The asylum, the workhouse, and the voice of the insane poor in 19th- century England

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

Volumn 21, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 421-432

  Bartlett, Peter ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEMOGRAPHY; ECONOMIC ASPECT; MENTAL DISEASE; MENTAL HEALTH CENTER; REVIEW; UNITED KINGDOM;

EID: 0032172466     PISSN: 01602527     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0160-2527(98)00023-5     Document Type: Article

References (71)

1. 1 A Beam for Mental Darkness: A History of the National Asylum for Idiots, Earlswood, 1847-1886, (Diss, Oxford University, 1994) ch. 2; Childlike in his Innocence, in Wright and Digby, eds, FROM IDIOCY TO MENTAL DEFICIENCY (London: Routledge, 1996) 118.
2. 1 A Beam for Mental Darkness: A History of the National Asylum for Idiots, Earlswood, 1847-1886, (Diss, Oxford University, 1994) ch. 2; Childlike in his Innocence, in Wright and Digby, eds, FROM IDIOCY TO MENTAL DEFICIENCY (London: Routledge, 1996) 118.
3. 2 8/9 Vic. c. 126.
4. 3 I argue at greater length elsewhere that the county asylum system in 19th century England is to be understood in the context of the poor law: see Poverty and lunacy in mid-nineteenth century England: an argument about context, in Casselman et al, LAW AND MENTAL HEALTH, Proc. of the 17th International Congress of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health, 26-30 May 1991 (Leuven: IALMH, 1992); The Poor Law of Lunacy, diss. University of London 1993, esp. at chapter 1; THE POOR LAW OF LUNACY (forthcoming, University of Leicester Press/Cassells).
5. 3 I argue at greater length elsewhere that the county asylum system in 19th century England is to be understood in the context of the poor law: see Poverty and lunacy in mid-nineteenth century England: an argument about context, in Casselman et al, LAW AND MENTAL HEALTH, Proc. of the 17th International Congress of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health, 26-30 May 1991 (Leuven: IALMH, 1992); The Poor Law of Lunacy, diss. University of London 1993, esp. at chapter 1; THE POOR LAW OF LUNACY (forthcoming, University of Leicester Press/Cassells).
6. 3 I argue at greater length elsewhere that the county asylum system in 19th century England is to be understood in the context of the poor law: see Poverty and lunacy in mid-nineteenth century England: an argument about context, in Casselman et al, LAW AND MENTAL HEALTH, Proc. of the 17th International Congress of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health, 26-30 May 1991 (Leuven: IALMH, 1992); The Poor Law of Lunacy, diss. University of London 1993, esp. at chapter 1; THE POOR LAW OF LUNACY (forthcoming, University of Leicester Press/Cassells).
7. 4 Figures drawn from annual reports of Commissioners in Lunacy, reflecting returns of local poor law officials. In fact, provision may have been higher because the Lunacy Commission tended to complain of under-reporting. Thus in 1847, the Commission estimated that there were 6,000 insane persons in workhouses, well above the official figure contained in the annual reports. The remaining insane poor were on outdoor relief, where numbers peaked in 1872 at 7,436 before falling to 5,811 in 1890. Proportionally, their significance fell throughout the last half of the century, from 20% of pauper lunatics in 1859, to 8% in 1890.
8. 5 PP 1859 1st. sess. (228) ix 1.
9. 6 For position of government, see comments of the Home Secretary, Walpole, in HANSARD, vol. 152 (1859) 405. For reaction of Lunacy Commissioners, see testimony of Lord Shaftesbury to the Select Committee on Lunatics, PP 1860 (495) xxii 349 at q. 282.
10. 6 For position of government, see comments of the Home Secretary, Walpole, in HANSARD, vol. 152 (1859) 405. For reaction of Lunacy Commissioners, see testimony of Lord Shaftesbury to the Select Committee on Lunatics, PP 1860 (495) xxii 349 at q. 282.
11. 7 The testimony of Poor Law Inspector Andrew Doyle before the Select Committee on Lunatics convincingly challenges much of the Lunacy Commissioners' report: see PP 1859 2nd sess. (156) vii 501 beginning at question 1690.
12. 8 PP 1847 [858] in octavo 1847-8 xxxii 371, Appendix (A), at 249 (emphasis in original).
13. 9 Lunacy Commissioners, FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT, PP 1861 (314) xxvii 1 at 47 f.
14. 10 See their relations with Mile End Union, discussed in their SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT, PP 1863 (331) xx 437, at 24.
15. 11 See, e.g., their TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT, PP 1867 (366) xviii 201 at 70. Such transfers had also been recommended before the pressure of the Select Committee arose: See, e.g., REPORT OF THE METROPOLITAN COMMISSIONERS (London: Bradbury and Evans, 1844) at 92, reprinting PP [HL] 1844 xxvi 1, and SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT, PP 1847 [858] in octavo 1847-8 xxxii 371 at 36.
16. 11 See, e.g., their TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT, PP 1867 (366) xviii 201 at 70. Such transfers had also been recommended before the pressure of the Select Committee arose: See, e.g., REPORT OF THE METROPOLITAN COMMISSIONERS (London: Bradbury and Evans, 1844) at 92, reprinting PP [HL] 1844 xxvi 1, and SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT, PP 1847 [858] in octavo 1847-8 xxxii 371 at 36.
17. 11 See, e.g., their TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT, PP 1867 (366) xviii 201 at 70. Such transfers had also been recommended before the pressure of the Select Committee arose: See, e.g., REPORT OF THE METROPOLITAN COMMISSIONERS (London: Bradbury and Evans, 1844) at 92, reprinting PP [HL] 1844 xxvi 1, and SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT, PP 1847 [858] in octavo 1847-8 xxxii 371 at 36.
18. 12 See, e.g., the statistics relating to the St. Pancras workhouse, contained in the Lunacy Commissioners' FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT, PP 1861 (314) xxvii 1 at 48.
19. 13 See, e.g., the evidence of Dr. George Webster to the Select Committee on Lunatics, 4 August 1859, rpt at PP 1859 2nd sess (156) VII 501 at beginning at questions 2308 and 2317.
20. 14 This process is first formalised in 48 George III c. 96, s. 17.
21. 15 51 George III, c. 79, s. 4.
22. 16 16 & 17 Vict. c. 97.
23. 17 See Bartlett, Poor Law of Lunacy, (diss, U. of London, 1993) at chapter 5; POOR LAW OF LUNACY forthcoming Cassell's/University of Leicester Press.
24. 17 See Bartlett, Poor Law of Lunacy, (diss, U. of London, 1993) at chapter 5; POOR LAW OF LUNACY forthcoming Cassell's/University of Leicester Press.
25. 18 Regarding the use of this sort of document more generally for the writing of history from the perspective of the confined individual, see Geoffrey Reaume, Keep Your Labels Off My Mind! or 'Now I Am Going to Pretend I Am Craze but Dont Be a Bit Alarmed': Psychiatric History from the Patients' Perspectives, 11 CANADIAN BULLETIN OF MEDICAL HISTORY 397 (1994).
26. 19 THE MOST SOLITARY OF AFFLICTIONS: MADNESS AND SOCIETY IN BRITAIN, 1700-1900 (New Haven: Yale UP, 1993) at 370 ff., esp. in notes 99 to 114.
27. 20 David Roberts, PATERNALISM IN EARLY VICTORIAN ENGLAND (London: Croom Helm, 1979) at 206.
28. 21 See case book, LRO DE 3533/186. Adm. 24 October 1851.
29. 22 Adm. 29 November 1856. Case book LRO DE 3533/188. See also the case of William Lord, admitted 25 January 1864. Kirk's ruse, if ruse it was, was not unsuccessful, as the asylum kept her for two and one half months (thus through much of the winter) notwithstanding that her counterfeit was suspected at the time of her admission.
30. 23 Adm. 17 May 45. Case book LRO DE 3533/185.
31. 24 Adm. 30 January 1845. Case book LRO DE 3533/185.
32. 25 Adm. 27 July 1853. Case book LRO DE 3533/187.
33. 26 Adm. 22 November 1854. Case book LRO DE 3533/187.
34. 27 Admitted 23 March 1868. Case book LRO DE 3533/191.
35. 28 Adm. 3 September 1853. Case book LRO DE 3533/187.
36. 29 Re formation, see superintendent's journal, 9 May 1854, LRO DE 3533/83.
37. 30 Leicestershire and Rutland Lunatic Asylum, RULES FOR THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE INSTITUTION, WITH PREFATORY REMARKS BY THE COMMITTEE OF VISITORS (Leicester, 1849), section 8. Copy contained as LRO DE 662/27.
38. 31 See EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE UNITED COMMITTEE OF VISITORS OF THE LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND LUNATIC ASYLUM (1866), LRO DE 3533/1.
39. 32 See superintendent's journal, 10 February 1864, LRO DE 3533/84.
40. 33 See superintendent's journal, November 1853, LRO DE 3533/83.
41. 34 See LRO DE 3533/83 and /84. Three of these were by the same person, in a one month period in May, 1859.
42. 35 Case book, adm. 20 February 1864. LRO DE 3533/190. 36 Case book, adm. 14 July 1866. LRO DE 3533/191.
43. 37 Case book, LRO DE 3533/191.
44. 38 Superintendent's journal, 20 January 1862. LRO DE 3533/84.
45. 39 TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE UNITED COMMITTEE OF VISITORS OF THE LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND LUNATIC ASYLUM, (1869), LRO DE 3533/14.
46. 40 Adm. 10 May 1845. See comments in case book, LRO DE 3533/185.
47. 41 EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE UNITED COMMITTEE OF VISITORS OF THE LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND LUNATIC ASYLUM, (1866), LRO DE 3533/13.
48. 42 NINETEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE UNITED COMMITTEE OF VISITORS OF THE LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND LUNATIC ASYLUM, (1870), LRO DE 3533/14.
49. 43 See case book, LRO DE 3533/187. Adm. 28 September 1855.
50. 44 See Superintendent's journal, 10 January 1866, LRO DE 3533/84.
51. 45 Regarding the similar reliance of workhouses on pauper labour, v. M.A. Crowther, THE WORKHOUSE SYSTEM 1834-1929, (1981; rpt. London: Methuen, 1983) at chapter 8 and particularly at pp. 196-201.
52. 46 Leicestershire and Rutland Lunatic Asylum, RULES FOR THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE INSTITUTION, contained in LRO DE 3533/415 at section 85; Leicestershire and Rutland Lunatic Asylum, RULES FOR THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE INSTITUTION, 1873, LRO DG 24/752/2, at section 102.
53. 46 Leicestershire and Rutland Lunatic Asylum, RULES FOR THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE INSTITUTION, contained in LRO DE 3533/415 at section 85; Leicestershire and Rutland Lunatic Asylum, RULES FOR THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE INSTITUTION, 1873, LRO DG 24/752/2, at section 102.
54. 47 On 28 March 1860, 36 men were employed on the asylum farm, (a number which peaked at 40 on September 26, being harvest, and was as low as three on December 26, during winter) - 16 employed in the house and garden, 8 in workrooms, and 10 assisting on the wards. On that same day, 44 women were employed in workrooms and in sewing and mending, 37 in the laundry, 5 in housework and in the kitchen, and 18 on the wards. On the first of January that year, the asylum had contained 170 men and 188 women: TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE UNITED COMMITTEE OF VISITORS OF THE LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND LUNATIC ASYLUM, (1860), LRO DE 3533/13, at table 4.
55. 48 Minute book, Ashby-de-la-Zouche Union, 9 February 1842. LRO G/1/8a/1. While this situation did not refer specifically to the insane inmates of the workhouse, there is no reason to believe that the insane were kept in worse surroundings than the general population; if anything rather better, being offered better diets and accommodation. The problem of paupers reluctant to leave the workhouse does not appear to be a situation unique to Ashby. The indices to the correspondence between the poor law central authorities and the local boards of guardians show a steady trickle of queries as to what to do when people refused to leave the workhouse, generally in cases where there was an offer of work: v. PRO MH 15.
56. 49 TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE POOR LAW BOARD, PP 1867-8 [4039] xxxiii 1 at app. 2. The quoted material is at page 60.
57. 50 Minute book, Leicester Union, 19 January 1869. LRO G/12/8a/13.
58. 51 Leicestershire and Rutland Lunatic Asylum, RULES FOR THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE INSTITUTION, (1849) LRO DE 662/27 at rule 13. This rule remains essentially unaltered for decades: see the 1873 rules for management of the institution, LRO DG 24/752/2 at rule 93.
59. 52 A copy of these reasons is contained in the correspondence between the Leicester Guardians and the Poor Law Commissioners for 26 December 1844, PRO MH 12/6470, #19730/44.
60. 53 See, e.g., Eliza Williams, adm. 14 July 1868, in admission documents, LRO DE 3533/229.
61. 54 This is not necessarily to be understood as opposed to medical opinion. Thus one of the medical certificates relating to Caroline Barfoot in the mid-1840s stated that she was a harmless idiot, and would be better under the care of her Mother at home than in any establishment where numbers are congregated together: quoted in letter, Poor Law Commissioners to Leicester Guardians, 15 December 1843. LRO G/12/57d/1.
62. 55 Adm. 19 December 1868. Adm. documents LRO DE 3533/229.
63. 56 Adm. 25 January 1853. Case book LRO DE 3533/187.
64. 57 Adm. 16 May 1868. Case book LRO DE 3533/192.
65. 58 Adm. 30 August 1847. Case book LRO DE 3533/185.
66. 59 PRO MH/51/768.
67. 60 Cited in Kathryn M. Thompson, The Leicester Poor Law Union, 1836-71, diss. University of Leicester 1982 at 232.
68. 61 MOST SOLITARY OF AFFLICTIONS, supra, at 332 f.
69. 62 The figures for women are less extreme, January figures being close to 50% higher than July figures. Out relief also increased, although it is difficult to assess how much of those increases were caused by unemployment, as an "able-bodied" person on outdoor relief might nonetheless be relieved on account of illness.
70. 63 Such relief was to be provided to the wife "as if she were a widow": 7 & 8 Vict., c. 101, s. 25.
71. 64 LRO DE/3533/186, adm. 07 May 1851.