Forbes Benignus Winslow DCL, FRCP Edin., MRCP, MRCS, MD, (10 August 1810 – 3 March 1874) was a British

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

, author and an authority on mental illness during the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. Winslow was the ninth son of Thomas Winslow (1772–1815), a captain in the 47th Regiment of Foot, and his wife, Mary (née Forbes) (1774–1854). He was born at

Pentonville Pentonville is an area in North London, located in the London Borough of Islington. It is located north-northeast of Charing Cross on the London Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road. Pentonville developed in the northwestern edge of the ancient p ...

in August 1810. One of his brothers was

Octavius Winslow Octavius Winslow (1 August 1808 – 5 March 1878), also known as "The Pilgrim's Companion", was a prominent 19th-century evangelical preacher in England and United States, America. A Baptist minister for most of his life and contemporary o ...

. The family lost their American property in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and came to England. After education in Scotland, in 1820, aged 10, Forbes Winslow travelled to New York where he continued his education before returning to Britain to study medicine. After education at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, and at

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

, where he was a pupil of Sir

Charles Bell Sir Charles Bell (12 November 177428 April 1842) was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist, physiologist, neurologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He is noted for discovering the difference between sensory nerves and motor nerves in the ...

, he became a member of the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgery, surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wa ...

in 1835, and graduated MD at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

in 1849. He had to pay the expenses of his own medical education by acting as a reporter for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' in the gallery of 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 ...

, and by writing small manuals for students on

osteology Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practiced by osteologists . A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, archaeology and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone mo ...

, and on practical

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...

. In 1839 he published, anonymously ''Physic and Physicians'', in two volumes, a collection of miscellaneous anecdotes about physicians and surgeons; and in 1840 ''The Anatomy of Suicide'', which tried to show that most suicides are not criminal, but are victims of mental disease. This was followed in 1843 by ''The Plea of Insanity in Criminal Cases'', and in 1845 by ''The Incubation of Insanity''. He was now regarded by the public as an authority in cases of insanity, and in 1847 opened two private lunatic asylums at

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, where he employed the humane method of treating lunatics which is now universal, but was then regarded as on its trial. He founded the ''Quarterly Journal of Psychological Medicine'' in 1848, and continued it for sixteen years. He became FRCP Edin. in 1850 and MRCP in 1859. When the

Earl of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

was installed as

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, the honorary degree of DCL was conferred on Winslow on 9 June 1853. With Dr Tyler Smith and Dr James Yearsley he founded the ''Medical Directory''. He continued to write numerous papers on insanity and on its relation to the laws, and in 1860 published ''On the Obscure Diseases of the Brain and Mind'', a work containing many interesting cases. In 1865, after recovering from a serious illness, he wrote ''Light and its Influence'' and a short essay ''On Uncontrollable Drunkenness''. He was examined before a committee of the

in 1872 on this subject. The frequent establishment of the plea of insanity in criminal cases was largely due to his influence, and he was called as a witness in many celebrated trials. He died at

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

on 3 March 1874, and was buried in the family vault at Epping. The ''Medical Circular'' for 16 March 1853 contains his portrait, engraved from a

daguerreotype Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photography, photographic process, widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwid ...

. In 1841 he married Susannah Holt (1811–1883). His eldest son, the Revd Forbes Edward Winslow, was vicar of Epping. His second son, Lyttelton Stewart Forbes Winslow, graduated in medicine and, like his father, became a noted

. L. Forbes Winslow became famous for his involvement in the

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who was active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer was also ...

and

Georgina Weldon Georgina Weldon (née Thomas; 24 May 1837 – 11 January 1914) was a British litigant and amateur soprano of the Victorian era. Early years She was born at Tooting Lodge, Clapham Common in 1837, one of seven children and the oldest daughter bo ...

cases. Forbes Benignus Winslow's daughter, Susanna Frances, married the humourist Arthur William à Beckett.Jonathan Andrews, 'Winslow, Forbes Benignus (1810–1874)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 10 June 2013
/ref> Another daughter was Constance Winslow (1850-1925).

References

*British Medical Journal, 1874, vol. i. *Medical Circular, 1853, vol. ii. *The Lancet, 14 March 1874 *Journal of Psychological Medicine, 1875, vol. i., edited by L. S. Winslow, M.D. *A. L. Wyman, ‘Why Winslow? The Winslows of Sussex House’, Charing Cross Hospital Gazette, 64 (1966–7), 143–6 ;Attribution This article contains text now in the public domain:

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, 1885-1900, Volume 62 s:Winslow, Forbes Benignus (DNB00)

External links

*
Winslow
on the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

website
Full text of ''Obscure Diseases of the Brain and Mind''
''

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Winslow, Forbes 1810 births 1874 deaths English psychiatrists Alumni of University College London Alumni of the University of Aberdeen