Richard Poole (physician)
Scottish physician, psychiatrist and phrenologist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard Poole (1781–1870) was a Scottish physician,[1] psychiatrist, and phrenologist.[2]
Life
Poole was born in Edinburgh, on 27 November 1781, from an English background.[3] His father Matthew Poole (or Pool) owned a coffee house and hotel at 1 Princes Street and lived above.[4]
By 1800 his father is retired and living at Reid's Close on the Canongate in Edinburgh's Old Town.[5]
Poole studied Medicine and graduated M.D. at the University of St Andrews in 1805.[1] He was editor of the New Edinburgh Review, and published articles promoting phrenology in the early 1820s;[6] it existed 1821 to 1823.[7] Poole was also first editor of the Phrenological Journal.[8] Poole joined the editorial staff of the Encyclopædia Edinensis under James Millar.[9]
In 1820 he was living at 23 Broughton Street, a flat in Edinburgh's east end.[10]
From 1820 Poole campaigned for a new infirmary in Edinburgh.[11] In 1825 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.[3] In 1829 he was elected a member of the Aesculapian Club.[12] In 1831 Poole was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh and served as one of its secretaries from 1834-1837.[13]
In the late 1830s he was a pioneer advocate of mental health reform,[14] and in 1838 he became superintendent of the Montrose Asylum, succeeding W. A. F. Browne. He remained at Montrose until 1845. He then kept a private asylum at Middlefield, Aberdeenshire.[3]
Poole died in Coupar Angus on 18 February 1870 aged 88 at the house of his daughter, Mrs Kirkwood.[3] He is buried with his wife in the churchyard of St. Machar's Cathedral in Aberdeen.
Works
- An Essay on Education (1825).[15] In this work, from the Encyclopædia Edinensis, Poole acknowledges help in early life from Archibald Alison. He advocated education in cases of mental retardation.[16]
- A Letter to Andrew Duncan, Senior, M.D. ... Regarding the Establishment of a New Infirmary (1825).[17] Pamphlet addressed to Andrew Duncan, the elder on the infirmary question; Duncan replied to the agitation for a new infirmary in a letter to William Fettes.[18]
- Report on Examination of Medical Practitioners (1833)
- Memoranda regarding the Royal Lunatic Asylum, Infirmary, and Dispensary, of Montrose (1841)[19]
He is credited with dramas, including "Willie Armstrong" performed in Edinburgh in 1829.[20][21]
Poole also wrote for the Edinburgh Encyclopædia and Encyclopædia Britannica.[3] A list of publications appeared in Scottish Notes and Queries.[22]
Family
Artistic recognition
A bust of Poole is held at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. It was donated by his daughter, Mrs Sandeman of Glasgow.[25]