HANWELL, an urban district in the Brentford parliamentary division of Middlesex, England, 1012 m. W. of St Paul’s cathedral, London, on the river Brent and the Great Western railway. Pop. (1891) 6139; (1901) 10,438. It ranks as an outer residential suburb of London. The Hanwell lunatic asylum of the county of London has been greatly extended since its erection 1831, and can accommodate over 2500 inmates. The extensive cemeteries of St Mary Abbots, Kensington, and St George, Hanover Square, London, are here. In the churchyard of St Mary’s church was buried Jonas Hanway (d. 1786), traveller, philanthropist, and by repute, introducer of the umbrella into England. The Roman Catholic Convalescent Home for women and children was erected in 1865. Before the Norman period the manor of Hanwell belonged to Westminster Abbey.