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Campbell Clark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Memorial plaque to Campbell Clark, Royal Edinburgh Hospital
Hartwood Hospital in Hartwood, North Lanarkshire

Dr Archibald Campbell Clark FFPSG (1852–1901) was a nineteenth-century Scottish physician who made major advances in mental health care philosophies.

Life

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He was born at Tarbert, Loch Fyne, the son of Donald Clark, a merchant, and his wife Margaret Campbell. His father died when he was young and they then moved to Lochgilphead. He was educated there at the Free Church School.[1] From around 1867 he assisted at the local asylum, where he learnt an empathy for the patients.

He worked for some years as a warehouseman in Glasgow then studied medicine at Edinburgh University graduating MB ChB in 1878 and gaining his doctorate (MD) in 1886.[2]

He was assistant medical officer at the Melrose Asylum in the Scottish Borders before joining the Edinburgh Asylum under Dr Thomas Clouston.[2]

Around 1890 he became Medical Superintendent of the Glasgow District Asylum at Bothwell. In 1895 he was appointed Chief Medical Superintendent of the newly completed asylum - Hartwood Hospital, serving Lanark. With over 2500 patients it was later the largest asylum in Europe.[3]

Controversially by today's standards (but acceptable at the time) he employed electroconvulsive therapy and was the first person in Scotland to perform a lobotomy in attempts to control behaviour. He was the first to advocate professional training of all staff, and had a strong reputation for improving the actual conditions of the inmates.[4]

He lectured at St Mungo's College in Glasgow and was president of the Caledonian Medical Society.[2]

He died of influenza on 28 November 1901 at his house in Hartwood Village near the hospital.[2] He was buried in the hospital cemetery in Hartwood.

Hartwood closed in 1998 following the rolling out of care in the community.

Recognition

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He is remembered on the Pinel Memorial (1926) at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.

Family

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He was twice married and had two sons and one daughter.

Publications

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  • The Special Training of Asylum Attendants (1884)
  • Essays on Hallucinations by Asylum attendants (1884)
  • Handbook for Instruction of Asylum Attendants (1885)
  • Experimental Dietetics in Lunacy Practice (1887)
  • The Sexual and Reproductive Functions, Normal and Perverted, in Relation to Insanity (1888)
  • Etiology, Pathology and Treatment of Puerperal Insanity (1888)
  • The Future of Asylum Service (1894)
  • A Clinical Manual of Mental Diseases (1897)
  • The Therapeutic Value (on Mental Health) of Spleen Removal (1898)
  • On Epileptic Speech (1899)

References

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  1. ^ "(153) - Blair Collection > Celtic monthly > Volume 6, 1898 - Early Gaelic Book Collections - National Library of Scotland". digital.nls.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Obituary, British Medical Journal, 14 December 1901
  3. ^ "Hartwood Hospital - An Abandoned Psychiatric Asylum". 14 November 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  4. ^ "The correspondence of Archibald Campbell Clark: A 19th-century physician superintendent". ResearchGate. Retrieved 5 June 2019.