The mental asylums of 19th century England housed the criminal, the insane, and the unwanted. These are their portraits.
The Victorian Era ushered in several significant changes with regard to medicine and the treatment of the ill. Shifting political mores brought forth increased investment in public health institutions — one of which included the lunatic asylum, a product of the nascent medical practice of psychiatry.
Though intended as a refuge for the sick, the asylum operated more as a correctional institution than a treatment facility. This perhaps stemmed from the fact that not just the ill resided in the site: as prisons became overcrowded, criminals often carried out their sentence in the asylum, while others used the institution as a dumping ground for unwanted dependents.
Given the need to generate funds in order to maintain the burgeoning medical institution, the asylum used its residents — sick, criminal, poor — as revenue sources. This culminated in the general public paying to visit the asylum, creating a circus-like environment for those in treatment.
Below, we look at the striking portraits of those whose lives were confined to the brutish mental institutions of Victorian England:
Harriet Jordan, admitted in 1858 and diagnosed with acute mania.Museum Of The MindCaptain George Johnston, admitted in 1846 with mania and charged with homicide.Museum Of The MindAsylum patient, name unknown.The National Media MuseumEsther Hannah Still, admitted in 1858 and diagnosed with chronic mania with delusions.Museum Of The MindJohn Bailey and his son Thomas Bailey, both admitted in 1858 with acute melancholia.Asylum patient, name unknown.The National Media MuseumEliza Camplin, admitted in 1857 and diagnosed with acute mania.Museum Of The MindWilliam Thomas Green, admitted in 1857 and diagnosed with acute mania.Museum Of The MindA criminal inmate at West Riding Asylum is restrained while photographed.Europeana CollectionsUnidentified female patient diagnosed with acute mania.Museum Of The MindUnidentified female patient admitted with chronic mania.The National Media MuseumEliza Camplin, admitted in 1857 and diagnosed with acute mania.Museum Of The MindAsylum patient, name unknown.The National Media MuseumAsylum patient, name unknown.Museum Of The MindUnidentified woman admitted to West Riding Asylum with chronic mania.Europeana CollectionsEliza Josolyne, admitted 1856 and diagnosed with acute melancholia.Museum Of The MindEliza Josolyne, photographed again in 1857 in convalescence.Museum Of The MindA patient at West Riding Asylum diagnosed with "mono-mania of pride," a condition where an otherwise sane patient suffered from partial insanity due to a singular pathological occupation.Europeana CollectionsAsylum patient, name unknown.The National Media MuseumUnidentified female patient admitted to West Riding Asylum with general paralysis.Europeana CollectionAsylum patient, name unknown.The National Media MuseumA criminal prisoner housed at West Riding Asylum is held up by a guard.Europeana CollectionsUnidentified female patient admitted to West Riding Asylum in 1858 with acute mania.Europeana CollectionAsylum patient, name unknown.The National Media MuseumAsylum patient, name unknown.Museum Of The MindAsylum patient, name unknown.Europeana CollectionsAsylum patient, name unknown.Museum Of The MindAsylum patient, name unknown.The National Media MuseumMuseum Of The MindFanny Barrett, admitted in 1858 and diagnosed with intermittent mania.Museum Of The MindAsylum patient, name unknown.The National Media MuseumEliza Griffin, admitted in 1855 and diagnosed with acute mania.Museum Of The MindAsylum patient, name unknown.The National Media MuseumAsylum patient, name unknown.The National Media MuseumAsylum patient, name unknown.Europeana CollectionAsylum patient, name unknown.The National Media Museum
