"Got up in a garb of the most extraordinary kind”: mental illness and the poor law authorities
[ A quick note on the language used in this blog: the word lunatic is an archaic term that would not be appropriate to use nowadays, but it is the language used at the time as a way of describing someone with a serious mental illness.] In the course of preparing a talk on the Poor Relief system in the North East of Scotland, I decided I would also do some more research on a case I often use as an example of a poor law record: the case of Frank Hamilton. I use Frank's life as an example because, as you can see from his entry in the Chapel of Garioch parish General Register of the Poor (below), there is quite a lot of detail written about him. It is an understatement to call him a colourful character! AS/AP/chp/1 page 124 The description of the case in the entry begins: This Frank Hamilton has been three times in the Aberdeen Lunatic Asylum within the last eight years – first at the Expense of Ellon. He escaped, sometime after he was taken in Belhevie and was placed in the Asy...
