Bedlam: The Royal Bethlehem Hospital in 1900

In London proper in 1900 there were but two public institutions for lunatics: the Bethlehem Royal Hospital, Lambeth Road, S.E., and St. Luke's, Old Street, E.C.; the County of London Asylums being at Colney Hatch, Hanwell, Claybury, Cane Hill, and Bansted.

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Those of the City of London, Middlesex, and Surrey, were at Dartford, Wandsworth, and Brookwood respectively.

Bethlehem, Bethlem, or Bedlam, was by far the older of the two Metropolitan Asylums, and was first mentioned as a hospital for lunatics in 1402, being then situated in Moorfields; but the building, so familiar a feature of St. George's Road, Lambeth, was completed as recently as Waterloo year.

It was a big place together with its grounds, covering eight acres - and was almost as long as the Houses of Parliament, was three stories high, and was crowned in the centre by a lofty dome.

In the central hall were two symbolical statues, "Raving" and "Melancholy Madness," removed from the old hospital; and tradition says that Oliver Cromwell's giant porter was the model for one of them.

The principle adopted within was that of spacious galleries, or, more correctly speaking, pleasant sitting-rooms on a large scale, and there was hardly anything to betray the condition of their occupants.

The fire-places were guarded as in a nursery, and so were the windows; but there were pianos for the amusement of the women, billiard and bagatelle boards for the men, while periodicals lay about - and were evidently read - cheerful pictures were on the walls, flowering plants abounded, and caged birds sang sweetly.

During the day there were out-door games of all kinds for those who liked them, and in the evening, music, with occasionally theatricals and dancing; when it was most difficult to detect by any peculiarity of manner and appearance who were patients and who were not.

In going over the Hospital, the india-rubber padded-room for refractory subjects was the only grim reminder of what Bedlam really was.

Everywhere, the inmates were treated rationally and with gentleness and consideration, a large proportion being either cured or greatly benefited.

Religious melancholia and intemperance were responsible for the majority of the cases under treatment.

In the female wards, looking at the women quietly sewing or engaged in fancy-work, it was impossible to realize that hardly a century ago they would have been chained by an arm or a leg to the wall of a dismal cell, straw their only bedding, and a blanket their sole covering.

Before the Broadmoor Asylum was established, criminals used to be confined there, amongst the most notorious being Margaret Nicholson, who attempted to assassinate George III, and Edward Oxford who shot at Queen Victoria.

St. Luke's Asylum in Old Street, City Road, commenced in 1782, was an old-fashioned erection, with small windows; but plain as it was, the style was characteristic, and in good proportion.

All the working arrangements of this Asylum were by 1900 modernized; the new method of treatment prevailed with excellent results, dancing and music were prominent features in its diversions, and on St. Luke's Day a grand entertainment was given in the great central hall.

A few private, but registered, maisons-de-sante still lingered in London, but their trend was towards removal into the country.

Roomy old mansions with big gardens and high walls were as a rule chosen for the purpose, and examples of these could be seen in Cambridge Road, N.E.; Fairfield Road, Bow; in the Peckham Road, at Hoxton, and Finsbury Park.

Next: London's Cemeteries and Undertakers in 1900