George Combe
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George Combe (21 October 1788 – 14 August 1858) was a trained Scottish lawyer and a spokesman of the
phrenological Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...
movement for over 20 years. He founded the
Edinburgh Phrenological Society The Edinburgh Phrenological Society was founded in 1820 by George Combe, an Edinburgh lawyer, with his physician brother Andrew Combe. The Edinburgh Society was the first and foremost phrenology grouping in Great Britain; more than forty phr ...
in 1820 and wrote a noted study, ''
The Constitution of Man ''The Constitution of Man'' (or more completely, ''The Constitution of Man Considered in Relation to External Objects'') first published in 1828 is a work by George Combe, who is credited with popularizing the science of Phrenology. Combe argues t ...
'' (1828). After marriage in 1833, Combe took in later years to promoting phrenology internationally.


Early life

George Combe was born at Livingston's Yards, Edinburgh, the son of Marion (née Newton, died 1819) and George Combe, a prosperous brewer in the city. His younger brother was the physician
Andrew Combe Andrew Combe (27 October 17979 August 1847) was a Scottish physician and phrenologist. Life Combe was born in Edinburgh on 27 October 1797, the son of Marion (née Newton) and George Combe (1745-1816), a brewer, and was a younger brother o ...
. After attending the
High School of Edinburgh The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...
, he studied law at the
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 ...
, entered a lawyer's office in 1804, and in 1812 began a solicitor's practice at 11 Bank Street. In 1820 Combe moved his office to Mylnes Court on the
Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...
and moved house to 8 Hermitage Place in Stockbridge. In 1825 he moved with Andrew to 2 Brown Square off the Grassmarket. The Combe brothers lived together in a large dwelling at 25 Northumberland Street in the
New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
from 1829.


Phrenological Society

In 1815, the ''
Edinburgh Review The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929. ''Edinburgh Review'', ...
'' contained an article on the system of "craniology" devised by
Franz Joseph Gall Franz Josef Gall (; 9 March 175822 August 1828) was a German neuroanatomist, physiologist, and pioneer in the study of the localization of mental functions in the brain. Claimed as the founder of the pseudoscience of phrenology, Gall was an earl ...
and
Johann Gaspar Spurzheim Johann Gaspar Spurzheim (31 December 1776 – 10 November 1832) was a German physician who became one of the chief proponents of phrenology, which was developed c. 1800 by Franz Joseph Gall (1758–1828). Biography Spurzheim was born near Tr ...
, denouncing it as "a piece of thorough quackery from beginning to end". When Spurzheim came to Edinburgh in 1816, Combe was invited to a friend's house, where he watched Spurzheim dissect a human brain. Impressed by the demonstration, he attended a second series of Spurzheim's lectures. On investigating the subject for himself, he became satisfied that the fundamental principles of phrenology were true: "that the brain is the organ of mind; that the brain is an aggregate of several parts, each subserving a distinct mental faculty; and that the size of the cerebral organ is, ''caeteris paribus'', an index of power or energy of function." In 1820, Combe helped to found the
Phrenological Society of Edinburgh The Edinburgh Phrenological Society was founded in 1820 by George Combe, an Edinburgh lawyer, with his physician brother Andrew Combe. The Edinburgh Society was the first and foremost phrenology grouping in Great Britain; more than forty phre ...
, which in 1823 established a ''Phrenological Journal''. His lectures and writings also drew attention to phrenology in Europe and the United States.


Debate with Hamilton

Combe began to lecture at Edinburgh in 1822. He published a Manual, ''Elements of Phrenology'', in June 1824. He took private tuition in elocution; contemporaries described him as clever and opinionated. Combe's discussions had an air of confidentiality and theatrical urgency. Converts came in, societies sprang up and controversies began. A second edition of ''Elements'', 1825, was attacked by
Francis Jeffrey Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey (23 October 1773 – 26 January 1850) was a Scottish judge and literary critic. Life He was born at 7 Charles Street near Potterow in south Edinburgh, the son of George Jeffrey, a clerk in the Court of Session ...
in the ''Edinburgh Review'' of September 1825. Combe replied in a pamphlet and the journal. The phrenologists were attacked again in 1826 and 1827 by Sir William Hamilton in addresses to the
Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
. The sharp controversy included challenges to public disputes and mutual charges of misrepresentation, in which Spurzheim took part. The correspondence appeared in the fourth and fifth volumes of the ''Phrenological Journal''.


Social interests: schools, prisons and asylums

In 1836, Combe stood for the chair of Logic at the University of Edinburgh against two other candidates: Sir William Hamilton and
Isaac Taylor Isaac Taylor (17 August 1787 – 28 June 1865) was an English philosophical and historical writer, artist, and inventor. Life He was the eldest surviving son of Isaac Taylor of Ongar. He was born at Lavenham, Suffolk, on 17 August 1787, and m ...
. Hamilton won by 18 votes against 14 for Taylor. In 1838 Combe visited the United States to study the treatment of criminals there. He initiated a programme of public education in chemistry, physiology, history and moral philosophy. Combe sought to improve public education through a national, non-sectarian system. He helped to set up a school in Edinburgh run on the principles of William Ellis, and did some teaching there in phrenology and physiology. It was prompted by the London Birkbeck School, which had opened on 17 July 1848. Combe was strongly behind the view that the state should be involved in the education system. In this he was backed by William Jolly, an inspector of schools, and noted by
Frank Pierrepont Graves Frank Pierrepont Graves (July 23, 1869 – September 13, 1956) was Commissioner of the New York State Education Department from 1921 to 1940. Prior to assuming the commissionership, Graves was a noted historian of education, college administrato ...
. Combe was much concerned about prison reform. He and
William A. F. Browne Dr William Alexander Francis Browne (1805–1885) was one of the most significant British asylum doctors of the nineteenth century. At Montrose Asylum (1834–1838) in Angus and at the Crichton Royal in Dumfries (1838–1857), Browne introduc ...
opened a debate on introducing humane treatment of psychiatric patients in publicly funded asylums.


Later life

John Ramsay L'Amy John Ramsay L’Amy of Dunkenny WS FRSE DL (1813-1892) was a Scottish lawyer, phrenologist and early photographer. To distinguish himself from his grandfather, of the same name, he was often styled “Younger Dunkenny”. Life He was born at ...
, son of
James L'Amy James L'Amy of Dunkenny (8 July 1772- 15 January 1854) was a Scottish advocate and amateur phrenologist. He served as Sheriff of Forfar from 1819 until death. Life L'Amy was born on 8 July 1772 the son of Agnes (née) Hamilton and John Ramsay L ...
, trained under Combe at his offices at 25 Northumberland Street in
Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Stree ...
. In 1842, Combe gave a course of 22 lectures on phrenology at the
Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
and travelled about Europe enquiring into management of schools, prisons and asylums. On retiring, Combe took a substantial terraced townhouse, 45 Melville Street, in Edinburgh's West End. He was revising the 9th edition of the ''Constitution of Man'' when he died at
Moor Park, Farnham Moor Park, Farnham, Surrey, England is a listed building and of riverside grounds, in the former chapelry of Compton. The grounds formerly extended to Mother Ludlam's Cave, a cave entrenched in local folklore which faces across the Wey (north b ...
in August 1858. He lies under a simple headstone in the
Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...
, Edinburgh, against the north wall of the original section. His wife Cecilia Siddons is buried with him.


Works

In 1817, Combe's first essay on phrenology in ''The Scots Magazine'' was followed by a series of papers on the subject in the ''Literary and Statistical Magazine''. These appeared in book form in 1819 as ''Essays on Phrenology'', entitled ''A System of Phrenology'' in later editions. Combe's most popular work, ''
The Constitution of Man ''The Constitution of Man'' (or more completely, ''The Constitution of Man Considered in Relation to External Objects'') first published in 1828 is a work by George Combe, who is credited with popularizing the science of Phrenology. Combe argues t ...
'', appeared in 1828, but was widely denounced as a
materialist Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materialis ...
and
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
. He argued in it: "Mental qualities are determined by the size, form and constitution of the brain; and these are transmitted by hereditary descent." Combe was one of an active Edinburgh scene of people thinking about the nature of heredity and its possible malleability, as Lamarck proposed. Combe himself was no Lamarckian, but in the decades before Darwin's ''Origin of Species'' was published, the ''Constitution'' was probably the single most important vehicle for disseminating naturalistic progressivism in the English-speaking world. Combe's 1838 ''Answers to the Objections Urged Against Phrenology'' was followed in 1840 by ''Moral Philosophy'' and in 1841 by ''Notes on the United States of North America''. ''Phrenology Applied to Painting and Sculpture'' ensued in 1855. The culmination of Combe's autobiographical philosophy appeared in "On the Relation between Science and Religion", first publicly issued in 1857. Combe moved into the economic arena with a pamphlet on ''The Currency Question'' (1858). A fuller phrenological approach to political economy was set out later by
William Ballantyne Hodgson William Ballantyne Hodgson (6 October 1815 – 24 August 1880) was a Scottish educational reformer and political economist. Life The son of William Hodgson, a printer, he was born in Edinburgh on 6 October 1815. In 1820 the family were living ...
.


Family

In 1833, Combe married Cecilia Siddons, daughter of the actress
Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of John ...
and sister of Henry Siddons, author of ''Practical Illustrations of Rhetorical Gesture and Action'' (1807). She brought him a fortune and a happy, though childless marriage, preceded by a phrenological check for compatibility. A few years later, he retired from the law in comfortable circumstances.


Bibliography

*George Combe (1828), ''The Constitution of Man Considered in Relation to External Objects''. J. Anderson jun. (reissued by
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
, 2009; ) *George Combe (1830), ''A System of Phrenology'' Edinburgh: J Anderson
Full Text Available at archive.org
*George Combe (1857), ''On the Relation Between Science and Religion''. Maclachlan and Stewart (reissued by
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
, 2009; ) * * * * *


Notes

Attribution: * * *


External links

* *
Articles on Phrenological practice by George Combe, Andrew Combe, and other early Phrenologists.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Combe, George 1788 births 1858 deaths Scientists from Edinburgh Phrenology Phrenologists Scottish non-fiction writers Mental health professionals Burials at the Dean Cemetery Mental health activists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh School of Law Kemble family