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The County Register of Houses for the Reception of “Lunatics”, 1798–1812

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2018

Extract

The first Act of Parliament which authorized the detention of persons “who, by Lunacy, or otherwise, are furiously Mad, and dangerous to go Abroad” was passed in the twelfth year of the reign of Queen Anne (1714):

“Be it therefore Enacted … That it shall and may be Lawful for any Two or more of the Justices of the Peace of any County, Town or Place in England, Wales or Town of Berwick upon Tweed, where such Lunatick or Mad Person shall be found, by Warrant under their Hands and Seals, directed to the Constables, Church-wardens, and Overseers of the Poor of such Parish, Town or Place, or some of them, to cause such Person to be Apprehended, and kept safely Locked up, in such secure Place within the County where such Parish or Town shall lie, as such Justices shall, under their Hands and Seals, direct and appoint…”

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1956 

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References

Evidence … on Fishponds Private Lunatic Asylum (1848) Bristol.Google Scholar
Hunter, R. A., and Macalpine, I., A Psychiatric Controversy in the 18th Century: Battie versus Monro, 1955. London.Google Scholar
Jones, K., Lunacy, Law, and Conscience, 1955. London.Google Scholar
Powell, R., Med. Trans., London, 1813, 4, 131.Google Scholar
Tuke, D. H., History of the Insane in the British Isles, 1882. London.Google Scholar
Walk, A., J. Ment. Sci., 1954, 100, 807.Google Scholar
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