The Metropolitan Asylums Board (MAB) was established under
Poor Law
In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...
legislation to deal with
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
's sick and poor. It was established by the
Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 (
30 & 31 Vict. c. 6) and dissolved in 1930, when its functions were transferred to the
London County Council
The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...
.
Background to the establishment of the Metropolitan Asylums Board
The Act was passed following multiple campaigns to improve the medical and nursing care for sick
paupers, by: the health section of the
National Association for the Promotion of Social Science; the
Workhouse Visiting Society; the
Poor Law Medical Reform Association;
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...
enlisting multiple influential supporters such as
Edwin Chadwick
Sir Edwin Chadwick Order of the Bath, KCB (24 January 18006 July 1890) was an English social reformer who is noted for his leadership in reforming the Poor Laws in England and instituting major reforms in urban sanitation and public health. A ...
;
the Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication.
The journal publishes ...
and the
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...
.
In September 1866, the President of the
Poor Law Board The Poor Law Board was established in the United Kingdom in 1847 as a successor body to the Poor Law Commission overseeing the administration of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. The board was abolished in 1871 and replaced by the Local Government ...
, Mr
Gathorne Hardy, instructed two doctors,
Dr W O Markham and Mr Uvedale Corbett, to visit all of London
workhouse
In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...
s with a view to procuring information which might assist him in drafting new legislation for the reform of workhouse infirmaries.
There was a particular concern that those suffering from infectious fevers and smallpox, and the insane, should be removed from the workhouses and treated in separate hospitals.
The first decades of MAB
Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 (
30 & 31 Vict. c. 6) instructed that all unions and parishes across London were combined for the reception and relief of the poor suffering from fever, smallpox or insanity under the ''Metropolitan Asylums District'' and its board of management.
The area covered was defined through the
Metropolis Management Act 1855
The Metropolis Management Act 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c. 120), also known as the Metropolis (Management) Act 1855 or the Metropolis Local Management Act 1855, is an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom tha ...
, excluding the hamlet of
Penge
Penge () is a suburb of South East Greater London, London, England, now in the London Borough of Bromley, west of Bromley, north east of Croydon and south east of Charing Cross.
Etymology
The name ''Penge'' is first attested in charter of ...
.
By 1868, the MAB had identified the need for more hospitals for people identified at the time as insane or imbeciles (people with severe
learning difficulties ) or with smallpox or other infectious diseases. The MAB purchased land and commenced building asylums at
Leavesden in
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
and
Caterham
Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge (district), Tandridge district of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valle ...
in
Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, and small pox and fever hospitals at
Haverstock Hill in
Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...
,
Homerton
Homerton ( ) is an area in London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is bordered to the west by Hackney Central, to the north by Lower Clapton, in the east by Hackney Wick, Leyton and by South Hackney to the south. In 2019, it had ...
in
East London
East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...
and
Stockwell in
South London
South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...
The MAB responsibilities were extended to cover people with
cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
(1883) ;
diphtheria
Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacteria, bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild Course (medicine), clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs a ...
(both pauper and non pauper,1888), Poor Law children and children with
ringworm
Dermatophytosis, also known as tinea and ringworm, is a mycosis, fungal infection of the skin (a dermatomycosis), that may affect skin, hair, and nails. Typically it results in a red, itchy, scaly, circular rash. Hair loss may occur in the a ...
and
opthalmia (1897), poor law boys training for sea service (1875).
By 1900 the MAB was responsible for 2,486 beds in smallpox hospitals in country areas and 6,108 beds in fever hospitals in London.
During its lifetime, MAB set up around forty institutions.
See also
*
Diseases Prevention (Metropolis) Act 1883
*
Leavesden Hospital
*
South Eastern Hospital
References
External links
History of the MABList of MAB InstitutionsLondon Metropolitan Archives
English Poor Laws
1930 disestablishments in England
1867 establishments in England
19th century in London
Former mental health organisations in the United Kingdom
Defunct organisations based in London
Health in London
20th century in London
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