No Title
II. The following interesting and valuable statistics are from the remarks of Frederick Purday, Esq., Principal of the Statistical Department of the Poor Law Board, appended to the Parliamentary Return of Insane Paupers chargeable on the first of January, 1859.
1. The statistics of pauper insanity contained in this paper have been compiled from the lists of ” Lunatics, Idiots, and other Persons of Unsound Mind,” who were chargeable to the poor rates on the 1st January, 1859. These lists are made out annually by the Clerks to the Guardians, and transmitted to the Poor Law Board, in compliance with the 1G and 17 Vict. c. 97, s. 64.
2. In tabulating the. numbers under “Lunatic,” or “Idiot,” this classification has been observed. All cases of congenital insanity, under whatever name returned, have been entered as ” Idiots,” all the other cases as “Lunatics;” whether the insanity commenced at a stated age or at an ” unknown” age.
3. Returns were received from 615* unions and single parishes under Boards of Guardians; the population of these places, according to the census of 1851, was 17,069,448; but, estimated to the 1st January, 1S59, it was 19,430,000. The number of insane paupers chargeable to the Poor Rates in those places, on that day, was as follows:?
Number of Paupers Oil 1st January, 1859. 867,543 Whereof were Insane Paupers. Namely :? Lunatics. 30,31S 21,432 Idiots. 8,886
Thus 3”50 per cent, of the pauperism, on the 1st January last, is ascribable to insanity ; the lunatics being 2’47 per cent., and the idiots 103 per cent.
” Besides these Unions, some places, which do not make the usual returns of
Pauperism to the Poor Law Board, have transmitted lists of insane paupers. The total number of insane paupers so returned is 98 ; viz., 75 lunatics, and 23 idiots ; the particulars are printed, with tbe other Unions, at p. 26, et seq. 4. In reerard to the sexes, 13,389 were males, and 16,929
females:? Insane. Lunatics Idiots Total. Males. 9280 4109 13,389 Females. 12,152 4,777 Total. 21,432 8,88(5 16,929 j 30,318
It is worthy of remark that, while the females considerably preponderate among the lunatics, they do not much exceed the males among the idiots. But, taking the two classes together, the ratio of females to males is not so great as it is in the pauperism at large, where, among the adults, the female are more than double the number of the male recipients of relief. The returns of pauperism do not distinguish the sexes of the children, but there is no reason to suppose that, if they were discriminated, the proportion would be materially changed.
5. In the subjoined table, the number of lunatic and idiot paupers is shown for each division of England and Wales. Divisions. Number of Paupers in Receipt of Relief on 1st January, 1859. Whereof were Insane Paupers Namely:? LUNATICS AND IDIOTS. Males. Females. Total. I. The Metropolis II. South Eastern HI. South Midland IV. Eastern . . V. Southwestern VI. West Midland VII. North Midland VIII. North Western IX. York… . X. Northern . . XI. Welsh … 97,707 97,610 77,370 76,233 107,405 92,706 49,193 92,016 59,075 42,712 75,199 4661 3207 2293 2063 3303 3773 20S3 3370 2233 1249 2073 (Lunatics 1712 CIdiots j 222 (“Lunatics1 917 I Idiots i 436 (* Lunatics 673 i Idiots f Lunatics I Idiots f Lunatics 1 Idiots f Lunatics Idiots ( Lunatics X Idiots ( Lunatics (.Idiots ( Lunatics 1 Idiots j 293 < Lunatics 396 i Idiots j 194 C Lunatics, 479 (. Idiots 415 354 602 286 926 523 1118 532 613 340 1095 464 744 2507 220 1271 533 894 377 830 345 1300 554 1403 725 721 404 1326 435 836 360 461 193 603 576 4219 442 2183 1019 1567 731 1432 631 2226 1077 2521 1257 1339 744 2121 949 1530 053 857 392 1032 091 I 2
6. The ages of 19,886 lunatics are given in the following summary:? Years Number i Years Number of Age. of Lunatics, j of Age. of Lunatics. Under ) . 30 Years 4400 5 Years 40 ,, 4638 5 ? 31 10 ? 633 20 ,, 2729 50 3659 60 2429 70 ,, and upwards . . 1363
7. The ages of 8,792 idiots were as follows :? Years Number i Years Number of Age. of Idiots. ! of Age. of Idiots. 2012 1621 986 537 273 Under) 10 30 Years 5 Years 40 ,, …. 5 100 : 50 10 ? 1094 60 ? … 20 ,, 2159 70 ,, and upwards 8. In 13,672 cases classed as lunatic, the returns, in stating the length of time ” supposed to be of unsound mind,” as well as the age of the person, have supplied the means of arriving at the date of the attack. This is shown in quinquennial periods, and in respect of 5923 males, and 7749 females, in the next table. Years of Age.
I Total, j Males. Females. Years of Age. Total. Males. Females. Under 5 Years. 5 ? 10 ? 15 ? 20 ? 25 ? 30 ? 35 ? 40 ? 45 ? 50 Years 828 150 i 6-1 : 8G 286 ! 132 | 151 912 I 418 491 1665 i 777 j 8S8 1961 837 | 1027 1S’79 820 | 1009 1740 742 998 1407 l 582 825 1186 491 I 695 55 1 633 478 273 171 91 34 12 3 1 342 239 206 106 65 25 15 4 1 486 394 272 167 106 66 19 8 2 1
9. The 30.318 Insane Paupers were maintained in the following establishments, or were lodged with strangers, or resided with their relatives ; namely?
14,481 in County or Borough Lunatic Asylums. 2,07G in Registered Hospitals, or in Licensed Houses. 7,903 in Union or Parish Workhouses. 906 in Lodgings, or Boarded Out. 4,892 Residing with Relatives. Of the small number returned as ” In Lodgings, or Boarded Out,” 326, or more than one-third, are chargeable to parishes in Wales. 10. The average weekly expense of eacli insane pauper has been estimated by the respective unions. But it is termed, in conformity to the Schedule, the ” Average Weekly Cost of Maintenance and Clothing.” This does not appear however to he altogether an accurate description of the expenditure. The cost in county or borough asylums may be illustrated from the example of the Chester As3’lum, where, according to the 13th Report of the Commissioners in Lunacy, P- 112, the weekly charge for paupers belonging to the county, or to boroughs in the county, is 8s. 2d.; for paupers of other counties or boroughs, 14s. The cost to the asylum is made up thus :?Provisions, 4s. 3d.; clothing, Id.; salaries and wages, 2s.; necessaries, 9J.; surgery and dispensary, Id.; wine, spirits, and porter, Id.-, furniture and bedding, 5d.-, garden and farm, 2d.] miscellaneous, 3d.; total, 8s. Id. The charge in licensed houses will be made up, it may be presumed, of similar expenses, with some addition as the proprietor’s profit. The charge in workhouses is the expense of food, clothing, and necessaries, supplied for the in-door paupers.
11. The proportion of Idiots to the total number of Insane Paupers is between one-third and one-fourth, i.e, 29*3 per cent, for the whole country. But there is considerable variation from this proportion in different union-counties, and in different divisions. In the metropolis, where it is the lowest, the ratio is 9”5 per cent.; and in North Wales, where it is highest, it is 52 3 per cent. The following is a list of the divisions, arranged according to the greatest proportionate number of Idiots :?
Ratio per cent, of Idiots on total number of Insane Paupers. “Welsh 47’8 North Midland… . 35*7 West Midland …. 33*3 South Western . … 32 6 South Eastern …. 31 *8 South Midland … . 31*8 Northern .31 “4 Eastern 30 “7 York . . 29’2 North Western…. 2S’2 The Metropolis… . 9-5 In ticenty-two union-counties the ratio exceeds one-third of the total ?f Insane Paupers ; namely? Hatio per cent, of Idiots on total number of Insane Paupers. North Wales …. 52-3 South Wales …. 48*8 Westmoreland …. 44’8 Northumberland … 43*6 ?Derby 42*2 Hereford 41.5 Chester … … 40*0 Salop 39.2 Wilts 37-8 Nottingham …. 37.6 Sussex . 37*2 Berks 36’8 Worcester 36*5 ?Bedford 36*4 Cambridge 36*3 Northampton … . 35*8 Somerset 35 “5 Stafford 35*5 Buckingham … . 35*4 Huntingdon . . … 34’5 Hertford . 33*5 Lincoln 33 “5
12. The ratio of Lunatics, and of Idiots to the total number of Insane Paupers, in the different divisions, is as follows:? Ratio per cent, of Insane to total Pauperism. The Metropolis.
North Midland. West Midland . York … . North Western . South Eastern . 4-77 4-21 4-07 3-78 3-66 3-29 South Western South Midland Northern. . Welsh . . Eastern . . 3-07 2-97 2-92 2-76 2-72
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.