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CERTIFIED OF UNSOUND MIND
TNA:PRO MH 51/735
TNA records focus
LUNATICS
The first entry for Miss Zachary in the alphabetical register of patients admitted to provincial madhouses between 1803 and 1809.
At the Suffolk Asylum they found some of the female patients “half naked from having destroyed their clothes; one was during the whole time we were in the yard, struggling with a nurse; two of the most violent were removed from the yard before we entered it, and fury of those who remained were excessive.” Their report led to the establishment of the Lunacy Commission, which allowed boroughs to establish local asylums in their areas. Surviving records are in MH 83. A volume at Kew [MH 51/735] lists nearly 1,800 patients admitted to
Definitions from the past An alienist or a mad doctor: a psychiatrist Amentia: mental deficiency from failure of the mind to develop normally Chancery lunatic: patient whose person and estate came under the supervision of the Chancery masters (pre-1842) and specifically appointed masters in lunacy (after 1842) Idiot: a natural fool from birth Lunatic: a person of unsound mind who was previously sane. The use of the term remained in official use until 1930 Melancholia: depression Mental defective: a person whose mental deficiencies were congenital. In the 19th century there was no legal distinction between idiots and lunatics Private licensed house: a private madhouse run for profit. After 1774 they had to be licensed
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private madhouses outside London. The bulk of the entries are between 1806 and 1810, with a few from 1798 onwards. It includes indexes of patients and keepers of licensed madhouses. On page 106, for example, there is an entry for Miss Zachary, which includes “An Account of Lunatics admitted into the Licensed House of Mr Jacob at Hadham, Hertfordshire”. It shows that she was admitted on 20 March 1803 by the direction of her mother on the advice of Mr Person, an apothecary. A further entry shows she was readmitted exactly six years later, on 20 March 1809. This time the doctor was R Stewson of Brentford. There are also a very small number of files for patients (173 in total) in county asylums, dating from between 1849 and 1960, in MH 85. MH 86 holds similar material, beginning in 1908. Most files, however, are closed for 75 years, so they may not yet be available. Series MH 94 consists of registers dating from 1846 to 1960, kept by the Lunacy Commission until 1913 and the Board of Control thereafter. They record the name, age and sex of patients, the place to which they were admitted, date of admission and discharge/death. Early files concern Metropolitan asylums, later ones also cover those outside London. Starting in the 13th century, MH 51/734 lists various establishments in counties and boroughs, along with licensed houses. It gives the numbers of beds and so forth, plus the old and new names of the establishments, up to 1966.
It should be remembered, however, that most lunatics were dealt with under the poor law or through the criminal justice system, ending up in the workhouse, house of correction or prison rather than specialist establishments. Some workhouses – such as those in Bath, Liverpool and Manchester – contained wards exclusively for lunatics, or even had a separate building for them. Almost every workhouse had a number of mentally disabled paupers who were, for the most part, harmless both to themselves and their fellow inmates. They were treated much the same as the other adults, and expected to work as hard as they could. When Dr Nairne, a Commissioner in Lunacy, visited the workhouse at Walsall in June 1863, he found that lunatics “associated with the other inmates…all were quiet and orderly, and several of them were occupied; they were well clad; five of them have extra diet, and all have tea and bread and butter for supper. All of whom who are able attend Divine service and all walk out regularly twice a week beyond the premises…” Then, as now, prisons contained a fair number of mentally disturbed patients. Pieces MH 51/90-207 contain returns of insane prisoners submitted to the Commissioners in Lunacy in March 1858. The returns include names, plus brief details of their offence and state of mind. Special provision was made for soldiers and sailors who lost their