The three-storey yellow brick building opened in May,
1831...
By 1841 90 staff were looking
after 1302 patients.
By 1888 there were 1891 patients and the Asylum had become the largest
in Europe.
It achieved great prominence in the field of psychiatric
care because of two people:
- Dr William Ellis, the first Medical Superintendent, encouraged patients to use the skills and trades they had had before being admitted to the Asylum. This 'therapy of employment' benefited both the Asylum and the patients themselves and was a precursor to occupational therapy.
- Dr John Conolly became the third Medical Superintendent in 1839. He and Hanwell are well known in the history of psychiatry for pioneering the abolition of mechanical restraints to control patients. This was a great success and encouraged other asylums also to do likewise.
 |
| Memorial to John Conolly, M.D. in Hanwell, where he lived |
 |
| Roadway in front of "Conolly Dell" where the Bell in the Dell (left) stands |
In 1889 the newly formed London County Council took over and the Asylum was renamed the London County Asylum, Hanwell. By 1891 there were 139 members of staff caring for 1899 patients, 1138 of whom were female. Patients were looked after by members of their own sex and there were two gatehouses at the entrance - one for males and one for females.
In 1918 the Asylum became known as the London County Mental Hospital; in 1929 it was renamed Hanwell Mental Hospital; in 1937 its name changed again, to St Bernard's Hospital, Southall.
Only four of the (approximately) 30 COs declared to be insane during the First World War were sent to Hanwell (the familiar term is used here to denote the asylum as above), all within a few months in 1917 after their cases were considered by the Central Tribunal at Wormwood Scrubs prison, where they served time. None came from the London area, and none stayed in Hanwell for very long; perhaps the experiment of committing them there was not considered appropriate or successful, or it may have been intended only as a temporary staging-post between the Scrubs and other institutions.
==================
His story is the saddest of the four:
- Sent to military depot, Suffolk
- Court Martialled at Bury St.Edmunds 30.4.17
- - sentenced to 6 months with hard labour, Wormwood Scrubs prison 4.5.17
- On hunger strike 29.5.17
- - deemed insane and transferred to Hanwell asylum 6.6.17
- Discharged from the army with mental illness and as no longer fit for service
- and committed to Mental Hospital in Ipswich, 6.8.17.
Cause of death is not stated in the record, but it seems a reasonable inference that prison, hard labour, and his hunger strike (and the treatment associated with it) may have played a part, to say the least.
Evelyn Wilfred [/Wilfrid] Harbord
Occupation School
teacher, Suffolk County Council
Age 28
Birth year 1889
Year 1917
Address 17,
Upper Cavendish Street*
Address 2 Ipswich
Local authority Ipswich
CB
County Suffolk (East)
Military Service Tribunal MST
(Military Service Tribunal) Central Tribunal at Wormwood S. 29.6.17, certified
insane
Central Tribunal Central
Tribunal Nos. W. 3680
War Service Depot
Suffolk CM (Court Martial) Bury St.Edmunds 30.4.17 - 6 months HL (With hard
labour) Wormwood S.; Discharged with mental illness and no longer fit for
service, [St. Clement's] Mental Hospital, Foxhall Road, Ipswich, Suffolk 6.8.17 - Died
Sept.1917
Prison Wormwood S.
4.5.17, hunger strike 29.5.17 - deemed insane and transferred to Hanwell asylum
6.6.17
Notes *First line of
family address in 1911 Census.
Sources NA/WO86/75/133;
NA/PCOM2/465; NA/WO364(Pensions) - on line; Not found in NA/WO363;
LMA/4417/01/016 - Wormwood S. Nominal Register; NA/MH47/2 Central Tribunal
Minutes
Six years earlier he was living with his widowed mother and older sister Mabel, who was an Assistant Teacher like himself: Mabel survived until 1953, when she died in her father's home town, Yarmouth.
He had had an older brother, who died in 1900:
1891 England, Wales & Scotland Census St Clement, Ipswich, Suffolk
William T Harbord Head Married Male 40 1851 Millstone Maker Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
Six years earlier he was living with his widowed mother and older sister Mabel, who was an Assistant Teacher like himself: Mabel survived until 1953, when she died in her father's home town, Yarmouth.
1911 Census for England & Wales Ipswich, Suffolk, England:
First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Occupation Age Birth year Birth place
Martha Harbord Head Widow Female - 49 1862 Middlesex Hounslow
Mabel Harbord Daughter Single Female Assistant Teacher 24 1887 Suffolk Ipswich
Evelyn Wilfrid Harbord Son Single Male Assistant Teacher 21 1890 Suffolk Ipswich
He had had an older brother, who died in 1900:
1891 England, Wales & Scotland Census St Clement, Ipswich, Suffolk
William T Harbord Head Married Male 40 1851 Millstone Maker Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
Martha Harbord Wife Married Female 31 1860 - Hounslow, Middlesex
Lewis D Harbord Son Single Male 6 1885 Scholar Ipswich, Suffolk
Mabel Lois Harbord Daughter Single Female 4 1887 - Ipswich, Suffolk
Evelyn W Harbord Son Single [*Female] 1 1890 - Ipswich, Suffolk
Family Address: Kentish Terrace, Cavendish Street
*The gender mistake in the 1891 Census transcription is repeated in Evelyn's death record (both recently accessed at time of posting), no doubt due to his first given name being a unisex one:
HARBORD LEWIS
DREW 1885 1900 1900 England & Wales deaths 1837-2007 Ipswich, Suffolk
HARBORD LEWIS
DREW 1885 1900 1900 National Burial Index for England &
Wales
EVELYN W HARBORD
Gender [Female]
Birth day -
Birth month -
Birth year 1889
Age 28
Death quarter 3
Death year 1917
District IPSWICH
County Suffolk
Volume 4A
Page 861
Country England
Record set England
& Wales deaths 1837-2007
Category Birth,
Marriage, Death & Parish Records
[He should not be confused with Evelyn M Harbord, female, born in 1886 or '87 in the same county, who was alive and a dressmaker at the time of the 1939 Electoral Register. (Perhaps the name Evelyn was an extended-family one and she was a relative?)]
===========================
Frank Piper, Carpenter and wheelwright, was a Primitive Methodist from Cornwall, aged 33 in 1917.
Probably granted ECS (exemption form combatant service only) by his local tribunal, he was
Frank Piper, Carpenter and wheelwright, was a Primitive Methodist from Cornwall, aged 33 in 1917.
Probably granted ECS (exemption form combatant service only) by his local tribunal, he was
- sent to the Non-Combatant Corps and presumably refused to obey an order:
- Court Martialled at Weymouth 11.5.17
- - sentenced to 1 year.with hard labour, commuted to 6 months
- in Wormwood Scrubs prison 15.5.17
- beginning to suffer from auditory hallucinations and mania, July 1917
- Discharged 5.9.17 as 'no longer fit for service' under King's regulations
- Assessed by the Central Tribunal at Wormwood Scrubs 9.7.17; certified insane
Frank Piper
Marital status Single
Occupation Carpenter
and wheelwright
Age 33
Birth year 1884
Year 1917
Address Previllas
Address 2 St.Agnes
(CP)
Local authority Truro
RD
County Cornwall
Service number 4054
Motivation Primitive
Methodist
Military Service Tribunal MST
(Military Service Tribunal) Central Tribunal at Wormwood S. 9.7.17, certified
insane
Central Tribunal Central
Tribunal Nos. W. 3763
War Service NCC
(Non-Combatant Corps) (5 Southern) CM (Court Martial) Weymouth 11.5.17 - 1yr.HL
(With hard labour) com. 6 months, Wormwood S.; Discharged 5.9.17 'no longer fit
for service' (KR 392 xvi) Auditory halluc[i]nations and mania, began at
Wormwood S. July.1917
Prison Wormwood S.
15.5.17 to Hanwell Asylum 5.7.17 - Mental illness (?)
WO363 true
Sources NA/WO86/75/175;
LMA/4417/01/016 - Wormwood S. Nominal Register; NA/WO364 (Pensions) - on line ;
NA/MH47/2 Central Tribunal Minutes
Record set Conscientious Objectors' Register 1914-1918
Frank Piper
Age 33
Birth year 1884
Birth town St Agnes
Birth county Cornwall
Birth country England
Service number 4054
Regiment Non Combatant Corps
Unit / Battalion 5th Battalion
Year 1917
Residence town St Agnes
Residence county Cornwall
Residence country England
Series WO 363
Series description WO 363 - First World War service records 'burnt documents'
Archive The National Archives
Record set British Army Service Records
Category Military, armed forces & conflict
1911 Census record:
Frank Piper Head Single Male Carpenter 27 1884 Cornwall
St Agnes
Hannah Piper Mother Widow Female - 63 1848 Cornwall St Agnes
Bessie Piper Sister Single Male Schoolmistress 32 1879 Cornwall St Agnes
1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census St Agnes, Truro, Cornwall, England
Joanna Piper Head Widow Female 51 1850 -
Martha Piper Daughter Single Female 27 1874 -
Bessie Piper Daughter Single Female 22 1879 Schoolmistress
Boa[r]d School
Frank Piper Son Single Male 17 1884 Carpenter & Painter
[All born in St Agnes,
Cornwall, England]
Frank evidently survived the war and his troubles and recovered his mental health sufficiently to resume his occupation, appearing on the 1939 Electoral Register for Truro:
Francis J (Joseph) Piper 17 Feb 1884 Male Carpenter Own Account Single
==================
==================
Andrew May Watt, 23 in 1917, was a Presbyterian from (on the evidence) even farther away, North-East Scotland. Presumably refused exemption at his local tribunal, if he applied, he was:
- Sent to the Gordon Highlanders' Depot
- Court Martialled at Aberdeen 17.4.17 [having refused an order]
- - sentenced to 112 days with hard labour
- Imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood S. 21.4.17
- Assessed by Central Tribunal at Wormwood Scrubs 22.6.1
- - "to be certified insane".
Andrew May Watt
Age 23
Birth year 1894
Year 1917
Motivation Presbyterian
Military Service Tribunal MST
(Military Service Tribunal) Central Tribunal at Wormwood S. 22.6.17, to be
certified insane
Central Tribunal Central
Tribunal Nos. W. 3601
War Service Depot
Gordon Highlanders CM (Court Martial) Aberdeen 17.4.17 - 112 days HL (With hard
labour), Wormwood S.
Prison Wormwood S.
21.4.17 to 5.7.17 to Hanwell Asylum; Mental illness, certified insane.
Sources LMA/4417/01/016
- Wormwood S. Nominal Register; NA/WO86/75/84; NA/MH47/2 Central Tribunal
Minutes; Not found in NA/WO363
Watt Andrew b. 1894 in 1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census - Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland - [most likely match, no Andrew May or Andrew M found]
Watt Andrew b. 1894 in 1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census - Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland - [most likely match, no Andrew May or Andrew M found]
William Watt Head Married Male 58 1843 Fisherman
Jane Watt Wife Married Female 40 1861 Fishermans Wife
Jane Watt Daughter Single Female 33 1868 Fishermans
Daughter
Ann Mary Watt Daughter Single Female 28 1873 Dress
Maker
Peter Buchan Watt Son Single Male 23 1878 Clerk
John Lanson Watt Son Single Male 21 1880 Cooper
Andrew Watt Son - Male 7 1894 [Scholar]
All born in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
All born in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
If this is the correct record, Andrew had a similar background to the COs from Cullen and Findochty previously referred to on this blog.
==========================
Thomas Bamford, a 29-year-old Ovenman from Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, was married, with a family, and a Primitive Methodist.
1911 Census for England & Wales Burslem, Wolstanton, Staffordshire, England:
He too seems to have survived until 1939 at least, as did his marriage, although his occupation changed:
1939 Electoral Register: Stoke-on-Trent
==========================
Thomas Bamford, a 29-year-old Ovenman from Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, was married, with a family, and a Primitive Methodist.
- Sent to Lichfield 18.4.17
- Court Martialled at Wallsend 13.6.17
- - sentenced to 6 months with hard labour
- Wormwood Scrubs prison 21.6.17
- Came before Central Tribunal at Wormwood Scrubs 10.8.17
- - judged "not a CO, willing to serve in a combatant unit"
- 8.9.17 to Hanwell, London County Asylum, Mental illness
Thomas Bamford
Marital status Married (2)
Occupation Ovenman (?) [a job in a bakery]
Age 29
Birth year 1888
Year 1917
Address 12, Enoch Street
Address 2 Burslem
Local authority Stoke on Trent CB
County Staffordshire
Service number 38823
Motivation Primitive Methodist
Military Service Tribunal MST (Military Service Tribunal) Central Tribunal at Wormwood S. 10.8.17, not a CO, willing to serve in a combatant unit
Central Tribunal Central Tribunal Nos. W. 4036
War Service 18.4.17 Lichfield; 3 N. Staffs CM (Court Martial) Wallsend 13.6.17 - 6 months HL (With hard labour), Wormwood S.; Discharged as no longer fit for service 27.11.17 - required to present himself for annual medical under Military Service (Review of conscription) Act 1917.
Prison Wormwood S. 21.6.17 to 8.9.17 to Hanwell, London County Asylum, Mental illness
Sources NA/WO86/76/113; LMA/4417/01/016 - Wormwood S. Nominal Register; NA/WO364 - on line; FH/SER/VOPC/Cases/1; NA/MH47/2 Central Tribunal Minutes;
Record set Conscientious Objectors' Register 1914-1918
Bamford Thomas H 1888 — 1891 1891 England, Wales & Scotland
Thomas Bamford
Age 28
Birth year 1889
Service number 38823
Regiment North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's)
Year 1917
Residence town Burslem
Residence county Staffordshire
Residence country England
Series WO 364
Series description WO 364 - First World War pension claims
Archive The National Archives
Record set British Army Service Records
Category Military, armed forces & conflict
1911 Census for England & Wales Burslem, Wolstanton, Staffordshire, England:
First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Occupation Age Birth year Birth place
John Bamford Head Married Male Potters Placer 42 1869 Tunstall
Rebecca Bamford Wife Married Female - 41 1870 Goldenhill
Thomas Bamford Son Single Male Potters Placer 20 1891 Goldenhill
Rebecca Bamford Daughter - Female - 12 1899 Burslem
John Bamford Son - Male - 11 1900 Burslem Staffordshire
Violet May Bamford Daughter - Female - 6 1905 Stoke on Trent
William Bamford Son - Male - 3 1908 Burslem
Matilda Barker Friend Single Female Lead Worker In Dipping House 18 1893 Burslem
[All Staffordshire}
Address 20 Enoch Street Burslem
He too seems to have survived until 1939 at least, as did his marriage, although his occupation changed:
1939 Electoral Register: Stoke-on-Trent
Thomas Bamford 22 May 1890 Male Brick Layers Labourer Married Thomas Bamford 02 Apr 1914 Male Brick Layer (Builders) Single
Elsie Bamford 19 Sep 1894 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Married
=======================
Work in Progress
There is much more to be discovered about the interface between the history of psychiatry and that of First World War COs, principally but not only those who were certified and committed - there is another story about rather more who were sent to mental hospitals to do their "work of national importance".
For several references to the mental health damage caused to COs by their treatment in the army, prison, and work camps, see: Conscientious Objectors of the Second World War: Refusing to Fight by Ann Kramer (Pen & Sword, 2014): pp.80-82 etc.
=======================
Work in Progress
There is much more to be discovered about the interface between the history of psychiatry and that of First World War COs, principally but not only those who were certified and committed - there is another story about rather more who were sent to mental hospitals to do their "work of national importance".
For several references to the mental health damage caused to COs by their treatment in the army, prison, and work camps, see: Conscientious Objectors of the Second World War: Refusing to Fight by Ann Kramer (Pen & Sword, 2014): pp.80-82 etc.
