British Royal Commission on the Care and Control of the Feeble-Minded issues report

1908. The British Royal Commission on the Care and Control of the Feeble-Minded, set up by Sir Winston Churchill in 1904, issues its 8-volume Minutes of Evidence, Appendices, and Reports. It recommends compulsory institutionalization for the "feeble-minded" and sterilization of the "unfit" to as a measure to improve the British population. The British Royal Commission likely had influence on Britain's Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, of which Churchill was an early drafter (Gilbert, 2009).

Churchill was an ardent supporter of eugenics, writing once to his cousin that "the improvement of the British breed is my aim in life." (Churchill, 1899, cited in Gilbert, 2009). The creation of the Royal Commission On the Care and Control of the Feeble-Minded demonstrates the concern many nations had towards the perceived "threat" of the "feeble-minded" at the turn of the twentieth century.

Although the Report had great support from Churchill and the government, British Legislation never adopted sterilization laws. However, both institutionalization and segregation were employed to help prevent "multiplication of the unfit" (Gilbert, 2009).

-Amy Dyrbye and Colette Leung

British Royal Commission on the Care and Control of the Feeble-Minded issues report

1908. The British Royal Commission on the Care and Control of the Feeble-Minded, set up by Sir Winston Churchill in 1904, issues its 8-volume Minutes of Evidence, Appendices, and Reports. It recommends compulsory institutionalization for the "feeble-minded" and sterilization of the "unfit" to as a measure to improve the British population. The British Royal Commission likely had influence on Britain's Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, of which Churchill was an early drafter (Gilbert, 2009).

Churchill was an ardent supporter of eugenics, writing once to his cousin that "the improvement of the British breed is my aim in life." (Churchill, 1899, cited in Gilbert, 2009). The creation of the Royal Commission On the Care and Control of the Feeble-Minded demonstrates the concern many nations had towards the perceived "threat" of the "feeble-minded" at the turn of the twentieth century.

Although the Report had great support from Churchill and the government, British Legislation never adopted sterilization laws. However, both institutionalization and segregation were employed to help prevent "multiplication of the unfit" (Gilbert, 2009).

-Amy Dyrbye and Colette Leung