EARL of RONALDSHAYasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if Mr. L. Emerson, of 30, Walford Road, Stoke Newington, was taken to the Hackney Infirmary by order of the Commissioners of Lunacy in 1904, and there detained in a padded cell as a pauper lunatic; if the papers applying for his incarceration were signed, as required by law, by his immediate relatives with whom he lived, and, if not, by whom were they signed; if he 1272W will say whether any application has been made by the said Mr. L. Emerson that his name should be erased from the public records as a pauper lunatic, and for compensation for false imprisonment; and, if so, what steps he proposes to take in the matter?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe proceedings taken in Mr. Emerson's case were under Sections 13 and 20 of the Lunacy Act, 1890, which do not require that a petition should be signed by a relative. Mr. Emerson was found by an Inspector of Police on 11th May, 1904, in circumstances which indicated that he was a lunatic not under proper care and control. The Inspector took the necessary steps under Section 13, and removed him on the same day to the workhouse in pursuance of Section 20 of the Act. Mr. Emerson was examined on 13th May by a Magistrate, who made an order for his reception into Claybury Asylum, to which he was transferred on the 18th May. He was detained in the Asylum about four months, being discharged "relieved" to the care of his friends on the 15th September, 1904. I understand from the Commissioners in Lunacy that Mr. Emerson has applied to them for his name to be erased from the records as a pauper lunatic and for compensation, but that the Commissioners have not been able to comply with his request. It is not in my power to take any steps in the matter.