed…………D H Jones……………………………………………… ………. (student) Date……………24 July 2017…………………………………………………………………………………………… NB Students on whose behalf a bar on access has been approved by the University, should use the following version of Statement 2: I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter library loans after expiry of a bar on access approved by the University. Signed …………………………………………………………………………………… (student) Date………………………………………………………………………………………… Contents Abstract i Acknowledgments ii Chapter 1 Overview and Historiography 1 Chapter 2 Establishing the Asylum 26 Chapter 3 Managing the Asylum 1864-89 53 Chapter 4 In the asylum 1864-89 78 Chapter 5 The Growing Problem 1889-1914 111 Chapter 6 The War and After 1914-30 147 Conclusion 174 Appendix 179 Bibliography 182 Abstract This thesis examines the establishment and development of the Glamorgan County Lunatic Asylum (later Mental Hospital) in the context of provision generally in England and Wales. From the early nineteenth century there was increasing interest in dealing with the plight of people with a mental illness including legislation to set up asylums at a cost to public funds. There was initial optimism that, provided a patient was admitted early enough, there was a good chance of recovery but in practice the numbers admitted to public and private institutions overwhelmed limited provision. In 1845 Quarter Sessions were compelled to establish public asylums. Increasingly they became overcrowded due to a lack of cures and the propensity for families to admit chronically ill relatives. In the eyes of many they became ‘custodial’ rather than ‘curative’ institutions and legislation in 1890 emphasised the legalistic nature of such provision. No change was introduced until 1930 when a number of reforms were introduced including the concept of a ‘voluntary patient’. The Glamorgan Asylum at Angelton, Bridgend, did not open until 1864 and the reasons for the delay are examined together with an assessment of the provision made in its absence. Once established it was soon full and after many years of deliberation an additional facility was opened in 1887 a few miles away at Parc Gwyllt. Overcrowding led to Cardiff and Swansea County Borough Councils setting up their own asylums in 1908 and 1932 respectively. Some medical progress was made in the latter part of the nineteenth century and early twentieth and Cardiff Mental Hospital, with its newer facilities and no overcrowding, was in the forefront of developments while Glamorgan with its older premises and less forward looking staff together with financial restrictions fared less well. The context for these themes is set out in the literature review in the first chapter and the subsequent five chapters deal with developments over the period down to 1930. 60,494 words i Acknowledgments The main sources for this study are held by Glamorgan Archives. I am very grateful to their staff for help in locating material from their extensive collections. A number of other collections include useful material and I am also grateful to staff in archives and libraries for their assistance. These include National Archives, Powys Archives, West Glamorgan Archives, British Library, Cardiff Central Library, Swansea Library, Swansea University Library and House of Commons Parliamentary Papers. I owe particular thanks to my supervisor, Conway Davies, for his valuable insights and guidance on identifying relevant information together with his very helpful comments on particular aspects during the completion of the study. ii Chapter 1: Overview and Historiography ‘Let us begin, then, with the recognition that madness-massive and lasting disturbances of behaviour, emotion and intellect-resonates powerfully in our collective consciousness. Lunacy, insanity, psychosis, mental illness-whatever term we prefer, its referents are disturbances of reason, the passions and human action that frighten create chaos, and yet sometimes amuse; that mark a gulf between the common sense reality most of us embrace, and the discordant version some humans appear to experience .’1 Purpose and scope of study The Glamorgan County Lunatic Asylum, located in Angelton, north of Bridgend, opened in November 1864, more than thirty years after discussions first took place about the need for such an institution. This study describes the process of establishing an asylum in the county and seeks explanations for the delay and considers the provision for people with mental illnesses in its absence. It subsequently describes and assesses its development. The period under consideration is 1830 to 1930. About 1830 the possibility of establishing a public asylum funded by the county authority, the Quarter Sessions, was discussed and in 1930 significant new legislation was in place affecting the management and treatment of mental health. The poor law guardians, who funded the institution’s running costs, were abolished by the Local Government Act 1929 and their functions transferred to county councils. The Mental Treatment Act 1930 provided for new methods of treatment including voluntary admissions and out-patient consultations. This legislation also abolished the use of ‘asylum’ although this was already taking place in practice. Taken together these two pieces of legislation provide an appropriate end date for this study.2 The main primary sources for the study are held in the Glamorgan Archives. They consist of very extensive material, including the records of the management bodies responsible for the institution, throughout the study period. There are also detailed case histories of individual patients from the outset until the early twentieth century. 1 Andrew Scull, Madness A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, OUP, 2011, p.3. 2 19 Geo V c 17; 20 and 21 Geo V c 23. 1 The latter is a very significant source which can be drawn upon for more detailed analysis of patients’ conditions than is undertaken in this study. The case histories have their limitations in that they are written from the perspective of the doctor in charge of treatment and are not accompanied by the admission certificates signed by the poor law doctor. There are no specific records of patients’ own views (other than those recorded by the doctor in his notes) or extensive accounts of discussions with family or friends. All asylums and mental hospitals were inspected annually by the Lunacy Commission and from 1914, its successor, the Board of Control. Their reports, available on the internet, include detailed assessments of the management of the institution and they are also an important source of information on all institutions in England and Wales. The National Archives hold relevant material on the problems relating to the establishment of the asylum from a central government perspective. Other useful primary sources on related developments are held in the Cardiff Central Library, Gwent, Powys and West Glamorgan Archives. Little useful information is available in local newspapers and generally asylums attracted limited attention although incidents, such as ones leading to action in the courts, would be covered. Account is taken of medical practice but this study is not written from a clinical perspective and concentrates on social and administrative aspects in the context of evolving legislation and central government requirements. There is scope for further research on specific themes which have not been examined in detail. These include patients’ diet which had a direct bearing on their medical conditions, the attitude of the asylum towards families including opportunities for visiting, staff pay and conditions and the role of the poor law guardians who determined whether a patient was a pauper. The growth of Glamorgan In the middle of the eighteenth century Glamorgan had a small and unevenly distributed population of some 40,000 with only Cardiff, Neath and Swansea recognisable as urban communities. In 1750 each had a population of less than 2,500 when that of Bristol was 40,000. Swansea, and its surrounding area, was developing as a location for the non-ferrous metal industry while Merthyr was an embryonic centre 2 for the iron industry.3 Concurrently coal production was growing