Bedford Pierce (21 May 1861 – 8 July 1932) was an English medical doctor, a Commissioner to the

Board of Control for Lunacy and Mental Deficiency The Board of Control for Lunacy and Mental Deficiency was a body overseeing the treatment of the mentally ill in England and Wales. It was created by the Mental Deficiency Act 1913 to replace the Commissioners in Lunacy, under the Home Office howe ...

and Consulting Physician to

The Retreat The Retreat, commonly known as the York Retreat, is a place in England for the treatment of people with mental health needs. Located in Lamel Hill in York, it operates as a not for profit charitable organisation. Opened in 1796, it is famous ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. Pierce was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to Edmund Kell Pierce and Elizabeth Tyler. Aged 14, after completing his school studies at the Friends’ School, Croydon, he started working at a pharmaceutical firm in London. He later enrolled to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, where he won several scholarships and prizes before receiving his M.B. degree in 1888. In 1890 he won the Murchison Scholarship of the Royal College of Physicians. He then worked as physician at St. Bartholomew's, Bethlem Royal Hospital and the Edinburgh Royal Asylum, Morningside, and in 1892 became medical superintendent at the Retreat, York. There he built a Nurses Home (1898) and spent much effort on improving the training and status of mental nurses. In parallel, he taught mental diseases at Leeds University from 1908 to 1911 and had a consulting practice at Leeds. He was president of the Medico-Psychological Association between 1919 and 1920. After retiring in 1922, he visited America, Africa and India, and served as a Commissioner in Lunacy in 1929–1931. Pierce was a Quaker and spent his free time on gardening, wood-carving, painting, mountaineering and games. In 1890 he married Mary Isabella, with whom he had a son and daughter. He died at

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,240 in the 2011 census, whilst the population of the civil parish was 29,448. Har ...

References

1861 births 1932 deaths 19th-century English medical doctors 20th-century English medical doctors People involved with mental health Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians {{UK-med-bio-stub