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I find it synchronous that Carl Jung would have driven through Exeter on his way to the Polzeath seminar of 1923. He would have passed close to the asylum that my grandfather had run until the year before. Of course it is unlikely that they met but I wonder how many of the people that Jung influenced in his Polzeath talks were known to my grandfather.
Given that Dr George Norton Bartlett, M.B., B.S.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Superintendent, City Asylum, Exeter was the Divisional Secretary for the south western division (As published by authority of the Medico-Psychological Association 1920-21) and is listed as joining the Association in 1910, it is highly likely he knew at least some of those who went to hear Jung in Polzeath.
George had left Exeter in 1922 after a strike action that escalated into one that had implications all over the country.
While in Exeter George had his fair share of problems in a mental health system that seems to have been in trouble all over the UK. Strapped for cash, and in general decline after WW1, county asylums were seriously understaffed and greatly underfunded. Not only were there soliders with shell shock adding to the influx of patients but there was also a post war pandemic.
In Mental health nursing: The working lives of paid carers in the nineteenth century you can read how, as the medical superintendent of Digby's in Exeter, as the county asylum was known, George was up against it when his staff started a lengthy dispute in April 1919. Eventually after their strike had been broken he had the unpleasant responsibilty of having to draw up a list of all those who would be dismissed for going on strike. In the end forty-two strikers were dismissed for neglect of duty and they included carpenters, kitchen workers and even the poor chap and his family who looked after the asylums dairy cows.
You can read the unhappy story of these events in the full chapter here from Discourses of dispute: narratives of asylum nurses and attendants, 1910–22 by Barbara Douglas
Suffice to say it led to George Bartlett's move to Derby and was perhaps a significant turning point in the way institutional psychiatry went on to be practiced across the UK. And in my life too as it was in Derby as the Medical Superintendent of Derby County Mental Hospital, Mickleover that my father (John 1928) and aunt (Pat 1930) were both born.
George went on to set up a medical practice from his home, Brownies, Aldwick, Bognor Regis, Sussex, which ran during WW2 and which I visited as a child.
During and after the war George followed my father's cricketing career with much interest but sadly he died on August 30, 1954, at home aged 72. Just as my my eldest sister, Susie, was born so he never got to see his other 9 grandchildren and many great grandchildren, two of whom are now Doctors (one of Medicine and one of Philosophy).
Carl Jung came to Cornwall twice.
In 1923 to spend the summer headlining the Polzeath seminar to which, according to Sonu Shamdasani, professor at University College London, he came by car and Sonu showed this photo to prove it at the Jung by the sea conference.
Sonu talked about Jung and particularly what went on in Cornwall and how that was to have such a major impact on psychiatry and psychology today.
George Norton Bartlett 1882-1954
1881: George Bartlett born in Bicester, Oxfordshire on December 28th.
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1882: baptized in Bletchingdon, Oxfordshire on February 5th.1 He would have been a few weeks old at this time.
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1891: The 1891 England Census places 9-year-old Bartlett residing with his family in Bletchington, Oxfordshire.
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1901: The 1901 England Census places 20-year-old Bartlett living with a cousin in Camberwell, London.This suggests a move to London, likely for education or work.
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1908: At the age of 27, Bartlett graduates from Guy's Hospital, London. This confirms his presence in London for medical training.
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1911: On April 2nd, 29-year-old Bartlett is documented as residing in Epsom, Surrey. He is listed as single and working as a Medical Officer, suggesting employment at Horton Asylum, which was located in Epsom.
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1913: 32-year-old Bartlett at Horton Asylum, Surrey. He co-authored an article, "Criminal Types in a County Asylum," published in the Journal of Mental Science, likely drawing from his experiences at this institution.
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1914-1915: Bartlett is listed as residing in Surrey at ages 33 and 34. It is probable that he continued his work at Horton Asylum during this period.
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1919: Sources place 38-year-old Bartlett in Devon, England. This coincides with his appointment as the Medical Superintendent at the City Asylum, also known as Digby's, in Exeter, Devon. He held the position of Divisional Secretary for the southwestern division of the Medico-Psychological Association during this time.
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1920-1921: Sources confirm Bartlett's continued presence as Medical Superintendent at the City Asylum in Exeter. He faces the challenges of the 1919 asylum strike, a pivotal event that ultimately leads to his departure.
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1922: Bartlett leaves Exeter following the aftermath of the strike and moves to Derby.
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1925: Sources place 44-year-old Bartlett in Derbyshire. This likely corresponds with his position as Medical Superintendent at Derby County Mental Hospital, Mickleover, where his children were born. John and Pat.
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1929: A directory lists 47-year-old Bartlett as the Medical Superintendent of Derby County Medical Centre in Mickleover, Derbyshire.
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1938: Bartlett is listed as residing at "Brownie," Barrack Lane, in Aldwick, Sussex.
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1939: Bartlett, at age 50, is listed as married and living in Sussex. He is practicing medicine in both Derbyshire and Sussex during this period.
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1954: Bartlett dies at the age of 72 on August 30th at his home in Chichester, Sussex.
George Norton Bartlett had four medical qualifications: M.B., B.S.Lond., M.R.C.S., and L.R.C.P.Lond.
M.B. stands for Bachelor of Medicine. This is a medical degree that is awarded to students who have completed a four-year program of study in medicine.
B.S.Lond. stands for Bachelor of Surgery. This is a surgical degree that is awarded to students who have completed a five-year program of study in surgery. Both M.B. and B.S.Lond. degrees were awarded by the University of London.
M.R.C.S. stands for Member of the Royal College of Surgeons. This is a professional qualification that is awarded to surgeons who have passed the Royal College of Surgeons' examination.
L.R.C.P.Lond. stands for Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians. This is a professional qualification that is awarded to physicians who have passed the Royal College of Physicians' examination.
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