Sir Thomas Smith Clouston (22 April 1840 – 19 April 1915) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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 ...

Life

Clouston was the youngest of four sons of Robert Clouston (1786–1857) 3rd of Nisthouse, in the

Birsay Birsay () (Old Norse: ''Birgisherað'') is a parish in the north west corner of The Mainland of Orkney, Scotland. Almost all the land in the parish is devoted to agriculture: chiefly grassland used to rear beef cattle. There are various ancien ...

parish of

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

, and his wife Janet (née Smith). The Cloustons descend from Havard Gunnason (fl. 1090), Chief Counsellor to Haakon,

Earl of Orkney Earl of Orkney, historically Jarl of Orkney, is a title of nobility encompassing the archipelagoes of Orkney and Shetland, which comprise the Northern Isles of Scotland. Originally Scandinavian Scotland, founded by Norse invaders, the status ...

, and later became landed gentry taking their name from their estate, Clouston. Clouston was educated at

Aberdeen Grammar School Aberdeen Grammar School is a state secondary school in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of thirteen secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department. It is the oldest school in the city and one of the oldest schools in the ...

and the

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 ...

. Clouston qualified M.D.(Edinburgh) with a thesis on the

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its behavior, actions and sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its body. Th ...

of the

lobster Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...

, supervised by

John Goodsir John Goodsir (20 March 1814 – 6 March 1867) was a Scottish anatomist and a pioneer in the formulation of cell theory. Early life Goodsir was born on 20 March 1814 in Anstruther, Fife, the son of Elizabeth Dunbar Taylor and John Goods ...

. His early interest in

insanity 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 ...

resulted in an apprenticeship with David Skae, the eminent Superintendent of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum. In 1863, Clouston was appointed superintendent of the Cumberland and Westmoreland Asylum (Garlands Hospital) in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

; and in 1873, in succession to Skae, Superintendent of the new Royal Edinburgh Asylum, which had been set up under new principles laid down by the then Commissioner to the Scottish Health Board, Sir James Coxe . In 1879, after having lectured for some years in conjunction with the Professor of the Practice of Physic Thomas Laycock, Clouston was appointed as the first ever Lecturer on Mental Diseases in the University of Edinburgh, a post which he held in conjunction with his position at the Royal Edinburgh Asylum. Clouston became a celebrated lecturer with an international reputation for his exposition of the psychiatric disorders of adolescence. Clouston published extensively, beginning with his remarkable ''Clinical Lectures on Mental Diseases'' (1883), followed, much later, by his more popular work ''Unsoundness of Mind'' (1911). Another book aimed at the general public was entitled ''Morals and The Brain''; and he remained an unreconstructed believer in "masturbational insanity" and an uncompromising advocate of teetotalism in opposition to his exact contemporary, the psychiatrist

James Crichton-Browne Sir James Crichton-Browne FRS FRSE (29 November 1840 – 31 January 1938) was a leading Scottish psychiatrist, neurologist and eugenicist. He is known for studies on the relationship of mental illness to brain injury and for the development o ...

. In 1888, Clouston served as President of the Medico-Psychological Association. In 1874 Clouston was elected a member of the

Harveian Society of Edinburgh The Harveian Society of Edinburgh was founded in April 1782 by Andrew Duncan (physician, born 1744), Andrew Duncan. The Society holds an annual Festival in honour of the life and works of William Harvey, the physician who first correctly des ...

and served as president in 1908. In 1875 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

, his proposers were Sir

Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 1827 – 10 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and pioneer of aseptic, antiseptic surgery and preventive healthcare. Joseph Lister revolutionised the Sur ...

John Hutton Balfour John Hutton Balfour (15 September 1808 – 11 February 1884) was a Scottish botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to the Edinburgh University, University of Edinburgh and also becomin ...

, Sir William Turner and

Alexander Crum Brown Alexander Crum Brown Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (26 March 1838 – 28 October 1922) was a Scottish Organic chemistry, organic chemist. Alexander Crum Brown Road in Edinburgh's King's Buildi ...

. In 1881 he was elected a member of the

Aesculapian Club The Aesculapian Club of Edinburgh is one of the oldest medical dining clubs in the world. It was founded in April 1773 by Dr. Andrew Duncan. Membership of the club is limited to 11 Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and ...

. In 1894 he opened the Craig House extension to the Royal Edinburgh asylum on Easter

Craiglockhart Craiglockhart (; ) is a suburb in the south west of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying between Colinton to the south, Morningside to the east Merchiston to the north east, and Longstone and Kingsknowe to the west. The Water of Leith is also to the w ...

Hill, which was renamed the Thomas Clouston Clinic in 1972. The buildings later became part of

Napier University Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

. From 1902 to 1904 he was President of the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that set the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by royal charter i ...

. Clouston retired in 1908 and was knighted in 1911. He is commemorated by a brass plaque on the eastern aspect of the north transept of

St Magnus Cathedral St Magnus Cathedral dominates the skyline of Kirkwall, the main town of Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. Originally Roman Catholic, it is the oldest cathedral in Scotland and the most northerly cathedral in the ...

in Kirkwall. His son was the author Storer Clouston. He Received the Freedom of the Burgh of

Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub wi ...

on 28 August 1908. At the end of his life Clouston lived at 26 Heriot Row, an elegant and substantial Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh's New Town. He died in Edinburgh on 19 April 1915. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in Edinburgh with his wife Dame Harriet Secur Storer (1835–1917). The grave lies on the obscured southern terrace. His daughter, Augusta Maud Clouston CBE (1871–1960) lies to the side, with her husband Sir David Wallace (1862–1952).

Artistic recognition

His sketch portrait of 1884, by William Brassey Hole, shown arm-in arm with Douglas Argyll Robertson, is held by the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery National Galleries Scotland: Portrait is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. Portrait holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Collec ...

Publications

*''Clinical Lectures on Mental Diseases'' *''The Neuroses of Development'' *''The Hygiene of Mind'' *''Unsoundness of Mind''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clouston, Thomas 1840 births 1915 deaths Scottish psychiatrists 19th-century Scottish medical doctors Scottish knights People from Orkney People educated at Aberdeen Grammar School Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Heads of psychiatric hospitals Presidents of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Office bearers of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh Members of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh