William Tuke

William Tuke (24 March 1732 – 6 December 1822), an English tradesman, philanthropist and Quaker, earned fame for promoting more humane custody and care for people with mental disorders, using what he called gentler methods that came to be known as moral treatment.

Tuke and his wife were deeply involved in the Religious Society of Friends and advocated stricter adherence to Quaker principles.

[1] Ann Tuke, his daughter by Esther Maud, married William Alexander of the prominent Ipswich Quaker banking family.

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

At a Society of Friends meeting in March 1792,[3] Tuke presented a plan for those who "laboured under that most afflictive dispensation — the loss of reason.

Tuke bought 11 acres of land (4.5 ha) for £938 and worked closely with a London architect, John Bevans, to carry out his vision for the new asylum.

[4] A month after the first patients arrived in June 1796, the unexpected death of its superintendent, Timothy Maud, forced Tuke to step in and run the Retreat himself.

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

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.

[11] Michel Foucault in his work Madness and Civilization discusses the advent of new types of detention by comparing and contrasting the accomplishments of William Tuke and Philippe Pinel in their respective regions (England and France.