Elizabeth Crichton (1779 – 1862) was a

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philanthropist who founded the Crichton Royal Hospital in Dumfries. She had wanted to create a university but it was opened instead as the Crichton Institution for Lunatics in 1839. It now holds part of several universities and in her memory: a cathedral like church and her statue.

Life

Crichton was born in Rockhall in 1779 to Margaret Dalzell and Sir Robert Grierson fifth baronet. In 1810 she married James Crichton who had qualified as a doctor at

Edinburgh University 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 1582 ...

but whose fortune was made after he had joined 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 ...

. He practised medicine but it was his trading in India and China that left Elizabeth a rich widow. He had left £100,000 and his widow was allowed to spend it on any project agreed by the trustees. It was said that she wanted to create a university in Dumfries but she was prevented by the existing

Scottish universities There are fifteen universities in Scotland and three other institutions of higher education that have the authority to award academic degrees. The first university college in Scotland was founded at St John's College, St Andrews in 1418 by H ...

. The original hospital building, now

The Crichton The Crichton is an institutional campus in Dumfries in southwest Scotland. It serves as a remote campus for the University of Glasgow, the University of the West of Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway College, and the Open University. The site also ...

, was designed by

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred t ...

and opened as the Crichton Institution for Lunatics in 1839. It became the Crichton Royal Institution in 1840. The Southern Counties Asylum, which was intended to provide facilities for paupers, was erected on the site in 1849 and subsequently amalgamated with the main facility. Crichton persuaded the

phrenologist 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 ...

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 ...

to become Crichton's medical superintendent and to implement his ideas of both

occupational therapy Occupational therapy (OT) is a global healthcare profession. It involves the use of assessment and intervention to develop, recover, or maintain the meaningful activities, or ''occupations'', of individuals, groups, or communities. The field of ...

and

art therapy Art therapy (not to be confused with ''arts therapy'', which includes other creative therapies such as drama therapy and music therapy) is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art thera ...

. She travelled to Montrose Asylum, interviewed Browne and offered him the equivalent post at the Crichton Royal in Dumfries. Browne remained at the Crichton for almost twenty years (1838-1857) setting new standards in therapeutic administration. In 1843 the hospital staged a theatre production where all the actors and musicians were patients and the following year the patients started a paper, New Moon, that was published for the next 92 years. The patients would be taken on picnics and Crichton would visit regularly to hear of Crichton Hall's progress. Crichton Memorial Church is a huge building that was built as a memorial to her and her husband fifty years after the creation of the foundation that they had created. It was designed by

Sydney Mitchell Arthur George Sydney Mitchell (7 January 1856 – 13 October 1930) was a Scottish architect. He designed a large number of bank branches, country houses, churches, and church halls. His most significant commissions include the housing develop ...

and construction lasted from 1890 to 1897. A statue of her was unveiled in May 2000 near to the Crichton Memorial Church in Dumfries. The statue is by Bill Scott and is one of the small number of memorials to women in Scotland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crichton, Elizabeth 1779 births 1862 deaths People from Dumfries History of mental health in the United Kingdom People involved with mental health British philanthropists Founders