Sources and Resources Affidavits in Proceedings in Lunacy, 1719–1733: The Court of Chancery and the Fate of Lunatics in the Long Eighteenth Century

Abstract

Abstract This article provides a preliminary examination of ways in which the records of the court of chancery can be used to explore the experiences of those deemed to be lunatics during the long eighteenth century. The complexity of the records and variable quality of cataloguing means that these records are difficult to access and use and that the information they contain may be contested. The affidavits in lunacy held in C 217/55 are nevertheless a source of unrivalled richness for the study of mental illness as experienced, perceived and treated in the early eighteenth century. Similarly valuable documents may survive elsewhere in the records of the court of chancery, but until detailed archival work can be carried out, they will probably remain invisible and inaccessible to researchers.