The Lunacy Commission
You may remember that after he was forced into the marriage with Lady Hannah Hay, Johnny Tharp was trapped between the competing schemes of his wife and mother (Lady Susan) and ended up suffering a mental breakdown. His uncle rescued him from his in-laws in Scotland and took him back to Lady Susan. She was so relived to have him back that she pressured him into signing a bond for £2000 ( about £1.8m today, relative to average wages ) to cover the cost of his care. In January 1816, Lady Hannah requested an enquiry into her husband’s mental health by the Court of Chancery. Her doctors reported that he ‘was then a lunatic … and that he had been in the same state of lunacy from the 9th day of July last’.* If he'd been insane eight days earlier, their marriage would have been invalid, so the timing was crucial. John Scott, Lord Eldon by William Owen Source: Wikipedia Lord Eldon, the Lord Chancellor (shown here), confirmed that Johnny was now insane, though he'd been sane when h