Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

Having considered the evidence the Lord Chancellor agreed that Amroth Castle should be closed. Norton appealed against the decision, but it was decided that 'a more satisfactory and skilful management than that of Dr Norton' was called for. Ultimately, the visitors asked for help in providing 'efficient medical superintendence for the remaining term of Dr Norton's license' but were informed that this matter 'belongs peculiarly to the visiting justices'. The house was closed in 1856. At that time, Norton was still only in his mid-thirties. Little is known of his subsequent career, but he assumed the role of a minor industrialist in Carmarthenshire, only to die in his early fifties. As a psychiatrist Norton presents as something of an enigma. Apart from having the best medical training available, he became a member of the Association which is now the Royal College of Psychiatrists. This was an organisation which generally attracted only the most progressive of asylum doctors. Yet, with his low professional standards and unwillingness to accept change, he must be judged a failure.11 Negotiations between the Quarter Sessions Courts of the West Wales counties and that of Glamorgan had started in the 1840s, in the hope that accommodation for pauper patients from the four counties could be made available on one site. Had that been brought about, the Haverfordwest asylum would certainly have been closed earlier and Amroth Castle might not have been opened. On the other hand, had the scheme proceeded before the Glamorgan authorities left the partnership, the new building would have been in the Swansea district, which might have proved a hindrance in the development of a more locally-based service in Dyfed in a later age. At first it was uncertain whether Haverfordwest, with its special status as a 'town and county of the town', would be included. A document in the Francis Green papers shows that counsel's opinion was sought on the matter, and suggests that the magistrates may have had some reservations about proceeding with the union, particularly in view of their belief that 'there is at present a lunatic asylum at Haverfordwest sufficiently large for the accommodation of the lunatics belonging to the town'. However, a contract, separate from that of Pembrokeshire, was eventually made with the joint committee of magistrates and by 1858, Lord Cawdor reported that a site had been bought at Carmarthen and that of the total cost of the scheme, £ 41,940, Pembrokeshire must contribute £ 13,800 and Haverfordwest £ 840. Later under the provisions of one of the Lunacy Acts, it was decided that the town must be