The Wellcome Library is contributing archives from its own collections to a joint project to digitise over 800,000 pages of archival material relating to psychiatric institutions, mental health organisations and individuals in the UK. The material dates from the 18th to the 20th centuries and includes:

patient records such as registers and case notes

photographs

administrative documents

hospital staff data

artwork

and publications produced by patients and staff.

New content will be added as it is digitised, and will be freely available here on the website and through the Library catalogue.

Digitised mental healthcare archives

Ticehurst House Hospital

Ticehurst House Hospital had a long history as an asylum and mental hospital based in the south of England. The hospital archive dates from 1787-1975.

More about the Ticehust House Hospital papers

The Retreat

The Retreat is based in York, in the north of England. It is historically one of the most important centres for the care and treatment of mental health patients. The archive dates from 1792-2000.

More about The Retreat papers

Gartnavel Royal Hospital

Gartnavel Royal Hospital was founded as the Glasgow Lunatic Asylum in 1814 and was the largest chartered asylum in the West of Scotland. The archive dates from 1811-2002.

More about the Gartnavel Royal Hospital papers

St Luke's Hospital

St Luke's Hospital was founded in 1750 to treat mental illness amongst the poor of London. The archive dates from 1750-2001.

More about the St Luke's Hospital papers

Priory Hospital

The Priory in Roehampton, London was established around 1873 as a Metropolitan Licensed House "for the reception of the insane". The Wellcome Library holds just one register of patients admitted to the hospital from 1905-1909. The register contains information on patient admissions with details of condition on entry and case notes on their progress. It also contains some inserted material such as death certificates and correspondence.

Read a blog post about the Priory patient register

Manor House Asylum

Manor House, later known as Chiswick House, was a private asylum in Chiswick, London. The asylum was run by three generations of the same Quaker family, the Tukes, for nearly 100 years. The archive spans 1870-1925.

More about the Manor House Asylum papers

Robina Addis

Robina Addis (1900-1986) was one of the earliest qualified psychiatric social workers in Britain. She worked in child guidance and with mental health organistions such as the Mind, the mental health charity, and Save the Children. Her archive covers the period 1917-1986.

More about the Robina Addis papers

James Adam

James Adam (1834-1908) was an asylum superindendent in several state asylums in the UK. Through his superintendent diaries for the period 1872-1888, we get a glimpse into the day to day workings of 19th century asylums.

More about the James Adam papers

Holloway Sanatorium

Holloway Sanatorium for the Insane in Surrey, England opened in 1885 as a private hospital for the wealthy middle classes.The sanatorium remained a private hospital until it was taken over by the National Health Service in 1948. The archive covers the period from 1885-1926.

More about the Holloway Sanatorium papers

Camberwell House Asylum

Camberwell House Asylum in London first opened in 1846. It remained a private hospital until its closure in 1955. The archive dates from 1846-1920, with gaps.

More about the Camberwell House Asylum papers

William Walters Sargant

William Walters Sargant (1907-1988) was a prominent psychiatrist and a major force in British psychiatry in the 1950s and 1960s.

More about the William Walters Sargant papers

Crichton Royal Hospital

Crichton Royal Hospital was the last, and grandest, of Scotland's Royal asylums, founded in Dumfries in 1838. The digitised papers span from 1823-2008 and include records related to its founding.

More about the Crichton Royal Hospital papers

George Shuttleworth

George Shuttleworth (1842-1928) was a British psychiatrist and asylum superintendent. He was an important figure in child psychiatry and the education of people with learning disabilities.

More about the George Shuttleworth papers

Mental After Care Association

The Association was set up in the late 19th century as a charity to support mental health patients leaving hospital for life in the wider community. The digitised papers span from 1886-1994.

More about the Mental After Care Association papers

Rudolf Karl Freudenberg

Rudolf Karl Freudenberg (1908-1983) was a psychiatrist and Physician Superintendent at Netherene Hospital in Surrey. The archive contains the papers of Rudolf and his wife Gerda from 1900-1984.

More about the Rudolf and Gerda Freudenberg papers