Lunacy Act 1845


Lunacy Act 1845

A UK Parliamentary Act which, with the County Asylums Act 1845, embodied mental health legislation in England and Wales until repealed by the Lunacy Act 1890. The Act established the Commissioners in Lunacy, a group of 11 members with 3 from the legal field, 3 from the medical field and 5 honorary members.
The primary remit of the Commissioners was to inspect asylums and reach out to mentally ill patients in workhouses and gaols, mentally ill children in workhouses and single lunatics, and bring them into asylums for treatment, or, if they couldn’t be brought in, at least monitor their treatment and mental condition.