Sir Alexander Morison and the Physiognomy of Mental Diseases

In this talk Dr Allan Beveridge discusses the nineteenth centry Scottish pioneer of psychiatric medicine Sir Alexander Morison and the collection of illustrations of asylum patients which he commissioned.

Speaker: Dr Allan Beveridge (History and Humanities Editor of the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh)

Legacy of Slavery

Morison was one of a group of 'heirs of Thomas Stratton' to Windsor Castle estate, a sugar and rum plantation, in Saint David, Jamaica in 1817. Morison’s wife (Mary Morison nee Cushnie) was his cousin, and had also, separately, been an heir to the Thomas Stratton estate. Mary had also previously received an additional share of the same estate on the death of her father, Alexander Cushnie, in 1799. These inheritances helped to fund Morison’s early life and career, including the building of a property, Larchgrove.

Physicians' Gallery · Ep.56 - Alexander Morison and The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases