Hugh Crichton-Miller (born in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, 5 February 1877, died 1 January 1959 in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
) was a Scottish
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
and
psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...
. He founded the Bowden House nursing home for nervous diseases at
Harrow-on-the-Hill
Harrow on the Hill is a locality and historic village in the borough of Harrow in Greater London, England. The name refers to Harrow Hill, ,Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) and is located some half a mile south of the mod ...
in 1912 and the
Tavistock Clinic
The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health trust based in north London. The Trust specialises in talking therapies. The education and training department caters for 2,000 students a year from the United Kin ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1920.
The son of a Presbyterian minister to the Scottish church in Genoa and his Scots wife, he was sent at twelve to attend
Fettes College
Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...
in
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 ...
. He followed an arts programme as well as Medicine at
Edinburgh University
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 1582 ...
. In 1902 he obtained his MD from the University of Edinburgh with a thesis on
hypnotism
Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...
. He continued his studies at
Pavia University
The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...
. During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Crichton-Miller joined the
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...
and served in the rank of lieutenant colonel. His concern for sufferers of
Shell shock
Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a react ...
, led after the war to his founding a charitable clinic in
Tavistock Square
Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden.
History
Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer James Burton and the master builder Thomas Cubitt for Francis Russell, 5th Duke ...
to treat nervous complaints. He remained its honorary medical director until 1934, followed by a further seven years as its honorary senior physician. By 1939 he was working alongside 90 honorary medical colleagues. ('Honorary' meant that they were working ''
Pro bono
( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...
''.)
His first book was on hypnotism and disease and came out in 1912. He became a popular lecturer and writer on the 'New Psychology', which was broadly based on the work of the Swiss psychiatrist,
Carl Gustav Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...
. A further three books appeared after the war forming a trilogy: 'The New Psychology and the Teacher' (1921), 'The New Psychology and the Parent' (1922), followed by 'The New Psychology and the Preacher' (1924). He became chairman of the medical section of the
British Psychological Society
The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom.
History
It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the organ ...
and in 1938 President of the Psychiatry section of the
Royal Society of Medicine
The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London.
History
The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chambers ...
and president of the
International General Medical Society for Psychotherapy International General Medical Society for Psychotherapy was a society founded in 1926. The German physicians Gustav Richard Heyer and Carl Haberlin were among the organization's founders. The prefix ''international'' was added in 1934, after Carl Gu ...
, and vice-president of the
C. G. Jung Institute, Zürich
The C. G. Jung Institute, Zürich (German: C. G. Jung-Institut Zürich) was founded in Küsnacht, Switzerland, in 1948 by the psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung, the founder of Analytical psychology (more commonly called Jungian psychology). Marie-Loui ...
. The
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...
appointed him to the
Sir Charles Hastings
Sir Charles Hastings (11 January 1794 – 30 July 1866) was a medical surgeon and a founder of the British Medical Association, the BMA, (then known as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association) on 19 July 1832.
He was also a notable life ...
lectureship. During the first three years of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
he was officer-in-charge of the Emergency Medical Psychiatry Service at
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
hospital.
Crichton-Miller married Eleanor Lorimer of Edinburgh with whom he had six children. Their younger son, Campbell, was a
meteorologist
A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...
and squadron leader in the
RAF Reserve The Regular Reserve is the component of the military reserve of the British Armed Forces whose members have formerly served in the " Regular" (full-time professional) forces. (Other components of the Reserve are the Volunteer Reserves and the Spon ...
and his death was confirmed in 1943. He is buried at
Saumur
Saumur () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.
The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur statio ...
, France. Crichton-Miller, father, had a long friendship with his contemporary, Professor C.G. Jung of Zurich. He retired from private practice in 1945 and as director of Bowden House in 1952. In old age he developed
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
and died in 1959.
[Hugh Crichton-Miller, 1877–1959. A Personal Memoir by his Friends and Family, 1961. (Pp. 79+ix; illustrated. 1Os.), with a Foreword by Dr. ]C.G. Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, phi ...
, Dorchester: Longmans (Dorchester Ltd.), Friary Press. 1961. Review by E.A. Bennet in the British Medical Journal, 17 March 1962
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crichton-Miller, Hugh
1877 births
1959 deaths
People educated at Fettes College
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
University of Pavia alumni
Scottish psychiatrists
British Army personnel of World War I
Royal Army Medical Corps officers
19th-century Scottish medical doctors
20th-century Scottish medical doctors
British psychoanalysts
Jungian psychologists
Scottish writers