The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-09 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

JUDGES' CHAMBER.:S7,—Sergeunt'slun, Aug. 7.
(Before Mr. Baron Aranin.soN.)
IN THE MATTER OF GEORGE WILLIAM DIXON, AN ALLEGED
LUNATIC, EX PARTE THE BED. SIR GEORGE ?ItEVOST,
BART.—ALLEGED ILLEGAL DETENTION 41F A RETIRED
OFFICER AS A LUNATIC AT BATH.

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In this case an application had been made at the instance
Oreditired
L uSotili(ijaccti
tol, before the Learned Baron, for a writ of habeas corpus,
Gofeothr
directed to Dr. Henry Hawes Fox, the keeper of such
asylum, to bring up the alleged lunatic, and return the
authority and cause of his detention, to ground an appli-
cation for his discharge, on the ground that the medical certi-
ficates upon which he was confined were improperly obtained,
and were not in accordance with the provisions of the Act
of i'-and 9 Viet.;-c. 100. The affidavits in support, of.
the appliiatiori stated that the alleged' lunatic, who is it
single gentlenian, about 48 years of age, and in • possesaien
of "an income of about 3001. per annum, had• resided for the
last six years in the same lodgings, at No. 4, North-parade,
Bath, and that during the whole of that time he had
conducted himself with the greatest propriety, and
always appeared fully competent to managete
his affairs,
settling and paying his accounts with,
ohf
June last most per-
fect clearness ; but in the month
it became necessary that he should move from those lodg-
ings, Owing to some necessary repairs, and his cousin,b, near the
Rev. Sir George Prevost, Bart., vicar of Stinclichom
Duraley, was written to on the subject, upon which
he
shortly afterwards visited Mr. Dixon, bringing with him Dr.
Watson, a physician ; and without any conununication, either
to Mr. Dixon or Mr. Gray, his landlord, in two days after the
interview between Sir George Prevost, Dr. Watson, and Mr.
Dixon, a keeper from the Northwoods Lunatic Asylum ap-
peared with a note from Sir George Prevost, "that the bearer
would assist Mr. Dixon to remove to more comfortable
lodgings." lie, however, refused to remove, upon which Dr.
Watson was sent for, who represented that he had given a
certificate that Mr. Dixon was insane, and that was suffi-
cient authority for his removal. Mr. Dixon, however, re-
fused to go, and the keeper went away, but returned the fol-
lowing day with another keeper, and produced an order
signed by Sir George Prevost, one of the keepers stating
that they had had the night before to send twenty miles for
another certificate, and ultimately Mr. Dixon was forcibly
removed to the asylum. Information of these circumstances
having been forwarded to the Alleged Lunatics' Friend So-
ciety, their solicitor, Mr. Bolden, proceeded to Bath and
Bristol, to inquire into the circumstances attending the case,
when the irregularity in the certificates, as required by the
statute of b and 9 Vic.. cap. 100, having been discovered, the
application for the writ of habeas corpus was made on the
17th July, and granted by Mr. Baron Alderson ; but the
irregularityr having on the 15th July been communicated to
b . Fox, on the 17th July he wrote to the solicitor, stating
that " Mr. Dixon was sufficiently recovered to be discharged,
and he was no longer his patient." Mr. Dixon not having
re turned to his lodgings, application was made to Dr. Fox
and Sir G. Prevost for his address, but refused; and it then
being evident that Mr. Dixon was still kept privately con-
fined, on the 28th July last the writ of habeas was served
on Dr. Fox.

The case now came on, on the return to the writ of
habeas corpus, from which return it appeared that since the
firmer application, only four days before the writ was lodged,
Sir George Prevost had signed another order, and obtained
two other medical certificates, of Dr. Watson and Dr. Sy-
monds, upon which the alleged lunatic was now detained in
the asylum, having been taken back there on the 25th of
July. The delusiuns under which Mr. Dixon is labouring
being stated in the certificates, " that voices continually pur
sued him in connexion with some legal matters, and that he
spoke of having been annoyed by some persons at Bath, to
and fro from Kensington, respecting some claims upon his
brother's property; that lie allowed himself to be questioned
abruptly about has affairs without the slightest emotion, and
that his singular hesitancy of speech and self-iteration mani-
fested imbecility of mind." The return further stated that
Mr. Dixon was detained in pursuance of a request from Sir
George Prevost, in conformity with the provisions of the
statute 8 and 9 Vic., chap. 100.
Mr. EDYE appeared in support of the return, and to oppose
the application for the discharge of Mr. Dixon, on the part
of Sir G. Prevost, and stated that the application had been
made under a complete misunderstanding of the whole case,
and that the affidavits which he was prepared to
produce would sufficiently explain the case, and
fully justify the course pursued by Sir George Prevost.
Mr. Edye also stated that the former certificate was thus ex-
plained :—that Dr. Fox's establishment was divided into two
parts, his private room and the asylum; that Mr. Dixon was
first taken to the privato house, where he was seen by Mr.