Norfolk County Asylum: Moral Management and the Asylum Band

Abstract

One of the earliest County lunatic asylums, the Norfolk asylum offers key opportunities for investigating the practice of moral management, and the role of music developing through the first half of the nineteenth century. Music was first introduced under the reforming Superintendent Ebenezer Owen, followed by the Medical Superintendent William Hills, who set up the band and heavily influenced music in the chapel. The role and development of the asylum band is of particular interest here, including its formation and the work of individual band members. A large extant collection of music also forms an important part of the discussion. Finally the question of music as therapy is considered, tracing the writings of later officers including Superintendent David Thomson, who included amusements within his description of treatment at the asylum.