Regency Reader Question
Having been born with Cerebral Palsy in this Era, what would it have been like if I were a well-born/high-born Lady in the Regency Era with the same physical challenge? Would I still go to balls and assemblies, even though I wouldn’t be able to dance? Or would Society have shunned me and locked me away somewhere? Would my marriage prospects be nil?
| Source of Question | Just curious |
| Additional comments | Loving your site. Would love to learn how to write such stories as you do. I do write stories for my own entertainment, but sorely lacking in Regency Era details and Regency world living. |
Thanks for the question, Sapharin, and for being a Regency Reader. I hope the research and information I provide on the site will be a springboard to you sharing your stories!
This one is a challenge for me, because its not something I have read a lot about. Yet. But I think this topic is an AMAZING one for a deeper dive in my Representing Regency series, so stay tuned for that. I really appreciate you sharing your question, as I think it will be a good start to a longer, broader conversation about differently abled humans and how they may have lived and thrived in the early 19th century.
But to your specific question. I learned through a bit of research that cerebral palsy was first described in the 1860s by Dr. William John Little. It is obvious from other readings I did that there was an awareness of the condition prior to Dr. Little’s in depth research but there was no clear understanding of the causes or treatment until the Victorian era (The History and Origin of Cerebral Palsy | Cerebral Palsy Foundation (cpresource.org)).
There was generally no universal treatment or attitudes for differently abled people in the late 18th century and early 19th century. The NHS has published a very helpful primer A Disability History Timeline that covers everything from representation to laws. It showcases that throughout the 19th century, while laws were being reformed to help support disabled citizens in the UK, simultaneously there was an emergent view about isolation for differently abled people. Although some of it depended on the exact disability (mental versus physical), there was a trend beginning in the early Victorian era towards development of workhouses and asylums (Disability in the 19th century | Historic England).
However, some differently abled people continued to thrive in their communities. This included within the aristocracy or fashionable circles. Three notable miniaturists were known to be deaf. Several peers lost limbs in military action including Lord Nelson, who was an Admiral of the Royal Navy, was blind in one eye and an amputee, Lord FitzRoy Somerset was also an amputee, and Sir Thomas Pasley, who was awarded a baronetcy after losing his leg. This article features several stories of women born without limbs who also went on to live successful, happy lives albeit there was a public fascination about their disability that was exploitative. Most of these examples of people with different abilities in the early 19th century were married and many had children.
Because cerebral palsy was not named until after the Regency era, its harder for me to find sources to map what the experience would have been exactly and even harder to understand based on class. I think this is one of those answers that is a “it depends”. It would have depended on the individual family and their own attitudes. While I realize that is not a wholly satisfying answer, it’s honest and the best I can do with scant ready primary sources. Most sources I found point to individual attitudes, some seated in religion, towards how a family or individual might engage with differently abled people. Several years ago, I covered an early study in paranoid schizophrenia that occurred during the Regency era that hints at how even the difference between mental illness and physical disability could be a novel concept. This first scientific study highlights how limited the field of knowledge about disabilities really were, and gives a better understanding of how religion served to be the most formative source of opinions.
So here is my best guess. I understand that one of the challenges for physical difference can be suffering with other people’s ignorance, stares, comments, and presumptions. Imagine a world where there was even less exposure to difference, and a fair amount of superstitious thinking. That would be an incredible thing to endure/subject oneself to. I would think that would make, for most, a London Season with balls, routs, and most events unbearable. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if a brave woman or two did exactly that!
What I did find was clear evidence that in a more insular community, like a provincial town or village, where someone’s abilities were well known and accepted, a young woman or man would be happy at a ball or party. Similarly, in some of the spa towns where people flocked for respite and treatment, it might also be more common to see different abilities in the Pump Rooms and assembly halls. Was it exactly the same experience as a typical bodied person? No, the evidence does not support that. However, I also don’t think it was always a matter of shun and secret.
Unfortunately, there were instances of families that kept differently abled family members secreted away. And, as workhouses and asylums reached a high point, many would also be sent on to institutions to live what we know understand were very difficult lives. This happened well into last century, and likely still happens on occasion, regardless of shifting attitudes and education. But I don’t think that would have been the only experience.
I am going to continue to do some research around this topic and expand on it in my Representing Regency series.
I would encourage you to keep writing, and especially write from your perspective. Historical romance needs more characters that are differently abled, and your unique experience would be fascinating for readers to explore within the confines of history.
Obladen M. Lame from birth: early concepts of cerebral palsy. J Child Neurol. 2011 Feb;26(2):248-56. doi: 10.1177/0883073810383173. Epub 2010 Dec 30. PMID: 21193777.
Panteliadis C, Panteliadis P, Vassilyadi F. Hallmarks in the history of cerebral palsy: from antiquity to mid-20th century. Brain & Development. 2013 Apr;35(4):285-292. DOI: 10.1016/j.braindev.2012.05.003. PMID: 22658818.
te Velde A, Morgan C, Novak I, Tantsis E, Badawi N. Early Diagnosis and Classification of Cerebral Palsy: An Historical Perspective and Barriers to an Early Diagnosis. J Clin Med. 2019 Oct 3;8(10):1599. doi: 10.3390/jcm8101599. PMID: 31623303; PMCID: PMC6832653.
Scholar uncovers hidden history of people with disabilities (stanford.edu)
