In 1873, in The Groves, York, Charles Hardacre, a greengrocer seeks help. And within records from the York Poor Law Union Workhouse Committee at that time, under the entry for ‘Quantity and Description of Relief in Kind’ its states he is offered ‘examination and assistance’, at the cost of 24 shillings.
The ‘description of disability’ penned in an inky script as ‘lunatic’. This piece is a tribute to all those in Mental Health institutions, past, present and future. Considering the current crisis in support, it asks the question, how it is that we can better frame, respond to, and record our inevitable experiences of mental distress and health?
Click here or the image below for a pdf with a more detailed description of the piece.
Made as part of the ‘Heritage Hunters’ community heritage research project with York Castle Museum and The Groves Association.
Thanks to Explore York Libraries and Archives and Borthwick Institute for Archives – University of York. And finally, a very big thanks to Imogen Kate for the excellent voice over. Stephen Lee Hodgkins, May 2023.
