Tag: GRO0245

Ballymena Weekly Telegraph: Saturday 1st October 1910

The Church Congress: Social Responsibility: Care of the Feeble-Minded: Mrs. Pinsent (Birmingham) a member of the Royal Commission on the Care of the Feeble-Minded, uttered a warning voice. Our altruistic feelings and efforts by improving the environment of the poorer classes were perpetuating the unfit, while at the same time the reproduction of the higher types was neglected, and the average standard of humanity lowered. We ought, she argued, to put the mentally defective under continuous control. There should be the recreation of the old ideal of a living faith in the paramount duty of fatherhood and motherhood. The Bishop of Ripon declared that our birth rate was declining so rapidly that there would by next year be a shortage of a million and a half in ten years. If this shortage were amongst the unfit, few would view it with apprehension, but, unfortunately, it was in the more vigorous, bodily, and mentally of the population. If this decline continues a day must come when the population would be stationary. Nations were not exempt from Nature’s Law of the survival of the fittest. He pointed to the reawakening of Asiatic nations and expressed a fear lest we, by race suicide, should be surrendering the sceptre to the East. He called to the manhood of England to face its duties of fatherhood and upon the womanhood to free itself from political aspirations (laughter and cheers) and do its duty at the domestic fireside and in the nursery. We ought to encourage an Imperial idea of national life. There was ample room and employment in our overseas dominions for all out children. …

Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive.

Referenced

GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949

Norfolk News: Saturday 1st October 1910

Church Congress: The Opening Day: Sermon by the Bishop of Norwich: Cambridge, Tuesday: … … Bishop of Ripon on Race Suicide: The Examination Hall was crowded at the Wednesday sitting when the subjects discussed were “Heredity and Social Responsibility, with special reference to (1) the Feeble-minded and (2) Parentage”. The Lord Bishop of Lichfield presided, and the readers of the papers were Dr. G. Shuttleworth, Mrs. Pinsent, the Lord Bishop of Ripon, and Mr. W. C. D. Whetham. …

Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive.

Referenced

GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949

Coleshill Chronicle: Saturday 1st October 1910

The Church Congress: … …  The Congress met on Wednesday morning in two sections. the subject of Christian unity being discussed at the Corn Exchange by the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Birmingham, the Bishop of Hull, Bishop Ingham, the Rev. Professor Whitney, and other speakers. In the other section heredity and social responsibility was the subject of papers by Dr. E. Shuttleworth and Mrs. Pinsent. who spoke of the necessity for segregating the feeble-minded with a view to diminishing the propagation of the unfit. … …

[see also Kenilworth Advertiser: Saturday 1st October 1910 see similar Westerham Herald: Saturday 1st October 1910]

Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive.

Referenced

GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949

Birmingham Weekly Post: Saturday 1st October 1910

Perpetuation of the Unfit: … (detailed review of speech) … Perhaps the most striking speech uttered at the Church Congress this week was that of Mrs. Pinsent, of the Birmingham Education Committee, on the important question of the treatment of the mentally defective. … continues …  Mrs. Pinsent had the courage to go directly to the root of the matter, and to urge that steps should be taken to apply the only real remedy. These degenerates fill our gaols, our workhouses, our asylums for the insane and our armies of peripatetic mendicants and vagrants. … … Mrs. Pinsent points out, these poor children grow up and become parents of offspring inheriting the fatal taint, who will also be a burden on the community … … Mrs. Pinsent urges that the care of the feeble-minded children should be conducted through life, and that the sexes should be kept apart permanently …

Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive.

Referenced

GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949

Farnworth Chronicle: Saturday 1st October 1910

The Feeble Minded: On Wednesday the Church Congress at Cambridge divided itself into two sections … (continues) … A Warning Voice: Mrs. Pinsent, a member of the Royal Commission on the care of feeble minded, uttered a warning voice. Our altruistic feelings and efforts by improving the environment of the poorer classes were perpetuating the unfit, while at the same time the reproduction of the higher types was neglected, and the average standard of humanity lowered. … (continues)…

Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive.

Referenced

GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949

Exmouth Journal: Saturday 1st October 1910

The Church Congress: Archbishop of York on Church and State: President’s Address: The Jubilee Church Congress opened Tuesday at Cambridge with religious services at Ely Cathedral and Great St. Mary’s Church, Cambridge, at which the sermons were preached by the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Norwich. … … Marriage among Degenerates: The Congress met on Wednesday morning in two sections, the subject of Christian unity beings discussed at the Corn Exchange by the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Birmingham, the Bishop of Hull, Bishop Ingham, the Rev. Professor Whitney, and other speakers. In the other section, heredity and social responsibility was the subject of papers by Dr. E. Shuttleworth and Mrs. Pinsent, who spoke on the necessity of segregating the feebleminded with a view to diminishing the propagation of the unfit. Two papers were contributed on “Parentage,” in one of which the Bishop of Ripon dealt with the declining birth rate and urged the discouragement of marriage among the diseased, the feeble-minded, the alcoholic, and the tuberculous.

Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive.

Referenced

GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949

Hampshire Telegraph: Friday 30th September 1910

Problem of Feeble-Minded: The Church Congress on Wednesday discussed social responsibility with reference to the feeble-minded. Dr. G. Shuttleworth advocated more special schools for mentally defective children, the segregation in industrial colonies of feeble-minded adults and measures to prevent illegitimacy among them. Mrs. Pinsent, a member of the Royal Commission on the Care of the Feeble-minded, pointed out that the undesirable classes of the population were fast increasing, and argued that the desirable and efficient members of society must be encouraged to have larger families, and that there should be direct state encouragement to the reproducing of the better stocks.

Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive.

Referenced

GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949

Cambridge Independent Press: Friday 30th September 1910

Women’s Column: Mrs. Pinsent, a member of the Commission on the Care of the Feeble-Minded, made a very telling speech Wednesday morning at the meeting in the Examination Hall. Mrs. Pinsent’s article on this subject in the “Nineteenth Century” a short time back created a deep impression. No one knows the sad subject more thoroughly than she does, and its vast national importance was brought home to every member the large audience when she said that unless something was done to secure a better heredity for the coming generations all the altruistic feelings which we so rightly … might tend to the perpetuation the very condition of things which we so rightly condemned. I was rather surprised that the papers and discussion on this question kept so far from the other great question which is closely interwoven with this one — the question of drunkenness and the drink traffic. When it is proved beyond question that nearly 50 per cent of the children in the schools for the feeble-minded are the offspring of drunken parents, it would appear that one obvious remedy for the evil is to be found in drastic temperance reform. 

Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive.

Referenced

GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949

Western Times: Thursday 29th September 1910

The Church Congress: The Treatment of the Feeble-Minded: The church Congress at Cambridge yesterday discussed social responsibility with reference to the feeble-minded. Dr. G. Shuttleworth (London) advocated more special schools for mentally defective children, the segregation in industrial colonies of feeble-minded adults, and measures to prevent illegitimacy among them. Mrs. Pinsent, a member of the Royal Commission on the Care of the Feeble-Minded pointing out that the undesirable classes of population were fast increasing, argued that the desirable and efficient members of society must be encouraged to have larger families, and that there should be direct State encouragement. The Bishop of Ripon deplored the decreasing birth rate among the vigorous and intelligent, upheld the sanctity of marriage, but advocated restraint of marriage amongst the unfit. … …

[see also: Nottingham Evening Post: Wednesday 28th September 1910 and Derby Daily Telegraph: Wednesday 28th September 1910 and others]

Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive.

Referenced

GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949

Cheltenham Examiner: Thursday 29th September 1910

Treatment of the Feeble-Minded: The treatment of the feeble-minded was the subject of some very forceful addresses. Mrs. Pinsent in a particularly able speech, produced some startling diagrams, showing how the mental defects of a single individual are transmitted to an ever-increasing number in each generation, the result being a very heavy burden, through rates and taxes, on the more efficient stocks. Thus, while the inefficient are supported the burden checks the efficient stocks and prevents them giving their children a fair start in life. “A continuous control of the feeble-minded” will mark a “new era in civilisation,” she declared. Following on this, the Bishop of Ripon insisted on the peril of the nation which could no longer send out men to “till, to develop, and to garrison its borders.”; If, he declared, ” young men avoid matrimony and young women shun the duty of maternity ” dominion will pass to other races whose ” women are free from political aspirations and are willing ‘ to do their duty at the domestic fireside and in the nursery.” The discussion was given a practical turn by Dr. Shuttleworth: Marriage among the unfit should be discouraged or forbidden, as is the case in six States of the United States; the unfit should be placed in industrial colonies, and experience showed they were perfectly happy in them; and children who belong to the unfit class should be placed in schools connected with these colonies. The general feeling of the meeting was that the time is ripe for legislation on the lines of the Departmental Report issued a few months ago.

Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive.

Referenced

GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949