In the Victorian era when any physical or mental disability was heavily stigmatized, the UK saw a rise in asylums or mental institutions. By 1900, more than 100,000 'idiots and lunatics' were in 120 county pauper asylums (Historic England). The Earlswood Asylum for Idiots, now the Royal Earlswood Hospital, was founded in 1847 and housed those with mental disabilities for “medical treatments.”
Historic England. “Disability in the 19th Century | Historic England.” Historicengland.org.uk, 2019, historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/1832-1914/.
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