The subject of mental health is very much in the news these days, but the historic record shows that the topic is anything but new. In fact, Gloucestershire Archives holds the largest collection of mental health records of any repository in the country. These are on the whole related to the City’s three mental health institutions Barnwood House Private Mental Hospital and Trust, Horton Road County Lunatic Asylum and Coney Hill Hospital.
I’m retiring after a very fulfilling and happy 36 (gulp!) years working at Gloucestershire Archives and have been asked to a write a farewell blog. So, here it is. I have eschewed any attempt at a chronological narrative, and instead have decided to focus on three collections which have run like threads throughout my career. My acquaintance with all three began early, during my ‘Collections’ era, and I’ve been able to reconnect with them several times as my role has become more outward focussed.
Amongst the records placed onto the online catalogue in the last quarter was a long-distance traveller, all the way from Australia! A register of cases at the Cotswold Maternity Hospital for the years 1937-1945, it emigrated post-War with one of the former midwives. Recently her daughter contacted the Archives (through Gloucestershire Family History Society) offering to return the register. We are very grateful to her for this initiative, and for offering to pay a fair sum in postage.
The one thing that I think most people know about the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953 was that it was the first such event to be televised, and many people bought TV sets just so that they could watch it. My dad was six at the time and I remember him telling me that half the street crowded into his parents’ living room to peer at the tiny screen as the Queen was crowned.
In Gloucester, the TV service arrived in the spring of 1951, and I’ve recently discovered, from the Town Clerk’s file on the subject, that Gloucester was the first place in the world to have a television service provided by relay -in other words, the signal from the transmitter was too weak to reach the city, so a further transmitter was placed on Chosen Hill to relay the signal right into Gloucester residents’ homes.
The Corporation of Gloucester had advertised for a company to work with them to provide the service and Link Sound and Vision Services Ltd got the contract. It seems as though there was a bit of a race to be the first place with a relay service, and after Gloucester ‘won’, the Deputy Town Clerk had to correct at least one claim from another local authority in an article he wrote for the Municipal Journal.
From GBR/L6/23/B4536, including certificate signed by those present at the switching on of the first subscriber’s service, and article by the Deputy Town Clerk in the Municipal JournalContinue reading →
This blog provides some details of the accessions received and processed at Gloucestershire Archives during the first quarter of 2023. These can be from any place, person or organisation in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire.
During the first three months of this year we added 342 new accessions to our online catalogue. That includes numerous books and other publications, which are part of our Local History Collection.
Since April 2022 I have been working on a project to catalogue the 20th century records of the Corporation of Gloucester, which cover a crucial period for the development of the city up to 1974. Along the way I’ve discovered all sorts of things about how new technologies such as the motor car and telephones affected the city from the 1920s onwards, how the Corporation promoted Gloucester as a suitable site for industry, and how an early aviation pioneer inspired the creation of what is now Gloucestershire Airport.
Barnwood House Hospital was established around the early 1800s and operated as a private mental asylum until its closure in 1968. The impact of the hospital on the community of the City of Gloucester and indeed it’s national reputation over many years at the forefront of the treatment of mental illness cannot be underestimated. The ethos of the hospital can be demonstrated by the hospital’s rule book stating that “Because they are insane, the patients are not to be treated with less respect than they would be entitled to if they were of sound mind and at liberty” and “They are not the less ladies and gentlemen because they are unsound in mind”.
D3725/1/167/4: Photograph of Barnwood House and grounds, including a few staff and patients [late 19th century].Continue reading →
Happy New Year from all at Gloucestershire Archives and our Heritage Hub partners.
This blog details accessions received at Gloucestershire Archives during the second half of 2022. These can be from any place, person or organisation in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire.
In that time we added 226 new accessions onto our online catalogue. This includes oral reminiscence recordings with members of different communities in Gloucester; documents concerning the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the Proclamation of King Charles III; research papers of local historians; Gloucester Rugby Football Club matchday programmes; cinema and theatre programmes; short films and other material concerning the Kindertransport hostel in Gloucester; records of the Ducarel family of Newland House; and Witts family papers, including correspondence and papers relating to the army and estate and finance, 20th century.
On FridaySeptember 9thwhy not attend part or all of our History Festival/Voices Gloucester event, Innovations in Gloucester, in the Dunrossil Centre at Gloucestershire Heritage Hub?
It’s all free, although donations to Voices Gloucester are welcomed. Bring a picnic to enjoy in the Hub’s community garden. The building is fully accessible. There is some on-site parking (£3) – we’re also close to NCP car parks. For further details and to book a place see https://voicesgloucester.org.uk/events/innovations-in-gloucester/.
My name is Natasha Young and I have recently completed the National Archives digital skills training program: Bridging the Digital Gap. This program was a 15 month hands-on placement at the Gloucestershire Archives, where I have had access to amazing people, and learned not only the skills of traditional archiving, but the challenges and needs of digital archiving.
Gloucestershire Archives 