Creating a Deaf place: the development of the Asylum for Deaf and Dumb Poor Children in the early nineteenth century

ABSTRACT

By tracing the beginnings of the Asylum for Deaf and Dumb Poor Children, this article describes the first Deaf place in England. It argues that early Deaf places, like the Asylum, function as incubators necessary for the growth of Deaf culture. From its founding through its first move to a purpose-built campus, the central stakeholders – the founders, financiers, headmaster, teachers, and students – not only performed their roles but also succeeded in creating a place for Deaf people to come together and use sign language in large numbers. Even so, the Asylum was a divided place; poor children had a very different experience than their wealthy counterparts. Reconstructing the origins, policies, and evolving practices of the Asylum helps to understand the treatment of Deaf people, the value of Deaf places for this often-marginalized minority group, and the development of institutional landscapes for the Deaf.

KEYWORDS:

• Deaf space
• Deaf history
• Deaf geography
• Deaf culture
• Deaf schools
• England

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Mary E. Kitzel (Sussex) is a historical geographer and currently a visiting assistant professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She is the founder and director of the Field School in Deaf Geographies.

Notes

1. According to Jordan and Battison (1976, p. 59), “A standard story, repeated by travelers and natives alike, holds that if you travel 50 miles in Britain you will encounter a different sign language that cannot be understood in the region you have just left”.

2. The first, The Edinburgh messenger, which ran from 1843 to 1845, was renamed A voice for the dumb and had a second run from 1847 to 1852. The first English paper was not published until after the end of this study’s timeframe. The magazine for the deaf and dumb (London) was produced from 1855 to 1857.

3. Note that Braidwood labeled his establishments “academies”. The term, “asylum”, in the context of deaf education was first applied in the case of the school for “poor children”, the object of this study (Branson and Miller 2002, p. 104).

4. Teaching deaf children and running the Asylum was a very profitable business for Watson. When he died, his estate held the enormous fortune of £100,000. In 2015’s terms, estate would be valued at over £7.9 million. See: https://www.measuringworth.com/ [Accessed 16 January 2017].

5. This same contract was offered to Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, the founder of the first successful school for the deaf in the United States. Gallaudet refused, claiming time and budgetary constraints placed on him by the school’s benefactors (for more on Gallaudet and the founding of the first school for the deaf in the United States, see Edwards 2012).

6. For a brief explanation of de l'Epée’s Methodical Sign system, see Edwards 2012, pp. 36–37).

7. It should be noted that Beaver writes about this like it’s a bad thing. He goes on to say, “This situation was to survive to some degree or other until Richard Elliott became headmaster of the Asylum in 1878 and firmly established the combined system of teaching” (Beaver 1992, p. 49).

8. The locations of these large meetings were taverns and pubs with large assembly rooms. The most popular locations in this period were the Paul’s Head Tavern in Cateaton Street (now Gresham St.) near the Guildhall and the City of London Tavern in Bishopsgate.

9. Today, the Old Kent Road is part of the A2/A201. Remnants of the Asylum are still visible in the surrounding side streets, Mason St. and Townsend St.