![Memorial to William Tuke, Royal Edinburgh Hospital](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Memorial_to_William_Tuke%2C_Royal_Edinburgh_Hospital.jpg)
William Tuke (24 March 1732 – 6 December 1822), an English tradesman,
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
and
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 ...
, earned fame for promoting more humane custody and care for people with
mental disorder
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
s, using what he called gentler methods that came to be known as
moral treatment
Moral treatment was an approach to mental disorder based on humane psychosocial care or moral discipline that emerged in the 18th century and came to the fore for much of the 19th century, deriving partly from psychiatry or psychology and partly fr ...
. He played a big part in founding
The Retreat
The Retreat, commonly known as the York Retreat, is a place in England for the treatment of people with mental health needs. Located in Lamel Hill in York, it operates as a not for profit charitable organisation.
Opened in 1796, it is famous ...
at
Lamel Hill
Lamel Hill is a scheduled monument about south-east of the centre of York, England. It is near The Retreat and the northern part of Strays of York#Walmgate Stray, Walmgate Stray, and in some medieval documents it is referred to as Siward's Mi ...
,
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, for treating mental-health needs. He and his wife Esther Maud backed strict adherence to
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 ...
principles. He was an
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
, a patron of the
Bible Society
A Bible society is a non-profit organization, usually nondenominational in makeup, devoted to translating, publishing, and distributing the Bible at affordable prices. In recent years they also are increasingly involved in advocating its credibi ...
, and an opponent of the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
's inhumane practices.
Early life
William Tuke was born on 24 March 1732 in York into a prominent Quaker family. His father Samuel was a
stuff-weaver and shopkeeper, who died when Tuke was 16. His mother Ann died seven years later. Tuke attended boarding school for two or three years, after which he pursued further studies under clergymen. At age 14, he began an apprenticeship at his aunt's wholesale tea business, which he inherited on her death in 1746.
Family life
Tuke married Elizabeth Hoyland in 1754 and fathered four children. After Elizabeth died giving birth to their fifth child, Tuke met and married Esther Maud in 1765. Tuke and his wife were deeply involved in the
Friends community and advocated stricter adherence to Quaker principles. For five decades, he travelled to London for the
Yearly Meeting
Yearly Meeting is a term used by members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, to refer to an organization composed of constituent meetings or churches within a geographical area. The constituent meetings are called Monthly Meetings in ...
, serving as clerk there in 1783. Meanwhile, Tuke remained involved in the family business alongside his eldest son and business partner,
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
.
Ann Tuke, his daughter by Esther Maud, married
William Alexander of the prominent Ipswich Quaker banking family.
The Retreat
In 1791, William Tuke was moved by an incident involving
Hannah Mills
Hannah Louise Mills, (born 29 February 1988) is a British competitive sailor and two-time world champion in the Women's 470 class, having won in 2012 and 2019. Mills won a silver medal for Team GB with her crew Saskia Clark in the 2012 Olymp ...
, a melancholic Quaker widow, who died unexpectedly at York Lunatic Asylum. Although her cause of death was unclear, mistreatment was suspected and the managers had forbidden Mills from having visitors. Tuke's daughter Ann proposed founding a mental institution run by Quakers for their own members. At a Society of Friends meeting in March 1792, Tuke presented a plan for those who "laboured under that most afflictive dispensation — the loss of reason."
However, the proposal met with significant opposition. Some members felt such a move was unnecessary, while others saw it as overstepping the jurisdiction of a Quaker community. The small minority of supporters included Tuke's son,
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
, and the grammarian
Lindley Murray
Lindley Murray (7 June 1745 – 16 February 1826) was an American Quaker lawyer, writer and grammarian, best known for his English-language grammar books used in schools in England and the United States.
Early life
Lindley Murray was born ...
.
During a visit to
St. Luke's Hospital in London, Tuke witnessed appalling conditions for patients. He was particularly affected by a naked female patient who had been chained to a wall. Tuke believed the abuse was not cruel in intent, but marked a lack of effective alternatives.
![RetreatOriginalBuildingssm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/RetreatOriginalBuildingssm.jpg)
By 1795, financial and social support from the community was still limited. The Society of Friends eventually approved the plan when Tuke's friend, Lindley Murray, suggested raising funds through annuities. Tuke bought 11 acres of land (4.5 ha) for £938 and worked closely with a London architect, John Bevans, to carry out his vision for the new asylum. Unlike other institutions at the time,
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 ...
featured long, airy corridors where patients could stroll, even if they were kept from going outside.
A month after the first patients arrived in June 1796, the unexpected death of its superintendent, Timothy Maud, forced Tuke to step in and run the Retreat himself.
William Tuke allowed his doctors to make their own observations and apply them in practice.
Bleeding
Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vag ...
and other traditional remedies were abandoned in favour of gentler methods, such as warm baths for patients with
melancholia
Melancholia or melancholy (from el, µέλαινα χολή ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly dep ...
. Tuke believed that physical and mental health were inextricably linked and stressed the need for proper diet and exercise. He sought to instil a sense of reason, not fear, and limited the use of physical restraints. Patients were encouraged to make themselves comfortable and often took up tasks like sewing and knitting.
The approach was widely derided at first. William Tuke noted, "All men seem to desert me."
However, it eventually became famous worldwide as a model for more humane, psychologically based approaches.
Other work
Outside his work at the Retreat, Tuke helped to found three Quaker schools:
Ackworth School,
Bootham School
Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19, and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England.
The school ...
, and Trinity Lane Quaker Girls' School.
The last was run by Tuke's second wife Esther until her death in 1794. The Tuke family continued to run it until 1812, by which time 500 students had passed through.
As a patron of the
Bible Society
A Bible society is a non-profit organization, usually nondenominational in makeup, devoted to translating, publishing, and distributing the Bible at affordable prices. In recent years they also are increasingly involved in advocating its credibi ...
, Tuke attended its meetings and made generous donations. Tuke campaigned against the slave trade and supported the abolitionist
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...
in the 1806 Yorkshire parliamentary election.
Tuke was one of few voices in Britain opposing the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
for its inhumanity in other countries. He also supported the
African Institution
The African Institution was founded in 1807 after British abolitionists succeeded in ending the slave trade based in the United Kingdom. The Institution was formed to succeed where the former Sierra Leone Company had failed—to create a viabl ...
, which sought to create a viable, civilized refuge for freed slaves in
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
.
Towards the end of his career, a resurgence of patient abuse at
History of psychiatric institutions#Emergence of public lunatic asylums, York Asylum prompted Tuke to take to the local press and demand urgent reform. Tuke provided evidence to the Select Committee on Madhouses in May 1815, which led to further inquiries and passage of the County Asylums Act in 1828.
Final years and death
Tuke remained involved with the Retreat until he became blind at the age of 82. He died on 6 December 1822 after a paralytic attack.
Legacy
Several of Tuke's family pursued similar philanthropic work. The York Retreat was founded by his son Henry (1755–1815), at whose request his own son
Samuel
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...
wrote an 1813 account of it and popularized the principles of "moral treatment". Samuel's son
James Hack Tuke
James Hack Tuke (13 September 1819 – 13 January 1896) was an English philanthropist.
Life
Born at York, England in into a Quaker family, he was the son of Samuel Tuke and his wife Priscilla Hack; their seventh child, he had Daniel Hack Tuke ...
also helped to manage the York Retreat, while his brother
Daniel Hack Tuke
Daniel Hack Tuke (19 April 18275 March 1895) was an English physician and expert on mental illness.
Family
Tuke came from a long line of Quakers from York who were interested in mental illness and concerned with those afflicted. His great-gr ...
co-wrote ''A Manual of Psychological Medicine'' (1858) and became a leading medical expert on insanity. His daughter
Sarah Tuke Grubb founded a school in Ireland.
References
External links
*
BBC Website – brief William Tuke biographyYork Quaker memorial statement of 1823 concerning William Tukefrom Google Book search.
The Tuke Institutean independent charity
*
Tuke pedigree
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuke, William
1732 births
1822 deaths
English Quakers
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
Mental health activists
18th-century Quakers
19th-century Quakers