Practical Hints for the Construction and Economy of Pauper Lunatic Asylums

This 1815 book of 'practical hints' by Samuel Tuke, the grandson of William Tuke, the founder of the famous Retreat asylum at York, was intended to guide the potential architects of the planned Wakefield lunatic asylum to offer both inmates and attendants an environment which promoted physical and mental health.

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The Quaker philanthropist Samuel Tuke (1784-1857) was the grandson of William Tuke, the founder in 1796 of the Retreat at York, a pioneering asylum for the insane which championed compassionate care and the abolition of physical restraints. Samuel succeeded his grandfather in the management of the Retreat in 1822, but before that was already active in promoting its principles of humane treatment, and publicising the appalling conditions in which 'pauper lunatics', whose families could not afford better care for them, were confined. The publicity generated by his pamphlets and letters to newspapers drew public attention to the problem, and led to a reforming Yorkshire magistrate inviting Tuke to advise on the building of a new asylum at Wakefield. This 1815 book of 'practical hints' was intended to guide the potential architects to offer both inmates and attendants an environment which promoted physical and mental health.