An inquiry into the state of mind of W. F. Windham, Esq., of Fellbrigg Hall, Norfolk, before Samuel Warren, Esq., Q.C., and a special jury : upon the petition of General Windham, C. B., etc., the uncle of the alleged lunatic, and other members of the family, at Her Majesty's Court of Exchequer, Westminster, commencing December 16, 1861.

Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An inquiry into the state of mind of W. F. Windham, Esq., of Fellbrigg Hall, Norfolk, before Samuel Warren, Esq., Q.C., and a special jury : upon the petition of General Windham, C. B., etc., 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.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    Emrland at the end of three months, Mr. Windham was placed under the charge of Mrf Horrocks, a tutor who tried ^^Tbe ipo» L™-exU,eme°severity, andMr. H^wa.pS that reason Lady Sophia was not Mr. Windham a of fact his conduct was unexcep ion^ ^ know]e(jge 0f the difference between propensity for lying, amounting to ewretched youth actually swore an oath to truth and falsehood. On one occasion thewietcney ^ not th Mr. Horrocks that he had become a IUm»& slightest foundation for the s^afce™®n^;Ltholicism? While on a visit at Fellbrigg-hall between Protestantism and Roman Oathoiic neio-hbourin- village, and told With Mr. Horrocks he by l braoeof the innkeeper that he had brsrents m £^martet.plMe ^SoI„ioh. There was pistols. e rep bout the same time he became very military inhis ideas,and, rf0Un?an b7d ’ii'oomSion heTssumed the title of captain, maintained he was although he held no >_ ire(i every person to address him as “ Captain w6 ri'ham ” “The'pohcf at Norwich Ld Yarmouth were obliged to comply with that Windham. The pokceat xww Uce andothers be was called by no other requisition, and even m^ondon, ^ ° hi8Pfancie» was to go with railway trains and Irk ^Ltk a“a guS He even attempted to get upon the engine without the work the break as a 0umu. r the occasion, in a from1 the -uardand blew itto s cart the train. The engineer, not knowing who had blown fhe wh^tle actually started the train, and if it had not been stopped in time it would have run into^either an approaching tram, or a tram which had passed on a. i^rfibre. He had a guard’s uniform made for him, with aU its appendages belt and whistle complete, and dressed m this suit lie would go to the nlatform° take the luggage from the passengers as they came out of the ticket-office then, jumping into a second-class carnage, would travel with the trffin°as far as he pleased, repeating his performance ateveiy station i n stonnao-e took -place. Upon one occasion he travelled with a gentleman who was gS down to &onthPand who knew him well. He left the carriage at SorwTch and upon the gentleman asking him why he was not going on to Yarmouth, “Oh,” he said, “I am going to work the six o’clock Parliamentary ti am, meaning that he was going to London with the six o’clock Parliamentary ti am during the whole of that week. Upon another occasion lie returned to his lodging. one morning, after being out all night, covered with smoke and dirt hke a ok ^ and in point of fact, he was permitted to work as a stoker upon the engine. Wh e stavimAtFelbrigg-hall he ran off with a mail cart, pretended to be an officer in the service of the Queen, drove furiously into a crowd assembled m front of a menage of wild beasts, wanted to go into the menagerie, with horse, cart, * up by fighting one of the showmen, who gave him two black eyes. From Mr. li he paksld into the hands of Mr. Peafleld, of Cambridge, who took him a tour through Scotland and Ireland. In Scotland he continued his screeching and howling, ana, in fact, proved quite unimprovable. In May of the present year Genera m returned to England, having ~sen written to by his sister. His conduct tow ! his nephew had always evinced the utmost affection and a desire to consult m interests only, and to prevent the necessity of any public inquiry or exposure, proposed that the young man should go abroad with some person ot position, w miht assist him in governing himself and his affairs. Mr. W indham assen ec, or ' seemed to assent to go, and his uncle thought it was all arranged; but, nn or - nately, other persons intervened and entirely frustrated the anxious object o 1 family. Somebody had impressed upon his ruind that his uncle was one o enemies, and that the real object was to prevent him from marrying and ha\ mg children, so that General Windham might succeed to the property. Ihe tact vn that General Windham would not so succeed; but such was the idea suggested the alleged lunatic. Subsequently young Mr. Windham went to live with r. Pcafield at Mr. and Mrs. Lewellin’s, in Duke street, St. James’s. He was t ie from May to the 29th of August. His conduct continued the same as be o Upon one occasion, because his dinner was not ready the moment he onlei it lie threw open the window, and howled and screamed so that the whole suee