Worcestershire County Asylum: Patients, Staff, and Professional Musicians

Abstract

One of the mid-century asylum foundations, the City and County asylum just outside Worcester dates from 1852. Drawing on the successes of earlier institutions, music was included in the scheme of moral management from the outset and was also used as an important tool for managing the relationship between the asylum and the external world. Music was considered appropriate for patients who could not read or write, and both a band and singing classes were established in the mid-1850s. However, problems with space and funding hindered the full development of musical entertainment during this period. Musical activity at Worcester was supported both by a preference for attendants with musical ability and through close connections with the professional musicians of the city. The extant accounts and employment records of the 1870s and 1880s allow for a particularly detailed survey of these musicians and their activities to be made.