Unsound Mind

During 1847 in England and Wales, there were 5,247 patients housed in 21 County and Borough Asylums; by 1914, this had increased to 108,837 patients in 102 asylums. For some, such a traumatic time in their lives may only have lasted a few weeks or months. More often however, once admitted into the care of the asylum, the experiences of most patients lasted for many years - if not a lifetime.

When it opened in 1869, the City of Newcastle Upon Tyne Lunatic Asylum initially accommodated 250 patients; by 1878 this number had risen to just 261. Over the coming decades however the city gradually, but steadily, enlarged its asylum so that by 1914, there was accommodation for almost 900 patients. Within the period 1869 - 1914 there were many thousands of people from all walks of life admitted into the asylum after having undergone a personal crisis or tragedy. The 48 case histories (half of which are accompanied by photographs) highlighted within the pages of this book are taken from official records where every entry - of varying degrees of legibility - has been written in long-hand by medical staff. These case histories have been painstakingly collated to tell the personal and often tragic stories of a very small number of ordinary people going through extraordinary difficulties. Details of their lives precipitating admission and experiences of asylum care as documented within the original case books have long been hidden from view - until now.