{"id":23295,"date":"2025-02-03T12:42:20","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T12:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/?post_type=events&p=23295"},"modified":"2025-02-18T16:51:49","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T16:51:49","slug":"masons-madhouses-in-old-fishponds-2","status":"publish","type":"events","link":"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/events\/masons-madhouses-in-old-fishponds-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mason’s Madhouses in Old Fishponds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

An illustrated talk about a notorious madhouse run as a private business for 120 years, with some startling revelations. Based on the\u00a0BRHG publication No Cure, No Fee, Boarding excepted<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Long before the NHS, those who did not fit \u2018the norm\u2019 were consigned to workhouses or to private lunatic asylums. The latter provided a profitable business opportunity, as the wealthy were only too keen to offload family members whose behaviour was inconvenient. It was a system open to abuses that Daniel Defoe and others were keen to expose.<\/p>\n

In the Fishponds area of Bristol, one family lived off the proceeds for more than a century. The revealing tale of \u2018Mason\u2019s Madhouses\u2019 explains what life was like in such institutions, uncovers the techniques employed to cure or control the inmates, tells the stories of the main players, and recounts the sensational public inquiry that brought a dynasty down.<\/p>\n

Organised by Hillfields Silver Sixties Club.<\/p>\n

\"Front<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An illustrated talk about a notorious madhouse run as a private business for 120 years, with some startling revelations. Based on the\u00a0BRHG publication No Cure, No Fee, Boarding excepted. Long before the NHS, those who did not fit \u2018the norm\u2019 were consigned to workhouses or to private lunatic asylums. The latter provided a profitable business […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[755],"tags":[1773,871,1774,1775,857],"class_list":["post-23295","events","type-events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-workhouses-poverty-laws","tag-daniel-defoe","tag-fishponds","tag-glenside-psychiatric-hospital","tag-joseph-mason","tag-workhouse"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMason's Madhouses in Old Fishponds - Bristol Radical History Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/events\/masons-madhouses-in-old-fishponds-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mason's Madhouses in Old Fishponds - Bristol Radical History Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An illustrated talk about a notorious madhouse run as a private business for 120 years, with some startling revelations. Based on the\u00a0BRHG publication No Cure, No Fee, Boarding excepted. Long before the NHS, those who did not fit \u2018the norm\u2019 were consigned to workhouses or to private lunatic asylums. The latter provided a profitable business […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/events\/masons-madhouses-in-old-fishponds-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bristol Radical History Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/126960655805\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-18T16:51:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/59-covers_FRONT.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BrisRadHis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mason's Madhouses in Old Fishponds - Bristol Radical History Group","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/events\/masons-madhouses-in-old-fishponds-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mason's Madhouses in Old Fishponds - Bristol Radical History Group","og_description":"An illustrated talk about a notorious madhouse run as a private business for 120 years, with some startling revelations. 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