Summary of patients at the City and County of Worcester Pauper Lunatic Asylum: Guest blog by Dr. Frank Crompton

Powick Mental Hospital opened on 12th August 1852, as the City and County of Worcester Pauper Lunatic Asylum. It changed its name to Powick Mental Hospital in 1890, following the Mental Health Act of that year (4 & 5 Wil. IV. c. 76). It existed for the next 68 years, until 1920 when Dr. Henry Felix Fenton became Medical Superintendent. He altered the approach to the treatment of Mental Illness and we have little information on the period from 1920 to 1948. 

Between 1852 and 1920 the asylum treated 9,015 patients, 46.8% of them female. 2,054 patients, 56.9% of the males were treated for Dementia. 140 males were treated for what was then called Idiocy, and 124 for Imbecility, the number of women treated for these conditions was 79 and 95 respectively. 2,495 males and 1,126 females were treated for Mania. 649 males were treated for Melancholia, and 841 females for the same condition. There were 112 males and 83 females treated for Monomania, and 73 males and 102 females were treated for other causes.

By Dr. Frank Crompton

Recurring male admissions to Powick asylum between 1852-1920 - Guest Blog by Dr. Frank Crompton

An effort was made to identify how many male patients had entered the Powick Asylum* between 1 and 8 times between 1852 to 1920. Dr. Henry Felix Fenton had worked at the asylum from 1908 and became its Medical Superintendent in 1920. According to Ronald Sandison (Assistant Medical Superintendent in the 1950s), this period was under the ‘Dead Hand of Fentonism’, and Fenton destroyed what had been a highly successful mental institution for almost 70 years. Between 1920 and 1949 there are no records available in the archive so research the author of this Blog conducts is impossible to recreate after 1920.

Between 1852 and 1920 there had been 4797 male patients at the Powick Asylum. Of these patients 1880 had been in the institution on two occasions. There were then 90 other patients who had been in between 3 and 8 occasions. In these cases:

  • 57 were there on 3 occasions

  • 15 were there on 4 occasions

  • 8 were there on 5 occasions

  • 5 were there on 6 occasions

  • 4 were there on 7 occasions, and

  • 1 was there on 8 occasion.

There were thus 2827 male patients who made solitary visits to the asylum

*The institution had been the Worcester City and County Pauper Lunatic Asylum until 1890, and became Powick Mental Hospital from 1920.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

PPE Reimagined at the Three Counties Medical School

The Three Counties Medical School will be displaying a showcase of AHRC-funded research into the development of a sustainable uniform for nurses and surgeons. Designed to benefit medical staff, patients and the environment, this PPE has been designed within a circular system involving the repurposing of used garments within healthcare, and the fashion and textile industry.

The free exhibition will be on display from April 28th to 13th June 2025 in the atrium of the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson building.

death of long-standing volunteer

It is with much sadness that we announce the death of Mrs Muriel Clayson.

Muriel volunteered at both the George Marshall Medical Museum, The Infirmary Museum and Tudor House Museum in Worcester for more than twenty years. She trained at Guy's Nursing School but was adopted by nurses in Worcester, and became an honorary member of the Worcester Royal Infirmary Nurses' League, giving a great deal of her knowledge and insight about both nursing and the teaching of nursing when we planned new projects and displays.

She was extremely thoughtful and intelligent, with a constant smile on her face and personally supported our Curator through her own health issues. She attended every single one of our events without fail until declining health restricted her doing so.

Her funeral will be held at Astwood Cemetery on Wednesday 12 March at 10:00am.