NUJ life member Mike Jempson has published the results of his research into an unusual private asylum in Bristol which gave rise to the term ‘spin doctors’.
‘No Cure, Nor Pay: Boarding excepted’: Mason’s Madhouses in old Fishponds, published by Bristol Radical History Group, tells the story of a family dynasty that ran a profitable business for 120 years. Founded by Joseph Mason in 1740 the asylum was closed down soon after a Public Inquiry in 1848.
Among many bizarre treatments applied in the asylum was the suspension of patients in a chair or harness. They were then spun around, sometimes until they lost consciousness. Rotational Therapy, as it was called, was thought to reduce mania although its most effective use was as a control mechanism. Put through this treatment patents would evacuate their bowels and were more likely to be compliant rather than risk another bout.
Although ‘spin doctors’ operated throughout Ireland and continental Europe, the technique was frowned upon by some practitioners, and was abandoned after several fatal incidents.
Mike’s book is enlivened by a lengthy account of proceedings at the Public Inquiry which resulted in 104 convictions for maladministration and hefty fines for Dr Joseph Carpenter Bompas, the great-great grandson of the founder Joseph Mason.
“As a journalist, the discovery that the Wellcome Foundation has digitised the verbatim record of the Inquiry, allowed me to use the voices of everyone involved,” explains Mike. “Hearing from patients and staff, and those leading the call for more humane methods of treatment, really brought the story to life.”
The book also contains a series of features looking in more detail at some of the key players, as well some little-known aspects of the history of mental health in England.
Mike is currently seeking a publisher for his translation of the memoirs of an Armenian in the French Resistance who survived three Nazi death camps.
Meanwhile his local history columns in the Fishponds Voice are being turned into series of booklets to raise money for Glenside Hospital Museum whose premises are under threat.
‘No Cure, Nor Pay: Boarding excepted’, costs £11 and can be purchased here.