Useful, harmless, and demented | Arthur Henry Banner

A postcard of Angelton Asylum, Bridgend.

Those who follow my work will know that I am currently researching and writing about the patients of Glamorgan County Lunatic Asylum. This is my second blogpost about a patient of Angelton Asylum, the first post being about Thomas 'King' Rees. It is interesting to note that the gentleman I am writing about in this post would have known Thomas.

In this post, I write about Arthur Henry Banner. 

Arthur was the son of one of the first members of the rural police force at Newbridge. He was a husband, a father and a grocer. He was one of the few who were not buried in the Angelton Asylum Cemetery. His family paid for his body to be removed from the asylum and to be buried with his family.

Glamorgan History Society | Writing for the Morgannwg Journal

Morgannwg Journal - 1957.

In late 2018 I was approached by Lisa Tallis, the Assistant Librarian at Special Collections and Archives at Cardiff University and co-editor of the Morgannwg Journal to write a piece for their new section on online and digital resources. As someone who regularly uses the journal as a research source, I jumped at the chance to write for the journal.  

What is the Morgannwg Journal?

The Morgannwg is the journal of the Glamorgan History Society. Founded in 1950, the Society promotes an encourages the study of the history of the county of Glamorgan. The Society published the first volume of its journal 'Morgannwg' in 1957. The bi-lingual publication was funded by Society subscribers and a donation from the Welsh Church Act Fund of Glamorgan County Council.

Demented, happy, and useful | Who is Buried Here? - Thomas 'King' Rees

A view of the orginal Angelton Asylum Cemetery.

Following my posts about Dr Robert Sloss Stewart, Eleanor Davidson and Francis Hill, I have continued my research into the lives of the other seven gravestones that remain in the original Angelton Asylum Cemetery. Due to the amount of information, I have decided to share my research via a series of posts.

In this post, I will be writing about Thomas 'King' Rees. 

Out of the hundreds of men, women and children buried in the original Angelton Asylum Cemetery Thomas 'King' Rees is the only patient who has a gravestone. He is buried in the location where the staff of the asylum and their relatives are buried. It is clear that Thomas was a highly respected patient as his gravestone was paid for by the staff of Angelton Asylum. 

"Erected by the Asylum Staff in Recognition of his kind unselfish and obliging nature."