Edward Parker Charlesworth (1783–1853) was an English physician, known as an innovator in psychiatric treatment. Charlesworth statue, Lincoln

Life

He was son of John Charlesworth, rector of

Ossington Ossington is a village in the county of Nottinghamshire, England 7 miles north of Newark-on-Trent. It is in the civil parish of Ossington, but for census purposes its population count is included with the civil parishes of Ompton and Laxton a ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, and was brother of John Charlesworth, the father of Maria Louisa Charlesworth. After a pupilage with Dr. Edward Harrison of

Horncastle Horncastle is a town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls remains. History Romans Alt ...

, he went to Edinburgh, where he graduated M.D. in 1807. Charles settled at

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, where he acquired a large practice, and became physician to the Lincoln county hospital. He died of paralysis, on 20 February 1853. Thomas Milnes made a statue of Charlesworth for Lincoln Asylum. Charlesworth was closely linked to the Lincoln Mechanics' Institute and served as its chairman for twenty years.

Psychiatric practice

From 1820 Charlesworth was visiting physician to the Lincoln Asylum for the Insane. It was housed in a new building, completed in 1819, and was an independent institution, sharing its medical staff with the County Hospital. Knowing Harrison's private asylum and its highly coercive methods of treating the insane, Charlesworth secured the issue of an order forbidding attendants to use

medical restraint Medical restraints are physical restraints used during certain medical procedures to restrain patients with (supposedly) the minimum of discomfort and pain and to prevent them from injuring themselves or others. Rationale There are many kinds of m ...

or violence without the consent of the directors. He supervised the structure and arrangements of the asylum, and secured in 1821 a classification of patients and opportunities for their exercise in the open air. In 1828 he obtained an order for the display of instruments of restraint, the destruction of some, and record-keeping of cases of coercion. While a house surgeon named Hadwen was in office in 1834, for some weeks no patient was under restraint in the asylum.

Robert Gardiner Hill Robert Gardiner Hill MD (26 February 1811 – 30 May 1878) was a British surgeon specialising in the treatment of lunatic, lunacy. He is normally credited with being the first superintendent of a small Insane asylum, asylum (approximately 100 pa ...

was house surgeon from 1835 onwards, and mechanical restraint was practically abolished there.

Influence

The experience of the Lincoln asylum influenced

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 ...

in his abolition of restraint at

Hanwell Asylum St Bernard's Hospital, also known as Hanwell Insane Asylum and the Hanwell Pauper and Lunatic Asylum, was an asylum built for the pauper insane, opening as the First Middlesex County Asylum in 1831. Some of the original buildings are now part of ...

. Hill later claimed priority for the approach, and the matter of attribution of influence remained disputed. Conolly visited the

York Retreat The Retreat, commonly known as the York Retreat, is a place in England for the treatment of people with mental disorders, mental health needs. Located in Lamel Hill in York, it operates as a Non-profit organisation, not for profit Charitable tru ...

and the Lincoln asylum, and William Alexander Francis Browne had by then published on non-restraint.

Works

In 1828 Charlesworth published ''Remarks on the Treatment of the Insane''.

Family

Charlesworth married a daughter of Dr. Rockcliffe of Horncastle.

Notes

;Attribution

External links

britishlistedbuildings.co.uk, ''Charlesworth Monument, Lincoln''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlesworth, Edward Parker 1783 births 1853 deaths 19th-century English medical doctors English psychiatrists People from Newark and Sherwood (district)