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).

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

Mary Styles

Mary Styles

One of the 11 "children of England" present on 7th July 1933 when The Princess Royal laid a foundation stone for a nurses home for the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

Person, Children

1 memorial
Alfred Bestall

Alfred Bestall

Author and illustrator. Born Alfred Edmeades Bestall in Mandalay, Burma. He served in the army during World War 1, transporting troops in red double-decker buses. Following his studies at the L.C.C...

Person, Art, Children, Literature, Burma, Wales

1 memorial
Miss N. G. Price

Miss N. G. Price

Represented the Sunday School of the Highbury Quadrant Congregational Church in 1957.

Person, Children, Religion

1 memorial
Evelina Hospital for Sick Children

Evelina Hospital for Sick Children

The Evelina Children's Hospital was founded by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild and named for his wife, who had died aged 27 with her child in labour in 1866. It was planned by Dr Arthur Farre in a pu...

Group, Children, Medicine

2 memorials
Training ship Arethusa

Training ship Arethusa

Training ships were run by the Marine Society, and catered for boys from a wide range of backgrounds; from fee-paying prospective Merchant Navy officers, through those in Poor Law or other institut...

Vehicle, Children, Tragedy, Transport, Crimea

2 memorials