Sir Alexander Morison M.D. (1 May 1779 – 14 March 1866) was a Scottish physician and
alienist
Alienism is an obsolete term for psychiatry
Psychiatry is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cogn ...
(psychiatrist).
Life
Morison was born at Anchorfield, near
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, and was educated at
Edinburgh High School
The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...
and the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, where he graduated M.D. on 12 September 1799. He became a licentiate of the
Edinburgh College of Physicians in 1800 and a Fellow in 1801.
He would serve as President of the college from 1827 to 1829.
For a time, Morison practised in Edinburgh, but during 1808 he moved to London; on 11 April that year he was admitted a licentiate of the
College of Physicians of London
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...
, and 10 July 1841 he was elected a Fellow. He was appointed inspecting physician of lunatic asylums in
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
in 1810, and from 7 May 1835 physician to
Bethlehem Hospital
Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as St Mary Bethlehem, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam, is a psychiatric hospital in London. Its famous history has inspired several horror books, films and TV series, most notably ''Bedlam'', a 1946 film with Bo ...
. He was physician to
Charlotte, Princess Royal
Charlotte, Princess Royal (Charlotte Augusta Matilda; 29 September 1766 – 5 October 1828), was Queen of Württemberg as the wife of King Frederick I. She was the eldest daughter and fourth child of King George III of the United Kingdom and hi ...
, and was knighted in 1838.
Morison gave an annual course of lectures on mental diseases – commemorated in the ''Morisonian Lectures'' of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh – and became a recognised authority on this subject. Morison's lecture courses were partly funded by
Harriot Coutts (née Mellon), the widow of famous banker
Thomas Coutts
Thomas Coutts (7 September 1735 – 24 February 1822) was a British banker. He was a founder of the banking house Coutts, Coutts & Co.
Early life
Coutts was the fourth son of Jean (née Steuart) Coutts and John Coutts (merchant), John Coutts (1 ...
. Morison served as her in-house physician in 1822-1823 and she bestowed an endowment on him to establish a course of lectures on mental disease in memory of her late husband.
A lifelong restlessness seems to have haunted Morison's career – as a child he repeatedly ran away from school in Edinburgh (on one occasion as far as to the harbour in
Arbroath
Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902.
It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen.
The ...
) – and, as an adult, he (like
Lord Monboddo
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (baptised 25 October 1714; died 26 May 1799) was a Scottish judge, scholar of linguistic evolution, philosopher and deist. He is most famous today as a founder of modern comparative historical linguistics. In 1767 ...
) excited astonishment with his regular, exhausting rides between London and Edinburgh, lecturing in both cities. A remarkable portrait of Morison – of almost hallucinatory intensity – was created by the psychotic Victorian artist
Richard Dadd
Richard Dadd (1 August 1817 – 7 January 1886) was an English painter of the Victorian era, noted for his depictions of fairies and other supernatural subjects, Orientalism, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre works, genre scenes, rendered w ...
in 1852, and it incorporated images of Anchorfield created by Morison's daughter. This picture now hangs in the
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...
.
Morison died at home, Balerno Hill House, south-west of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
on 14 March 1866, and was buried at
Currie
Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...
.
His grave stands in the eastern wall in the north-east corner of the original churchyard.
His death was marked by an extraordinary tribute from
William A.F. Browne
Dr William Alexander Francis Browne (1805–1885) was one of the most significant British asylum doctors of the nineteenth century. At Montrose Asylum (1834–1838) in Angus and at the Crichton Royal in Dumfries (1838–1857), Browne introduc ...
, the President of the
Medico-Psychological Association
The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental health ...
, in the course of his 1866 Presidential Address in which he linked Morison's achievements with those of
John Conolly
John Conolly (27 May 1794 – 5 March 1866) was an English psychiatrist. He published the volume ''Indications of Insanity'' in 1830. In 1839, he was appointed resident physician to the Middlesex County Asylum where he introduced the princip ...
, who had died only a few days earlier.
His young wife Grace (1810-1889) is buried in
Dean Cemetery
The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...
in one of the small southern sections.
[Grave of Grace Morison, Dean Cemetery]
Works
Morison's graduation thesis was ''De Hydrocephalo Phrenitico'', and he became specialist in cerebral diseases and mental illness. He published in 1826 ''
Outlines of Lectures on Mental Diseases'', and in 1828 ''
Cases of Mental Disease, with Practical Observations on the Medical Treatment''. In 1840 he published ''
The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases'', an important contribution to the literature of physiognomy. It features some remarkable illustrations, including a portrait of
Jonathan Martin the arsonist.
Alexander Morison Medal
Morison endowed lectures through the sale of his property starting in 1864 on subjects connected with the mental disease; later extended to cover diseases connected with the nervous system.
Notes
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morison, Alexander
1779 births
1866 deaths
Medical doctors from Edinburgh
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
19th-century Scottish medical doctors
Scottish psychiatrists
Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Presidents of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh