On this page, the website discusses the reality of healthcare in United Kingdom prisons in 1700 and 1800s.
Illustration of early 1800 Millbank Prison
In 1750, a huge rapid increase in European population. From these large numbers came an increase in infant deaths and unsavory conditions in prisons and mental institutions. The first prison built in the UK was in England called the Millbank Prison in 1816 with a little under 1,000 inmates. Victorians were worried about the rising crime rate: offences went up from about 5,000 per year in 1800 to about 20,000 per year in 1840. Men and women, boys and girls, debtors and murderers were all held together. Since they were all packed together, many people died of diseases such as gaol fever, which was a form of typhus. Typhus was the main issue for prisoners, it was caused by an infection from fleas, mites, lice, or ticks transmitted from a bite.
Pictured are patients from a Great Britain asylum.
Mental health treatment was not recognized and examined during the 1800’s. If one was to show symptoms, they would be locked away in an asylum from society in horribly inhumane conditions. Over time, if a person were to be viewed as different such as special needs they would be sent away to an asylum, too. Patients were tied to the wall by an arm or leg in little to no clothing, a small blanket. They were left with little water and no heat. These private places were seen as a huge piggy bank, solely as a financial investment.
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