1 Jan, 1815; Thomas Cook; Ordered to be chained to bed for two days for
throwing an object at the Asylum’s Porter
6 Jan, 1815; Sarah Brundish; Ordered to have her straightjacket kept on until
further notice for having torn her apron and cap
6 March, 1815; Jemima Doby; Ordered to have one hand shackled to her
bed and her face covered with a muzzle for being
disorderly in going to bed
~Excerpts from Master Thomas Caryl’s “Public Record of Punishment,”
State Lunatic Asylum, Norfolk NE
The first Master of the Norfolk Lunatic Asylum, from 1814 to 1843, was Thomas Caryl. The punishments listed in this entry are but a few taken from the annotated excerpts of his journals and records for two main periods: 1814-1816, when the asylum had only recently been set up, and 1834, when it had already been in operation for 20 years.
Although almost two centuries have passed since Thomas Caryl’s punishments have been meted out, the pain and suffering lives on in these journals.
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Stark reminders of the horrors that plagued the incarcerated and the insane in the early 1800’s.
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