The Old Manor Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. It was established in the early 19th century as a private licensed house called Fisherton House or Fisherton House Asylum, which became the largest private madhouse in the United Kingdom. In 1924, following a change of proprietors, it was renamed Old Manor Hospital and in 1955 it was amalgamated into the National Health Service. From 1813 to 1955 it was owned and managed by members of the same family. The Old Manor Hospital closed in 2003 and was replaced by Fountain Way, a smaller, modern, psychiatric hospital on part of the same site. In 2014 the site was acquired by Quantum Group for development as a residential estate and the conversion of the main building to a hotel.
History Founding and early history In the early 19th century Dr. William Corbin Finch, a London surgeon, bought Fisherton House in Fisherton Anger, a village to the west of Salisbury. At that time it was outside the city but due to urban development the site on the lower part of Wilton Road is now within the city boundary. It was opened as a private lunatic asylum, receiving its first patient in 1813.
At that time, Finch also owned Laverstock House, in a village east of Salisbury, and Kensington House and The Retreat in The Kings Road in London, all licensed madhouses.
Fisherton House was subject to the Madhouses Act 1774, which prescribed certain rules and conditions regarding private asylums run for profit. Briefly, asylums had to notify the Metropolitan Commissioners of Lunacy of any admissions, in order to maintain a countrywide register; asylums had to be supervised by a qualified doctor and submit to regular inspections by the local Quarter Sessions. The Madhouse Act 1828 superseded the 1774 act and made provision for local magistrates to visit four times each year to inspect the condition, provision of care and regulation of the asylum. There was a securely bound visitors' book in which the visiting magistrates were obliged to record anything they regarded as important, whether positive or negative. One of the sections of the 1774 act provided that a person could be admitted to an asylum on a single certificate signed by a physician, surgeon or apothecary of unspecified qualification. In 1815 William Corbin Finch expressed concern, with other asylum owners, over the literacy of some apothecaries. He illustrated this with an admission note he had received from a local apothecary:
When first opened, Fisherton Asylum took private and pauper patients and was superintended by Charles Finch (uncle of William Corbin Finch) who in 1828 placed an advertisement in a local newspaper, The Salisbury & Winchester Journal: (original spelling and grammar retained)
By 1837 there were 100 inmates, of whom 60 were paupers, paid for by local government funds. Following the passing of the Criminal Lunatics Act 1800, initiated by the attempted assassination of King George III, an increasing number of patients were being sent from criminal courts to be detained "until his Majesty's pleasure be known" in Bethlem Hospital and a few to Fisherton House. Over the next decade the asylum did not expand, and still had 100 licensed places in 1847. In 1848 the proprietors agreed to build special wards to take the less dangerous criminal lunatics that were scattered in asylums around the country; Bethlem hospital would take the more dangerous patients. The fifth annual report by the Lunacy Commissioners found that the numbers of criminal lunatics had increased and the relief provided by Fisherton House was inadequate. Lord Shaftesbury called for the construction of a special asylum to house all criminal lunatics, to no avail. In 1850 the Commissioners' Report noted that Fisherton House was one of three provincial licensed houses that were "defective". The poor conditions were due to overcrowding caused by the transfer of "harmless criminal lunatics" from Bethlem Hospital when it became overcrowded. The poor conditions were tolerated because paupers were expected to be transferred to the newly commissioned county asylums, promoted by the Lunacy Act 1845. In 1853 it is recorded that Fisherton House had 214 patients, cared for by 26 attendants, and was accepting pauper admissions from boroughs well beyond Wiltshire.
Dr Corbin Finch (snr), the medical superintendent, was a city alderman (1842–1856), and Mayor of Salisbury in 1842, and had proposed the building of St Paul's Church in Salisbury as well as being a senior physician at Salisbury Infirmary. He died in 1867 in Salisbury. He was succeeded by his son, Dr William Corbin Finch (jnr). In 1862 the Corbin Finch family were joined in business by Dr John Alfred Lush, a local family doctor who had married the sister of William Corbin Finch (jnr) in 1853. He set up a private practice in Salisbury and later joined the management staff of Fisherton House. He went on to be Liberal MP for Salisbury (1868–1880) and President of the Medico-Psychological Association.
The Glasgow Herald printed in 1864 part of an article from The Cornhill Magazine that describes some aspects of Fisherton Asylum life. The article describes encounters with inmates, medical staff and an inmates' social ball and gives a generally favourable impression.
When the Wiltshire County Asylum had become established in the 1860s, pauper patients resident in Wiltshire were transferred there, but patient numbers were maintained by taking pauper patients from Portsmouth and Middlesex unions.
The Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) visited Fisherton House during the autumn of 1870. The local paper announced the visit thus:
A large ballroom had been constructed in 1868/69 as a patients' social activities room. This was used on at least one occasion as a venue for a concert for the entertainment of the prince and his entourage.
Working and visiting at Fisherton Asylum was not without hazard. In 1873 Robert Wilfred Skeffington Lutwidge, uncle of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (author Lewis Carroll), was visiting the asylum with others in his capacity of Commissioner in Lunacy when he was attacked by a patient and later died. William McCave had pretended to be asleep and when Lutwidge passed he struck him in the head with a large nail, he claimed his motive was to attain transfer to Broadmoor Hospital.
In 1877–78 Dr John Lush, then superintendent, sat on a parliamentary select committee enquiring into the Lunacy Act so far as regards security afforded by it against violations of personal liberty.
From 1878 to 1890 Fisherton House was licensed to receive 672 patients, of whom some were paupers, some were private, and some were criminal lunatics. This made it the largest private madhouse ever to have existed in the United Kingdom.
In 1880 a number of patients at Fisherton House from Portsea Island Union Workhouse area (later St Mary's Hospital) were transferred to the newly opened Portsmouth Lunatic Asylum (later St James Hospital).
In the late 19th century it was not unusual to have children confined in the asylum. There is evidence in records that children were sent from the London and Birmingham unions for care at Fisherton Asylum. One young man survived for two years and another was discharged after one year.Fisherton Asylum Transfer Document dated 1876
A further report in 1896 notes 669 patients in the asylum; the licence permitted 672. There were 135 private patients, and 534 paupers paid for by local authorities. Among the pauper patients were 263 who were charged to London unions, 263 to West Sussex and 29 to Canterbury in Kent, some 140 miles distant. The commonest reason for their presence was full asylums locally. The inspectors noted some unexplained bruising of some patients, seclusion was still being used, the giving of "white medicine" was condemned and concern was expressed about washing facilities, smelly bathrooms and lack of ventilation. Richard Tanner Finch (1857–1921) was surgeon and asylum manager from at least 1891, and was recorded as the medical superintendent in 1901.
The 20th century The property and business of Fisherton House was transferred in 1904 by Dr W. Corbin Finch jnr. to the last of the Finches, his daughter, Francis Emily (later Mrs Baskin) who took over the business in 1905 on the death of her father.
In 1916, Richard Tanner Finch was still medical superintendent as many documents signed by him can attest. He was assisted by Dr Joseph Percival Westrup, and in 1918 they were joined by Dr A. C. King Turner.
In 1921 Samuel Edgar Martin, MB ChB, Barrister at Law was appointed physician superintendent; he had been previously employed at St Andrew's Mental Hospital in Northampton. He looked after patients at both Fisherton Asylum and Laverstock House and regularly recruited attendants from the Republic of Ireland, especially from the Ennis, County Clare area. Dr Martin was once attacked by a patient with a penknife during his rounds, the assailant having been a solicitor at the infamous Dr Crippen murder trial. This patient was transferred to Broadmoor Hospital. Dr Martin held the position of physician superintendent until 1952. According to visitors' reports, all continued satisfactorily with "all modern treatments available". In the hospital records, private patients were referred to as 'ladies' and 'gentlemen' while state-financed patients were called 'male' and 'female'.
In 1924, the Fisherton House Asylum suffered financial difficulties and a limited company was formed called Old Manor (Salisbury) Ltd. Sir Cecil Chubb was appointed managing director and left his law practice to concentrate wholly on the management of the business. Chubb had been cited as being the "proprietor" of the hospital in 1918. Other members of the board were Lady Mary Chubb (wife of Sir Cecil and daughter of Dr William Corbin Finch jnr.); W. F. Swords KC (son-in-law of Dr William Corbin Finch jnr.); Vivian Barker, a Lloyds Bank manager; and A. J. Belsham, a solicitor.
Sarum Ward and New Sarum ward were built just before 1923, when a number of "service patients" were admitted. These were former members of the armed forces who had sustained a mental disorder, in most cases from the First World War, although others had served in the Second Boer War and a few in the Crimean War. A further influx of service patients were admitted in 1931 from the Ministry of Pensions Hospital in Kirkburton, West Yorkshire; these were all lower ranks and were housed in the aforementioned wards. Some officers from Latchmere House in Surrey were also admitted around this time and they were accommodated in Bemerton Lodge, the former residence of William Corbin Finch and Sir Cecil Chubb. Service patients were treated as private patients and their charges were met by the Ministry of Pensions. Within the constraints of the institution they lived fairly comfortable lives with a range of hobbies, a weekly film show in the ballroom, and other social diversions available as well as annual trips to public entertainments courtesy of the Not Forgotten Association.
In 1924, the Royal Commission on Lunacy and Mental Disorders issued a report that led to the Mental Treatment Act 1930. This report affected the running of the hospital to the extent that patients had improved rights that allowed them to enter or leave the hospital at will, unless they were suffering from a condition that gave demonstrable reasons to detain the patient. There was also a change in some terminologies: "asylum" was replaced by "hospital" and "inmate" by "patient", for example.
An inspection report of around 1940 noted 5 doctors, 25 registered nurses and 23 assistant male staff. On the female side were 10 registered nurses and 3 part-time registered nurses, with 31 assistant nurses and 10 part-time assistant nurses. At this time the annual licensing fee for the hospital was 10 shillings per patient, yielding a total of £336.