Thomas Henry Bewley (8 July 1926 – 26 June 2022) was a British and Irish psychiatrist who specialised in the treatment of

addiction disorders Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...

. He was president of the

Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental health ...

from 1984 to 1987.

Career

Bewley was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

on 8 July 1926 into a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

family with a strong medical tradition. The Bewley family were well established in Dublin and among many other things established the well-known

Bewley's Bewley's is an Irish hot beverage company, located in Dublin and founded in 1840, which operates internationally. Its primary business operations are the production of tea and coffee, and the operations of cafés. Bewley's has operations in Ire ...

cafes. He attended the

School of Medicine (Trinity College Dublin) The School of Medicine at Trinity College in Dublin, Republic of Ireland (known until 2005 as the School of Physic), is the oldest medical school in Ireland. Founded in the early eighteenth century, it was originally situated at the site of the ...

, 1944–1950. After graduation he was appointed a

Senior House Officer A senior house officer (SHO) is a non-consultant hospital doctor in the Republic of Ireland. SHOs are supervised in their work by consultants and registrars. In training posts these registrars and consultants oversee training and are usually their ...

at St Patrick's Hospital, a major psychiatric hospital in Dublin. He then moved to

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 ...

and spent short periods at various hospitals before taking up a post at the

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the In ...

. He then spent a year in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and when he returned in 1960 took up a post at

Tooting Bec Hospital Tooting Bec Hospital was a mental facility in Tooting Bec, London, England. History This facility was one of the establishments commissioned by the Metropolitan Asylums Board to deal with chronic cases. The hospital, which was designed by Arthur ...

and gained the position of

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

the following year. Bewley was actively involved in the Royal College of Psychiatrists and was elected its Dean and then President in 1987. He wrote a history of the Royal College of Psychiatrists entitled ''Madness to Mental Illness''. Bewley's portrait hangs in the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Prescot Street, London. It was painted by Prof.

David Tindle David Tindle (born 29 April 1932) is a British painter who was made a Royal Academician in 1979. He is a Fellow of St Edmund Hall where several of his paintings are in the Senior Common Room. In the Old Dining Hall hangs his portrait of the ...

RA in 1988.

Personal life

While at St. Patrick's Hospital in Dublin, he met a young medical student called Beulah Knox. They married in 1955 and had five children. Their daughter

Susan Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...

is Professor of Obstetrics & Women's Health at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. Beulah died in 2018.

References

1926 births 2022 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Bewley family British psychiatrists Fellows of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Irish psychiatrists Members of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-psychiatrist-stub