Following the enactment of the Lunatic Act in 1808, each county was mandated to establish a facility for the mentally ill. However, by 1840, North Wales had yet to establish such an institution due to financial constraints in the impoverished rural areas. Consequently, severely ill pauper lunatics from North Wales were being transferred to English Asylums for care. Dr. Samuel Hitch, the superintendent of Gloucester Lunatic Asylum, observed the challenging circumstances faced