The Trade in Lunacy A Study of Private Madhouses in England in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

First published in 2006. A private madhouse can be defined as a privately owned establishment for the reception and care of insane persons, conducted as a business proposition for the personal profit of the proprietor or proprietors. The history of such establishments in England and Wales can be traced for a period of over three and a half centuries, from the early seventeenth century up to the present day. This volume is a study of private madhouses in England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

1. Introduction 2. The 'Trade in Lunacy' in its Historical and Legal Perspective 3. The Madhouse System: the Range and Development of its Provisions 4. The Private-Madhouse Proprietor 5. Some Contemporary Descriptions of Nineteenth-Century Private Licensed Houses 6. The Private Licensed Houses at Hook Norton and Witney 7. Aspects of Care of the Insane in Private Madhouses and the Outcome of Treatment 8. The Principal Abuses and Defects of the Private-Madhouse System: A Review of the Evidence 9. Summary and Conclusions

William LI. Parry-Jones Lecturer in Psychiatry, University of Oxford Fellow of Linacre College, Oxford