Hanwell Insane Asylum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hanwell Insane Asylum was a mental hospital that was built in 1831 in England. It opened for business on May 16, 1831. In 1938 the name was changed to St Bernard's Hospital. Hanwell was built to the west of London as the pauper lunatic asylum for the county of Middlesex. It was more like a small village, with gardens, parks, a farm, and even included a shoe maker and tailor. Patients were allowed to work in the farm and laundry as well. It was enlarged with several new wings in 1838/1839. Originally, it was built for 600 patients but by 1842 had over 1800 patients and 90 staff living there. Most of the staff were young and female employees were not allowed to be married. Those that looked after the patients were called servants, but sometimes referred to as "keepers". In 1840 there were 75 servants for 800 patients. By 1891 there were 1,899 patients (1,138 were female) and the staff was then 189 keepers. In 1880 the Chapel was replaced with a newer one that still exists. In 1971 Hanwell had 2,039 beds, including 189 patients who were kept in locked wards. The hospital was closed in 1980.

There is a Museum and Chapel of St Bernard's Hospital, Uxbridge Road, Southall. Georgian. Formerly the Middlesex County Lunatic Asylum. Equipment and uniforms from the hospital are shown. The early history of the asylum is one of ill treatment and abuse.

Hanwell Insane Asylum was mentioned in George Bernard Shaw's 1916 play "Pygmalion". Phonetics Professor Henry Higgins after successfully telling strangers where they were born by their accent, was jokeningly told he came from Hanwell Insane Asylum.

Upon his appointment as Hanwell's medical superintendent in 1839, Dr John Conolly abolished all forms of mechanical restraint, and introduced the non-coercive "moral management" for patients. The principles of non-restraint were not invented by Conolly. They were developed at the York Retreat, founded by William Tuke in 1796 and run by three successive generations of the Tuke family. Nevertheless Conolly's successful implementation of non-restraint at Hanwell Asylum was one of the factors in its general adoption in Britain and in other parts of Europe.