Queen Mary and Westfield College London University PhD Thesis ...

of those raised from assistant basketmen to basketmen proper). Of the remainder, deaths and
resignations may be definitely said to have accounted for only two ninths (8). That two of the four
basketmen who quit their service did so to undertake superior positions at other establishments,
suggests a rise in the status of Bethlem attendants and that experience of mental nursing was
beginning to gain a modicum of recognition, at least amongst the administrators of lunatic
hospitals237. The fates of nearly half (16) of these 36 basketmen are, however, not recorded,
which casts considerable doubt on the reliability of a statistical survey of the hospital archives
as a means to assess the standard of basketmen's service. A more realistic impression is gained
from examining discharge as a proportion of known outcomes of service, which provides a figure
of 15 out of 29 basketmen dismissed during 1633-1700; and 7 out of 20 basketmen dismissed
during 1700-77. I.e. over one half of the basketmen appointed were dismissed in the seventeenth
century, whereas even in the eighteenth century the proportion was over one third.
No amelioration of servants conduct after the turn of the eighteenth century is discernible
from the comparative duration of their service. On the contrary, amongst just sixteen basketmen
appointed during 1700-77, whose term of service at Bethlem may be confidently determined from
the hospital's archives, the average is only four years, while almost half (7) serve for under three
years. There were significant exceptions, however. This figure excludes three basketmen (John
Wood, William Morgan & Richard Wright) who between them enjoyed an average service of
over eighteen years, but whose starting date of service is unknown, which would raise the overall
mean to over six years. All three appear to have kept unbiotted copy books, while two (Wood
and Wright) were promoted to the Portership.
Statistics can tell us very little about the general conduct or length of maid servants' service
at Bethlem, given the meagre amount of information contained in the hospital's records. The
paucity of recorded dismissals, nevertheless, does indicate that they tended to be considerably
better behaved than their male counterparts. Of the six maids mentioned during 1633-1700:- one
is dismissed in 1637 for vicious gossipping and polluting the (already) strained relations between
the Steward and Porter and their wives; another, Elizabeth Clashby, is honorably promoted to
the post of Nurse, in 1693; while four disappear from the Minutes without trace, one of whom
(Elizabeth Withers), is retained despite being found guilty of absenteeism, disorderly behaviour
and (probably) drunkenness. How long any of these six remained in their employment, however,
237 William Day re.igned 'to go a. Gov [emojr to the Lunatic Hoapital at Mancheater' in 1773, alter 3 year.
and 2 months a aa.iatant baaketman, while Thoma. Dun.tan ,erved c7 year. a. aa.i.tant and ba.ketman-cutter
before re.igning to become the celebrated Ma.ter of St. Luke'. in 1781. See BSA, for the.e years. Similarly,
David Davies wa. recruited from Bethiem by the Governor. of the new asylum at Hereford, in 1799, although
proving 'a failure'. See Smith, Behind closed door.', 307.
378