Group    From /5/1868  To 1997

Normansfield Asylum

Categories: Children, Medicine

See Lost Hospitals of London for an excellent history of this hospital. Briefly: The White House, a mansion with 5 acres of grounds, was built in 1866.  Dr Langdon Down and his wife Mary bought it and named it Normansfield, after their solicitor (!).  It opened in May 1868 as a private asylum for children with mental health problems from upper class families.  The children were taught according to their abilities and the hospital expanded with new wings and out-buildings.  A splendid Entertainment Hall was built and opened in 1879 (still exists and is regularly open to the public).  By 1888 the hospital covered 40 acres.  The Langdon Down’s two sons both qualified in medicine, worked at Normansfield and took it over when their parents died in 1896-1900.

Normansfield transferred into the NHS in June 1951 but the family continued their involvement.  We have to mention that a grand-daughter married a neurologist, Dr Russell Brain (nominative determinism rules! - see Isambard Brunel for more examples).

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This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
Normansfield Asylum

Creations i

Dr John Langdon Down

We could not get close enough to take easily legible photographs and initiall...

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Other Subjects

Osman Sharif

Osman Sharif

Killed aged 16. Evening Stardard reports an arrest of another 16 year old suspected of stabbing Sharif. Our photo was taken from a framed image at the shrine.

Person, Children, Tragedy

1 memorial
Christopher David Pullen

Christopher David Pullen

Christopher Pullen, aged 12, died in Southdown House when a heavy steel fire door, lying off its hinges, propped up in the stairwell of a block of flats, fell on him causing fatal injuries. The doo...

Person, Children, Tragedy

1 memorial
Committee and Friends of the United Kingdom Band of Hope Union

Committee and Friends of the United Kingdom Band of Hope Union

Hope UK is a Christian charity based in London which educates children and young people about drug and alcohol abuse. Local meetings started in Leeds with the objective to teach children the impor...

Group, Children, Education, Food & Drink, Social Welfare

1 memorial
Percy Baden Powell Huxford

Percy Baden Powell Huxford

Percy Baden Powell Huxford is the 2nd from the right of the seven boys sitting in the photograph of the scout troop. He was born on 9 May 1900, in Walworth, one of at least ten children of Henry W...

Person, Children, Community / Clubs, Tragedy

2 memorials
Day nursery, Pond Street

Day nursery, Pond Street

2012 and we are delighted to report that this building is still a day nursery: the "Royal Free Hospital Staff Day Nursery".

Building, Children

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company

E15, Silverton Way, Canning Town bus station

The monument, created by sculptor Richard Kindersley, comprises a number of concrete panels, bolted together with rivets to give the impr...

3 subjects commemorated
William Burdett-Coutts

William Burdett-Coutts

Born of British stock in America as William Lehman Ashmead-Bartlett. On his father's death the family moved to England in 1852. In 'The Story of Holly Lodge' by Margaret Downing, March 2009, we le...

Person, Philanthropy, Politics & Administration, USA

1 memorial
Beau Brummell statue

Beau Brummell statue

SW1, Jermyn Street

This statue is placed at the entrance to Piccadilly Arcade.

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
RNH - Princess Louise

RNH - Princess Louise

N7, Manor Gardens, Royal Northern Gardens

In 1997, as a condition of developing the RNH site, Bellway Homes (the developer) was required to create one acre of public open space - ...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Thomas Burnet

Thomas Burnet

Geological theorist. Published "Sacred Theory of the Earth".

Person, Philosophy, Religion

1 memorial