The County Asylums Act 1828 (9 Geo. IV, c.40, s.51) was an act of

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

that addressed concerns with the administration of asylums and the slow creation of county asylums within Britain. It required magistrates to send annual records of admissions, discharges, and deaths to the Home Office; and allowed the Secretary of State to send a Visiting Justice to any county asylum, although the visitor couldn't intervene in how the asylum was run. It also allowed counties to borrow money to build an asylum, but it had to be paid back within 14 years of the initial loan. This was designed to incentivize counties to build asylums, but it did not make it compulsory, a continuation of the

County Asylums Act 1808 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. It permitted, but did not compel, ...

. It also imposed the requirement of a residential medical officer, whose permission was necessary to justify the restraint of a patient.

Background

Issues of mistreatment and abuse, raised in a 1817 Select Committee report, quickened reform, leading to this Act of Parliament. At the time of Royal Assent, nine county asylums had been established in England, and the need for more was growing due to overcrowding in public or charity asylums like St. Luke's Hospital for Lunatics and Bethlehem Royal Hospital.

References

{{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1828 1828 in the United Kingdom

Background

See also

References