"A proper lunatic for two years": Pauper lunatic children in Victorian and Edwardian England. Child admissions to the Devon County Asylum, 1845-1914

Journal of Social History

Volumn 31, Issue 2, 1997, Pages 371-405

  Melling, Joseph ^a   Adair, Richard ^a   Forsythe, Bill ^a  

^a Department of Social Work ^*  (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0039466314     PISSN: 00224529     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/jsh/31.2.371     Document Type: Review

References (180)

1. J.K. Walton, "Casting Out and Bringing Back in Victorian England: Pauper Lunatics, 1840-70" in W. F. Bynum, R. Porter and M. Shepherd (eds), The Anatomy of Madness: Essays in the History of Psychiatry. Volume II: Institutions and Society (London, 1985), particularly pp. 135-37, for criticism of Scull and emphasis on continuing role of the fmily as a support network in mid-Victorian England. Also M. Finnane, "Asylums, Families and the State," History Workshop Journal 20 (1985): 134-48, and W. F. Bynum, R. Porter and M. Shepherd, "Introduction" in (eds), The Anatomy of Madness: Essays in the History of Psychiatry. Volume III: The Asylum and its Psychiatry (London, 1988) pp. 4-5, for an emphasis on the limits of asylum power and the importance of family ties. A. Scull, C. Mackenzie and N. Hervey, Masters of Bedlam. The Transformation of the Mad-Doctoring Trade (Princeton, 1996 ), demonstrates the continuing interest in the prominent psychiatrists of the nineteenth century; H. Freeman and G. E. Berrios, 150 Years of British Psychiatry. Volume II: The Aftermath (London, 1996) encompasses an enormous range of scholarship and interests under the umbrella of "psychiatry." D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," Social History of Medicine 10, 1 (1997): 137-55, provides a useful survey of the literature.
2. J.K. Walton, "Casting Out and Bringing Back in Victorian England: Pauper Lunatics, 1840-70" in W. F. Bynum, R. Porter and M. Shepherd (eds), The Anatomy of Madness: Essays in the History of Psychiatry. Volume II: Institutions and Society (London, 1985), particularly pp. 135-37, for criticism of Scull and emphasis on continuing role of the fmily as a support network in mid-Victorian England. Also M. Finnane, "Asylums, Families and the State," History Workshop Journal 20 (1985): 134-48, and W. F. Bynum, R. Porter and M. Shepherd, "Introduction" in (eds), The Anatomy of Madness: Essays in the History of Psychiatry. Volume III: The Asylum and its Psychiatry (London, 1988) pp. 4-5, for an emphasis on the limits of asylum power and the importance of family ties. A. Scull, C. Mackenzie and N. Hervey, Masters of Bedlam. The Transformation of the Mad-Doctoring Trade (Princeton, 1996 ), demonstrates the continuing interest in the prominent psychiatrists of the nineteenth century; H. Freeman and G. E. Berrios, 150 Years of British Psychiatry. Volume II: The Aftermath (London, 1996) encompasses an enormous range of scholarship and interests under the umbrella of "psychiatry." D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," Social History of Medicine 10, 1 (1997): 137-55, provides a useful survey of the literature.
3. J.K. Walton, "Casting Out and Bringing Back in Victorian England: Pauper Lunatics, 1840-70" in W. F. Bynum, R. Porter and M. Shepherd (eds), The Anatomy of Madness: Essays in the History of Psychiatry. Volume II: Institutions and Society (London, 1985), particularly pp. 135-37, for criticism of Scull and emphasis on continuing role of the fmily as a support network in mid-Victorian England. Also M. Finnane, "Asylums, Families and the State," History Workshop Journal 20 (1985): 134-48, and W. F. Bynum, R. Porter and M. Shepherd, "Introduction" in (eds), The Anatomy of Madness: Essays in the History of Psychiatry. Volume III: The Asylum and its Psychiatry (London, 1988) pp. 4-5, for an emphasis on the limits of asylum power and the importance of family ties. A. Scull, C. Mackenzie and N. Hervey, Masters of Bedlam. The Transformation of the Mad-Doctoring Trade (Princeton, 1996 ), demonstrates the continuing interest in the prominent psychiatrists of the nineteenth century; H. Freeman and G. E. Berrios, 150 Years of British Psychiatry. Volume II: The Aftermath (London, 1996) encompasses an enormous range of scholarship and interests under the umbrella of "psychiatry." D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," Social History of Medicine 10, 1 (1997): 137-55, provides a useful survey of the literature.
4. J.K. Walton, "Casting Out and Bringing Back in Victorian England: Pauper Lunatics, 1840-70" in W. F. Bynum, R. Porter and M. Shepherd (eds), The Anatomy of Madness: Essays in the History of Psychiatry. Volume II: Institutions and Society (London, 1985), particularly pp. 135-37, for criticism of Scull and emphasis on continuing role of the fmily as a support network in mid-Victorian England. Also M. Finnane, "Asylums, Families and the State," History Workshop Journal 20 (1985): 134-48, and W. F. Bynum, R. Porter and M. Shepherd, "Introduction" in (eds), The Anatomy of Madness: Essays in the History of Psychiatry. Volume III: The Asylum and its Psychiatry (London, 1988) pp. 4-5, for an emphasis on the limits of asylum power and the importance of family ties. A. Scull, C. Mackenzie and N. Hervey, Masters of Bedlam. The Transformation of the Mad-Doctoring Trade (Princeton, 1996 ), demonstrates the continuing interest in the prominent psychiatrists of the nineteenth century; H. Freeman and G. E. Berrios, 150 Years of British Psychiatry. Volume II: The Aftermath (London, 1996) encompasses an enormous range of scholarship and interests under the umbrella of "psychiatry." D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," Social History of Medicine 10, 1 (1997): 137-55, provides a useful survey of the literature.
5. J.K. Walton, "Casting Out and Bringing Back in Victorian England: Pauper Lunatics, 1840-70" in W. F. Bynum, R. Porter and M. Shepherd (eds), The Anatomy of Madness: Essays in the History of Psychiatry. Volume II: Institutions and Society (London, 1985), particularly pp. 135-37, for criticism of Scull and emphasis on continuing role of the fmily as a support network in mid-Victorian England. Also M. Finnane, "Asylums, Families and the State," History Workshop Journal 20 (1985): 134-48, and W. F. Bynum, R. Porter and M. Shepherd, "Introduction" in (eds), The Anatomy of Madness: Essays in the History of Psychiatry. Volume III: The Asylum and its Psychiatry (London, 1988) pp. 4-5, for an emphasis on the limits of asylum power and the importance of family ties. A. Scull, C. Mackenzie and N. Hervey, Masters of Bedlam. The Transformation of the Mad-Doctoring Trade (Princeton, 1996 ), demonstrates the continuing interest in the prominent psychiatrists of the nineteenth century; H. Freeman and G. E. Berrios, 150 Years of British Psychiatry. Volume II: The Aftermath (London, 1996) encompasses an enormous range of scholarship and interests under the umbrella of "psychiatry." D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," Social History of Medicine 10, 1 (1997): 137-55, provides a useful survey of the literature.
6. J.K. Walton, "Casting Out and Bringing Back in Victorian England: Pauper Lunatics, 1840-70" in W. F. Bynum, R. Porter and M. Shepherd (eds), The Anatomy of Madness: Essays in the History of Psychiatry. Volume II: Institutions and Society (London, 1985), particularly pp. 135-37, for criticism of Scull and emphasis on continuing role of the fmily as a support network in mid-Victorian England. Also M. Finnane, "Asylums, Families and the State," History Workshop Journal 20 (1985): 134-48, and W. F. Bynum, R. Porter and M. Shepherd, "Introduction" in (eds), The Anatomy of Madness: Essays in the History of Psychiatry. Volume III: The Asylum and its Psychiatry (London, 1988) pp. 4-5, for an emphasis on the limits of asylum power and the importance of family ties. A. Scull, C. Mackenzie and N. Hervey, Masters of Bedlam. The Transformation of the Mad-Doctoring Trade (Princeton, 1996 ), demonstrates the continuing interest in the prominent psychiatrists of the nineteenth century; H. Freeman and G. E. Berrios, 150 Years of British Psychiatry. Volume II: The Aftermath (London, 1996) encompasses an enormous range of scholarship and interests under the umbrella of "psychiatry." D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," Social History of Medicine 10, 1 (1997): 137-55, provides a useful survey of the literature.
7. M. E. Kelm, "Women, Families and the Provincial Hospital for the Insane, British Columbia 1905-1915," Journal of Family History 19, 2 (1994): 177-193, strongly emphasises the therapeutic role of the family in contrast with the restrictive regime which derived from hereditarian principles in this province of Canada; P. E. Prestwich, "Family Strategies and Medical Power: 'voluntary' Committal in a Parisian Asylum, 1876-1914" Journal of Social History 27, 4 (1994), particularly pp. 802-04, 806-07, gives a less decidedly critical assessment of the asylum doctors' ambitions but also emphasises the complex negotiations which engaged families particularly in relation to female admissions.
8. M. E. Kelm, "Women, Families and the Provincial Hospital for the Insane, British Columbia 1905-1915," Journal of Family History 19, 2 (1994): 177-193, strongly emphasises the therapeutic role of the family in contrast with the restrictive regime which derived from hereditarian principles in this province of Canada; P. E. Prestwich, "Family Strategies and Medical Power: 'voluntary' Committal in a Parisian Asylum, 1876-1914" Journal of Social History 27, 4 (1994), particularly pp. 802-04, 806-07, gives a less decidedly critical assessment of the asylum doctors' ambitions but also emphasises the complex negotiations which engaged families particularly in relation to female admissions.
9. A. Pernice, "Family Care and Asylum Psychiatry in the Nineteenth Century: The Controversy in the Allgemeine Zeitschrift fur Psychiatrie between 1844 and 1902," History of Psychiatry VI (1995): 55-68, for discussion of the celebrated Gheel model and friction between different generations of German psychiatrists over the benefits of family-care and its revival in the 1890s as a means of dealing with the chronically insane. For a survey of the wider literature on provision see D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," and R. Adair, J. Melling and B. Forsythe, "Migration, Family Structure and Pauper Lunacy in Victorian England: Admissions to the Devon County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, 1845-1900," Continuity and Change 12, 3 (1997): forthcoming. For broader discussions of the history of childhood and the function of childhood within the changing economic and institutional environment of family life see P. Ariès, Centuries of Childhood (Harmondsworth, 1962) and L. DeMause, "The Evolution of Childhood" in The History of Childhood (New York, 1974), pp. 1-73. For the "boy problem" of the Edwardian years and its contextual significance for debates on mental deficiency see H. Hendrick, Images of Youth, Age, Class and The Male Youth Problem 1880-1920 (Oxford, 1990) and G. Pearson, Hooligan: A History of Respectable Fears (London, 1983).
10. A. Pernice, "Family Care and Asylum Psychiatry in the Nineteenth Century: The Controversy in the Allgemeine Zeitschrift fur Psychiatrie between 1844 and 1902," History of Psychiatry VI (1995): 55-68, for discussion of the celebrated Gheel model and friction between different generations of German psychiatrists over the benefits of family-care and its revival in the 1890s as a means of dealing with the chronically insane. For a survey of the wider literature on provision see D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," and R. Adair, J. Melling and B. Forsythe, "Migration, Family Structure and Pauper Lunacy in Victorian England: Admissions to the Devon County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, 1845-1900," Continuity and Change 12, 3 (1997): forthcoming. For broader discussions of the history of childhood and the function of childhood within the changing economic and institutional environment of family life see P. Ariès, Centuries of Childhood (Harmondsworth, 1962) and L. DeMause, "The Evolution of Childhood" in The History of Childhood (New York, 1974), pp. 1-73. For the "boy problem" of the Edwardian years and its contextual significance for debates on mental deficiency see H. Hendrick, Images of Youth, Age, Class and The Male Youth Problem 1880-1920 (Oxford, 1990) and G. Pearson, Hooligan: A History of Respectable Fears (London, 1983).
11. A. Pernice, "Family Care and Asylum Psychiatry in the Nineteenth Century: The Controversy in the Allgemeine Zeitschrift fur Psychiatrie between 1844 and 1902," History of Psychiatry VI (1995): 55-68, for discussion of the celebrated Gheel model and friction between different generations of German psychiatrists over the benefits of family-care and its revival in the 1890s as a means of dealing with the chronically insane. For a survey of the wider literature on provision see D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," and R. Adair, J. Melling and B. Forsythe, "Migration, Family Structure and Pauper Lunacy in Victorian England: Admissions to the Devon County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, 1845-1900," Continuity and Change 12, 3 (1997): forthcoming. For broader discussions of the history of childhood and the function of childhood within the changing economic and institutional environment of family life see P. Ariès, Centuries of Childhood (Harmondsworth, 1962) and L. DeMause, "The Evolution of Childhood" in The History of Childhood (New York, 1974), pp. 1-73. For the "boy problem" of the Edwardian years and its contextual significance for debates on mental deficiency see H. Hendrick, Images of Youth, Age, Class and The Male Youth Problem 1880-1920 (Oxford, 1990) and G. Pearson, Hooligan: A History of Respectable Fears (London, 1983).
12. A. Pernice, "Family Care and Asylum Psychiatry in the Nineteenth Century: The Controversy in the Allgemeine Zeitschrift fur Psychiatrie between 1844 and 1902," History of Psychiatry VI (1995): 55-68, for discussion of the celebrated Gheel model and friction between different generations of German psychiatrists over the benefits of family-care and its revival in the 1890s as a means of dealing with the chronically insane. For a survey of the wider literature on provision see D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," and R. Adair, J. Melling and B. Forsythe, "Migration, Family Structure and Pauper Lunacy in Victorian England: Admissions to the Devon County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, 1845-1900," Continuity and Change 12, 3 (1997): forthcoming. For broader discussions of the history of childhood and the function of childhood within the changing economic and institutional environment of family life see P. Ariès, Centuries of Childhood (Harmondsworth, 1962) and L. DeMause, "The Evolution of Childhood" in The History of Childhood (New York, 1974), pp. 1-73. For the "boy problem" of the Edwardian years and its contextual significance for debates on mental deficiency see H. Hendrick, Images of Youth, Age, Class and The Male Youth Problem 1880-1920 (Oxford, 1990) and G. Pearson, Hooligan: A History of Respectable Fears (London, 1983).
13. A. Pernice, "Family Care and Asylum Psychiatry in the Nineteenth Century: The Controversy in the Allgemeine Zeitschrift fur Psychiatrie between 1844 and 1902," History of Psychiatry VI (1995): 55-68, for discussion of the celebrated Gheel model and friction between different generations of German psychiatrists over the benefits of family-care and its revival in the 1890s as a means of dealing with the chronically insane. For a survey of the wider literature on provision see D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," and R. Adair, J. Melling and B. Forsythe, "Migration, Family Structure and Pauper Lunacy in Victorian England: Admissions to the Devon County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, 1845-1900," Continuity and Change 12, 3 (1997): forthcoming. For broader discussions of the history of childhood and the function of childhood within the changing economic and institutional environment of family life see P. Ariès, Centuries of Childhood (Harmondsworth, 1962) and L. DeMause, "The Evolution of Childhood" in The History of Childhood (New York, 1974), pp. 1-73. For the "boy problem" of the Edwardian years and its contextual significance for debates on mental deficiency see H. Hendrick, Images of Youth, Age, Class and The Male Youth Problem 1880-1920 (Oxford, 1990) and G. Pearson, Hooligan: A History of Respectable Fears (London, 1983).
14. A. Pernice, "Family Care and Asylum Psychiatry in the Nineteenth Century: The Controversy in the Allgemeine Zeitschrift fur Psychiatrie between 1844 and 1902," History of Psychiatry VI (1995): 55-68, for discussion of the celebrated Gheel model and friction between different generations of German psychiatrists over the benefits of family-care and its revival in the 1890s as a means of dealing with the chronically insane. For a survey of the wider literature on provision see D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," and R. Adair, J. Melling and B. Forsythe, "Migration, Family Structure and Pauper Lunacy in Victorian England: Admissions to the Devon County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, 1845-1900," Continuity and Change 12, 3 (1997): forthcoming. For broader discussions of the history of childhood and the function of childhood within the changing economic and institutional environment of family life see P. Ariès, Centuries of Childhood (Harmondsworth, 1962) and L. DeMause, "The Evolution of Childhood" in The History of Childhood (New York, 1974), pp. 1-73. For the "boy problem" of the Edwardian years and its contextual significance for debates on mental deficiency see H. Hendrick, Images of Youth, Age, Class and The Male Youth Problem 1880-1920 (Oxford, 1990) and G. Pearson, Hooligan: A History of Respectable Fears (London, 1983).
15. A. Pernice, "Family Care and Asylum Psychiatry in the Nineteenth Century: The Controversy in the Allgemeine Zeitschrift fur Psychiatrie between 1844 and 1902," History of Psychiatry VI (1995): 55-68, for discussion of the celebrated Gheel model and friction between different generations of German psychiatrists over the benefits of family-care and its revival in the 1890s as a means of dealing with the chronically insane. For a survey of the wider literature on provision see D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," and R. Adair, J. Melling and B. Forsythe, "Migration, Family Structure and Pauper Lunacy in Victorian England: Admissions to the Devon County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, 1845-1900," Continuity and Change 12, 3 (1997): forthcoming. For broader discussions of the history of childhood and the function of childhood within the changing economic and institutional environment of family life see P. Ariès, Centuries of Childhood (Harmondsworth, 1962) and L. DeMause, "The Evolution of Childhood" in The History of Childhood (New York, 1974), pp. 1-73. For the "boy problem" of the Edwardian years and its contextual significance for debates on mental deficiency see H. Hendrick, Images of Youth, Age, Class and The Male Youth Problem 1880-1920 (Oxford, 1990) and G. Pearson, Hooligan: A History of Respectable Fears (London, 1983).
16. Bynum, Porter and Shepherd, "Introduction;" A. Suzuki, "The Politics and Ideology of Non-Restraint: The Case of the Hanwell Asylum," Medical History 39 (1995), particularly pp. 7-8, 16-17; P. Bartlett, "The Poor Law of Lunacy" (unpublished Ph. D thesis, University of London, 1993); B. Forsythe, J. Melling and R. Adair, "The New Poor Law and the County Pauper Lunatic Asylum - The Devon Experience 1834-1884," Social History of Medicine 9, 3 (1996): 335-55. D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," 149-54 provides an illuminating discussion of the relationship between families and the decision to commit the insane in the nineteenth century. This last essay was published after the present paper was completed but Wright's research is confirmed by our findings in a number of respects.
17. Bynum, Porter and Shepherd, "Introduction;" A. Suzuki, "The Politics and Ideology of Non-Restraint: The Case of the Hanwell Asylum," Medical History 39 (1995), particularly pp. 7-8, 16-17; P. Bartlett, "The Poor Law of Lunacy" (unpublished Ph. D thesis, University of London, 1993); B. Forsythe, J. Melling and R. Adair, "The New Poor Law and the County Pauper Lunatic Asylum - The Devon Experience 1834-1884," Social History of Medicine 9, 3 (1996): 335-55. D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," 149-54 provides an illuminating discussion of the relationship between families and the decision to commit the insane in the nineteenth century. This last essay was published after the present paper was completed but Wright's research is confirmed by our findings in a number of respects.
18. Bynum, Porter and Shepherd, "Introduction;" A. Suzuki, "The Politics and Ideology of Non-Restraint: The Case of the Hanwell Asylum," Medical History 39 (1995), particularly pp. 7-8, 16-17; P. Bartlett, "The Poor Law of Lunacy" (unpublished Ph. D thesis, University of London, 1993); B. Forsythe, J. Melling and R. Adair, "The New Poor Law and the County Pauper Lunatic Asylum - The Devon Experience 1834-1884," Social History of Medicine 9, 3 (1996): 335-55. D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," 149-54 provides an illuminating discussion of the relationship between families and the decision to commit the insane in the nineteenth century. This last essay was published after the present paper was completed but Wright's research is confirmed by our findings in a number of respects.
19. Bynum, Porter and Shepherd, "Introduction;" A. Suzuki, "The Politics and Ideology of Non-Restraint: The Case of the Hanwell Asylum," Medical History 39 (1995), particularly pp. 7-8, 16-17; P. Bartlett, "The Poor Law of Lunacy" (unpublished Ph. D thesis, University of London, 1993); B. Forsythe, J. Melling and R. Adair, "The New Poor Law and the County Pauper Lunatic Asylum - The Devon Experience 1834-1884," Social History of Medicine 9, 3 (1996): 335-55. D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," 149-54 provides an illuminating discussion of the relationship between families and the decision to commit the insane in the nineteenth century. This last essay was published after the present paper was completed but Wright's research is confirmed by our findings in a number of respects.
20. Bynum, Porter and Shepherd, "Introduction;" A. Suzuki, "The Politics and Ideology of Non-Restraint: The Case of the Hanwell Asylum," Medical History 39 (1995), particularly pp. 7-8, 16-17; P. Bartlett, "The Poor Law of Lunacy" (unpublished Ph. D thesis, University of London, 1993); B. Forsythe, J. Melling and R. Adair, "The New Poor Law and the County Pauper Lunatic Asylum - The Devon Experience 1834-1884," Social History of Medicine 9, 3 (1996): 335-55. D. Wright, "Getting Out of the Asylum," 149-54 provides an illuminating discussion of the relationship between families and the decision to commit the insane in the nineteenth century. This last essay was published after the present paper was completed but Wright's research is confirmed by our findings in a number of respects.
21. M. MacDonald, "Madness, Suicide and the Computer" in R. Porter and A. Wear (eds), Problems and Methods in the History of Medicine (London, 1987), pp. 207-29 provides one of the most illuminating discussions of the epistemological and methodological problems surrounding the utilisation of professional records. Although the committal of children to lunatic asylums has been little researched, there is an enormous and rapidly expanding literature on the history of childhood. For example, C. Heywood, Childhood in Nineteenth Century France (Cambridge, 1988); E. Hopkins, Childhood and Transformed Working Class Children in Nineteenth Century England (Manchester, 1984). See also K. Jones, Mental Health and Social Policy 1845-1959 (London, 1960). William Chance discussed briefly this cohort of pauper lunatics a century ago; W. Chance, Children Under the Poor Law (London, 1897), pp. 237-38, 246-47.
22. M. MacDonald, "Madness, Suicide and the Computer" in R. Porter and A. Wear (eds), Problems and Methods in the History of Medicine (London, 1987), pp. 207-29 provides one of the most illuminating discussions of the epistemological and methodological problems surrounding the utilisation of professional records. Although the committal of children to lunatic asylums has been little researched, there is an enormous and rapidly expanding literature on the history of childhood. For example, C. Heywood, Childhood in Nineteenth Century France (Cambridge, 1988); E. Hopkins, Childhood and Transformed Working Class Children in Nineteenth Century England (Manchester, 1984). See also K. Jones, Mental Health and Social Policy 1845-1959 (London, 1960). William Chance discussed briefly this cohort of pauper lunatics a century ago; W. Chance, Children Under the Poor Law (London, 1897), pp. 237-38, 246-47.
23. M. MacDonald, "Madness, Suicide and the Computer" in R. Porter and A. Wear (eds), Problems and Methods in the History of Medicine (London, 1987), pp. 207-29 provides one of the most illuminating discussions of the epistemological and methodological problems surrounding the utilisation of professional records. Although the committal of children to lunatic asylums has been little researched, there is an enormous and rapidly expanding literature on the history of childhood. For example, C. Heywood, Childhood in Nineteenth Century France (Cambridge, 1988); E. Hopkins, Childhood and Transformed Working Class Children in Nineteenth Century England (Manchester, 1984). See also K. Jones, Mental Health and Social Policy 1845-1959 (London, 1960). William Chance discussed briefly this cohort of pauper lunatics a century ago; W. Chance, Children Under the Poor Law (London, 1897), pp. 237-38, 246-47.
24. M. MacDonald, "Madness, Suicide and the Computer" in R. Porter and A. Wear (eds), Problems and Methods in the History of Medicine (London, 1987), pp. 207-29 provides one of the most illuminating discussions of the epistemological and methodological problems surrounding the utilisation of professional records. Although the committal of children to lunatic asylums has been little researched, there is an enormous and rapidly expanding literature on the history of childhood. For example, C. Heywood, Childhood in Nineteenth Century France (Cambridge, 1988); E. Hopkins, Childhood and Transformed Working Class Children in Nineteenth Century England (Manchester, 1984). See also K. Jones, Mental Health and Social Policy 1845-1959 (London, 1960). William Chance discussed briefly this cohort of pauper lunatics a century ago; W. Chance, Children Under the Poor Law (London, 1897), pp. 237-38, 246-47.
25. M. MacDonald, "Madness, Suicide and the Computer" in R. Porter and A. Wear (eds), Problems and Methods in the History of Medicine (London, 1987), pp. 207-29 provides one of the most illuminating discussions of the epistemological and methodological problems surrounding the utilisation of professional records. Although the committal of children to lunatic asylums has been little researched, there is an enormous and rapidly expanding literature on the history of childhood. For example, C. Heywood, Childhood in Nineteenth Century France (Cambridge, 1988); E. Hopkins, Childhood and Transformed Working Class Children in Nineteenth Century England (Manchester, 1984). See also K. Jones, Mental Health and Social Policy 1845-1959 (London, 1960). William Chance discussed briefly this cohort of pauper lunatics a century ago; W. Chance, Children Under the Poor Law (London, 1897), pp. 237-38, 246-47.
26. D. Wright, "Childlike in his innocence," M. Jackson, "Institutional Provisions for the Feeble-Minded in Edwardian England" and D. Gladstone, "The Changing Dynamic of Institutional Care: The Western Counties Idiot Asylum, 1864-1914" in D. Wright and A. Digby (eds), From Idiocy To Mental Deficiency (London, 1996), pp. 118-133, 161-83 and 134-160 respectively. The 1886 Idiots Act required registration of those institutions which wished to become recognised "idiot institutions" regulated by the Lunacy Commissioners. For wider concerns with mental deficiency and degeneracy see D. Barker, "How to Curb the Fertility of the Unfit: The Feeble-Minded in Edwardian Britain," Oxford Review of Education 9, 3 (1983): 197-211; C. Wardle, "Historical Influences on Services For Children and Adolescents Before 1900" in G. Berrios and H. Freeman (eds), 150 Years of British Psychiatry 1841-1991 (London, 1991), pp. 279-293; M. Thomson, "'Though Ever the Subject of Psychological Medicine': Psychiatrists and the Colony Solution for Mental Defectives" in H. Freeman and G. E. Berrios (eds), 150 Years of British Psychiatry: Volume II, The Aftermath (London, 1996), pp. 130-43.
27. D. Wright, "Childlike in his innocence," M. Jackson, "Institutional Provisions for the Feeble-Minded in Edwardian England" and D. Gladstone, "The Changing Dynamic of Institutional Care: The Western Counties Idiot Asylum, 1864-1914" in D. Wright and A. Digby (eds), From Idiocy To Mental Deficiency (London, 1996), pp. 118-133, 161-83 and 134-160 respectively. The 1886 Idiots Act required registration of those institutions which wished to become recognised "idiot institutions" regulated by the Lunacy Commissioners. For wider concerns with mental deficiency and degeneracy see D. Barker, "How to Curb the Fertility of the Unfit: The Feeble-Minded in Edwardian Britain," Oxford Review of Education 9, 3 (1983): 197-211; C. Wardle, "Historical Influences on Services For Children and Adolescents Before 1900" in G. Berrios and H. Freeman (eds), 150 Years of British Psychiatry 1841-1991 (London, 1991), pp. 279-293; M. Thomson, "'Though Ever the Subject of Psychological Medicine': Psychiatrists and the Colony Solution for Mental Defectives" in H. Freeman and G. E. Berrios (eds), 150 Years of British Psychiatry: Volume II, The Aftermath (London, 1996), pp. 130-43.
28. D. Wright, "Childlike in his innocence," M. Jackson, "Institutional Provisions for the Feeble-Minded in Edwardian England" and D. Gladstone, "The Changing Dynamic of Institutional Care: The Western Counties Idiot Asylum, 1864-1914" in D. Wright and A. Digby (eds), From Idiocy To Mental Deficiency (London, 1996), pp. 118-133, 161-83 and 134-160 respectively. The 1886 Idiots Act required registration of those institutions which wished to become recognised "idiot institutions" regulated by the Lunacy Commissioners. For wider concerns with mental deficiency and degeneracy see D. Barker, "How to Curb the Fertility of the Unfit: The Feeble-Minded in Edwardian Britain," Oxford Review of Education 9, 3 (1983): 197-211; C. Wardle, "Historical Influences on Services For Children and Adolescents Before 1900" in G. Berrios and H. Freeman (eds), 150 Years of British Psychiatry 1841-1991 (London, 1991), pp. 279-293; M. Thomson, "'Though Ever the Subject of Psychological Medicine': Psychiatrists and the Colony Solution for Mental Defectives" in H. Freeman and G. E. Berrios (eds), 150 Years of British Psychiatry: Volume II, The Aftermath (London, 1996), pp. 130-43.
29. D. Wright, "Childlike in his innocence," M. Jackson, "Institutional Provisions for the Feeble-Minded in Edwardian England" and D. Gladstone, "The Changing Dynamic of Institutional Care: The Western Counties Idiot Asylum, 1864-1914" in D. Wright and A. Digby (eds), From Idiocy To Mental Deficiency (London, 1996), pp. 118-133, 161-83 and 134-160 respectively. The 1886 Idiots Act required registration of those institutions which wished to become recognised "idiot institutions" regulated by the Lunacy Commissioners. For wider concerns with mental deficiency and degeneracy see D. Barker, "How to Curb the Fertility of the Unfit: The Feeble-Minded in Edwardian Britain," Oxford Review of Education 9, 3 (1983): 197-211; C. Wardle, "Historical Influences on Services For Children and Adolescents Before 1900" in G. Berrios and H. Freeman (eds), 150 Years of British Psychiatry 1841-1991 (London, 1991), pp. 279-293; M. Thomson, "'Though Ever the Subject of Psychological Medicine': Psychiatrists and the Colony Solution for Mental Defectives" in H. Freeman and G. E. Berrios (eds), 150 Years of British Psychiatry: Volume II, The Aftermath (London, 1996), pp. 130-43.
30. D. Wright, "Childlike in his innocence," M. Jackson, "Institutional Provisions for the Feeble-Minded in Edwardian England" and D. Gladstone, "The Changing Dynamic of Institutional Care: The Western Counties Idiot Asylum, 1864-1914" in D. Wright and A. Digby (eds), From Idiocy To Mental Deficiency (London, 1996), pp. 118-133, 161-83 and 134-160 respectively. The 1886 Idiots Act required registration of those institutions which wished to become recognised "idiot institutions" regulated by the Lunacy Commissioners. For wider concerns with mental deficiency and degeneracy see D. Barker, "How to Curb the Fertility of the Unfit: The Feeble-Minded in Edwardian Britain," Oxford Review of Education 9, 3 (1983): 197-211; C. Wardle, "Historical Influences on Services For Children and Adolescents Before 1900" in G. Berrios and H. Freeman (eds), 150 Years of British Psychiatry 1841-1991 (London, 1991), pp. 279-293; M. Thomson, "'Though Ever the Subject of Psychological Medicine': Psychiatrists and the Colony Solution for Mental Defectives" in H. Freeman and G. E. Berrios (eds), 150 Years of British Psychiatry: Volume II, The Aftermath (London, 1996), pp. 130-43.
31. D. Wright, "Childlike in his innocence," M. Jackson, "Institutional Provisions for the Feeble-Minded in Edwardian England" and D. Gladstone, "The Changing Dynamic of Institutional Care: The Western Counties Idiot Asylum, 1864-1914" in D. Wright and A. Digby (eds), From Idiocy To Mental Deficiency (London, 1996), pp. 118-133, 161-83 and 134-160 respectively. The 1886 Idiots Act required registration of those institutions which wished to become recognised "idiot institutions" regulated by the Lunacy Commissioners. For wider concerns with mental deficiency and degeneracy see D. Barker, "How to Curb the Fertility of the Unfit: The Feeble-Minded in Edwardian Britain," Oxford Review of Education 9, 3 (1983): 197-211; C. Wardle, "Historical Influences on Services For Children and Adolescents Before 1900" in G. Berrios and H. Freeman (eds), 150 Years of British Psychiatry 1841-1991 (London, 1991), pp. 279-293; M. Thomson, "'Though Ever the Subject of Psychological Medicine': Psychiatrists and the Colony Solution for Mental Defectives" in H. Freeman and G. E. Berrios (eds), 150 Years of British Psychiatry: Volume II, The Aftermath (London, 1996), pp. 130-43.
32. Sir A. Halliday, A Letter to Lord Robert Seymour with a Report on the number of Lunatics and Idiots in England and Wales (London, 1829), pp. 11-12 made the extraordinary claim that there were 504 ascertained lunatics and idiots in Devon, "of which number more than four-fifths are idiots." We are grateful to Pamela Michael for this reference. Gladstone "The Changing Dynamic," p. 140, notes that a mere 3 per cent of some 29,542 institutionalised idiots in 1881 were in special idiot asylums.
33. Sir A. Halliday, A Letter to Lord Robert Seymour with a Report on the number of Lunatics and Idiots in England and Wales (London, 1829), pp. 11-12 made the extraordinary claim that there were 504 ascertained lunatics and idiots in Devon, "of which number more than four-fifths are idiots." We are grateful to Pamela Michael for this reference. Gladstone "The Changing Dynamic," p. 140, notes that a mere 3 per cent of some 29,542 institutionalised idiots in 1881 were in special idiot asylums.
34. F. Crompton, Workhouse Children (Stroud, 1997), p. 83.
35. D. J. Mellett, "Bureaucracy and Mental Illness: The Commissioners in Lunacy, 1845-90," Medical History 25 (1981); Crompton, Workhouse Children, pp. 83-4; B. Forsythe, et. al., "The Politics of Lunacy," Paper presented to SSHM Conference "Insanity, Institutions and Society." (Exeter, 1997).
36. D. J. Mellett, "Bureaucracy and Mental Illness: The Commissioners in Lunacy, 1845-90," Medical History 25 (1981); Crompton, Workhouse Children, pp. 83-4; B. Forsythe, et. al., "The Politics of Lunacy," Paper presented to SSHM Conference "Insanity, Institutions and Society." (Exeter, 1997).
37. D. J. Mellett, "Bureaucracy and Mental Illness: The Commissioners in Lunacy, 1845-90," Medical History 25 (1981); Crompton, Workhouse Children, pp. 83-4; B. Forsythe, et. al., "The Politics of Lunacy," Paper presented to SSHM Conference "Insanity, Institutions and Society." (Exeter, 1997).
38. See the careful attempt by L. J. Ray, "Models of Madness in Victorian Asylum Practice," European Journal of Sociology XXII (1981): 229-64, to demonstrate the functional importance of diagnoses of chronic insanity and incurability at the end of the nineteenth century as a legitimisation of the continued utility of large asylums staffed by psychiatrists claiming specialist knowledge. Our findings would qualify this emphasis on psychiatric discourse in favour of an administrative rationale and legal discourse deriving from the Poor Law as well as the Lunacy legislation and asylum institutions.
39. Digby, "Contexts and Perspectives" in From Idiocy To Mental Deficiency, pp. 2, 6-7, notes the 1890 Act may have contributed to the blurring of the identity of the diagnosis by use of such encompassing terms as "an idiot, a lunatic or a person of unsound mind." Poor Law officials continued to use language such as idiocy, weak intellect, lunacy, imbecility, infirmity and often enveloped deafness or dumbness in their labelling of individuals. Indeed the 1893 Blind and Deaf Children Elementary Education Act [56 and 57 Vict cap. 42] specifically included "idiot and imbecile" children within its provisions. See Chance, p. 247.
40. P. Bartlett, "The Poor Law of Lunacy: County Asylums as Poor Law Institutions," Paper presented to SSHM Conference "Insanity, Institutions and Society" (Exeter, 1997).
41. Gladstone, "Changing Dynamic," p. 144, citing Kathleen Jones.
42. B. Forsythe, J. Melling and R. Adair, "The New Poor Law and the County Pauper Lunatic Asylum," 335-55, for variations among the distinctive Poor Law unions of Devon in 1834-84.
43. We have generally defined "pauper lunatic children" as young persons under the age of fifteen who were in receipt of relief under the Poor Law of 1834 and also certified as a lunatic under the provisions of one of the lunacy acts of 1845, 1853 and 1890. This may be compared with the Poor Law definition of "children" as those under the age of sixteen.
44. Gladstone, "Changing Dynamic," p. 143.
45. Ibid., pp. 148-49 for details of Starcross cases.
46. Devon Record Office (hereafter DRO), Axminster Board of Guardians Minutes, 26.2.1891, 6.9.1894, 29.11.1894, 29.10.1896 for Courtenay.
47. B. Forsythe, J. Melling and R. Adair, "The New Poor Law and the County Pauper Lunatic Asylum," 335-55.
48. One hundred-one individuals have been included. Out of the 13,000 they made up a little under one eighth of one per cent of the admissions. All children under the age of fifteen have been included in this analysis.
49. J. Melling, R. Adair and B. Forsythe, "A Female Malady? Gender and the Devon County Lunatic Asylum, 1845-1914," University of Exeter Project Paper (1996).
50. In this period J. S. Saunders was Medical Superintendent, succeeding Bucknill in 1862 and being replaced by Davis at the very end of the century.
51. The numbers ranged from 15 and 14 sent from Newton Abbot and St. Thomas respectively to no children sent from Axminster, Holsworthy and Kingsbridge.
52. One of the most important issues of recent discussion is the shifting boundary between what was the emerging "professional" voice of the physician and the "lay" voice of the lunatic's "friend." Scholars are now much more sensitive to the contribution of lay opinion in the diagnosis of the insane. See for example, A. Suzuki, "The Construction of Case Histories at Bethlem in the Nineteenth Century," Paper presented at the SSHM Conference on "Insanity, Institutions and Society" University of Exeter (1997).
53. For Bucknill see A. Scull, C. MacKenzie and N. Hervey, Masters of Bedlam, pp. 187-225.
54. J. Bucknill and D. Tuke, A Manual of Psychological Medicine (London, 1858), p. 103, citing Pritchard's Treatise on Insanity, p. 318.
55. J. Bucknill and D. Tuke, A Manual of Psychological Medicine (London, 1858), p. 103, citing Pritchard's Treatise on Insanity, p. 318.
56. Exminster Patient Records at DRO, Admission Certificates. AC no. 431, 2.8.1847. Similarly, Louisa M. (aged ten) of West Teignmouth was certified as having fallen insane "from a fright," though the certificate also stated that she had been subject to epileptic fits "which have produced idiotcy [sic]." See Admission Certificate no. 1742, 26.10.1857. The diagnosis of idiocy was confirmed at the Asylum. See also AC no. 3613, 11.8.1868.
57. Of forty patients admitted, the certificates of twenty-seven entered "no," six had "unknown" inserted and only seven (17.5%) gave positive information, though in the case of Ernest D. and Ethel G. the relationship was as remote as great-uncles.
58. AC no. 8093, 6.3.1894. See also the cases of George Nathaniel P. (AC no. 8120, 19.4.1894), William D. (AC no. 11049, 12.1.1907) and John E. (AC no. 11065, 6.2.1907).
59. This excludes eleven blank entries, almost all for the period after 1907, where the new registry books did not have a column for initial diagnosis.
60. This percentage is calculated from a large sample (4,000 out of 13,000 total entrants). Amongst the sample aged over fifteen on entry were 64 idiots and 133 imbeciles out of 3,781 cases. It is noticeable that "idiots" formed a large majority of the children admitted, 'imbeciles' were predominant amongst the adults.
61. This is comprised of forty-three who had been born insane, and twelve who had become so during their first two years of life and had never recovered.
62. Between 1900 and 1914 twenty out of twenty-six entries fell into the "from birth" category (76.9%), which may reflect an increasing propensity to take such cases rather than a shift in the terms of diagnosis though this seems unlikely. The only unusual case of an early referral was that of Effie Gladys E., which is discussed later.
63. For Ada Bessie S. aged fourteen the "cause" question was answered "unknown"but the doctor gave his opinion in "facts indicating insanity" that her behaviour was the result of her delayed menstruation.
64. Fifty-three of the ninety-eight individuals for whom details exist were recorded as epilepsy sufferers, i.e. 54%, though the same proportion of epileptics (32 of 53 or 60%) as non-epileptics (27 of 45 or 60%) were identified as "dangerous."
65. AC no. 3053, 20.5.1865. Compare the case of Thomas Henry E. from Plympton St. Mary who had suffered epilepsy from six months but his parents thought "he had latterly become much worse." AC no. 5655, 5.8.1880. Once again the family made a significant contribution to "the facts indicating insanity."
66. 53 Vict. Cap. 5. The five child cases in our sample compare with a mere fourteen cases from a large sample (3,781) of adult admissions. The last cases of a child being found not insane on arrival and returned came in 1889, whilst eleven of the fourteen adult cases occurred before 1890. It is also worth noting that the Idiots Act of 1886 may have contributed to the greater caution of physicians and Poor Law authorities in the dispatch of children to county asylums.
67. For example, the cases of Thomas Edward L. and James Donald T., both of East Stonehouse (Plymouth) who were committed directly to the Devon Asylum in 1875 by the same physician without any history of workhouse care and with very similar details entered on their documents. The Relieving Officer was likewise the same in both cases. See AC no. 4756, 20.2.1875; AC no. 4757, 20.2.1875. Such "Poor Law" doctors were often under considerable pressure to concur with the views of the Poor Law officers and it is usually difficult to decide the exact balance of responsibility. See also AC no. 4895, 24.2.1876 for case of William Thomas P. of West Teignmouth whose insanity was demonstrated, noted his certificate, by his "general appearance and behaviour."
68. AC no. 6095, 6.2.1883.
69. AC no. 4720, 28.12.1874. This again seems to have confirmed the poor view of local doctors which Exminster physicians held; the certificate was annotated with a scrawled question asking "is this sufficient?" Even more haphazard was the comment on George B. of Cruwys Morchard where the "facts of insanity" presented on the certificate comprised the laconic comment that his "mother states that she cannot get any sense out of him." The unnecessary insertion of the mother's name and address in confirmation was greeted with a large "?" by the Asylum. AC no. 7419, 19.2.1891.
70. St. Thomas Guardians Minutes, 14.2.1890 for subscription to Deaf and Dumb Institution; Axminster Guardians Minutes, 16.11.1893, where it was noted of "the lad C." leaving the Deaf and Dumb Institution that "he was a good boy, not over sharp."
71. Axminster Guardians Minutes, 5.3.1896, 11.6.1896, 9.7.1896, 23.7.1896, 6.8.1896, 20.8.1896, 17.9.1896. The Guardians also considered the cost of supplying clothing to the boy. See 19.8.1897 for end of subsidy and continuation of his residence at Bristol Deaf and Dumb Institution.
72. Axminster Guardians Minutes, 2.5.1895 for the case of a local blacksmith who returned his apprentice and "it was remarked that the lad was somewhat defficient [sic]," for example.
73. St. Thomas Guardians Minutes, 16.4.1852.
74. Minutes Books of Visiting Committee of the Devon County Lunatic Asylum (hereafter Asylum Minutes), DRO QS-CC 147, 4.12.1900, 1.1.1901, for report of annual returns from the Lunacy Commission and a comment.
75. Crompton, Workhouse Children, pp. 36-42 for a discussion of these issues.
76. St. Thomas Guardians Minutes, 8.8.1851 for conflict over the disposition of medical officers in the Union. See also conflict with the Poor Law Board at 28.10.1853 on the use of new forms to ensure Medical Officers complied with the Board's requirements.
77. DRO Axminster Guardians Minutes, 15.6.1893, 26.6.1893, for criticism of a Dalwood physician for being drunk when attending the female lunatic Ellen C. Such physicians could also certify workhouse children as idiots. See Axminster Guardians Minutes 24.8.1893 for payment of an Axminster physician for undertaking this task.
78. See St. Thomas Guardians Minutes, 5.1.1894, 12.1.1894 and 5.3.1897, for criticisms of J. D. Shapland the Exmouth M.O. for the "large numbers of Lunatic Paupers reported by him quarterly," and for certifying a woman whom the Asylum physicians found not "a fit case for the Asylum." Frictions with Medical Officers criticised for negligence of their growing duties continued. See 16.5.1890 for requirement that a local M.O. should undertake the vaccination of children at his own cost after failing to fulfil this obligation for the Guardians of St. Thomas.
79. St. Thomas Guardians Minutes, 11.3.1859, 15.4.1859, 21.4.1859, 6.5.1859. It was noted at 17.6.1859 that the Poor Law Board had "carefully avoided interfering in this case and turned it over to the Lunacy Commission."
80. St. Thomas Guardians Minutes, 17.6.1859.
81. St. Thomas Guardians Minutes, 22.7.1859. The Guardians clearly did not feel strongly enough to dismiss the Medical Officer but demanded to know at the end of the year why he had not included the boy, Thomas L., in his list of lunatics in the district. See Minutes, 30.12.1859.
82. B. Forsythe, J. Melling and R. Adair, "The Politics of Lunacy," Paper presented at the SSHM Conference on "Insanity, Institutions and Society" University of Exeter (1997).
83. Amongst the legislative measures which brought the Poor Law into closer contact with child welfare at this period were the 1872 Child and Infant Life Protection Act, the 1894 Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act and the 1897 Infant Life Protection Act as well as the 1899 Elementary Education (Defective and Epileptic Children) Act. See St. Thomas Guardians Minutes, 31.7.1896, 3.12.1897, 1.4.1898, 15.4.1898, 6.5.1898, for details of local applications.
84. St. Thomas Guardians Minutes, 21.9.1894 and 2.7.1897 for requests from Local Government Board for returns of imbecile children within the workhouse and the condition of lunatics transferred to Exminster, respectively. For the role of Lord Courtenay as LGB Inspector see Axminster Guardians Minutes, 20.8.1885 for recommendations on diet. See also Minutes, 26.2.1891, 6.9.1894, 29.11.1894, 29.10.1896. Shortly after this, Axminster's whole pattern of pauper relief was subjected to critical scrutiny by Courtenay's successor and forced on to the defensive. See Minutes, 1.4-1897.
85. Axminster Guardians Minutes, "Report of the Visiting Committee of the Axminster Union as to suggestions and recommendations of Dr. Needham, Commissioner in Lunacy," dated 19 January 1893.
86. Axminster Guardians Minutes, 6.9.1894, 20.9.1894, 29.11.1894, 2.5.1895.
87. Okehampton Guardians Minutes, 31.3.1866.
88. Okehampton Guardians Minutes, 3.9.1898, 25.11.1899.
89. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 19.8.1898, 1.12.1899. As late as 1911 the certification procedure was again the subject of criticism. See Minutes, 5.5.1911.
90. Twenty-five out of ninety-nine admissions came from the workhouse. Individuals such as William C. of Devonport were captured in our workhouse group only because of an incidental detail that a note had been supplied by a "nurse at the Workhouse." See AC no. 6655, 25.10.1886. After 1900, the proportion of children committed from the workhouse rose to 10/23 = 44%. A small number of children were not resident in either their parents' house or the workhouse at the time of admission. There were a smattering of individuals living with other family members, such as grandparents (Silas S., at his first admission) or a sister (Harold C.), Three familiar names, Ada S., George D. and William C., seem to have been living away from their families altogether, and Alfred Thomas M., the child of a mariner, lived at the Greenwich School, Stoke Damerel.
91. Eleven out of the twenty Devon unions were represented, but only six had more than one child sent to the asylum from there. Two were sent from Plympton St. Mary, Barnstaple, St. Thomas and South Molton, and three from East Stonehouse, but seven were sent from Newton Abbot workhouse. However Newton Abbot also sent unusually high proportions of their adult lunatics to Exminster via their workhouse.
92. AC no. 1287, 2.12.1854.
93. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 21.1.1859, when it was noted that "the certificate which must be signed as a Medical Man previous to the making of an order for sending a person to a Lunatic Asylum," 28.1.1859. AC no. 1950, 5.3-1859.
94. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 2.12.1887.
95. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 21.6.1889. John C. was indeed sent to the Asylum.
96. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 20.7.1894, 27.7.1894, 10.8.1894, for case of John S.
97. Axminster Guardians Minutes, 12.12.1872.
98. AC no. 1950, 5.3.1859. George S. was also reported to have struck "with considerable force and without seeming provocation quite small children."
99. Cases of Herriett W. and Mary Y. for example, AC no. 2603, 23.10.1862 and AC no. 9327, 27.3.1900 respectively.
100. AC no. 7309, 12.8.1890. Cann, the workhouse master noted that S. was "becoming very mischievous ... he has attacked Mary W., an Inmate of the Workhouse, and pulled the hair of her head, and [I] fear he will become unmanageable if kept in the Workhouse."
101. AC no. 8846, 4.9.1897. Emma B. of Okehampton workhouse was said by the inmate Elizabeth Holmes to have "pulled her about by the hair and knocked her down and [she] has struck several of the old women." A key point seems to have been not merely her attacks on the elderly inmates of Okehampton workhouse but the claim that she also "masturbate[d] & is most filthy in her language & behaviour in the Ward showing herself openly before the patients." See AC no. 12080, 16.11.1910, for case of Henry B., who spent four years in Newton Abbot workhouse, kicked and hit out and threw objects without provocation and was judged to be "dangerous to others especially aged inmates."
102. AC no. 9508, 3.1.1901, for case of Henry B.
103. AC no. 9254, 23.12.1899. Edward M. had suffered three epileptic fits in a fortnight at East Stonehouse Workhouse and had been "very violent immediately after them assaulting the other inmates." Sloggett, the workhouse master commented: "I am unable to manage him hear [sic]."
104. AC no. 9327, 27.3.1900. Mary Y. was brought from South Molton workhouse after repeatedly placing her hands between the workhouse fire bars and would "not remove them ... although scorched." On arrival at Exminster Mary immediately "clutched at the boiling kettle over the fire and tried to drink out of it."
105. AC no. 7927, 15.7.1893.
106. Axminster Guardians Minutes, 21.1.1893, 5.10.1893, 19.10.1893, 2.11.1893, 14.12.1893. The Guardians fended off calls from the Commissioner for improvements in the sleeping arrangements of female imbeciles.
107. St. Thomas Guardians Visiting and Finance Committee Minutes, 8.5.1905, 19.3.1906.
108. Axminster Guardians Minutes, 4.6.1914. Richard H. case. At the same time the Board directed the Guardians to place the imbecile Jane Q. on the official list of those held under Section 24 of the 1890 Lunacy Act.
109. Okehampton Board of Guardians Minute Book 9, 4.4-1846, 10.10.1846, 15.4-1848.
110. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 28.10.1892, 27.4.1894, for case of John S. and a proposed subscription of £30 per annum at Bath Magdalene Hospital. It is difficult to ascertain if this case involved a diagnosis of congenital syphilis. As early as 1858 the Bamstaple Guardians had enquired of the Lunacy Commission if they could recommend any institution for £the care and treatment of Idiots.£ See Minutes, 10.12.1858, 17.12.1858.
111. DRO 3769a H9/3 case no. 4370 admission date 10.8.1872.
112. Axminster Guardians Minutes, 7.12.1876, case of Samuel L. returned after suffering fits.
113. Axminster Guardians Minutes, 13.9.1877, 27.9.1877. Samuel L. was described by the Axminster Master as £at times very troublesome and the subject of violent fits.£ The Medical Officer approved of his removal and his father was offered £liberal relief for looking after him.£ Since a Charles L. was also sent to Starcross at the beginning of 1878 and Louisa L. died in the Exminster Asylum in 1885 before she could be removed back to the Workhouse, there may have been a number of lunatic members in the same family. See Minutes, 31.1.1878, 22.1.1885.
114. Case of Alfred John S. of East Budleigh, AC no. 7715, 27.7.1892.
115. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 13.6.1890, 18.4.1902, 5.12.1903; and for boy "Ca" see 29.11.1901. He may possibly have been a member of the Ci. family discussed later.
116. 87. St. Thomas Guardians Minutes, 6.3.1891, 1.3.1895.
117. St. Thomas Guardians Minutes, 25.4.1895, when it was decided not only to complain to the Lunacy Commissioners about the actions of the Idiots' Asylum but to transfer the chargeability of the new admission to Devon County Council under the 1890 Lunacy Act.
118. DRO 3769a H9/3 MCAB case no. 4362 admission July 1872.
119. St. Thomas Guardians Minutes, 1.12.1899 for case of Louisa Maud C.
120. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 5.1.1906, for case of Ethel Mary H. removed by her mother, though Starcross had made the comment that she appeared "more fitted for the imbecile ward of the workhouse than for a training school such as theirs."
121. Harold C., AC no. 10011, 10.1.1903; Ernest George H. of Bovey Tracey and Richard S. of Newton Abbot, for example. See AC no. 3946, 31.5.1870 and AC no. 10964, 12.9.1906, respectively. Of those who applied to go to Starcross, were refused and then dispatched to Exminster, only one case is explicitly recorded in the Admission Registers. See Lionel B., AC no. 10975, 29.9.1906.
122. AC no. 10504, 28.11.1904.
123. Dr. Frank Crompton has reminded us that the creation of the Caterham, Leavesden and Darenth Asylums by the Metropolitan Asylums Board provided a model of specialist provision for children in the second half of the century. He also notes that the failure of the "Evesham experiment" at fostering pauper children in 1868-69 may have contributed to a growing scepticism on the beneficial affects of domestic models for maintaining children under the Poor Law.
124. Axminster Guardians Minutes, 2.12.1880, 16.11.1893.
125. For example Silas S., William C., Mary H. and Emma B.
126. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes 10.12.1858, 17.12.1858.
127. Okehampton Guardians Minutes, 20.2.1864. B.'s age is not given.
128. 19th Annual Report of Lunacy Commission PP 1865, p. xxi.
129. AC no. 3015, 4.3.1865. This was the case investigated by the Lunacy Commission after the complaints of the local clergyman went unheeded by the Poor Law Guardians.
130. AC no. 5752, 8.2.1881.
131. AC no. 9459, 6.9.1900. Case of Francis John L. of Dartmouth.
132. AC no. 3302, 4.12.1866. Elizabeth E. of St Thomas would "ut her hands in the fire if allowed near."
133. AC no. 4095, 14.3.1871.
134. AC no. 5987, 1.7.1882.
135. AC no. 919, 13.8.1851.
136. AC no. 4430, 20.1.1873.
137. AC no. 9330, 27.3.1900 and AC no. 10975, 29.9.1906 respectively.
138. AC no. 1691, 2.7.1857.
139. AC no. 8094, 6.3.1894. It was noted that "she refuses all food, because she says, they [are] out to poison her. She refuses to go upstairs to bed, or for any other purpose. She passes urine & faeces involuntarily ... she threatened William B. with a knife, calling him Jack the Ripper ... she has not slept, & has taken scarcely any food, since 26 Febr[uar]y ... she throws things about the house, & breaks all she can get hold of ... she caught up one of the children & threw it on the floor."
140. AC no. 9254, 23.12.1899.
141. AC no. 4581, 11.2.1874.
142. AC no. 5455, 22.7.1879.
143. AC no. 4362, 19.7.1872.
144. AC no. 10013, 16.1.1903.
145. AC no. 1595, 4.12.1856, AC no. 4903, 13.3.1876, AC no. 10013, 16.1.1903. For cases of Silas S. of Shaugh Prior, Jane R. of Plympton Maurice and Ernest Thomas W. of Brixham, respectively.
146. AC no. 6655, 25.10.1886 and AC no. 4660, 4.8.1874, for William C. and Ellen Axworthy K., respectively.
147. AC no. 3610, 8.8.1868 and AC no. 5022, 7.12.1876, for Susan C of Pilton and Walton William G. of Ashburton respectively.
148. AC no. 2571, 21.8.1862 for Jessie L.
149. AC no. 5987, 1.7.1882.
150. AC no. 10456, 17.9.1904 and AC no. 1625, 18.2.1857, for Ethel Annie Pile G. of Bratton Fleming and John L. of Oakford respectively.
151. AC no. 3302, 4.12.1866 and AC no. 10590, 15.3.1905, for Elizabeth E. and Effie Gladys E. of Ermington, respectively.
152. AC no. 1273, 23.10.1854.
153. AC no. 10632, 31.5.1905, Alfred T. was only six years old.
154. AC no. 6095, 6.2.1883, case of Frances C. aged thirteen.
155. AC no. 3610, 8.8.1868. It is noticeable that there were relatively few explicit references to moral degeneracy, still less of child prostitution, in the renewed discussions on the protection of Devon children after 1885, though the abuse of children by their relatives may have encompassed such behaviour in cases such as that of Beatrice Ci. discussed in reference 135 below.
156. AC no. 7195, 3.3.1890.
157. AC no. 1948, 1.3.1859 and AC no. 8120, 19.4.1894, for case of Henry George R. of Torquay, who kept "throwing stones at children in the Streets" and George Nathaniel P. of Dawlish found to be "mischievous in the streets," respectively.
158. AC no. 6469, 11.8.1885. Thomas T. M. had rushed up to the doctor in the street, demanding money and attempting to jump on his back as well as talking to "strangers in the street most excitedly" whilst merely spitting at his neighbours.
159. AC no. 7142, 3.12.1889.
160. DRO 3769a H9/1 MCAB cases 431 admission date 2.8.1847, 441 admission date 31.8.1847, case of Jane M., aged six, and Giles H., aged twelve respectively. See also DRO 3769A H22/1 Male Deaths 1910-1915, for case of Harold M., aged fourteen, admitted in 1913. For the parallel experience of collusion between Poor Law authorities and families in Worcester to maintain children in "the community," see Crompton, Workhouse Children, p. 85.
161. Axminster Guardians Minutes, 20.8.1885.
162. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 31.10.1884, 25.11.1887.
163. Axminster Guardians Minutes, 16.8.1877, 30.8.1877, 11.10.1877, 8.11.1877.
164. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 7.10.1904, 9.6.1905, for B. Ci. and Ci. family. See reference 85 above.
165. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 17.7.1896.
166. Minutes Books of Visiting Committee of the Devon County Lunatic Asylum (hereafter Asylum Minutes), DRO QS-CC 147, 7.8.1900, 1.1.1901.
167. Asylum Minutes, 4.3.1890, 2.9.1890.
168. Asylum Minutes, 2.8.1892, for Alfred John S., William John E. and Ernest Charles S. See 7.2.1893 for Florence Dinah W. The discharge of John S., aged nine, in 1894 was also noted at Minutes, 2.10.1894. See above for this case.
169. Asylum Minutes, 17.11.1892.
170. Asylum Minutes, 5.2.1895.
171. Asylum Minutes, 7.5.1907.
172. Asylum Minutes, 7.2.1911, see also Minutes, 7.6.1910 for earlier refusal of a St. Austell application.
173. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 20.3.1903, by a majority vote in support of a Chelmsford Union resolution.
174. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 27.1.1911, 15.12.1912.
175. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 15.12.1911, 12.1.1912.
176. Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 17.11.1911.
177. St. Thomas Guardians Minutes, 29.11.1912; Barnstaple Guardians Minutes, 7.3.1913, 19.9.1913, 14.11.1913.
178. J. Walton, "Casting Out and Bringing Back in Victorian England," pp. 132-146; Finnane, "Asylums and Families;" R. Adair, B. Forsythe and J. Melling, "A Danger to the Public?" Medical History (1998): forthcoming.
179. J. Walton, "Casting Out and Bringing Back in Victorian England," pp. 132-146; Finnane, "Asylums and Families;" R. Adair, B. Forsythe and J. Melling, "A Danger to the Public?" Medical History (1998): forthcoming.
180. J. Walton, "Casting Out and Bringing Back in Victorian England," pp. 132-146; Finnane, "Asylums and Families;" R. Adair, B. Forsythe and J. Melling, "A Danger to the Public?" Medical History (1998): forthcoming.