County Asylums Act 1808

United Kingdom legislation
County Asylums Act 1808
Act of Parliament
Citation48 Geo. 3. c. 96

The County Asylums Act 1808 formed mental health law in England and Wales from 1808 to 1845. Notably, the Asylums Act established public mental asylums in Britain that could be operated by the county government.[1] It permitted, but did not compel, justices of the peace to provide establishments for the care of pauper lunatics, so that they could be removed from workhouses and prisons.[2]

The Act is also known as Mr. Wynn's Act, after Charles Watkin Williams-Wynn, a Welsh member of parliament for Montgomeryshire, who promoted the act.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Roberts, Andrew. "Mental Health History Timeline". studymore.org.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  2. ^ Ayers, Gwendoline (1971). England's First State Hospitals. London: Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  3. ^ Thorne, R. G. (1986). "WILLIAMS WYNN, Charles Watkin (1775-1850), of Langedwyn, Denb". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
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Mental health law in the United Kingdom
18th century
  • Madhouses Act 1774
19th century
  • Criminal Lunatics Act 1800
  • County Asylums Act 1808
  • Marriage of Lunatics Act 1811
  • Madhouses (Scotland) Act 1815
  • Criminal Lunatics Amendment Act 1815
  • Irish Lunatic Asylums for the Poor Act 1817
  • Pauper Lunatics Act 1819
  • Lunacy (Ireland) Act 1821
  • County Asylums Act 1828
  • Madhouses Act 1828
  • Chancery Lunatics Property Act 1828
  • Madhouses Act 1832
  • County Asylums Act 1845
  • Lunacy Act 1845
  • Lunacy (Scotland) Act 1857
  • Idiots Act 1886
  • Lunacy (Vacating of Seats) Act 1886
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