William Battie

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William Battie (sometimes also spelt Batty^[1], 1 September 1703 or 1704^[2]–13 June 1776) was an English physician who published in 1758 the first lengthy book on the treatment of mental illness, A Treatise on Madness, and by extending methods of treatment to the poor as well as the affluent, helped raise psychiatry to a respectable specialty. He was the first and only psychiatrist to become President of the Royal College of Physicians. He is the origin of the slang term "battie".^{[citation needed]}

He was born in 1704, the son of a vicar, Reverend Edward Battie, in Modbury.^[1] He studied at Eton and King's College, Cambridge. Being unable to afford a legal training he "diverted his attention to physic" and practised for a short time in Cambridge. After practising for many years in the field of psychiatry in London, he acquired two private "madhouses" near St. Luke's, from which he gained a handsome income. His appointment at St. Luke's gave him a firm base upon which to consolidate his reputation.

He died following a stroke in 1776 and was buried alongside his wife in Kingston, Surrey. His great great grandson currently plays football for the Adelaide Football club in the Australian football league.

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