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Variations in the official prevalence and disposal of the insane in England under the poor law, 1850-1900

Centre for English Local History, University of Leicester

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the vast majority of those recognized as insane were pauper insane. The local poor law officials and magistrates determined who was regarded as one of the pauper insane and what happened to them.This paper shows that there was considerable variation across England in the proportion of the population regarded as insane. Although most of the insane were committed to an asylum, a substantial minority (20-25%) were retained in the workhouse, and there was also considerable variation in the numbers dealt with in this way. Contrary to views expressed at the time and more recently, areas with higher levels of industrialization did not have higher rates of insanity. In fact the trend was definitely in the reverse direction. The factors that influenced the poor law authorities to retain the insane in the workhouse did not appear to be the additional expense of asylum care or the availability of beds in local asylums. The majority of the insane retained in the workhouse were idiots and imbeciles rather than lunatics, although some workhouses contained considerable numbers of the latter. The management of the insane in the workhouse was generally poor.

Key Words: admission rates • asylums; industrialization • insanity • England • pauper insane • psychiatry • 19th century

History of Psychiatry, Vol. 18, No. 1, 25-38 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0957154X07067670


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