Enjoy For Free Voices From The Aslyum: West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum Assembled By Mark Davis Available As Manuscript

interesting addition to my collection, Unlike any other book on asylums I've read so far,
The intake information and subsequent notes are often disheartening, a testament of what we did not know back then, and everything we still have yet to learn.
The pictures gave me pause, Finally putting a face on people whose lives

and lived experiences I've often read about was sobering, A sad but important book,
Very quick read. Almost forgotten by time, tucked away beyond the sight of the passerby, there is a little piece of old England, which was for many years a forgotten wilderness.
If it were not for a weatherbeaten plaque on the gatepost few would realise that beyond the rusted gates there lies, in unmarked paupers' graves,,former patients of the once formidable Menston Asylum.
To be admitted to a lunatic asylum in the nineteenth century was fraught with danger, and in many cases meant a life sentence hidden away from society.
It is estimated as many asper cent of the asylum population was incarcerated incorrectly and up untilthere was no form of appeal, Looking into the faces of the long dead, the forgotten former inmates of this once bustling institution, it is impossible not to feel a certain sadness at their plight.
Abandoned by an intolerant society and their families these people all had one thing in common, when death came there was no one to shed a tear or collect their remains.
They were given a pauper's funeral and forgotten, until now, An excellent book! Despite a few typos, mostly in regards to dates, I enjoyed this brief glimpse into the world of some of the patients, A few of which made my heart ache, I came across this book while researching the asylum that The Ballroom Anna Hope was based upon, A nice add to my home library, Anyone interested in social history and all aspects of how people lived: this is one interesting study of the West Riding Mental health hospital, Obviously, a rose by any other name smells as sweet, if you think about it, as name matters so little here they could call it the local fairground and it would still say the same: please don't let history repeat itself in this instance!
Not the only place along this vein in Lancaster, the Moor hospital, now closed for decades except for an outpatient dept to help with mental health, was quite the same, and though I'm not cogniscent of how many died or were buried in the grounds, if any, I do know that within the walls things were not exactly a fairground for unlucky people misdiagnosed or simply correctly diagnosed yet treated so disgracefully due to the era and people in charge.
Now, we would never dream of these places, or anything like them, but would leave these people in the community in what could now be termed as modern slums OK, not quite the victorian vision in your head right now, but not exactly pleasant places, as I know, living in a council home where there are untold issues with the aged building and the need for extensive building repairs or rebuilding, which will soon be in progress, and we have to ask ourselves, is life any better in these homes than in a hospital A question for another day, perhaps
So, this book gives an insight into those trapped behind these walls and buried in the grounds, some at the winter/autumn of their lives, others from a much younger age.
A great book to give just a taste of life for anyone not conforming to society's norms and values, or simply disliked and villified, At least they hadmeals and a roof over their head, In theth and earlymidth century, that's more than many could boast!
This collection of biographies of the inmates and their burial plots is a must for anyone interested in social history or simply looking at their family tree and wondering whether ancestors ended up here.
An interesting commentary and worth a look, Containing heartwrenching photos amp genuine documents from a bygone era, this important piece of history gives a voice to the dozens of forgotten pauper inmates who spent most of their lives in the West Riding Lunatic Asylum.
Many were wrongly incarcerated amp others simply misunderstood, forgotten by their families amp buried in unmarked graves, As proceeds of this work go to the upkeep of a memorial garden, I found it a fitting tribute to those who suffered amp were unable to tell their own story.
Short easy read of less thanpages, Quite moving. Each entry has a photo of a resident of West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum and a brief description of why they were admitted, Then follows a description of their behaviour and so on, and when they died, Some of these poor souls were admitted for overyears, There was also the tales of two very young children, agedand, who were admitted, Well worth reading, a very quick read Quite moving at times, Sometimes wanted more information. Really moving. Manages to personalise lots of little stories of forgotten people, You can visit the space where these poor people are buried, Was an interesting read, especially since it's based around my home town! I do wish it went into abit more detail about the patients though as if was very brief! I was expecting something from the patients themselves, instead this book consists of intake information of patients and the author's research on what became of them.
Because of this, it felt like the patients were very othered, by both staff writing the records and the author, While there isn't the leery voyeuristic tone towards patients as you see in some books about the history of mental healthcare, there was a condescending paternalistic feeling, and a fair bit of ableist language like "deaf and dmb" that I found discomforting.
Overall not one I would recommend, A short but very interesting book detailing the lives and deaths of some of the residents of Menston Lunatic Asylum, A poignant and moving memorial to some of those who died with noone to care, it is thoughtprovoking and at times shocking,

Very interesting for anyone with an interest in the history of mental health care or the asylum at Menston, A poignant collection of pictures of inmates whose bodies were unclaimed upon their death while incarcerated in the Menston lunatic asylum, Each entry includes information regarding their mental condition as well as a small interpretative paragraph putting their diagnosis into today's psychological context, I found this book very sad, .