William Chidley was a unique Australian. He lectured frequently on his beliefs that the answer to society's problems was a three-fold program of correct dress, proper diet and a new method of sexual intercourse. His compulsory admissions to psychiatric hospitals were on the grounds that he was insane and a danger to public morals. The case raised basic questions in psychiatry, morality and lunacy law. These questions, which are discussed, are still of contemporary significance.
References
1.
CannonM. (1975) Australia in the Victorian age. 3, Life in the Cities.Nelson, Sydney.
2.
BriscoeO. V. (1968) The meaning of mentally ill persons in the Mental Health Act 1958–1965 of New South Wales. Australian Law Journal, 42, 207.
3.
EdwardsG. A. (1975) Mental health administration in New South Wales. Master of Health Administration thesis. University of New South Wales, Sydney.
4.
EdwardsG. A. (1978) Mental illness and civil legislation in New South Wales. Doctor of Medicine thesis. University of Sydney.
5.
EdwardsG. A.YoungL. J.FlahertyB.MatthewsM.BarnesJ.HallW. (1978) A pilot study of representation for involuntary patients at the Rozelle Hospital. Proceedings of the Institute of Criminology, No. 34, Sydney.
6.
EllisHavelock (1928) Studies in the Psychology of Sex: erotic symbolism, the mechanism of detumescence, the psychological state in pregnancy.Davis, Philadelphia. (First published 1901).
