Living with Vernon -- Research as Art Overall Winner 2019 (IMAGE)
Caption
During the 1800s every county had to have a lunatic asylum, Glamorgan included, but the county was too poor to build one, so they 'rented' space from the private asylum in Briton Ferry, Vernon House.
The house itself was a converted mansion and never meant to be an insane asylum.
My research is centred around eight private patients that were committed by their families between 1850 and 1880.
They were ordinary middle class people who suffered different mental illnesses. Some of the families appear reluctant and others more keen to have their family members declared insane, yet they ended up within Vernon House.
My research will bring to life both the house and people, their lost voices and their fate.
At the moment they are a few historical documents; faceless. I hope to not only bring them to life but also inform about early care for the mentally ill.
Find out more about this research: bit.ly/31mjUdn
Credit
Katherine Murray/Swansea University
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