Blind, Deaf and Dumb, Imbecile, or Lunatic

What did it mean to be one of those with what were considered to be ‘grave infirmities’ in the Victorian age? Blind, Deaf and Dumb, Imbecile, or Lunatic – just one column on the census to record a lifetime of physical impairment or mental anguish.

The Blind

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In 1871, there were 21,590 blind persons in England and Wales which was one blind person to every 1,052 people in the country. The report found that blindness was more common in agricultural communities than in manufacturing and mining districts and it was concluded that the reason for this was that those afflicted with blindness or other infirmity would not have been as likely to emigrate from their agricultural villages to the urban centres of manufacturing. Another factor that contributed to this statistic was that blindness tended to be more prevalent amongst the elderly who, again, were more likely to remain in the rural villages. Conversely, there were more blind in London, with a rate of one to 1,126 and this was attributed to the presence of blind people who came from other parts of the country to benefit from the institutions and charities in the city.

There were more blind men than women proportionately, and this was attributed to men working in occupations that were ‘more likely than those of women to produce accidents and diseases causing loss of sight.’

That blindness was associated with age seemed a likely conclusion since there were few children, only 567, under the age of five who were blind but 9,609 blind persons over the age of sixty.

Occupations of those reported as blind included farmers 331, agricultural labourers and farm servants 519, other labourers 441, miners 275, carpenters 120, shoemakers 131, grocers 135, army pensioners and soldiers 81, navy pensioners and seamen 134. Of the blind that had presumably changed occupations after losing their sight, the occupations recorded were 490 musicians, 595 basket makers, 157 mat and sacking makers, 111 brush makers, 44 chair-bottom makers, 218 domestic servants, 150 milliners and seamstresses, 55 music mistresses, 90 knitters, 84 laundresses.

Thomas Ord – Blinded in a Mine Accident

Thomas Ord, born in about 1845 in Stainton, Durham was a miner by occupation who became blind as the result of a mining accident probably in about 1871 when he is listed as being miner however there is an indication that he has been blinded in an accident. At the time of the 1871 census, Thomas had a wife and two small sons. After the accident, no longer able to work in the mines, Thomas became a mat maker which is one of the occupations identified by the report. Thomas Order and his wife Harriet had two more children after he was blinded, both girls. Judging by the continuous appearance of the Ord family after 1871 through to 1911, they seem to have survived Thomas’ accident quite well.

There is no indication that the family was destitute as a result of his blindness. Harriet, Thomas’ wife, does not list an occupation in any subsequent census and the family remains as a unit. The children do not appear to have been sent out to work and there is no indication that the family had to enter the workhouse or accept assistance from the parish although they might have done. In 1901, Thomas is still listed as head of the household although no occupation is listed for him. He is 56 years old. Harriet, his wife is 69 and their daughter Jane, age 20, still lives with them as does their daughter Emily, her husband and their young child. In 1911, when Thomas was 66 and Harriet was 69, they were living with their daughter Jane’s family.

Deaf and Dumb

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In 1871, there were 11,518 persons who were described as either deaf and dumb or simply dumb, about one in 1,972 of the population. This was a marked decrease from the 1861 census, about six percent, and the decline was attributed to a decrease in contributory disease as a result of improved medical care and hygiene. The same decreases were observed in both Scotland and Ireland, with Scotland enumerating 2088 deaf and dumb persons (one in 1609) and Ireland counting 5554 (one in 975).

Unlike blindness, where the afflicted rose with age, there were proportionately more young people who were deaf and dumb than there were elderly and the manner in which the numbers decreased seemed to indicate that there was a higher rate of mortality in the deaf and dumb than in the general population.

Those enumerated as deaf and dumb worked in a large variety of occupations, although it was sometimes difficult for them to find suitable employment. The occupations were those that did not require spoken communications, and often were in the industrial fields.  Occupations reported included 61 who were engaged in the fine arts as artists or engravers, 253 as tailors, 512 as shoemakers, 90 as carpenters, 45 as printers, and 737 as agricultural or general labourers; 239 in domestic service, 548 dressmakers and seamstresses, 109 laundresses, and 92 employed in the cotton manufacture.

There were 1220 individuals that were described as scholars, most of whom would have been attending one of the thirteen institutions for the deaf that were located in London and other larger cities.

An effort was made to determine the number of cases of congenitally deaf persons as compared to those who became deaf through accident or disease. The measurements were considered imprecise, however about sixty-three percent were considered to be congenital. It was noted that only 529 of those reported as deaf and mute were residents of a workhouse in 1871 and of those, 51 were also considered imbeciles and 26 were also blind. This was attributed to the increased number of specialised schools for the deaf.

Charles Wright Driver and Enoch William Driver, Deaf and Dumb from Birth

Charles Wright Driver was born in the spring of 1855 and baptised on 25 May in the parish of Oakridge, Gloucester, the son of Titus Driver, a farmer, and his wife Arabella. His brother, Enoch William Driver, was born six years later, baptised on 19 May 1861 in Rodborough. Both were deaf from birth, presumably a genetically inherited condition, although none of the other children of Titus and Arabella were deaf.

Known Children of Titus and Arabella Driver

• Rosetta Anne Driver – baptised 1 February 1846
• Elizabeth Driver – baptised 27 January 1850, buried 23 October 1854
• William Driver – baptised 5 Dec 1852, buried 4 November 1854
• Charles Wright Driver – baptised 25 May 1855 (deaf from birth)
• Ann Driver – baptised 1 August 1858
• Enoch William Driver – baptised 19 May 1861 (deaf from birth)
• Henry Thomas Driver – baptised 9 June 1869
• Edith Driver – born about September 1873

Charles, and perhaps Enoch, were sent to the London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb on Old Kent Road. Children who were deaf and dumb could be sent to the school for a term of five years where they would learn to read and write, their education often sponsored by the guardians of the poor. It is not known when Charles was admitted to the school but he was there at the time of the 1871 census on 2 April. No evidence was found to suggest that Enoch attended the school but it seems somewhat likely that he would have followed in his brother’s footsteps.

By the time of the census in 1881, Charles was twenty-five years old. He was working as an agricultural labourer presumably for a farmer by the name of Thomas Lewis in Preston, Gloucester with whom he lodged. Enoch, at the age of nineteen, was living with his parents and also working as an agricultural labourer.

Ten years later in 1891 when Charles was thirty-five, he was back with his parents in Rendcombe, still working as an agricultural labourer as were his father Titus at age sixty-four and his brother Thomas who was twenty-two. Enoch at age twenty-nine was also working as an agricultural labourer, and was boarding with the Evans family in Duntisbourne Abbots.

Arabella Driver died in 1899, leaving Titus a widower. In 1901, he was living in Chedworth along with his son Enoch Driver who was still working as a labourer. Charles was by then forty-five and working as a groom for another Lewis family in Rendcombe.

In 1911, Charles was living on his own in Chedworth and was employed as a farm labourer. His brother, Enoch was living separately, also in Chedworth and also employed as a farm labourer.

Charles died at the age of sixty-five and was buried on 18 June 1920 in Duntisbourne Abbots, Gloucester. Enoch died at the age of seventy-nine and was buried on 28 March 1940 at St. Peter in Statton, Gloucester. Neither brother ever married.

Imbecile or Lunatic

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According to the census returns of 1871, 29,452 persons were described as idiots or imbeciles (one in 771) and 39,567 persons were considered to be insane (one in 574). Of those considered imbeciles, or of limited mental ability, there were 3456 in special asylums and a number of them were usefully employed owing to the greater emphasis on training and education. The causes of idiocy and imbecility were attributed as:

The census return of 1871 showed an increased number of the insane housed in asylums as they were removed from the workhouses throughout the mid-nineteenth century as more became known about caring for the insane. And whereas previously, many of the insane were cared for by their family and friends as long as they were able to, this was less the case, now that more humane care was available.

For Idiots. The Royal Albert Asylum

The Royal Albert Asylum was built as an institution for the care and education of children with learning disabilities at a time when there was little distinction between such learning disabilities and mental illness. In a newspaper article in 1875, one of the training programs was described:

It was not until 1886 when the Idiot’s Act was passed that a distinction between lunatics, idiots and imbeciles was made.