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Lunacy in the Stoke-upon-Trent workhouse 1834–1900

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Edward Myers
Edward Myers*
Affiliation:
University of Keele, Department of Psychiatry, North Staffordshire Hospital Centre, Thornburrow Drive, Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 7QB
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Abstract

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The New Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 led to the admission of considerable numbers of pauper “lunatics, idiots and imbeciles” to parish workhouses. The Stoke-upon-Trent workhouse, erected in 1832, had progressively to increase its accommodation for this class of inmate who, by 1899, numbered about 100. Brief details are given of nursing staff and of improvements in conditions of care following recommendations of the Lunacy Commissioners. Primary sources of information are indicated and emphasis is laid on the importance for the history of English psychiatry of documenting the care of the mentally ill and mentally impaired in Union workhouses.

Type
The history of psychiatry
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 18 , Issue 8 , August 1994 , pp. 492 - 494
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1994

References

Baker, D. (1954) Workhouses in the Potteries, p. 15. City of Stoke-on-Trent Historical Buildings Survey.Google Scholar
Lunacy Commissioners' Reports on Visits to the Stoke-upon- Trent Workhouse. Public Record Office, MH12, 11471. 11498.Google Scholar
Stoke-upon-Trent Poor Law Union Minutes, 25, 5 October, 1892.Google Scholar
Scull, A. (1979) Museums of Madness, p. 224. London: Allen Lane.Google Scholar
39th Annual Report of the Commissioners in Lunacy (1885).Google Scholar
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