The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were a period of particular innovation in the history of British psychiatry. Enlightenment ideas brought a change in attitudes to insanity, reflected in the growing prevalence of psychologically based treatment techniques being implemented in both public and private institutions. A new group of practitioners, specializing in the treatment and management of insanity, was emerging. One of the most prominent and successful was Dr Edward Long Fox, a Bristol physician. His main venture was the establishment of Brislington House in 1806. Here he created a state-of-the-art asylum, catering mainly for the wealthier members of society. Its unique design, with seven distinct houses, enabled classification of patients according to social class as well as behavioural presentation. Within a context of safety and security, Fox sought to provide a therapeutic regime based on the principles and practices of moral management.
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Fox, A. (c.1906) `A short account of Brislington House, 1804-1906 '; held in Somerset County Record Office, T/PH/fx 4.
17.
Fox, E.L. (1809) An account of the establishment of an asylum for lunatics, lately erected near Bristol, by Ed. Long Fox, M.D In R. Reid (1809) Observations on the Structure of Hospitals for the Treatment of Lunatics (Edinburgh: James Ballantyne ), 71-7.
18.
Fox, E.L. (1831) Surmises Respecting the Causes and Nature of Cholera: With Suggestions as to the Means That are Adapted to Prevent and Cure the Disease (Bristol: Mills and Son ).
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23.
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26.
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27.
Monro Smith, G. (1917) A History of the Bristol Royal Infirmary (Bristol: J.W. Arrowsmith; London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent).
28.
National Archives (1835) Prob 11/1848; probate will of Edward Long Fox, Doctor of Physic, proved 15 June 1835; National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey.
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32.
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33.
Porter, R. (1987) Mind Forg'd Manacles: A History of Madness in England From the Restoration to the Regency (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
34.
Porter, R. (1992) Doctor of Society: Thomas Beddoes and the Sick Trade in Late Enlightenment England (London: Routledge).
35.
Reid, R. (1809) Observations on the Structure of Hospitals for the Treatment of Lunatics (Edinburgh: James Ballantyne).
36.
Richard Smith [RS] Papers, Vol. V, Bristol Record Office, 35893/36.
37.
Rogers, J.W. (1816) A Statement of the Cruelties, Abuses, and Frauds, Which are Practiced in Mad-Houses, 2nd edn (London: E. Justins, for the author).
38.
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39.
Rutherford, S. (2003) The Landscapes of Public Lunatic Asylums in England, 1808-1914. PhD thesis, De Montfort University, Leicester.
40.
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41.
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42.
Smith, L.D. (1993) To cure those afflicted with the disease of insanity; Thomas Bakewell and Spring Vale Asylum. History of Psychiatry , 4, 107-28.
43.
Smith, L.D. (1995) "Levelled to the Same Common Standard"?: social class in the lunatic asylum, 1780-1860. In O. Ashton, R. Fyson and S. Roberts (eds), The Duty of Discontent; Essays for Dorothy Thompson (London: Mansell), 142-66.
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45.
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46.
Somerset County Record Office [CRO]:
47.
(1795 ) T/PH/fx 1, 27 Nov., Fox to Pulteney.
48.
(1811 ) D/P/W.st.c/13/10/2, 30 May, Fox to Wells Overseers.
49.
(1827 ) DD/CO 8 c/734, 1 Aug., handwritten book.
50.
(1828 ) Q/Rlu/13, 29 Feb., Elton to Parliament.
51.
(1831 ) Q/Rlu/13, licence from Quarter Sessions.
52.
The Athenaeum (1908) (4201, 2 May); enclosed in British Library, Ashley 2840 .
53.
Tuke, S. (1813) Description of the Retreat, an Institution Near York, for Insane Persons of the Society of Friends, Containing an Account of the Origins and Progress, the Modes of Treatment, and a Statement of Cases (York: W. Alexander).
