Thomas Harrington Tuke

Thomas Harrington Tuke

Thomas Harrington Tuke (13 June 1826 - 1888) was a British physician who specialised in the treatment of the insane. He ran and expanded the private Manor House Asylum in Chiswick started by his father Edward Francis Tuke and was the first to introduce nasal feeding of the insane. He specialised in non-restraint treatment.

Early life

Thomas Harrington Tuke was born 13 June 1826, the son of the Quaker physician Edward Francis Tuke of Bristol and his wife Mary. He studied medicine at St. George's Hospital and in Edinburgh and Paris.[1][2]

Career

Tuke specialised in the treatment of the insane and practiced non-restraint methods. In 1846 he took over and began to expand the private Manor House asylum in Chiswick started by his father. He was the first to introduce nasal feeding of the insane. He was a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1858) and the Royal College of Physicians in London (1878). He was secretary of the Medico-Psychological Society and testified before select committees of the House of Commons on amendments to the lunacy laws. He testified in court and took part in the William Frederick Windham case, the case of Lady Mordaunt, and the Bravo and Townley cases. His most famous patient was probably the Chartist leader Feargus O'Connor.[1]

Family

Chiswick House view from forecourt

In January 1852, Tuke married Sophia Jane Conolly, daughter of Tuke's friend and teacher Dr. John Conolly of The Lawn, Hanwell.[1] Conolly was a pioneer in non-restraint methods of treatment of the insane.[3] Tuke and his wife had seven sons and a daughter.[1]

Two of their sons Thomas Seymour and Charles Molesworth Tuke, both doctors, continued running the asylum and supervised its move to Chiswick House in 1893, where it remained until its closure in 1929.[4]

Death

Tuke died in 1888. He was buried in Chiswick on 13 June.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Obituary: Thomas Harrington Tuke M.D., F.R.C.P., Etc." The British Medical Journal, 23 June 1888, p. 1364.
  2. ↑ The Tuke Family and their Chiswick Asylums. Keith Poulton, Brentford & Chiswick Local History Society. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  3. ↑ A hundred years of caring for the insane. Julia Nurse, Wellcome Library, 7 August 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Manor House Asylum". Wellcome Library. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, December 10, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.