Lunatic Hospitals in Georgian England, 1750–1830 constitutes the first comprehensive study of the philanthropic asylum system in Georgian England. Using original research and drawing upon a wide range of expertise on the history of mental health this book demonstrates the crucial role of the lunatic hospitals in the early development of a national system of psychiatric institutions.

These hospitals were to form an essential historical link in the emergence of a national system of institutional provision for mentally disordered people. They provided important prototypes for the subsequent development of a network of state-sponsored lunatic asylums during the nineteenth century.

This is an impressive volume which covers various areas including:

• the provincial lunatic hospitals


• managing the hospital


• managing the insane.

This book will interest specialist historians as well as mental health professionals and people interested in local and regional studies.