A priory for the Order of the Star of Bethlehem, built in 1247 on Bishopsgate at Liverpool Street, started admitting mental patients in 1357. This was probably the world's first institution to specialise in mental illness. It developed into a horrible place, known as Bedlam, dedicated to the commitment of the insane. In 1676 it moved to the London Wall site and it was this building that was adorned with the Cibber statues of Raving and Melancholy Madness. In 1815 Bedlam moved to the St George's Fields site (at that time owned by the City of London) in Southwark and, when in 1930 it moved out to a site near Beckenham, the Southwark buildings became the Imperial War Museum.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Bethleham Hospital 1&2
Commemorated ati
Bethlehem Hospital - first
Site of the first Bethlehem Hospital 1247 - 1676. The Corporation of the City...
Bethlehem Hospital - second
Site of the second Bethlehem Hospital, 1676 -1815. The Corporation of the Cit...
Gift from Lord Rothermere
This plaque was unveiled a second time, during the 75th anniversary celebrati...
Harmsworth - IWM
In 1926 Harold Harmsworth, the first Viscount Rothermere, bought the grounds ...
Other Subjects
St Thomas' Hospital
Named after Thomas a Becket, so possibly founded after 1173 when Becket was canonised. As part of an Augustinian monastery, St Thomas’ (at the London Bridge site) was closed during the Reformation....
7 memorials
N. Burton
District Staff Officer in the St John Ambulance Brigade, No. 1 District Metropolitan Corps, 1908-1954. Officer in the Order of St John.
Person, Emergency Services, Medicine, Politics & Administration
1 memorial
Florence Nightingale
Nurse, statistician, author. Born in Italy (go on, guess which city) while her parents were on the grand tour. Her sister was born one year earlier in Naples, and named Frances Parthenope, the Gree...
6 memorials
Stanley Bean Atkinson
Barrister-at-law, Stepney Borough Councillor, guardian of the poor, member of Metropolitan Asylums Board. On top of his legal qualifications he also studied medicine at St Bartholomew's. Died aged ...
1 memorial
Hermann Michael Biggs
Born USA. Worked with cholera, tuberculosis and typhus, particularly in New York.
1 memorial
Previously viewed
Thomas Woolner
Sculptor and poet. Born Hadleigh Suffolk. Early member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Emigrated to Australia 1852-3 for economic reasons. Buried in the churchyard of St Mary's, Hendon.
4 memorials
Henry Watson Fowler
SW3, Paultons Square, 14
Henry Watson Fowler, 1858 - 1933, grammarian and lexicographer, lived here 1900 - 1903. English Heritage
1 subject commemorated,
1 creator
King James I
Born Edinburgh Castle, son of Mary Queen of Scots. By the age of 13 months his father, Darnley had been murdered and his mother forced to abdicate, making him King James VI of Scotland. He had been...
7 memorials
War dead, WW1
1 memorial
S. F. Wright
Co-partner or employee of the South Suburban Gas Company. Served but did not die in WW1.
War served, WW1
1 memorial
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