Disability Collection

Highwood School, Brentwood, Essex
The administration block at Highwood (or High Wood) School, Brentwood, Essex. The school was opened by the Metropolitan Asylums Board in 1904 for the treatment of ophthalmia in children

Highwood Hospital, Brentwood, Essex
Aerial view of Highwood (or High Wood) Hospital, Brentwood, Essex, used for the care of children with tuberculosis. The site was originally opened by the Metropolitan Asylums Board in 1904 for

Highwood Hospital, Brentwood, Essex
Children with tuberculosis at Highwood (or High Wood) Hospital, Brentwood, Essex. Beds were placed on the balconies to provide sun and fresh air

Deaf Cyclist
This cyclist is wearing a sandwich board reading beware, I am deaf

No. 1 War Hospital, Reading, Berkshire
Rear view of the entrance to the No. 1 War Hospital, Reading, Berkshire - the First World War deployment of Reading Union Workhouse. Several uniformed soldiers can be seen, one on crutches

John Grooms Crippleage and Flower Girls Mission. Blind and Crippled Girls making artificial flowers. John Grooms vision for orphaned and disabled girls

Sir Douglas Bader playing golf
Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader (1910-1982), RAF pilot during the Second World War despite having lost both legs in a crash in 1931

Caterham Asylum, Surrey
Aerial view of the Asylum for Imbeciles opened in 1870 at Caterham in Surrey. The Asylum, with its twin at Leavesden, was established by the Metropolitan Asylums Board to provide care for Londons

Disabled child in a wheelchair

Children at a Cripples Guild meeting, probably 1930s

Advert requesting support for John Groom's Crippleage
John Groom's Crippleage took in young disabled women from around the country and offered them training in the art of making artificial flowers. Date: 1939

Asylum for Deaf and Dumb, Old Kent Road, London. Date: 1822

22-year old mentally-deficient girl (daughter of subject of 10192037) with a light goitre suffering from thyroid deficiency and reduced development. Date: circa 1900

Mentally deficient man - aged 35
A 35-year old French man with an undetermined mental disability. Date: circa 1880

John Grooms Orphanage, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
Some of Our Girls at John Grooms Orphanage and Crippleage opened in 1890 at Clacton on Sea, Essex. Groom was a London engraver and evangelical preacher

Sir Douglas Bader in TV interview, Falmouth, Cornwall
Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader (1910-1982), RAF pilot during the Second World War despite having lost both legs in a crash in 1931

Old Man with pair of wooden legs advertising corn plasters
Very black humour - An Old Man with a pair of prosthetic false legs advertising corn plasters! Date: 1895

French Midget Entertainment Troupe - Les Colibris - Troupe Royal de Liliput. Date: circa 1910s

Lord Mayor Treloar Cripples Home and College, Alton, Hants
In 1908, Sir William Purdie Treloar established The Lord Mayor Treloar Cripples Hospital and College in Alton, Hampshire - The Aviary. Date: circa 1910

Street music: French fiddler and wife
A one legged beggar playing the fiddle in the street, while his wife plays the bones. Date: 17th century

Sir William Treloar distributing Christmas gifts
Sir William Purdie Treloar (1843-1923) distributing Christmas gifts to the poor. He began his annual charitable activities in the East End of London by the distribution of Christmas hampers to poor

Royal Wedding 1919 -- Blind Trousseau Worker
A blind trousseau worker, making a finely knitted coat for Princess Patricias trousseau, operating a flat machine at the workshops of the London Association for the Blind, Churton Street, Victoria

China - Fuzhou - Junior Boys Blind School
China - Fuzhou (formerly Foochow) - a group of young children from the Junior Boys Blind School Date: circa 1910

Blind man with guide dog crossing the road
A blind man with his guide dog crossing the road at a zebra crossing. Date: circa 1960s

Childrens Choir, National Childrens Home, Chipping Norton
The so-called Cripples Choir at the National Childrens Home, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, opened in 1903 for what were described as delicate and affected children

Workhouse inmate Mary Jane promoting charitable work
A postcard promoting the work of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG). Its caption reads Mary Jane, who is a deaf and blind inmate of a Workhouse in Devonshire

Hay Harvesting, National Childrens Home, Edgworth, Lancs
Boys harvesting hay at the National Childrens Home, Edgworth, near Bolton, Lancashire. They carry pitchforks and a horse-drawn wagon is fully loaded

Leavesden Asylum, Hertfordshire
Male attendants in a ward at the Asylum for Imbeciles opened in 1870 at Leavesden near Abbots Langley in Hertfordshire. The Asylum, with its twin at Caterham

Lord Mayor Treloar Cripples Home, Alton, Hampshire
A group of physically disabled children have an outdoor lesson at the Lord Mayor Treloar Cripples Home, Alton, Hampshire. Some hold crutches while other lie on wooden beds or in a pram

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