What is it about?
Bristol was one of the earliest cities to establish an all-purpose workhouse, within which was specific provision for mentally disordered people. The facilities in St Peter's Hospital were highly unsatisfactory, but the Bristol authorities chose not to establish a separate lunatic asylum elsewhere until relatively late on. They resisted strong pressures from central government for as long as possible, before eventually having to give way.
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Why is it important?
The article shows that there was considerable local variation in the manner in which public provision for mentally disordered people developed. A large city like Bristol was able to maintain a degree of independence, and to concentrate provision within its workhouse despite strong pressures to conform to more progressive ideas based around a purpose-built lunatic asylum. There was an ensuing conflict between city and state, which was eventually won by the central authorities.
Perspectives
I believe that the article confirms the lack of uniformity in public provision for the mentally disordered poor in nineteenth-century England, and the persistence of marked local and regional variations. However, it also indicates that the central state was eventually able to overcome even the most powerful and intransigent local agencies.
Leonard Smith
University of Birmingham
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Lunatic Asylum in the Workhouse: St Peter’s Hospital, Bristol, 1698–1861, Medical History, March 2017, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/mdh.2017.3.
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