{"id":21494,"date":"2024-03-14T15:32:29","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T15:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/?post_type=events&p=21494"},"modified":"2025-02-09T19:41:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-09T19:41:39","slug":"the-life-and-death-of-hannah-wiltshire-a-case-study-of-bedminster-union-workhouse-and-victorian-social-attitudes-to-epilepsy","status":"publish","type":"events","link":"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/events\/the-life-and-death-of-hannah-wiltshire-a-case-study-of-bedminster-union-workhouse-and-victorian-social-attitudes-to-epilepsy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Life and Death of Hannah Wiltshire: Bedminster Union Workhouse and Victorian social attitudes to Epilepsy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Bedminster Poor Law Union workhouse at Flax Bourton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1855 rumours of murder and a cover up were circulating in the small north Somerset village of Walton-in-Gordano.\u00a0 An epileptic destitute country girl, Hannah Wiltshire<\/strong>, had died in the Bedminster Union Workhouse<\/strong> at Flax Bourton<\/strong>. The Board of Guardians were suspected of concealing the true magnitude of neglect at the workhouse, leading to accusations of medical negligence.\u00a0 Wiltshire\u2019s death caused public outrage after letters were written to the local newspapers, sparking a campaign for transparency, accountability and social justice, fought for by the local community.<\/p>\n

This talk examines the treatment of the vulnerable poor living in rural England during the mid-nineteenth century and considers Victorian attitudes to mental health and epilepsy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1855 rumours of murder and a cover up were circulating in the small north Somerset village of Walton-in-Gordano.\u00a0 An epileptic destitute country girl, Hannah Wiltshire, had died in the Bedminster Union Workhouse at Flax Bourton. The Board of Guardians were suspected of concealing the true magnitude of neglect at the workhouse, leading to accusations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[1995,755],"tags":[869,1885,1613,1172,1066,1544,1886],"class_list":["post-21494","events","type-events","status-publish","hentry","category-health-including-mental-health","category-workhouses-poverty-laws","tag-bedminster-workhouse","tag-board-of-guardians","tag-epilepsy","tag-flax-bourton","tag-hannah-wiltshire","tag-mental-health","tag-walton-in-gordano"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Life and Death of Hannah Wiltshire: Bedminster Union Workhouse and Victorian social attitudes to Epilepsy - Bristol Radical History Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/events\/the-life-and-death-of-hannah-wiltshire-a-case-study-of-bedminster-union-workhouse-and-victorian-social-attitudes-to-epilepsy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Life and Death of Hannah Wiltshire: Bedminster Union Workhouse and Victorian social attitudes to Epilepsy - Bristol Radical History Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 1855 rumours of murder and a cover up were circulating in the small north Somerset village of Walton-in-Gordano.\u00a0 An epileptic destitute country girl, Hannah Wiltshire, had died in the Bedminster Union Workhouse at Flax Bourton. 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