Victorian Asylum

Bethlehem Royal Hospital (A.K.A Bedlam Hospital) had a terrible reputation of being a public attraction where members of the public would pay to gawp at the inmates, many of whom were chained.

Conditions were consistently dreadful, and the care amounted to little more than restraint. Violent or dangerous patients were manacled and chained to the floor or wall. Some were allowed to leave, and licensed to beg. Day to day management was in the hands of a Keeper, who received payment for each patient from their parish, livery company, or relatives.

Life in the asylum would have been hard - strict discipline and routine were seen as essential for people to get better.The asylum was like a separate world and was self-sufficient. Patients would chop wood for fires, grow food, wash sheets and even made the nurses uniforms!Those who couldn't work were marched around grassed yards called airing courts for exercise.The wards were locked and there were high railings around the asylum so no one could escape. There were even lookout points built into the staircases so staff could survey the corridors and day rooms.


A typical day in an Asylum

Patients are fed, lodged, and clad alike, wearing a dress of grey woollen cloth, which is woven and made up by themselves; they rise at 6A.M in the summer, and seven in the winter, and all who are in fit state, attend with such servants as can be spared at morning prayers precisely at eight o’clock. They breakfast on milk and pottage and bread at half past eight. At nine o’clock the gardener, farmer, laundry woman etc select those patients, who by previous arrangement with the Director have been fixed on, for their several occupations, and commence work.

At eleven, the workers have a luncheon of bread, and three quarters of a pint of table beer. They dine at one. Their dinners are one day, meat, yeast dumplings, and potatoes, and half a pint of beer: the next, soup, with potatoes and dumplings, alternately. At two work is resumed, and at four a luncheon is distributed, similar to that in the forenoon. At seven they have supper, of milk pottage and bread. At eight, the bedroom doors and window shutters are carefully locked, the clothes folded, and placed on the outside of each door.

   

Some of the treatments given in the asylum seem strange today - bleeding and purging with leeches, mustard plasters, footbaths, chops and beer were all used. Some of the more horrible treatments included muzzles to stop patients biting the nurses and a revolving chair which the patient was strapped in and spun around at 100 revolutions a minute. The West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum was one of the first to adopt employment as a way of helping people get better. Patients worked on the wards and in the asylum bakery, laundry, brewery and farm.

Industrial Ruins

Here are some images I found on the web of ruins of factories and industrial sites.

Living conditions

What was it like living in Victorian times?

Poor people lived in small houses in cramped streets. These homes would share toilet facilities, have open sewers (initially at least) and would be susceptible to damp. Conditions did improve during the 19th century as a number of public health acts were introduced covereing things such as sewage, sanitation and imposing some restricions upon the construction of homes.

     
Whole families lived in just a couple of rooms. Many families were large in those days - there might be more than 13 children.It was very cramped inside the tenement. There wasn't much space for beds. Children had to share their beds with four or five brothers or sisters.

One of the rooms might have a fireplace where food could be cooked. In winter, everyone gathered around the fireplace to keep warm. If they could not afford to buy wood or coal for the fire, they had to huddle together to keep warm.In summer the rooms would get very hot - and smelly - with so many people in them.

Working class women had domestic duties such as cleaning, cooking and looking after the family. Their social life revolved around their homes. These women would meet and chat in the street or across the garden fence. Many had to share washing greens. As they cleaned their clothes they would talk about problems and life.

Many children had to work in coal mines or factories. They didn't have much time to play. If they had free time they would play out on the street. For the working class, parks were used as a place to have annual fairs and the occasional day out. Many parks were created at this time.

Richer people would take tea together. They would enjoy parties and have balls. Rich women often read books or magazines in their free time. Their daughters would learn to sing and dance.

     
Apartments of middle to upper class citizens were more spacious than those of the tenements.

Working class men had hard jobs in coalmines and factories. After such a day they often chose to play one of the street sports that had become popular. Men of all classes and backgrounds would gather in the street and watch boxing, dog fighting and other competitive sports.

Drinking and gambling added to the excitement of it but it was dangerous. Laws were soon passed to ban such street sports.

Disease was also a constant threat during the Industrial Revolution. Changes in the way that people lived and the conditions in which they worked led to disease being able to spread much more rapidly, and new forms of disease emerged that were as deadly as any killer that had been before.

Towns grew very quickly as factories led to migrations from the countryside and immigration from different parts of Europe and the empire. As the demand for housing increased so rapidly the quality of homes constructed was low. Housing for the worker was cramped in, built quickly and built with little regard for hygeine. In many cities the result was that large slums appeared.


These slums were areas where houses were small, roads narrow and services such as rubbish collection, sewage works and basic washing facilities non existant.

Water was often the problem. Factories would dump waste into streams and rivers. The same streams and rivers were used to supply homes with water for washing and cooking. Soon peoples health was endangered. In many slums the same water supply was infected with human sewage as toilet facilities were often inadequate and sometimes consisted of a toilet blcok that was emptied irregularly: meaning that when it rained, the waste may overflow into the gutter and therefore into the rivers and streams.

One of the main killers of the industrial age was Cholera. This deadly diease was water borne and spread through filthy cities with ease, killing thousands. Typhoid also took a hold in some areas and aain made great use of the poor sewage provisions to take a hold of many areas.

Why did people move to the city?

Before the Industrial Revolution many people lived in the country and worked on the farms.

During the nineteenth century, demand for textiles, chemicals and materials saw a rapid increase in industry. Jobs became available in the factories and people moved to live and work in the cities. Some cities grew faster than others and there was often a shortage of housing. Jobs were more plentiful and varied.

The increase in the number of people living in one area meant that facilities such as shops, hospitals and schools were needed.

For the first time there were lots of jobs for assistants in shops, and workers in factories. New jobs emerged and people had the chance to work at something different. Many women were able to work and often took positions in factories.

Women were paid less than the men and they had few rights. During the nineteenth century more and more men got the right to vote but women could contribute to society by working.

Some people chose to stay on the farms rather than move to the cities. Tools and machinery had replaced many workers but there were still jobs to do there.

Other work available in the city included jobs in heavy industry. Ship building and coal mining needed workers. The coal industry powered trains and homes. Transport made life easier for the people.The Industrial Revolution brought a lot of new jobs and money to Britain and the industries enjoyed a new wealth. The people in charge made lots of money but the workers were often paid badly. They had to work long hours to make more money.