ABSTRACT
Merivale's lampooning of Victorian Ticehurst as ‘Pecksniff Hall’ was not misplaced. Former occupations are known for all except one of the thirty-six men and twenty-eight women who were patients at Ticehurst on 31 July 1845. Three-quarters of these were listed as ‘independent’, including all female patients except the one whose former occupation was not given. The fifteen male patients who were not living on private capital were members of the middle classes: professionals, merchants or manufacturers, and clerks. Fees ranged between £50 and £500 p.a., with an estimated average of £150 per year. 1
