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Doctor Montagu Lomax was a retired General Practioner, whose service in English lunatic asylums during the First World War inspired him to write The experiences of an asylum doctor: with suggestions for asylum and lunacy law reform. Published in 1921, the book acted as a catalyst for lunacy reform and stimulated improvements in the mental health services in the United Kingdom. Lomax spent the remainder of his retirement campaigning for lunacy reform. He suffered financial and personal hardship following the publication of the book and was castigated by his own profession. On the centenary of the publication of Experiences, this article explores the background and motivation of a remarkable man. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the end of the nineteenth century, recurrent cases of rib fractures were recorded in psychiatric asylums, opening a long chapter of discussions about the application of the 'non-restraint' system. Here we present a brief discussion of an article written by Enrico Morselli about five cases of rib fractures in the mental asylum of Reggio Emilia, in 1874–5. Morselli, a supporter of the ideas of 'non-restraint', suggested a common pathological cause. His analysis proposed the osteomalacic condition as the possible cause of fractured ribs, rejecting the accusations of violence by asylum attendants. The discussion also examines similar cases of the same period, making rib fractures the means through which the issue of management of the insane was addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nineteenth century witnessed a great shift in how insanity was regarded and treated. Well documented is the emergence of psychiatry as a medical specialization and the role of lunatic asylums in the West. Unclear are the relationships between the heads of institutions and the individuals treated within them. This article uses two cases at either end of the nineteenth century to demonstrate sexual misdemeanours in sites of mental health care, and particularly how they were dealt with, both legally and in the press. They illustrate issues around cultures of complaint and the consequences of these for medical careers. Far from being representative, they highlight the need for further research into the doctor–patient relationship within asylums, and what happened when the boundaries were blurred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asylums and cemeteries in nineteenth-century England were kindred spirits in the anxiety and exclusionary impulses that they engendered, leading them to be similarly exiled from nineteenth-century urban areas. They were uneasy ‘neighbours’, however, with contemporary authorities condemning the proximity of cemeteries to asylums on medical and moral grounds. The appearance at many asylums after mid-century of a burial-ground for deceased residents, usually located on an asylum’s own estate, was often criticized on grounds similar to those raised with respect to neighbouring parochial burial-grounds. Other objections arose to the ‘exclusivity’ of asylum-based burials, with off-site burial arrangements clearly being favoured. One consequence was that on-site asylum cemeteries ended up being treated as unwelcome occupants of asylum estates, hidden away as an embarrassment, creating a legacy of anonymity still generating concerns in the present. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]