Zone d'identification
Cote
Titre
Date(s)
- 1853-1983 (Création/Production)
Niveau de description
Étendue matérielle et support
34.45 linear metres
Zone du contexte
Nom du producteur
Notice biographique
Normansfield was founded in May 1868 by Dr John Haydon Langdon-Down and his wife, Mary, as a private home for the mentally handicapped, especially for the children of the upper classes whom they sought to educate and train to the full extent of their capabilities.
The hospital opened in a recently built house in extensive grounds in Kingston Road, Teddington, close to Hampton Wick. By the end of the year 19 patients were in residence. From 1858 to 1868 John Langdon-Down had been Medical Superintendent of the Royal Earlswood Hospital, then known as the Asylum for Idiots. He brought with him from Earlswood to Normansfield some of his patients and three admission and discharge registers 1855-1868 which now form part of the Normansfield Hospital archives (ref. H29/NF/B/01/001-002, H29/NF/B/02/001).
John Langdon-Down continued to fulfil his responsibilities as physician to the London Hospital while establishing a consulting practice in Harley Street. Mary Langdon-Down was responsible for the day to day management of Normansfield and the supervision of the patients, conducting an extensive correspondence with many of their parents and other relatives. Most of the letters received by her from 1881 to 1888 and from 1897 to her death in 1900 survive. (See H29/NF/A/01/001-025, H29/NF/A/01/084-103).
Normansfield rapidly expanded firstly with the addition of two wings to the main building in 1872 to 1873, by which time the number of patients had risen to 57. The villas facing Kingston Road were purchased, as well as additional land including a plot of land running down to the River Thames on the far side of the lower road. By 1877 there were 115 patients and the building of the Entertainment Hall or Theatre and the farm was started. Broom Hall, now known as Conifers, was purchased in 1878 and in 1882 Eastcote, renamed Trematon, was bought. Further additions were the laundry built in 1883, the boathouse in 1884, the drill hall in the grounds of Trematon in 1889, and the clock tower in 1891/2. By 1892 there were 200 patients in residence.
John Langdon-Down died suddenly on 7 October 1896 aged 67. His elder son, Reginald, succeeded him as Medical Superintendent. On the death of Mary Langdon-Down on 5 October 1900, their two sons, Reginald and Percival, took over the management of Normansfield. Reginald's wife, Jane, a former nursing sister at the London Hospital, became responsible for the day to day organisation of the establishment.;Under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, the main building became a certified house. The North Wing accommodated male patients while the South Wing was for women and children. Conifers and Trematon became approved homes, Conifers for higher grade women and Trematon for higher grade men. Education, occupational therapy, therapeutic work on the farm and in the kitchen garden and daily exercise in the hospital grounds was provided for the patients. Annual visits to the south coast were arranged for almost all the patients up to the Second World War.
Jane Langdon-Down died in 1917 and Percival Langdon-Down died in 1925. In 1926 Normansfield became a limited company with Reginald Langdon-Down and Helen Langdon-Down, Percival's widow, as the directors.
The outbreak of the Second World War caused many problems for the running of Normansfield. Several bombs fell in the hospital grounds, damaging buildings, but fortunately without causing any injury. Stella Brain returned to Teddington with her family to assist her father in managing Normansfield. In 1946, Percival's son, Norman, became Deputy Medical Superintendent. In 1945 there were 160 patients in the main building at Normansfield with an additional 21 girls not under certificate, who had been transferred from Conifers which had been rendered uninhabitable by enemy action in June 1944.
The problems of maintaining a private establishment after the War and with the advent of the National Health Service proved overwhelming. Negotiations to sell the hospital to the Government resulted in the transfer of Normansfield to the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board on 22 June 1951. The hospital came under the immediate control of Staines Group Hospital Management Committee. The Langdon-Down family involvement with Normansfield continued with the appointment in 1951 of Dr Norman Langdon-Down as Medical Superintendent and with Lady Brain's appointment to the management committee in 1952. Many of the higher grade patients left. Conifers and Trematon ceased to be approved homes and the whole establishment became a certified institution until the advent of the 1959 Mental Health Act.
Money for repairing and upgrading the buildings was initially lacking, but gradually extensions and improvements were made, including the building of new day rooms in 1960, the installation of a new central heating system, rewiring, the conversion of an old farm building into an industrial unit in 1960, and the construction of two new wards and a block of staff flats in 1968. In 1971 responsibility for the education of children resident in the hospital was transferred to the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. A few children attended local special schools, while the Normansfield Education Unit now run by the local education authority was in 1974 transferred to Trematon.;An active League of Friends of Normansfield was formed in 1957 by Lady Brain, who became President, and Colonel Symmons, the Chairman. Money was raised to provide amongst other things, a school, a shop and clubroom for the patients, a hydrotherapy pool, and a holiday home, Bill House at Selsey, Sussex.
In 1970 Norman Langdon-Down retired. He was succeeded as consultant psychiatrist by Dr Terence Lawlor. As a result of the 1974 reorganisation of the National Health Service Normansfield was managed from 1 April 1974 by Kingston and Richmond Area Health Authority and the South West Thames Regional Health Authority. In the 1970s Normansfield became known as a "problem" hospital with bad relationships between Dr Lawlor, his medical colleagues and most of the nursing staff, the lack of adequate physiotherapy, speech therapy, dental care, and occupational therapy for the patients, low staff morale, the difficulty of recruiting and retaining sufficient good calibre trained nurses, the problems of caring for patients in run down, badly maintained and dirty buildings, combined with complex management structures and increased union activity within the N.H.S. On 5 May 1976, this resulted in a strike by most of the nursing staff who demanded the suspension of Dr Lawlor and walked out leaving the patients without proper care.
In order to resolve the strike the Regional Health Authority decided to suspend Dr Lawlor and to hold an inquiry. The Inquiry into "Staff Morale and Patient Care at Normansfield Hospital and in particular the circumstances leading to the withdrawal of labour by staff at the hospital on 5th May 1976, the action taken to deal with the situation and to make recommendations thereon" opened on 8 November 1976 sitting in private under the chairmanship of Gerald Kidner. It was adjourned 'sine die' after six days owing to the withdrawal of Dr Lawlor and the medical member of the panel, Dr Hatrick.
A new Committee of Inquiry under the chairmanship of Michael Sherrard QC was appointed by the Secretary of State for Social Services in pursuance of his powers under Section 70 of the National Health Service Act 1946. This gave the committee power to receive evidence on oath, to compel the attendance of witnesses and for the production of documents. The proceedings were to be held in public unless some "grave and weighty reason" was shown otherwise. Its terms of reference were "To inquire into patient care and staff morale at Normansfield Hospital and in particular into complaints made by staff at the Hospital and others; to inquire into the causes and effects of the unrest at the Hospital and the action taken to deal with the situation; and to make recommendations."
The Committee of Inquiry sat for 124 days from 10 February 1977 to 10 February 1978. Its report was published in November 1978. A copy of this (ref. H29/NF/F/08/001) can be found amongst the archives relating to the Inquiry deposited in the London Metropolitan Archives by the Administrator of Normansfield Hospital in 1986. The archives also include an almost complete set of transcripts of proceedings of both inquiries, copies of documents submitted to the Sherrard Inquiry, some of files from which these documents were copied, transcripts of disciplinary proceedings resulting from the report, and some of the Area Nursing Officer's files relating to nursing at Normansfield after the Inquiry.
By 1993 Normansfield Hospital had become part of the Richmond Twickenham and Roehampton Healthcare NHS Trust. The Hospital closed in 2000 and the site has since been redeveloped.
Dépôt
Histoire archivistique
H29/NF 1853-1983 subfonds 34.45 linear metres Normansfield Hospital
Normansfield was founded in May 1868 by Dr John Haydon Langdon-Down and his wife, Mary, as a private home for the mentally handicapped, especially for the children of the upper classes whom they sought to educate and train to the full extent of their capabilities.
The hospital opened in a recently built house in extensive grounds in Kingston Road, Teddington, close to Hampton Wick. By the end of the year 19 patients were in residence. From 1858 to 1868 John Langdon-Down had been Medical Superintendent of the Royal Earlswood Hospital, then known as the Asylum for Idiots. He brought with him from Earlswood to Normansfield some of his patients and three admission and discharge registers 1855-1868 which now form part of the Normansfield Hospital archives (ref. H29/NF/B/01/001-002, H29/NF/B/02/001).
John Langdon-Down continued to fulfil his responsibilities as physician to the London Hospital while establishing a consulting practice in Harley Street. Mary Langdon-Down was responsible for the day to day management of Normansfield and the supervision of the patients, conducting an extensive correspondence with many of their parents and other relatives. Most of the letters received by her from 1881 to 1888 and from 1897 to her death in 1900 survive. (See H29/NF/A/01/001-025, H29/NF/A/01/084-103).
Normansfield rapidly expanded firstly with the addition of two wings to the main building in 1872 to 1873, by which time the number of patients had risen to 57. The villas facing Kingston Road were purchased, as well as additional land including a plot of land running down to the River Thames on the far side of the lower road. By 1877 there were 115 patients and the building of the Entertainment Hall or Theatre and the farm was started. Broom Hall, now known as Conifers, was purchased in 1878 and in 1882 Eastcote, renamed Trematon, was bought. Further additions were the laundry built in 1883, the boathouse in 1884, the drill hall in the grounds of Trematon in 1889, and the clock tower in 1891/2. By 1892 there were 200 patients in residence.
John Langdon-Down died suddenly on 7 October 1896 aged 67. His elder son, Reginald, succeeded him as Medical Superintendent. On the death of Mary Langdon-Down on 5 October 1900, their two sons, Reginald and Percival, took over the management of Normansfield. Reginald's wife, Jane, a former nursing sister at the London Hospital, became responsible for the day to day organisation of the establishment.;Under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, the main building became a certified house. The North Wing accommodated male patients while the South Wing was for women and children. Conifers and Trematon became approved homes, Conifers for higher grade women and Trematon for higher grade men. Education, occupational therapy, therapeutic work on the farm and in the kitchen garden and daily exercise in the hospital grounds was provided for the patients. Annual visits to the south coast were arranged for almost all the patients up to the Second World War.
Jane Langdon-Down died in 1917 and Percival Langdon-Down died in 1925. In 1926 Normansfield became a limited company with Reginald Langdon-Down and Helen Langdon-Down, Percival's widow, as the directors.
The outbreak of the Second World War caused many problems for the running of Normansfield. Several bombs fell in the hospital grounds, damaging buildings, but fortunately without causing any injury. Stella Brain returned to Teddington with her family to assist her father in managing Normansfield. In 1946, Percival's son, Norman, became Deputy Medical Superintendent. In 1945 there were 160 patients in the main building at Normansfield with an additional 21 girls not under certificate, who had been transferred from Conifers which had been rendered uninhabitable by enemy action in June 1944.
The problems of maintaining a private establishment after the War and with the advent of the National Health Service proved overwhelming. Negotiations to sell the hospital to the Government resulted in the transfer of Normansfield to the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board on 22 June 1951. The hospital came under the immediate control of Staines Group Hospital Management Committee. The Langdon-Down family involvement with Normansfield continued with the appointment in 1951 of Dr Norman Langdon-Down as Medical Superintendent and with Lady Brain's appointment to the management committee in 1952. Many of the higher grade patients left. Conifers and Trematon ceased to be approved homes and the whole establishment became a certified institution until the advent of the 1959 Mental Health Act.
Money for repairing and upgrading the buildings was initially lacking, but gradually extensions and improvements were made, including the building of new day rooms in 1960, the installation of a new central heating system, rewiring, the conversion of an old farm building into an industrial unit in 1960, and the construction of two new wards and a block of staff flats in 1968. In 1971 responsibility for the education of children resident in the hospital was transferred to the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. A few children attended local special schools, while the Normansfield Education Unit now run by the local education authority was in 1974 transferred to Trematon.;An active League of Friends of Normansfield was formed in 1957 by Lady Brain, who became President, and Colonel Symmons, the Chairman. Money was raised to provide amongst other things, a school, a shop and clubroom for the patients, a hydrotherapy pool, and a holiday home, Bill House at Selsey, Sussex.
In 1970 Norman Langdon-Down retired. He was succeeded as consultant psychiatrist by Dr Terence Lawlor. As a result of the 1974 reorganisation of the National Health Service Normansfield was managed from 1 April 1974 by Kingston and Richmond Area Health Authority and the South West Thames Regional Health Authority. In the 1970s Normansfield became known as a "problem" hospital with bad relationships between Dr Lawlor, his medical colleagues and most of the nursing staff, the lack of adequate physiotherapy, speech therapy, dental care, and occupational therapy for the patients, low staff morale, the difficulty of recruiting and retaining sufficient good calibre trained nurses, the problems of caring for patients in run down, badly maintained and dirty buildings, combined with complex management structures and increased union activity within the N.H.S. On 5 May 1976, this resulted in a strike by most of the nursing staff who demanded the suspension of Dr Lawlor and walked out leaving the patients without proper care.
In order to resolve the strike the Regional Health Authority decided to suspend Dr Lawlor and to hold an inquiry. The Inquiry into "Staff Morale and Patient Care at Normansfield Hospital and in particular the circumstances leading to the withdrawal of labour by staff at the hospital on 5th May 1976, the action taken to deal with the situation and to make recommendations thereon" opened on 8 November 1976 sitting in private under the chairmanship of Gerald Kidner. It was adjourned 'sine die' after six days owing to the withdrawal of Dr Lawlor and the medical member of the panel, Dr Hatrick.
A new Committee of Inquiry under the chairmanship of Michael Sherrard QC was appointed by the Secretary of State for Social Services in pursuance of his powers under Section 70 of the National Health Service Act 1946. This gave the committee power to receive evidence on oath, to compel the attendance of witnesses and for the production of documents. The proceedings were to be held in public unless some "grave and weighty reason" was shown otherwise. Its terms of reference were "To inquire into patient care and staff morale at Normansfield Hospital and in particular into complaints made by staff at the Hospital and others; to inquire into the causes and effects of the unrest at the Hospital and the action taken to deal with the situation; and to make recommendations."
The Committee of Inquiry sat for 124 days from 10 February 1977 to 10 February 1978. Its report was published in November 1978. A copy of this (ref. H29/NF/F/08/001) can be found amongst the archives relating to the Inquiry deposited in the London Metropolitan Archives by the Administrator of Normansfield Hospital in 1986. The archives also include an almost complete set of transcripts of proceedings of both inquiries, copies of documents submitted to the Sherrard Inquiry, some of files from which these documents were copied, transcripts of disciplinary proceedings resulting from the report, and some of the Area Nursing Officer's files relating to nursing at Normansfield after the Inquiry.
By 1993 Normansfield Hospital had become part of the Richmond Twickenham and Roehampton Healthcare NHS Trust. The Hospital closed in 2000 and the site has since been redeveloped.
ACC/2081, ACC/2286, ACC/2741, B98/078
Records of Normansfield Hospital, including Mary Langdon-Down's Correspondence 1881-1888; John Langdon-Down's Correspondence 1883-1896; Mary Langdon-Down's Correspondence 1890-1900; Reginald Langdon-Down's Correspondence 1900-1951; Norman Langdon-Down's Correspondence 1963-1968; Correspondence and papers filed by subject 1907-1952; Memorandum and Articles of Association 1926; Testimonials and prospectus 1888-1946; Inventory and valuation 1941. Registers of admissions (including Earlswood Asylum) 1855-1914; Register of discharges and deaths (including Earlswood Asylum) 1855-1914; Medical visitation books 1868-1887; Reports on patients on admission 1881-1898; Dr Reginald Langdon-Down's notes on patients 1907-1934; Board of Control Visitors' books 1931-1960; Register of mechanical restraint and seclusion 1946-1960; Reception orders, medical certificates and statements 1863-1908; Death and discharge papers 1870-1954; X Ray photographs of patients and staff 1916-1932.
Staff record books 1898-1928; Officers' applications and testimonials 1891-1921; Applications for nursing and other posts addressed to Matron 1951-1952; Staff applications addressed to Medical Superintendent 1951-1959. Patients' ledgers 1888-1890; 1942-1955; Suppliers' ledgers 1909-1927; Wages book 1939-1951; Invoices and receipts, 1916-1922 and 1946-1951. Photographs of the Hospital buildings, farm and gardens, patients and staff and the Langdon-Down family, 1877-1983. Papers relating to the Langdon-Down family 1853-1927; League of Friends of Normansfield c 1957-1968; Centenary histories and celebrations 1968 and Newspapers cuttings 1970 -1979.
Papers relating to the Normansfield Inquiry, including Dr Lawlor's files 1970-1977; Dr Nelson's files on Education Unit 1958-1977; Area Nursing Officer's files 1969-1982; Regional Health Authority capital services files 1973-1976; Regional Health Authority Inquiry November 1976; Sherrard Inquiry transcripts of proceedings Feb 1977-Feb 1978; Documents submitted in evidence 1953?-1978; Report and disciplinary proceedings 1978-1979.
These records are arranged according to a classification scheme for hospital records: General Hospital Administration (A), Patients' Administration (B), Finance Office (D), Endowments (E), Related Documentation (Y) and Prints and Photographs (PH).
These records are open to public inspection, although under section 5(4) of the 1958 Public Records Act administrative records are closed for 30 years and patient records for 100 years.
Copyright: Depositor
English
Mostly fit, some correspondence is not suitable for production.
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Other sources of information about Normansfield include the minute books of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board (ref. HA/NW/A) and applications for grants from King Edward's Hospital Fund for London and reports by King's Fund Visitors 1952-1967 (ref. A/KE/716/185, A/KE/735/49, A/KE/736/25, and A/KE/738/68);For Museum collections please contact the Langdon Down Centre Trust, Normansfield, 2A Langdon Park, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 9PS (as of January 2008).
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. February 2009 Down , Norman Langdon- , 1905-1991 , medical superintendent, Normansfield Hospital Down , Reginald Langdon- , d 1955 , medical superintendent, Normansfield Hospital Down , Mary Langdon- , d 1900 , superintendent, Normansfield Hospital Down , John Langdon Haydon Langdon- , 1828-1896 , expert in mental science and identifier of Down's syndrome Psychiatric hospital patients Patients Medical institutions Child health services History Personal history Medical history Psychiatric hospitals Health services Hospitals Hospital administration Disadvantaged groups Disabled persons Mentally disabled Sherrard , Michael David , b 1928 , Chairman, Normansfield Hospital Inquiry Normansfield Hospital Teddington London England UK Western Europe Richmond-upon-Thames Hertfordshire Europe
Source immédiate d'acquisition ou de transfert
ACC/2081, ACC/2286, ACC/2741, B98/078
Zone du contenu et de la structure
Portée et contenu
Records of Normansfield Hospital, including Mary Langdon-Down's Correspondence 1881-1888; John Langdon-Down's Correspondence 1883-1896; Mary Langdon-Down's Correspondence 1890-1900; Reginald Langdon-Down's Correspondence 1900-1951; Norman Langdon-Down's Correspondence 1963-1968; Correspondence and papers filed by subject 1907-1952; Memorandum and Articles of Association 1926; Testimonials and prospectus 1888-1946; Inventory and valuation 1941. Registers of admissions (including Earlswood Asylum) 1855-1914; Register of discharges and deaths (including Earlswood Asylum) 1855-1914; Medical visitation books 1868-1887; Reports on patients on admission 1881-1898; Dr Reginald Langdon-Down's notes on patients 1907-1934; Board of Control Visitors' books 1931-1960; Register of mechanical restraint and seclusion 1946-1960; Reception orders, medical certificates and statements 1863-1908; Death and discharge papers 1870-1954; X Ray photographs of patients and staff 1916-1932.
Staff record books 1898-1928; Officers' applications and testimonials 1891-1921; Applications for nursing and other posts addressed to Matron 1951-1952; Staff applications addressed to Medical Superintendent 1951-1959. Patients' ledgers 1888-1890; 1942-1955; Suppliers' ledgers 1909-1927; Wages book 1939-1951; Invoices and receipts, 1916-1922 and 1946-1951. Photographs of the Hospital buildings, farm and gardens, patients and staff and the Langdon-Down family, 1877-1983. Papers relating to the Langdon-Down family 1853-1927; League of Friends of Normansfield c 1957-1968; Centenary histories and celebrations 1968 and Newspapers cuttings 1970 -1979.
Papers relating to the Normansfield Inquiry, including Dr Lawlor's files 1970-1977; Dr Nelson's files on Education Unit 1958-1977; Area Nursing Officer's files 1969-1982; Regional Health Authority capital services files 1973-1976; Regional Health Authority Inquiry November 1976; Sherrard Inquiry transcripts of proceedings Feb 1977-Feb 1978; Documents submitted in evidence 1953?-1978; Report and disciplinary proceedings 1978-1979.
Évaluation, élimination et calendrier de conservation
Accroissements
Mode de classement
These records are arranged according to a classification scheme for hospital records: General Hospital Administration (A), Patients' Administration (B), Finance Office (D), Endowments (E), Related Documentation (Y) and Prints and Photographs (PH).
Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation
Conditions d'accès
These records are open to public inspection, although under section 5(4) of the 1958 Public Records Act administrative records are closed for 30 years and patient records for 100 years.
Conditions de reproduction
Copyright: Depositor
Langue des documents
- anglais
Écriture des documents
- latin
Notes de langue et graphie
English
Caractéristiques matérielle et contraintes techniques
Other sources of information about Normansfield include the minute books of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board (ref. HA/NW/A) and applications for grants from King Edward's Hospital Fund for London and reports by King's Fund Visitors 1952-1967 (ref. A/KE/716/185, A/KE/735/49, A/KE/736/25, and A/KE/738/68);For Museum collections please contact the Langdon Down Centre Trust, Normansfield, 2A Langdon Park, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 9PS (as of January 2008).
Instruments de recherche
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Zone des sources complémentaires
Existence et lieu de conservation des originaux
Existence et lieu de conservation des copies
Unités de description associées
Note de publication
Zone des notes
Note
Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)
Mots-clés
Mots-clés - Sujets
Mots-clés - Lieux
Mots-clés - Noms
Mots-clés - Genre
Zone du contrôle de la description
Identifiant de la description
Identifiant du service d'archives
Règles et/ou conventions utilisées
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Statut
Niveau de détail
Dates de production, de révision, de suppression
Langue(s)
- anglais