Samuel Tuke (31 July 1784 – 14 October 1857) was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

philanthropist and mental-health reformer. He was born in

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 ...

, England.

Early life

Samuel was part of a Quaker family. He was the son of Henry Tuke and the grandson of William Tuke, who founded the York Retreat.

Career

He greatly advanced the cause of the amelioration of the condition 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 ...

, and devoted himself largely to the York Retreat. The methods of treatment pursued there were made more widely known by his ''Description of the Retreat near York''. In this work Samuel Tuke referred to the Retreat's methods 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 ...

, borrowed from the French "traitement moral" being used to describe the work of Jean-Baptiste Pussin and

Philippe Pinel Philippe Pinel (; 20 April 1745 – 25 October 1826) was a French physician, precursor of psychiatry and incidentally a zoologist. He was instrumental in the development of a more humane psychological approach to the custody and care of ps ...

in France (and in the original French referring more to morale in the sense of the emotions and self-esteem, rather than rights and wrongs). Samuel Tuke also published ''Practical Hints on the Construction and Economy of Pauper Lunatic Asylums'' (1815).

Personal life

He married Priscilla Hack, the daughter of James Hack of Chichester and Hannah Jeffreys. Their children were: * James Hack Tuke (1819–1896), also active in humanitarian concerns *

Elizabeth Tuke Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

(1821-1890), also active in humanitarian concerns, married William Stacey Gibson in 1845 *

William Murray Tuke William Murray Tuke (1822-1903), was a British tea merchant and banker. Early life William Murray Tuke was born in 1822, the son of Samuel Tuke and Priscilla Hack, the daughter of James Hack of Chichester, and his wife, Hannah Jeffreys. Wikisou ...

(1822–1903), tea merchant and banker * Daniel Hack Tuke (1827–1895), also active in humanitarian concerns

Legacy

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 ...

still provides mental healthcare for the population of York and the wider community. Samuel Tuke is buried in the Quaker cemetery within the hospital grounds. In August 2017 York Civic Trust commemorated him with a

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 ...

References

---- 1784 births 1857 deaths English Quakers People educated at Ackworth School

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 bib ...

Mental health activists {{Quaker-stub