A.D. 1774. Anno decimo quarto Georgii III. C. 49. 91
CAP. XLIX.
An Act for regulating Madhouses.
[Preamble.]
'WHEREAS many great and dangerous Abuses frequently arise from the present State of Houses kept for the Reception of Lunaticks, for want of Regulations with respect to the Persons keeping such Houses, the Admission of Patients into them, and the Visitation by proper Persons of the said Houses and Patients: And whereas the Law, as it now stands, is insufficient for preventing or discovering such Abuses;' may it therefore please your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same,
[After Nov. 20, 1774, if any Person conceal more than one Lunatick without Licence, he shall forfeit 500l.] --- That from and after the twentieth Day of November one thousand seven hundred and seventy-four, if any Person or Persons, in that Part of Great Britain called England\ the Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick upon Tweed, shall, upon any Pretence whatsoever, conceal* harbour, entertain, or confine, in any House or Place, kept for the Reception of Lunaticks, more than one Lunatick, at any one Time, without having such Licence for that Purpose, as is herein after directed (except such Lunaticks as are committed by the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Keeper, or Commissioners for the Custody of the (jreat Seal for the Time being), every such Person shall, for every such Offence, forfeit and pay the Sum of five hundred Pounds,
II. And, in order that proper Persons may be appointed for visiting such Houses as shall he licensed and kept for the Reception of Lunaticks, within the Cities of London and Westmins\er9 and within seven Miles of the same, and within the County of Middlesexj be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the President and Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians in London for the Time being, at a General Meeting of the said College, to be held upon the last Day of September, or if that Day falls upon Sunday, then upon the fird Day of October9 in every Year, shall elect nve Fellows of the said College for granting such Licences as aforesaid, within the said Cities of London and Westminster, and within seven Miles of the same, and within the said County of Middlesex, according to the Directions of this Act; and the said five Fellows, so elected, shall be, and are hereby declared to be, Commissioners for granting such Licences within the Limits aforesaid, for the Year then next ensuing; provided that two, at lead, of the said Fellows, to be so elected, shall be Persons who have not aftea as Commissioners for the preceding Year 5 and that no Person whatsoever shall be capable of being elected, or of acting as a Commissioner for more than three Years successively.
III. And be it further enacted, That in case, at any Time of Election, there shall not be found a suffi-eient Number of fellows qualified or willing to act as Commissioners, the said President and Fellows are hereby required, upon every such Deficiency, to elect one or more from among the Licentiates to top-ply the same,.
IV. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That as often as any of the Commissioners, to be elected as aforesaid, shall die, or refuse to act, the said President is hereby required to call a Meeting of the said Fellows, within fourteen Days next after such Death or Refusal shall be known to the said President, in order to elect a Commissioner in the Room of every Commissioner who shall so die, or refuse to act*, and every Commissioner, so to be elected, shall be, and is hereby veiled with the same Power and Authority, in all Respects whatsoever, as the Commissioner in whose Place he shall be chosen was vested with.
V. And be it further enacted, That every Person who shall be elected a Commissioner to act within the Cities of London and Ir ejflminjhr* and within seven Miles of the same, and within the County of Middlesex, as aforesaid, shall, within ten Days after such Election, take the following Oath; (that is to say)
I A.B. dofwear. That I will faithfully and impartially execute all the Trusts committed untome, by 4 A virtue of an Act of Parliament, made in the fourteenth Year of the Reign of King George the Third, intituled, An Act for regulating Madhouses; and that I will not, directly or indirectly, give Notice, or cause Notice to be given to the Keeper, or Person having the Care of any House or Place licensed for the Reception of Lunaticks, of the Time of Visitation of such House or Place.
So help me GOD.'
Which Oath it shall and may be lawful for the President of the College of Physicians for the Time being to administer to every such Commissioner, so to be elected as aforesaid, upon the Day he shall be so elected, or within ten Days afterwards: And in case any Person who shall be elected a Commissioner as aforesaid, and who shall be summoned by the President of the said College to attend the said President to take the said Oath, at such Time as shall be mentioned in such Summons, shall refuse or neglect to attend, or attending, shall refuse to take the said Oath, he shall forfeit and pay the Sum of five Pounds, to be applied to the Use of the said College.
VI. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Commissioners, so to be elected as aforesaid, or any three or more of them, shall meet in the Hall, or some other convenient Place in the said College, as often as they (bail think fit, so as such Meetings do not interfere with the Meetings of the Board of Censors, nor with any other General Meeting of the College of Physicians; and that at all Meetings of the said Commissioners to be holden for the Purposes of this Act, the Commissioner who is of the longed (landing in the College shall be the Chairman.
VII. And be it further enacted, That the Treasurer of the said College for the Time being shall be the Tieafuw for the Purposes of this Act, and that the said Commissioners, or any three or more of them,
Royal College of Physicians in London, on the last Day of Sept, yearly, may elect five Fellow for granting Licences, &c.
who are declared to be Com m iffionerr for that Purpose.
If a sufficient Number of Fellows be not qualified, See, a Licentiate may aft. Sec.
In case of Death, Sec. President to caH a Meeting for the Election of another Commissioner*
Every Commissioner to take the following Oath*
Commissionera not attending, or refusing to talce the Oath, forfeit 5l.
Commissionera Meetings to be In the College Hall, See.
Treasurer of tho Crliege to be Trcauieifortbeshall
