James Tilly Matthews (1770 – 10 January 1815) was a British merchant of

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

and

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

descent who was committed to the

Bethlem Royal Hospital Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as St Mary Bethlehem, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam, is a psychiatric hospital in Bromley, London. Its famous history has inspired several horror books, films, and television series, most notably ''Bedlam (194 ...

in 1797 after developing politically charged delusions which led him to disrupt sessions of the

House of Commons of Great Britain The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the Pa ...

. These delusions were documented in an 1810 book titled ''Illustrations of Madness'', including Matthews' belief that a group of spies were using an "air

loom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...

" to secretly torment him from a distance. Modern historians consider Matthews to be the first fully documented case of

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

Life

Voyage to France

In the early 1790s, concerned at the likelihood of war between Britain and France, Matthews travelled to France with the radical David Williams, who was acquainted with such

Girondins The Girondins (, ), also called Girondists, were a political group during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnards, they initiall ...

Jacques Pierre Brissot Jacques Pierre Brissot (, 15 January 1754 – 31 October 1793), also known as Brissot de Warville, was a French journalist, abolitionist, and revolutionary leading the political faction, faction of Girondins (initially called Brissotins) at the ...

and

Charles-François Lebrun Charles-François Lebrun, 1st duc de Plaisance (, 19 March 1739 – 16 June 1824) was a French statesman who served as Third Consul of the French Republic and was later created Arch-Treasurer by Napoleon I. Biography ''Ancien Régime'' ...

. Williams made efforts at mediation which failed, whereupon Matthews took the lead. He gained the trust of the French government for a short time. On 2 June 1793 the Girondists were displaced by the

Jacobins The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential List of polit ...

and Matthews fell under suspicion for his Girondist associations and also because he was suspected of being a

double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...

. He was arrested and imprisoned for three years during the height of

The Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to ...

and was reportedly terrified of the guillotine, like all others. This lasted until 1796 when the French authorities concluded that he was a

lunatic ''Lunatic'' is a term referring to a person who is seen as Mental disorder, mentally ill, Risk, dangerous, Foolishness, foolish, or crazy—conditions once attributed to "lunacy". The word derives from ''lunaticus'' meaning "of the moon" or "moo ...

and released him.

Committal

Returning to London, Matthews wrote two letters to

Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. Before becoming Prime Minister he had been Foreign Secretary, ...

, in which he accused the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

of treason and complained about conspiracies directed against his life. After interrupting a debate in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

by shouting "Treason" at Lord Liverpool from the Public Gallery, he was arrested and held at

Tothill Fields Bridewell Tothill Fields Bridewell (also known as Tothill Fields Prison and Westminster Bridewell) was a prison located in the Westminster area of central London between 1618 and 1884. It was named "Bridewell" after the Bridewell Palace, which during the ...

, a secure house of correction in Tothill Fields,

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

before being admitted to the Bethlem (Bedlam) hospital on 28 January 1797. Upon examination he declared that he had taken part in secret affairs of state (referring to his efforts in France), but had been betrayed and abandoned by William Pitt's administration. In 1809 his family and friends petitioned for his release, on the grounds that he was no longer insane, but their petition was rejected by the Bethlem authorities. They therefore took out a suit of

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

and two doctors,

George Birkbeck George Birkbeck (; 10 January 1776 – 1 December 1841) was an English physician, academic, philanthropist, pioneer in adult education and a professor of natural philosophy at the Andersonian Institute. He is the founder of Birkbeck, Universit ...

and

Henry Clutterbuck Henry Clutterbuck may refer to: * Henry Clutterbuck (writer) Henry Clutterbuck M.D. (1767–1856) was an English medical writer. Life Clutterbuck was the fifth child of Thomas Clutterbuck, attorney, who died at Marazion in Cornwall 6 November ...

examined Matthews, declaring him sane. John Haslam, the resident

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...

at Bethlem, begged to differ and maintained that Matthews'

delusion A delusion is a fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or some other m ...

s, particularly on political matters, rendered him a danger both to public figures and the general public.

''Illustrations of Madness''

In 1810 John Haslam produced the book ''Illustrations of Madness'' (original title: ''Illustrations of Madness: Exhibiting a Singular Case of Insanity, And a No Less Remarkable Difference in Medical Opinions: Developing the Nature of An Assailment, And the Manner of Working Events; with a Description of Tortures Experienced by Bomb-Bursting, Lobster-Cracking and Lengthening the Brain. Embellished with a Curious Plate''). Haslam intended to settle the dispute over Matthews' sanity; his book contains verbatim accounts of Matthew's beliefs and hallucinatory experiences and is considered the original description of the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. The book documented the first full study of a single psychiatric patient in medical history and has become a classic in the medical literature.

The "Air Loom"

Matthews believed that a gang of criminals and spies skilled in

pneumatic chemistry In the history of science, pneumatic chemistry is an area of scientific research of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries. Important goals of this work were the understanding of the physical properties of gases and how the ...

had taken up residence at

London Wall The London Wall is a defensive wall first built by the Ancient Rome, Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, as well as the name of a #modern, modern street in the City of London, England. Roman London was ...

Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its London Wall, northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting a ...

(close to Bethlem) and were tormenting him by means of rays emitted by a machine called the "Air

Loom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...

" or gaseous charge generator. The torments induced by the rays included "Lobster-cracking", during which the circulation of the blood was prevented by a

magnetic field A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular ...

; "Stomach-skinning" and "Apoplexy-working with the nutmeg grater" which involved the introduction of fluids into the skull. His persecutors bore such names as "the Middleman" (who operated the Air Loom), "the Glove Woman" and "Sir Archy" (who acted as "repeaters" or "active worriers" to enhance Matthews' torment or record the machine's activities) and their leader, a man called "Bill, or the King". Matthews' delusions had a definite political slant: he claimed that the purpose of this gang was espionage, and that there were many other such gangs armed with Air Looms all over London, using "pneumatic practitioners" to "premagnetize" potential victims with "volatile magnetic fluid". According to Matthews, their chief targets (apart from himself) were leading government figures. By means of their "rays" they could influence ministers' thoughts and read their minds. Matthews declared that William Pitt was "not half" susceptible to these attacks and held that these gangs were responsible for the British military disasters at

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

in 1807 and

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

in 1809 and also for the

Nore Mutiny The Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutinies by sailors of the Royal Navy in 1797. They were the first in an increasing series of outbreaks of maritime radicalism in the Atlantic World. Despite their temporal proximity, the mutinies d ...

of 1797. In 1814 Matthews was moved to "Fox's London House", a private asylum in Hackney, where he became a popular and trusted patient. His delusions appeared to have stopped. The asylum's owner, Dr. Fox, regarded him as sane. Matthews assisted with bookkeeping and gardening until his death on 10 January 1815.

Significance of the Air Loom Gang affair

Although it is impossible to make an unequivocal diagnosis of a person long since deceased, Matthews' description of his torment by the "Air Loom Gang" reads as a classic example of

paranoid Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of con ...

persecutory delusion A persecutory delusion is a type of delusional condition in which the affected person believes that harm is going to occur to oneself by a persecutor, despite a clear lack of evidence. The person may believe that they are being targeted by an ...

s experienced as part of a

psychotic In psychopathology, psychosis is a condition in which a person is unable to distinguish, in their experience of life, between what is and is not real. Examples of psychotic symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized or incoher ...

episode. From this, it can be concluded that his disorder was most likely

, although retrospective diagnoses should be treated with caution. Modern historians consider Matthews to be the first fully documented case of schizophrenia. It should also be noted that while Haslam kept notes on Matthews, Matthews kept notes on Haslam and his treatment in Bethlem. This formed part of the evidence looked at by the House of Commons 'Committee On the Better Regulation of Madhouses in England' in 1815, the findings of which led to Haslam's dismissal and reform of the treatment of patients in the Bethlem Hospital. Matthews was also important in the history of psychiatry for more practical reasons. During his involuntary confinement he took part in a public competition to design plans for the rebuilding of Bethlem hospital. Bethlem's governors thought so well of the 46 pages of designs submitted by Matthews that they paid him £50 () and the drawings finally used to build the new hospital show some features proposed by Matthews.

Fictional representations

*''Haslam's Key'', a play written by journalist Danny O'Brien, imagined Matthews as a forerunner of modern science fiction authors. The titular "key" was a wooden spoon-like device invented by John Haslam, the documenter of Matthew's delusions, which was used to force-feed Bedlam patients. *In 2002, the British artist

Rod Dickinson Rod Dickinson (born 1965)Rod Dickinson 1965, UK
Artfacts.net. R ...

built a re-creation of the air loom from Matthews' original plans. *

Greg Hollingshead Gregory Hollingshead, CM (born February 25, 1947) is a Canadian novelist. He was formerly a professor of English at the University of Alberta, and he lives in Toronto, Ontario.CSI'' episode "Lab Rats" (2007), Grissom uses Matthews' condition as an analogy in describing

The Miniature Killer '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony E. Zuiker and executive produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue, William Petersen, Cynthia Chvatal, Naren Shankar, and Don Mc ...

, a

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

obsessed with bleach. *

Robert Rankin Robert Fleming Rankin (born 27 July 1949) is a prolific British author of fantasy comedy, comedic fantasy novels. Born in Parsons Green, London, he started writing in the late 1970s, and first entered the bestsellers lists with ''Snuff Fictio ...

's 2007 novel ''The Da-da-de-da-da Code'' features a group of villains known as the Air Loom Gang, as well as a doctor named Doctor Archy, a pub called "The Middle Man" and a beer called "King Billy". * The game '' Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs'' from 2013 makes several references to both James Tilly Matthews, the Air Loom and Bedlam.