Lunatics, Imbeciles and Idiots by Kathryn Burtinshaw

Author:Kathryn Burtinshaw
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books
Published: 2017-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Murray Asylum Perth. Group of female patients, 1860. Courtesy of Dundee University Archive Services.

Murray Asylum Perth. Group of male patients, 1860. Courtesy of Dundee University Archive Services.

Asylums employed skilled tradesmen such as shoemakers, blacksmiths and engineers and the patients worked alongside these people using the skills they already had, but also acquiring new ones to aid in the running of the institution. The majority of asylums had a farm, land and market garden, which were used to provide food for the patients and staff. The male patients in particular were encouraged to help with the farm labour and gardening. Those unsuited to outdoor work were often requested to repair bedding and clean hair and flock mattresses.

At the Surrey County Lunatic Asylum at Brookwood patients and attendants were reported to work together in such harmony and companionship that it was often difficult to differentiate between them. Outdoor labour and works carried on within the asylum were arranged to provide varied sources of interest and promote positive remedial treatment.

Leisure activities

Recreation was considered an important part of recovery and rehabilitation and asylums provided many activities for the benefit of patients. Asylum staff were expected to participate and encourage patients to avail themselves of the opportunities provided for them. Music, dancing, libraries and sport were just some of the activities available to those willing to participate.

Music and theatre

At the Crichton Royal Institution in Dumfries, Scotland, Dr W.A.F. Browne (1805–85) introduced a variety of activities ‘to sweeten confinement, and to promote the cheerfulness of minds’ of the patients as early as 1840. One of these was music. Browne considered music to be a means of bringing the asylum community together. A variety of instruments were played by patients in the wards, at concerts, and at asylum theatricals, and also by asylum staff. In 1840, Glasgow Royal Asylum paid for a music teacher to give music lessons twice a week. As a result, patients learned new skills and gained confidence.

Dancing, Montrose Royal Asylum. Courtesy of Dundee University Archive Services.

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