![John Conolly2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/John_Conolly2.jpg)
John Conolly (27 May 1794 – 5 March 1866) was an English
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 published the volume ''Indications of Insanity'' in 1830. In 1839, he was appointed resident physician to the
Middlesex County Asylum where he introduced the principle of
non-restraint into the treatment of the
insane
Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...
, which led to non-restraint became accepted practice throughout England. With colleagues he founded the 'Provincial Medical and Surgical Association', and founded the 'British and Foreign Medical Review, or, A Quarterly Journal of Practical Medicine'.
Life
Conolly was born at
Market Rasen
Market Rasen ( ) is a town and civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The River Rase runs through it east to west, approximately north-east from Lincoln, east from Gainsborough, 14 miles (23 km) west of Lo ...
, Lincolnshire, of an Irish family. He spent four years as a lieutenant in the
Cambridgeshire Militia
The Cambridgeshire Militia was a militia regiment in Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely, United Kingdom from 1759 to 1881, when it was amalgamated into The Suffolk Regiment.
History
The Cambridgeshire Militia was formed under the Militia Ac ...
and lived for a year in France before embarking on a medical career. He graduated with an MD degree at
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 ...
in 1821. After practising at
Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...
,
Chichester
Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...
and
Stratford-on-Avon successively, he was appointed professor of the practice of medicine at
University College, London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
, in 1828. In 1830 he published a work on the ''Indications of Insanity'', and soon afterwards settled at
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
.
In 1832 in co-operation with
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 ...
and
Sir John Forbes
Sir John Forbes Royal College of Physicians, FRCP Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (17 December 1787 – 13 November 1861) was a distinguished Scottish physician, famous for his translation of the classic French medical text ''De L'Auscultation ...
, he founded a small medical association with a view to raising the standard of provincial practice called the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association. His brother William Brice Conolly became the association's 'Widows and Orphans Benevolent Fund' treasurer and secretary. In later years this grew in importance and membership, and finally became 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 ...
.
Conolly and Forbes went on to start a new publication in 1836: the 'British and Foreign Medical Review, or, A Quarterly Journal of Practical Medicine', for which they shared the editorship from 1836 to 1839. It was the first publication of its type, aimed at sharing newly-won medical knowledge. The ''Review'' was read widely in Europe and America, and helped to promote modern methods of treatment and to enhance the reputation of British medicine. The BMA library still holds a complete set of its volumes.
In 1839, Conolly was appointed resident physician to the
Middlesex County Asylum at
Hanwell
Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, in the historic County of Middlesex, England. It is about 1.5 miles west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post t ...
(now known as
West London Mental Health NHS Trust's St Bernard's Hospital). In this capacity, he introduced the principle of non-restraint into the treatment of the
insane
Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...
.
This principle had already been put into practice in two small English
asylums—
William Tuke
William Tuke (24 March 1732 – 6 December 1822), an English tradesman, philanthropist and Quaker, earned fame for promoting more humane custody and care for people with mental disorders, using what he called gentler methods that came to be ...
's
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—but it was due to Conolly's courage in sweeping away all mechanical restraint in a great metropolitan asylum and in the face of strong opposition, that non-restraint became accepted practice throughout the country.
In 1844 Conolly ceased to be resident physician at Hanwell, but he remained visiting physician until 1852.
On 21 July 1852, the honorary degree of
Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law (DCL; la, Legis Civilis Doctor or Juris Civilis Doctor) is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws (LLD) degrees.
At Oxford, the degree is a higher ...
was conferred on Conolly together with his two friends Dr John Forbes and Dr
Charles Hastings.
Conolly died on 5 March 1866 at Hanwell, where in the later part of his life he had a private asylum called Lawn House. His gravestone can still be seen in Kensington Cemetery, Uxbridge Road,
Ealing
Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Ealing was histor ...
.
Family
Conolly married Elizabeth Collins, daughter of naval captain Sir John Collins, with whom he had four children. Their only son,
Edward Tennyson Conolly, was born whilst Conolly was working at Chichester in Sussex. Edward became a lawyer, having been
called to the Bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
on 30 January 1852. In 1865 he emigrated with his family to
Picton, New Zealand
Picton ( mi, Waitohi) is a town in the Marlborough Region of New Zealand's South Island. The town is located near the head of the Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui, north of Blenheim and west of Wellington. Waikawa lies just north-east ...
. There he continued to practise law and became very active in politics. In line with his father's concerns for humane treatment of the mentally ill, he introduced the concept of rehabilitation to the New Zealand penal system. He died in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
in 1908 and was interred in
Remuera
Remuera is an affluent inner city suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located four kilometres southeast of the city centre. Remuera is characterised by many large houses, often Edwardian or mid 20th century. A prime example of a "leafy" sub ...
.
John Conolly's second daughter, Sophia Jane, married
Thomas Harrington Tuke in 1852.
["Obituary: Thomas Harrington Tuke M.D., F.R.C.P., Etc."]
''The British Medical Journal
''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origina ...
'', 23 June 1888, p. 1364. Tuke ran a private Lunatic Asylum at Manor House in Chiswick, Middlesex (this Tuke is not related to the Tukes of 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 ...
).
Conolly's youngest child, Ann, married
Henry Maudsley
Henry Maudsley FRCP (5 February 183523 January 1918) was a pioneering English psychiatrist, commemorated in the Maudsley Hospital in London and in the annual Maudsley Lecture of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Life and career
Maudsley w ...
when she was thirty-six, just two months before her father's death. Conolly's obituary was written by Maudsley and shocked many by its unusually unsympathetic tone. Henry Maudsley had by then taken over the running of Lawn House. Ann predeceased Maudsley on 9 February 1911 at the age of 81.
Commemoration
Dr John Conolly and the former Hanwell Asylum were commemorated with an
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
on the 27th of May 2022, on a wall of what was the left-hand wing of the asylum, now part of
St Bernard’s Hospital. It would have been his 228th Birthday. It is the first plaque in the scheme to go up in Hanwell and the date of its installation was chosen to support Mental Health Week in the UK.
Publications
*
*
* . German translation by
Caspar Max Brosius as
* ''The Indications of Insanity'' with an introduction by Richard Hunter and Ida MacAlpine. Psychiatric Monograph Series 4 (reprint: Dawsons, London, 1964)
*
References
External links
* Scull, Andrew (c1989) Social Order/Mental Disorder: Anglo-American Psychiatry in Historical Perspective
John Conolly: A Victorian Psychiatric Career Berkeley: University of California Press. Accessed 2007-09-21
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conolly, John
1794 births
1866 deaths
Academics of University College London
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
English health activists
19th-century English medical doctors
English non-fiction writers
English psychiatrists
Fellows of the Ethnological Society of London
People from Market Rasen
Mental health activists
History of psychiatry
English male non-fiction writers
19th-century English male writers
Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge