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

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

philanthropist and mental-health reformer. He was born in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, England.

Early life

Samuel was part of a Quaker family. He was the son of

Henry Tuke Henry Tuke (24 March 1755 – 11 August 1814) co-founded with his father, William Tuke, the Retreat asylum in York, England, a humane alternative to the nineteenth-century network of asyla, based on Quaker principles.Burial: "England & Wales, ...

and the grandson of

William Tuke William Tuke (24 March 1732 – 6 December 1822), an English tradesman, philanthropist and Quakers, Quaker, earned fame for promoting more humane custody and care for people with mental disorders, using what he called gentler methods that cam ...

, who founded the

York 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 ...

Career

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

, and devoted himself largely to the

. 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 ...

, borrowed from the French "traitement moral" being used to describe the work of

Jean-Baptiste Pussin Jean-Baptiste Pussin (1746–1811) was a French hospital superintendent who, along with his wife and colleague Marguerite, established more humane treatment of patients with mental disorders in 19th-century France. They helped physician Philippe P ...

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 James Hack Tuke (13 September 1819 – 13 January 1896) was an English philanthropist. Life Born at York, England into a Quaker family, he was the son of Samuel Tuke and his wife Priscilla Hack; their seventh child, he had Daniel Hack Tuke ...

(1819–1896), also active in humanitarian concerns * Elizabeth Tuke (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. Career ...

(1822–1903), tea merchant and banker *

Daniel Hack Tuke Daniel Hack Tuke (19 April 18275 March 1895) was an English physician and expert on mental illness. Family Tuke came from a long line of Quakers from York who were interested in mental illness and concerned with those afflicted. His great-gra ...

(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 certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

References

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

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

Mental health activists {{Quaker-stub