Mental Health Treatment: Dr Francis Willis

Lincolnshire has a strong tradition of progressive work in the treatment of mental health.

The first important name to be associated with this work is that of Dr Francis Willis, who was born in 1718, the son of the Rev John Willis, one of the Vicars of Lincoln Cathedral. Dr Willis is most famous today for his successful treatment of King George III in the winter of 1788-1789, following the first attack of what was then perceived to be madness.

Dr Willis was one of the founders of Lincoln County Hospital in 1769, where he specialised in the treatment of mental illness. His methods marked a step forward from the shocking neglect and cruelty of the time, with an emphasis on calmness, trust and moral control of the patient, though they still retained elements of physical control such as the restraining chair and the straight jacket.

Dr Willis worked at Lincoln County Hospital twice a week for six years, travelling from his home at Dunston where he also treated private patients. Following a dispute with the landlord of his house at Dunston, he moved his private practice to Greatford, a village between and Stamford, in 1775.

The volume displayed is the minute book of the Quarter Sessions court for the Kesteven division of the county.

The entries for 8 October 1776 include the court's formal grant of Dr Willis's "licence to keep a Madhouse at Greatford aforesaid for the reception of any number of lunatics not exceeding ten". The entry also appoints the magistrates and doctor who were to be the inspectors of the house, and records a bond (or 'recognizance') entered into by Willis and a colleague for "the said Francis Willis's good behaviour as keeper of the said madhouse". Failure in this regard would have resulted in the forfeit of the considerable sum of £100.

Throughout this period in Dr Willis was building his reputation, which culminated in his appointment to King George in 1788 when Willis was 70 years old. Two of his sons followed him into the same profession, including treatment of the King. Francis Willis died in 1807, aged 89.

Document reference: KQS/A/1/10 (folio 38v)

Mental Health Treatment: Lincoln Lunatic Asylum

The Lawn was founded under the name of the Lincoln Lunatic Asylum in 1819, with the building opening for patients in 1820.

The word "asylum" in connection with mental treatment has acquired some sinister connotations over the years, but at the period of the Lincoln Asylum's founding it was understood under its earlier meaning as 'a place of refuge for the afflicted'.

The Lincoln Asylum was associated with progressive treatment from the beginning. Although there were some older hospitals of the same sort in the country, notably The Retreat in , which was run by the Quakers, Lincoln was the first purpose-built asylum in the country. For this reason, images of the building and plans of its specialist layout were reproduced from an early period.

The regime at Lincoln was also among the first to phase out the use of physical restraint of the patients. In cases where this was still felt to be necessary, it was governed by strict rules, notably that the restrained patient should never be un-attended, and that the restraint should never take place within the view of the other patients.

Subscribers and donors to the Asylum provided funds which enabled it to provide some charitably- funded places for the poor. Wealthier patients were expected to pay for their own treatment, while some poorer patients' care was paid for by their local Poor Law authorities: at first the patient's own , later the relevant Poor Law Union.

The work of the asylum was highly praised in 1830 by Mr (later Sir) Andrew Halliday, who had served through the Peninsular war and at Waterloo, was domestic physician to the Duke of Clarence and author of a work on lunatic asylums. In response to a grateful letter from the governors of the hospital he wrote “I have said nothing in my pamphlet but what is merited by their unwearied attention to the institution which they themselves formed and which is indeed an honour to the country.” [Archivists' Report no. 9, page 33]

Following the opening of the County Lunatic Asylum at Bracebridge in 1852, there was increasing emphasis on fee-paying patient at the Lincoln Lunatic Asylum. In 1885 its name was changed to The Lawn Hospital for the Insane. It became a National Health Service hospital in 1948; psychiatric services at the hospital ceased in 1985.

 Coloured engraving the Lunatic Asylum, Lincoln, 1835.

Beyond the Asylum can be seen the Cathedral and the walls of the Castle, with the lower walls of the Asylum's eastern boundary on Union Road visible below the trees. On the Asylum's southern boundary, where the grounds drop away downhill, the boundary wall was built below the sightline of the building, to reduce the patients' sense of confinement.

Document reference: Hosp/Lawn/3/8/1

 Plan showing the proposed alterations to the plan of the Lincoln Lunatic Asylum, 1822.

Document reference: 1-MM/4/21/5  First Report of the Lincoln Lunatic Asylum, 1822.

Document references: Brace/14/33

 Lincoln Lunatic Asylum patient's account, 1839.

Account for the 'Board, Lodging, Care and Medical Attendance' of Thomas Overton of Wainfleet, for the first quarter of 1839. The bill was £5/15/9, plus the sum of -/13/3 for clothing. The bill is opened to show the printed regulations regarding patients' accounts and clothing, as well the as rules for the visits of friends.

Document reference: Par/13/7/3/5/2

Mental Health Treatment: Lincolnshire County Lunatic Asylum,

The Lincolnshire County Lunatic Asylum was built in 1852 and was initially jointly funded by the county authorities of Lindsey, Kesteven and Holland, and the boroughs of Lincoln, and Stamford. In subsequent decades there were several additions to the original buildings to create a substantial complex.

By the 1870s the hospital had over resident 600 patients and by the late 1930s this figure had risen to over 1,400.

In 1893 the county authorities of Kesteven and those of the Borough of withdrew from the funding agreement and established their own Asylum at South Rauceby.

The hospital at Bracebridge Heath underwent several changes of name: from 1919 it was known as the Bracebridge Mental Hospital, and from the early 1960s it was known as St John's Hospital. The hospital closed in December 1989; most of the site has since been re-developed for housing.

 Aerial photograph of the hospital complex, mid-20th century.

Document reference: Misc Don 1085

 The first Register of Patients, 1852-1858.

Please note that all medical archives which refer to individuals are subject to a closure period of 100 years. Document reference: Hosp/St John's/2/2/1

 The first Register of Staff, "Engagement and Dismissal of Attendants and Servants", 1852-1974

Please note that all medical archives which refer to individuals are subject to a closure period of 100 years. Document reference: Hosp/St John's/1/6/1