Blog - History

A warm hearted and positive person who enjoyed taking a direct approach to working with people, and who promoted patient care with great energy

Eileen Skellern was born in 1923 in Stone, Staffordshire, the eldest of three sisters.

Mary Rushton Barkas was the first female doctor employed at Bethlem Royal Hospital, and became one of the first four medical assistants at the Maudsley Hospital

However there is one way that these important businessmen would have had a connection to black lives, and that is through their connections to the slave trade.

A post introducing research on black lives in the Bridewell Hospital records

The credibility of a certain infamous quote is called into question...

For this final installation of "Bethlem's Boardroom," our volunteer focuses on the figure in the corner of the photo...

Continuing our look at the historic boardroom, our volunteer this time focuses on the shields that line the walls.

With the opening of the newly restored historic boardroom at the museum, one volunteer takes a deeper look at its contents and its past...

Join us for a closer look at Raving & Melancholy Madness and all that they represent, in "Uncomfortable Glory - Part 2." 

Bethlem Museum volunteer Alexandra Milne looks at the history of two of the most famous pieces in our collection; the imposing Raving and Melancholy Madness.