Lincoln Lunatic Hospital Reports 1840 – 1849

Recently a very unusual book, detailing a decade in the daily life of the Lincoln lunatic Asylum (what we now know as The Lawn) arrived in the shop along with a donation of more ordinary romances and thrillers. It was our lucky day – the donor had intended to take it to the Lincolnshire Archives but they were shut, so she brought it to us instead. We did check with the Archives, but they had all the Asylum reports they needed and so were not interested in purchasing it. Golding, Mawer and Young made a tentative valuation for auction of £100, given that it is a unique part of the history of this very important institution. However we always like to try selling interesting and valuable items in our shop first, before we explore any other avenues; to make sure our regular customers get a chance to find these treasures. This time it didn’t even take a day for the book to sell! Our volunteer, Alison, saw the potential in it straight away, and did some research about the book. While we can’t sell it to anyone else now, we thought we would still share some of the history with all our followers:

This book is unique, as far as can be told. It may have been bound as a record for the Asylum itself deliberately to cover a decade, or it may have been the personal property of one of the board members. It is also highly significant in relation to the period it covers. In the five years from 1835, Dr Robert Gardiner Hill, who is credited with being the first to dispense with restraint as a form of treatment for the insane, was superintendent of Lincoln Asylum. As the book under discussion covers the ten years following Dr Hill’s departure, it must therefore be seen as a valuable record of the results of Dr Hill’s ‘experiment’; indeed the Chairman’s narrative report of 1841 gives over much space to its discussion.

The book is a custom-binding of individual year reports. Internally, the reports themselves are titled “State of the Lincoln Lunatic Asylum” alongside their relevant year. The yearly reports are each prefaced with a narrative commentary by the current chairman, which discusses issues related to the Lincoln Lunatic Asylum both in relation to the institution and the wider issue of general treatment of the insane. These narratives are by their nature idiosyncratic, outlining as they do the preoccupations of the current chairman. These are then followed by tables of data relating to patients, staffing, supplies, and financing.

The title page from the first report in our bound omnibus.

Over the 10 years covered within the book, the reports vary in content: for instance, some years detail patients’ employment where others do not. Appendices sometimes include letters and other extraordinary materials relating to problems and controversies. The reports also become far more detailed over time. At the beginning, the contents list tends towards pragmatics: patients in, out, deceased, food, finances and so on, but by the final year, the numbers of beds, rooms and their attendants are also included, so too is a list of the books held by the Asylum and by whom, as well as details of the daily (as opposed to the initial weekly) state of the patients and discussion of issues such as escape and noisiness. Also included in later reports are fold-out maps of the Asylum, including all patients and staff rooms, layout of the gardens and elevation. As was the style of the time, the map is embellished with a view of the Asylum and a finely designed compass.

Examples of the detailed records in the book.

One of the fold-out maps.

The book is board-bound in dark brown leather with soft brown leather to the corners and spine. The spine itself is embossed with gold lettering and decoration, with red leather backing to the title. Sadly, the binding is damaged, the cover at the front having come away from the facing page. There is also one filler page within – not part of any of the actual reports – that has a piece cut out of it. Some pages have also been lightly annotated in pencil, and some maps have torn where folded. On one of the front leaves is writing that may have been added later: a handwritten list (in various scripts, so not all by the same hand) as follows:

Walsh, F.D 1847
Pay of superintendent 1847
Marriage of Superintendent 1847
Chaplain 1848
No. of patients 140 in 1847

Finding treasures like this among the many items that are so generously donated to our shop is one of the highlights for our volunteers, and something that helps makes our shop so special. While this book has already found itself a new home, you can be sure there are many more unique and special volumes on our shelves – So make sure you visit soon, and see what you can find.