HANWELL LUNATIC ASYLUM. (Hansard, 15 June 1837)

§ Mr. Gaily Knight
rose to move for the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into the Asylum for Lunatic Paupers at Han-well. If it could be shown that sufficient attention was not paid to the management of the lunatic paupers at that establishment, it was the duty of the House to institute an inquiry into the circumstances of the case. It appeared by the returns, that a much smaller number of the persons received at the Hanwell Asylum were cured than at any other similar establishment in the kingdom. Indeed, the difference was frightful, and demanded investigation. And even the returns of the numbers cured at Hanwell were fallacious. In the Report made by the medical superintendent to the magistrates, it was stated, that out of 1,290 patients admitted, 260 were discharged cured; hut it afterwards appeared, that of those 260, a number had been discharged as cured over and over again; and that, at the very moment when the Report was made, twenty-seven of them were, uncured, within the walls of the asylum. The deaths, also, were more numerous than in similar establishments; in fact, there were only half the number of cases, while there were twice the number of deaths at Hanwell than at any other establishment of a similar kind in the kingdom. The expenditure had also been lavish. From the beginning, the greatest improvidence had been manifested. The building had cost 224,000l.; and great improvidence had been shown in the manner in which 1487 the funds had been raised for the erection and the subsequent increase of the institution. Under all the circumstances, he considered it to be exceedingly desirable that some Parliamentary inquiry should take place; and he moved, therefore, for the appointment of a Select Committee for that purpose.

Sir G. Strickland
seconded the motion. At the same time, he hoped that the result of the proposed inquiry might be more favourable than was to be inferred from the statements which had been made by the hon. Mover. One reason for his entertaining this expectation, was the very high character which he had heard in all quarters of Dr. Ellis. He was very unwilling to believe, unless inquiry should show it to be so, that that character was not well founded.

§ Mr. C. Barclay
thought it highly desirable that an inquiry should be instituted not only into the asylum in question, but into that of all institutions of a similar description in the kingdom. Although quite unconnected with the county, he had paid a visit to the Hanwell Asylum, and he thought it would appear that, at least, some of the statements which had been made with respect to it were exaggerated. The comparatively small number of cases was mainly attributable to the circumstance that a great number of incurable cases were sent to the institution. Out of 600 cases he understood that 500 were incurable. It appeared to him that the establishment was well conducted. He had gone round the apartments; and the House would, perhaps, be surprised to hear, that out of 600 inmates 400 were employed in their various trades as shoemakers, carpenters, &c. He was sure, that a Committee would meet the wishes of the country at large, and of the county of Middlesex in particular.

§ Mr. Wakley
knew nothing personally of the Hanwell Asylum; but he had heard, from all quarters, that it was conducted in a more scientific manner than any other institution of a similar kind in the kingdom. The motion of the hon. Gentleman was expressed in a very loose manner. "A Select Committee to inquire into the asylum for lunatic paupers at Hanwell." Into what? Into the financial or the medical management of the asylum? If into the latter, why not extend the inquiry to other institutions of the same description, that the treatment of that which appeared to be the most successful might be 1488 generally adopted? It was too late to enter upon so extensive an inquiry in the present Session, as it was next to impossible that a satisfactory result could be obtained; but he wished the hon. Gentleman would withdraw his motion, and bring it forward in that enlarged shape at the commencement of the next Session.

Colonel Wood
regretted the absence of the two Members for the county of Middlesex. He did not often agree with the hon. Gentleman who had just spoken, but he agreed in every word that had fallen from him on the present occasion. If the inquiry were limited to the Hanwell institution, it would be filing a bill against the managers of it. The inquiry, if entered into at all, should be into the condition of all the institutions of a similar kind in the kingdom. The quarter from which the proposition proceeded was an odd one. It proceeded from the vestry of the parish of St. George, Hanover-square. Now, it was the treatment of the pauper lunatics belonging to that parish which had led to the building of the asylum at Hanwell. Two pauper lunatics who had been sent to a private asylum by that vestry, appeared before the gentlemen composing it, and proposed, if they were assured that they should not be sent back to the same asylum, to prove how they had been treated. He would not state the name of the asylum to which he alluded, but it appeared that these pauper lunatics had been chained down in it, almost in a state of nudity, from Saturday to Monday, with scarcely any attention during the whole of that period. On inquiry, it appeared that there was a ward in that asylum of which the physician knew nothing. So shocked was the vestry at the disclosure of these circumstances, that their first impression was to remove all the pauper lunatics of the parish from the asylum in question; but the other private asylums were so crowded that it was found impracticable to obtain the necessary accommodation. This led to an inquiry into the number of pauper lunatics in Middlesex, and he was sorry to say, it appeared, that there were 1,100. A bill for the erection of county asylums for pauper lunatics was introduced by the hon. Member for Cricklade; and the consequence was, that the magistrates of Middlesex built the asylum at Hanwell. In the first instance, it was calculated for only 300 patients; but it was afterwards enlarged 1489 to contain 600. In the county of Middlesex, however, there were at present between 900 and 1,000 pauper lunatics. He was quite sure, that if his hon. Friend had visited the Hanwell Asylum, and had compared the management of it with the management of other institutions of a similar kind, he would not have made his present motion. If the active and excellent magistrates, such as Colonel Clitherow and others, who exerted themselves greatly in superintending the Hanwell Asylum, were thus to be dragged before a Committee above stairs, and overhauled, it would deter every body from engaging in such useful labours. He believed that lunacy was a malady from which as many persons could be recovered as from any other malady; but then it could be only by proper treatment; and they could not experience so much attentive and careful treatment in any private asylum as at Hanwell. He hoped that the hon. and learned Gentleman would withdraw his motion, and remodel it for an early period of the next Session.

§ Lord John Russell
said, he must confess that the reasons which had been alleged; in favour of the appointment of this Select Committee, when taken and compared with the answers which had been given with respect to this asylum, did not afford sufficient ground for this motion. The hon. Gentleman had not adduced any facts of gross mismanagement or of inferior treatment in the establishment at Hanwell. He thought it would not be desirable to limit the inquiry into this particular asylum. The law which had been passed allowing these lunatic asylums to be built in various parts of the country had hitherto worked most beneficially. The want of these houses originally had led to a state of things which he might term most disgraceful to the country. Now, the Act of George 4th, and the inquiries of the Commissioners of Poor-law might very possibly form the foundation of some further proceedings on this question; but he did not think, that under existing circumstances, there was anything to call on the House to appoint a Select Committee in this case; and, therefore, he hoped that the hon. Gentleman would not insist on this inquiry.