ABSTRACT

Lunatic Hospitals in Georgian England, 1750–1830 constitutes the first comprehensive study of the philanthropic asylum system in Georgian England. Using original research and drawing upon a wide range of expertise on the history of mental health this book demonstrates the crucial role of the lunatic hospitals in the early development of a national system of psychiatric institutions.

These hospitals were to form an essential historical link in the emergence of a national system of institutional provision for mentally disordered people. They provided important prototypes for the subsequent development of a network of state-sponsored lunatic asylums during the nineteenth century.

This is an impressive volume which covers various areas including:

  • the provincial lunatic hospitals
  • managing the hospital
  • managing the insane.

This book will interest specialist historians as well as mental health professionals and people interested in local and regional studies.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|14 pages

St Luke's Hospital for lunaticks

chapter 2|28 pages

The provincial lunatic hospitals

chapter 3|26 pages

Management and staffing

chapter 4|28 pages

The physician's domain

chapter 5|34 pages

‘Proper objects'

chapter 6|28 pages

Managing and curing the patients

chapter 7|28 pages

Aspiration to actuality

chapter |8 pages

Conclusion

The restoration of reason