John Conolly (folk Musician)
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John Conolly (27 May 1794 – 5 March 1866) was an English
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 ...
. He published the volume ''Indications of Insanity'' in 1830. In 1839, he was appointed resident physician to the Middlesex County Asylum where he introduced the principle of non-restraint into the treatment of the
insane Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other ...
, which led to non-restraint became accepted practice throughout England. With colleagues he founded the 'Provincial Medical and Surgical Association', and founded the 'British and Foreign Medical Review, or, A Quarterly Journal of Practical Medicine'.


Life

Conolly was born at
Market Rasen Market Rasen ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The River Rase runs through it east to west, approximately north-east from Lincoln, England, Lincoln, eas ...
, Lincolnshire, of an Irish family. He spent four years as a lieutenant in the
Cambridgeshire Militia The Cambridgeshire Militia was an auxiliary military regiment in the English county of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. From their formal organisation as Trained bands, Trained Bands and their service during the Spanish Armada, Armada Crisis ...
and lived for a year in France before embarking on a medical career. He graduated with an MD degree at
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
in 1821. After practising at
Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...
,
Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...
and
Stratford-on-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-west of ...
successively, he was appointed professor of the practice of medicine 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 ...
, in 1828. In 1830 he published a work on the ''Indications of Insanity'', and soon afterwards settled at
Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
. In 1832 in co-operation with
Sir Charles Hastings Sir Charles Hastings (11 January 1794 – 30 July 1866) was a medical surgeon and a founder of the British Medical Association, the BMA, (then known as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association) on 19 July 1832. He was also a notable life ...
and
Sir John Forbes Sir John Forbes FRCP FRS (17 December 1787 – 13 November 1861) was a Scottish physician, famous for his translation of the classic French medical text ''De L'Auscultation Mediate'' by René Laennec, the inventor of the stethoscope. He was ph ...
, he founded a small medical association with a view to raising the standard of provincial practice called the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association. His brother William Brice Conolly became the association's 'Widows and Orphans Benevolent Fund' treasurer and secretary. In later years this grew in importance and membership, and finally became the
British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...
. Conolly and Forbes went on to start a new publication in 1836: the 'British and Foreign Medical Review, or, A Quarterly Journal of Practical Medicine', for which they shared the editorship from 1836 to 1839. It was the first publication of its type, aimed at sharing newly-won medical knowledge. The ''Review'' was read widely in Europe and America, and helped to promote modern methods of treatment and to enhance the reputation of British medicine. The BMA library still holds a complete set of its volumes. In 1839, Conolly was appointed resident physician to the Middlesex County Asylum at
Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing. It is about west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post town. Hanwell is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. St ...
(now known as West London Mental Health NHS Trust's St Bernard's Hospital). In this capacity, he introduced the principle of non-restraint into the treatment of the
insane Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other ...
. This principle had already been put into practice in two small English asylums—William Tuke's York Retreat and the The Lawn, Lincoln, Lincoln Asylum—but it was due to Conolly's courage in sweeping away all mechanical restraint in a great metropolitan asylum and in the face of strong opposition, that non-restraint became accepted practice throughout the country. In 1844 Conolly ceased to be resident physician at Hanwell, but he remained visiting physician until 1852. On 21 July 1852, the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law was conferred on Conolly together with his two friends Dr John Forbes and Dr Charles Hastings (English physician), Charles Hastings. Conolly died on 5 March 1866 at Hanwell, where in the later part of his life he had a private asylum called Lawn House. His gravestone can still be seen in Kensington Cemetery, Uxbridge Road, Ealing.


Family

Conolly married Elizabeth Collins, daughter of naval captain Sir John Collins, with whom he had four children. Their only son, Edward Conolly (judge), Edward Tennyson Conolly, was born while Conolly was working at Chichester in Sussex. Edward became a lawyer, having been Call to the bar, called to the Bar on 30 January 1852. In 1865 he emigrated with his family to Picton, New Zealand. There he continued to practise law and became very active in politics. In line with his father's concerns for humane treatment of the mentally ill, he introduced the concept of rehabilitation to the New Zealand penal system. He died in Auckland in 1908 and was interred in Remuera. John Conolly's second daughter, Sophia Jane, married Thomas Harrington Tuke in 1852."Obituary: Thomas Harrington Tuke M.D., F.R.C.P., Etc."
''The British Medical Journal'', 23 June 1888, p. 1364.
Tuke ran a private Lunatic Asylum at Manor House in Chiswick, Middlesex (this Tuke is not related to the Tukes of the The Retreat, York Retreat). Conolly's youngest child, Ann, married Henry Maudsley when she was thirty-six, just two months before her father's death. Conolly's obituary was written by Maudsley and shocked many by its unusually unsympathetic tone. Henry Maudsley had by then taken over the running of Lawn House. Ann predeceased Maudsley on 9 February 1911 at the age of 81.


Commemoration

Dr John Conolly and the former Hanwell Asylum were commemorated with an English Heritage blue plaque on the 27th of May 2022, on a wall of what was the left-hand wing of the asylum, now part of St Bernard's Hospital, Hanwell, St Bernard’s Hospital. It would have been his 228th Birthday. It is the first plaque in the scheme to go up in Hanwell and the date of its installation was chosen to support Mental Health Week in the UK.


Publications

* * * . German translation by Caspar Max Brosius as * ''The Indications of Insanity'' with an introduction by Richard Hunter and Ida MacAlpine. Psychiatric Monograph Series 4 (reprint: Dawsons, London, 1964) *


References


External links

* Scull, Andrew (c1989) Social Order/Mental Disorder: Anglo-American Psychiatry in Historical Perspective
John Conolly: A Victorian Psychiatric Career
Berkeley: University of California Press. Accessed 2007-09-21 {{DEFAULTSORT:Conolly, John 1794 births 1866 deaths Academics of University College London Alumni of the University of Edinburgh English health activists 19th-century English medical doctors English non-fiction writers English psychiatrists Fellows of the Ethnological Society of London History of mental health in the United Kingdom People from Market Rasen Mental health activists History of psychiatry English male non-fiction writers 19th-century English male writers Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge