20 Facts About William Tuke

William Tuke played a big part in founding The Retreat at Lamel Hill, York, for treating mental-health needs.

William Tuke was an abolitionist, a patron of the Bible Society, and an opponent of the East India Company's inhumane practices.

William Tuke's father Samuel was a stuff-weaver and shopkeeper, who died when Tuke was 16.

William Tuke attended boarding school for two or three years, after which he pursued further studies under clergymen.

William Tuke married Elizabeth Hoyland in 1754 and fathered four children.

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Meanwhile, William Tuke remained involved in the family business alongside his eldest son and business partner, Henry.

In 1791, William Tuke was moved by an incident involving Hannah Mills, a melancholic Quaker widow, who died unexpectedly at York Lunatic Asylum.

William Tuke was particularly affected by a naked female patient who had been chained to a wall.

William Tuke believed the abuse was not cruel in intent, but marked a lack of effective alternatives.

William Tuke allowed his doctors to make their own observations and apply them in practice.

William Tuke believed that physical and mental health were inextricably linked and stressed the need for proper diet and exercise.

William Tuke sought to instil a sense of reason, not fear, and limited the use of physical restraints.

Outside his work at the Retreat, William Tuke helped to found three Quaker schools: Ackworth School, Bootham School, and Trinity Lane Quaker Girls' School.

The William Tuke family continued to run it until 1812, by which time 500 students had passed through.

William Tuke was one of few voices in Britain opposing the East India Company for its inhumanity in other countries.

William Tuke supported the African Institution, which sought to create a viable, civilized refuge for freed slaves in Sierra Leone.

Towards the end of his career, a resurgence of patient abuse at York Asylum prompted William Tuke to take to the local press and demand urgent reform.

William Tuke provided evidence to the Select Committee on Madhouses in May 1815, which led to further inquiries and passage of the County Asylums Act in 1828.

William Tuke remained involved with the Retreat until he became blind at the age of 82.

Samuel's son James Hack William Tuke helped to manage the York Retreat, while his brother Daniel Hack William Tuke co-wrote A Manual of Psychological Medicine and became a leading medical expert on insanity.