Mental health is often misdiagnosed even today and was very much more so in the past. There are/were numerous people in my family with mental health issues, and in all cases except my mum's it was just diagnosed as "nerves". I think quite a few of them could be BP: my mother, her father, her grandfather, her brother, his two daughters, and numerous other relatives on my mum's side. Mum was diagnosed schizophrenic 30 years ago, but I think she is actually bipolar.