Commissioners in Lunacy
Encyclopedia
The Commissioners in Lunacy or Lunacy Commission were a UK public body established by the Lunacy Act 1845 to oversee asylums and the welfare of mentally ill
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...

 people. It succeeded the Metropolitan Commissioners in Lunacy.

Establishment

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury KG , styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was an English politician and philanthropist, one of the best-known of the Victorian era and one of the main proponents of Christian Zionism.-Youth:He was born in London and known informally as Lord Ashley...

 was the head of the Commission from its founding in 1845 until his death in 1885. The Lunacy Commission was made up of eleven Metropolitan Commissioners: three medical, three legal and five laymen. The Commission was monumental as it was not only a full-time commission, but it was also salaried for six of its members. The six members of the commission that were full-time and salaried were made of up three members of the legal system and three members of the medical community. The other five members of the commission were all honorary members that simply had to attend board meetings. The duty of the Commission was to establish and carry out the provisions of the Act, reporting to the Poor Law Commissioners (in the case of workhouses) and to the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...

. The first Secretary to the Commissioners was Robert Wilfred Skeffington Lutwidge
Robert Wilfred Skeffington Lutwidge
Robert Wilfred Skeffington Lutwidge was an English barrister, Commissioner in Lunacy and early photographer. He was the uncle of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll....

, a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

 and uncle of Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...

. He had previously been one of the Metropolitan Commissioners, and later become an Inspector of the Commission.

Commissioners

Incomplete list:
  • Thomas Turner (1845-1854)
  • Henry Herbert Southey
    Henry Herbert Southey
    -Life:The son of Robert Southey by his wife, Margaret Hill, and younger brother of Robert Southey, the poet, he was born at Bristol in 1783. After education at private schools in and near Great Yarmouth, his brother Robert proposed to establish him in his house in London in order that he might...

     (1845-1848)
  • James Cowles Prichard
    James Cowles Prichard
    James Cowles Prichard MD FRS was an English physician and ethnologist. His influential Researches into the physical history of mankind touched upon the subject of evolution...

     (1845-1848)
  • Bryan Procter
    Bryan Procter
    Bryan Waller Procter was an English poet.Born at Leeds, Yorkshire, he was educated at Harrow School, where he had for contemporaries Lord Byron and Robert Peel. On leaving school he was placed in the office of a solicitor at Calne, Wiltshire, remaining there until about 1807, when he returned to...

     (1845-1860)
  • Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
    Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
    Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury KG , styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was an English politician and philanthropist, one of the best-known of the Victorian era and one of the main proponents of Christian Zionism.-Youth:He was born in London and known informally as Lord Ashley...

    , Chair (1845-1885)
  • Robert Vernon, 1st Baron Lyveden (1845-1860)
  • Edward Seymour, 12th Duke of Somerset
    Edward Seymour, 12th Duke of Somerset
    Sir Edward Adolphus Seymour , 12th Duke of Somerset, etc. KG, PC , styled Baron Seymour until 1855, was a British Whig aristocrat and politician, who served in various cabinet positions in the mid-19th century...

     (1845-1852)
  • Robert Wilfred Skeffington Lutwidge
    Robert Wilfred Skeffington Lutwidge
    Robert Wilfred Skeffington Lutwidge was an English barrister, Commissioner in Lunacy and early photographer. He was the uncle of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll....

     (appointed 1855)
  • Harry Davenport
    Harry Davenport (UK politician)
    Harry Tichborne Davenport J.P. , known from 1890 as Harry Tichborne Hinckes, was a British barrister and Conservative Party politician who was elected to the House of Commons for constituencies in his native Staffordshire on two occasions in the 1880s.- Early life :Davenport was the son of John...

     (appointed 1889)
  • Edward Nugent, Earl of Milltown (appointed 1889)
  • Henry Morgan-Clifford
    Henry Morgan-Clifford
    Henry Morgan-Clifford was a British Liberal Party politician.He was elected unopposed at the 1847 general election as one of the two Member of Parliament for the city of Hereford...


External links

  • Web pages by Andrew Roberts at Middlesex University
    Middlesex University
    Middlesex University is a university in north London, England. It is located in the historic county boundaries of Middlesex from which it takes its name. It is one of the post-1992 universities and is a member of Million+ working group...

    :
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