An inquiry into the state of mind of W. F. Windham, Esq., of Fellbrig Hall, Norfolk : before Samuel Warren ... and a special jury, upon the petition of General Windham ... the uncle of the alleged lunatic, and other members of the family, at Her Majesty's Court of Exchequer, Westminster, commencing December 16, 1861.
- William Frederick Windham
- Date:
- [1862]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: An inquiry into the state of mind of W. F. Windham, Esq., of Fellbrig Hall, Norfolk : before Samuel Warren ... and a special jury, upon the petition of General Windham ... the uncle of the alleged lunatic, and other members of the family, at Her Majesty's Court of Exchequer, Westminster, commencing December 16, 1861. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![appointed by will General Windham, his brother, and Lady Sophia, his widow, as his c.\ecutora and the testamentary guardians of his son. At the age of twenty-one the son would become entitled to Fellbrigg-hall, with the park and timber, and a rental therefrom of about £3,100 per annum. That sum, however, would be reduced by certain deductions. In the first place, it would be subject to a deduction of £1,500 a year, the amount of his mother’s jointure; and, secondly, according to calculations, about £350 would be required to be laid out upon the property itself, 80 that, in point of fact, the young man would have an income of between £1 200 and £1,300. But there were certain other estates w’hich were not to come into his possession until the year 1869. The object of so delaying his possession was that certain incumbrances upon the property might gradn^ly be paid off; but it appeared that, although he would come into a nominal income of about £9,000 per annum in 1869, there would still remain so large an incumbrance not paid off that the real income would not exceed £4,000 or £5,000. That income, according to the settlements, was to be an income for his own life. From earliest infancy he was not like other children ; he had not the usual intellectual powers ; in fact, his case was one of mental deficiency—not of absolute raving mania, or anything of that kind, but of simple imbecility. It was matter of common knowledge that the deficiency of mental power in persons who were next to idiots was not unfrequently accompanied by a sort, of cleverness which, if the mind were sound, would unquestionably be an exceedingly valuable intellectual possession, but which was acknowledged to be not at all inconsistent with such a state of mind as rendered the party utterly incompetent to take care of himself or his own affairs. The father of the alleged lunatic early in liis life noticed the weakness of his intellect, and he was so concerned and anxious about it that he consulted Mr. Nichols, a surgeon in Norwich, whose skill and knowledge as a medical man were known far and wide. ]VIr. Nichols would tell them how William Frederick Windham was brought to him by his father when he was not more than four or five years of age, how he examined him carefully, and how he predicted that, instead of the defect being removed, and the mind coming to a healthy state by the progress of time, the malady would increase as time went on. In fact, Mr. Nichols gave the father so hopeless an opinion that the latter did not again revert to the mental condition of his son, although he remained on intimate and friendly terms with the surgeon, lyiiile quite a boy the alleged lunatic, owing no doubt to his want of menial power, was exceedingly fond of low company and low pursuits. He went among the servants and did acta inconsistent with his position as a young gentleman. He wished to wait at table, and even to wash the dishes. At one period of his life his lather, indulging him as he would indulge a person of admittedly unsound mind, actually jiurchased for him the livery of a footman that he might act as the menial lie desired to be. The first school ho went to was that of Dr. Badbam, at Blackheath. He was then about nine years of age. His manners at Blackheath were described as having been peculiarly childish. He was very feeble in his mental powers, and then were exhibited to the observation of the whole school, what afterwards increased with the progress of time—peculiarly dirty and nasty habits with respect to his person, and a strong propensity to express himself in filthy language. In 1854 he was removed to Eton, where it was lioped that the discii)liuo of a public school, and the opportujiity of mixing with others ol his own condition and age, would effect an improvement both in his mental capacity and in his manner.s and habits. At first, and for a very short time, he was in the house of Mr. Bulston, one of the masters; but his conduct there was so extraordinary, aud so inconsistent ^t^th the power of taking roasoiiablo care of himself, that it was doemod desirable to put him into the hands of a private tutor. He was, accordingly, jilaccd under the care of Mr. Choalos, a man of gi-eat experionco m Iho educa- tion and management of boys. Mr. Cheales soon found that ho had undertaxeu a most difficult and disagreeable duty. Ho tried in a variety ot -'kva to deal with cho uiifonuiiato youth who had been intrusted to his care. Mr. Windham was now a young man about sixteen years of ago, but Mr. Cheales discovered tha %ory i o could be done with him in the way of education. Ho could lutrodnco only a very small amount of knowledge into his head. He adopted successively various mode.s of dealing with him. First ho tried kindness, then ho tried reasoning, and then ho tried punishment. The result was that the only means of operating upon him, .md then only for a short time, was iound to bo actual personal chaslisemeut-tlio](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28115569_0016.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
