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Alienists: the self-ascribed term for early psychiatrists.

 

Assize Court: Prior to legal reform in 1971, assize courts were located in principle towns of each county and conducted trials for serious crimes.

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Convict Lunatic: a prisoner who develops insanity during their incarceration and is then reclassified as a "criminal lunatic."

 

His/Her Majesty’s Pleasure (HMP): the sentence given to individuals who were found not criminally responsible due to insanity. This outlined that they could be detained   “indefinitely” under British Law as a result of the Criminal Lunatic Act 1800.

 

Inquest: a judicial inquiry to determine the facts of an incident, such as a death. Inquiries into a death would be put before a jury who decides after the presentation of the evidence whether the death was a result of natural causes or from “wilful murder.” It is not the purpose of    an Inquest to determine the mental state of the accused, but rather confirm whether a crime occurred

 

Infanticide: the murder of an infant child, usually by a family member. The crime has been considered a distinctly female crime since the early seventeenth century.

 

Puerperal: a term relating to the period of around six weeks after childbirth when the mother’s reproductive organs return to their original condition.