The Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb was the first establishment in England dedicated to the education of Deaf and mute children. Founded by John Townsend (1757-1826) in 1792 with the declared mission to provide, by public subscription, an ‘asylum for the maintenance and education of the deaf and dumb children of the poor’, the asylum was first based at Bermondsey before moving to purpose-built premises on Old Kent Road in 1809. Its first headmaster was Joseph Watson (1765-1829), who introduced improved teaching based on his uncle, Thomas Braidwood’s, oral method whereby Deaf people were taught to speak via the association of words and objects.
In 1809, Watson published Braidwood’s methods in the treatise On the education of the Deaf and Dumb, or, A theoretical and practical view of the means by which they are taught to speak and understand a language. The two volumes included a vocabulary with accompanying plates that illustrated various objects. The asylum was successful and drew attention from royalty: Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester, nephew of George III, laid the foundation stone of the Old Kent Road building and Prince Albert donated 200 guineas to the subscription fund in 1850.

This volume, An illustrated vocabulary for the use of the Deaf and Dumb, was compiled in 1857 by Joseph Watson’s son and successor as headmaster, Thomas James Watson. Declaring that it listed ‘many objects in Natural History, and most of the noun-words used in Holy Scripture’ and that it had been ‘pictorially illustrated as fully as possible’, the Illustrated Vocabulary is an updated version of his father’s work. It contains almost 500 pages of words, images and examples of possible lessons with a focus on preparing Deaf children for careers as tradesmen: the final 100 pages contain illustrations and names of the tools used in various industries. The asylum discouraged the use of sign language, but Thomas Watson conceded that ‘words which could not be thus illustrated are left for the teacher to explain by signs’.