This booklet was compiled by members of the Devon Family History Society in co-operation with the Devon Records Office. The booklet provides an extract of some information and further details may be obtained from the Devon Records Office. The Devon County Asylum at Exminster for pauper lunatics was opened in July 1845. Before this date, paupers who had learning difficulties or who had mental health problems were kept at home, in workhouses or in private asylums and maintained from the poor rates. The returns indexed here were submitted on 1st January 1881 and are part of the series made half-yearly by the clerk to the asylum and sent to the Justices of the Peace at the Devon County Quarter Sessions. They contain the names of pauper patients, in alphabetical order, and their dates of admission. Although there are no personal details in the returns, once the admission date is known, it is easy enough to find a patient in the admission registers, 3769A/H3, and papers, 3769A/H2, from Exminster Hospital, deposited at the Devon Record Office. The admission documents contain the patient’s number, which can help to find the patient in the Medical Case books, 3769A/H9. Using these hospital records, it is possible to discover information on a patient’s age, religion, address and next of kin and details of their illness, its supposed cause, duration and treatment.