James Henry Pullen (1835–1916), also known as the Genius of Earlswood Asylum, was a British
savant
Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...
, who possibly had
aphasia
Aphasia is an inability to comprehend or formulate language because of damage to specific brain regions. The major causes are stroke and head trauma; prevalence is hard to determine but aphasia due to stroke is estimated to be 0.1–0.4% in t ...
.
Childhood
Pullen was born in
Dalston
Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas includ ...
,
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 1835, and grew up on the Balls Pond Road. Both he and his brother William were regarded as deaf, mute and were
developmentally disabled
Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...
. By the age of 7 Pullen had learned only one word, ''
mother
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...
'', which he pronounced as "muvver". He could, however, lip read, understand gestures, and write intelligible blank verse. As a child, he began to carve small ships out of
firewood and draw pictures of them. Pullen was first confined to Essex Hall,
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...
.
Earlswood
At the age of 15, in 1850, he was taken to the then new
Earlswood Asylum (later called Royal Earlswood Hospital), in
Reigate, Surrey
Reigate ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...
. Contemporary account tells that Pullen could not give any answers through
speech
Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...
, but could communicate through gestures. He could
read lips and gestures but never learned to read or write beyond one syllable. Pullen's brother William later followed him to Earlswood; a good painter, he died at the age of 35.
Earlswood Asylum tried to teach its patients a number of handicrafts so they could support themselves and the asylum. Pullen continued his handicrafts and became a gifted
carpenter and
cabinet maker
A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (so ...
. He would work at workshop at days and draw at night. Most of the drawings were of the corridors of the asylum and he framed them himself. If Pullen could not find a suitable tool, he would make it himself. In addition he would also make practical items, such as
bed frames, for the needs of the asylum.
Pullen was alternatively aggressive or sullen. He could be reserved but also wrecked his workshop once in a fit of anger. He did not like to accept advice and wanted always to get his own way. Once he took a dislike to a certain member of the staff and built a
guillotine
A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...
-like contraption over his door. Luckily for the target, it went off too late. Once, when Pullen developed an obsession to marry a townswoman he fancied, the staff mollified him by giving him an admiral's uniform instead.
Notability
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
accepted some of the drawings and
Prince Albert received one Pullen had drawn of the
Siege of Sebastapol in the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
, based on newspaper accounts. He even attracted the interest of the Prince of Wales, future king
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
; Pullen referred to him as "Friend Wales." Prince Edward sent him pieces of
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...
so he could carve them. This intricate object, made from ebony and rare timbers, features two ivory angels on one side which appear in conflict with a brass tongued devil attempting to haul the boat back. The ivory came from tusks given to Pullen by his patron, Edward VII, who took great interest in him and his endeavours. Pullen also created models of fantasy craft including ''The State Barge'' designed as a floating office for Queen Victoria, with a desk and miniature documents visible through the circular windows.
Sir
Edwin Henry Landseer
Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (7 March 1802 – 1 October 1873) was an English painter and sculptor, well known for his paintings of animals – particularly horses, dogs, and stags. However, his best-known works are the lion sculptures at the bas ...
sent engravings of his paintings to Pullen and his brother Arthur so they could copy them.
Asylum superintendent
John Langdon Down
John Langdon Haydon Down (18 November 1828 – 7 October 1896) was a British physician best known for his description of the genetic condition now known as Down syndrome, which he originally classified in 1862. He is also noted for his work in ...
, after whom
Down syndrome
Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...
is named, gave Pullen a great deal of leeway. For example, he was allowed to eat his meals with the staff.
Pullen's masterpiece is a model ship, a 10-foot long replica of
SS ''Great Eastern'',
that he started in 1870 and spent seven years building; Pullen made all the details, including 5,585 rivets, 13 lifeboats and interior furniture in miniature, himself. In its maiden voyage the model ship sank for lack of
buoyancy
Buoyancy (), or upthrust, is an upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of a partially or fully immersed object. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus the ...
but Pullen repaired that flaw later. The model was exhibited in
the Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...
.
Pullen also built a large, mechanical
mannequin
A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. P ...
in the middle of his workshop; he would sit inside it, manipulate its face and appendages and talk through a concealed bugle in its mouth.
Legacy
After Pullen's death in 1916, his workshop became a museum of his work until the Royal Earlswood Hospital was closed in 1997. It is now an apartment complex. Pullen's model of ''SS Great Eastern'' may be seen, being part of the James Henry Pullen Collection including more of his designs and art work, in the
Museum at the Langdon Down Centre, Normansfield,
Teddington
Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long me ...
.
In 2018, Pullen's work was the subject of a monographic exhibition at
Watts Gallery – Artists' Village. Pullen's model of ''The State Barge'' was displayed at the
Royal College of Nursing
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Elizabeth II was the patron until her death in 2022. ...
's exhibtion ''A history of care or control? 100 years of learning disability nursing''.
References
*''The childhood and the life of James Henry Pullen, the Victorian idiot savant (1835–1916''), O. Conor Ward. Abstract of article found her
(accessed 14 June 2006)
Bibliography
*Crayon, C. (1888). ''All about Earlswood. London Earlswood Asylum for Idiots''.
*Down, J. L. (1867). ''Observations on an Ethnic Classification of Idiot''. British Journal of Psychiatry, April 1867, 13:121–123.
*Millard, W. (1864). ''The Idiot and his Helpers, including the History of Essex Hall; together with Notices of the Rise and Progress of the Earlswood Asylum and similar institutions''. Colchester: Simpkin, Marshall and Co.; Longman and Co.
*Sano. F. (1918). ''James Henry Pullen, the Genius of Earlswood''. Journal of Mental Science, No. 266, Vol. LXIV.
*Tredgold, A. F. (1922). ''Mental Deficiency''.
*Treffert, D. A. (1989). ''Extraordinary People: Exploration of the Savant Syndrome''. Transworld.
*Ward, O. Conor. (2006). ''Dr. John Langdon Down and Normansfield''. Teddington, England. Langdon Down Centre Trust.
*Tambling, Kirsten (2018). "James Henry Pullen: inmate, inventor, genius". Exhibition Catalogue, Watts Gallery – Artists' Village, 19 June – 28 October 2018. .
*Tambling, Kirsten (2020)
''The Idiot as Artist: The Fantasy Boats of James Henry Pullen'', Art History, November 2020, 43:928-952
External links
Article on his life including photos of his worksArticle on his life including picturesMuseum holding a collection of Pullen's work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullen, James Henry
1835 births
1916 deaths
Savants
People from Peckham
People with mental disorders
People from Dalston