Cataloguing and
transcribing the letters of John Home, a patient at the Royal Edinburgh Asylum
in 1886-1887
Hi there, I’m Emma Filshie and I started my eight week
internship at LHSA at the beginning of January. I’m currently on a career break
and looking to retrain as an archivist, so this placement is a great
opportunity to build up a solid base of varied work experience to support my
application for postgraduate study starting this autumn.
The main focus of my internship will be the rehousing, cataloguing
and transcribing of around 175 letters from John Home, a Writer
to the Signet who was a patient at the Royal Edinburgh Asylum in
Morningside (now the Royal Edinburgh Hospital) during 1886 and 1887.
John Home was a man of significant social standing in
Edinburgh, both through his family and his profession. He was also a prolific
correspondent, writing to a wide range of people including the Lord Advocate,
Flora Stevenson, William McEwan MP (of McEwan’s brewers) and Drs Joseph Bell
and Patrick Heron Watson, who inspired the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr.
Watson!
His letters cover a variety of topics, but one prominent
theme is his conviction that he had been wrongly certified and detained at the
Asylum. He wrote several consistent accounts of his arrest and transfer to the
Asylum, alleging illegalities and rough treatment, and continued to complain of
the conditions once resident there. These complaints range from allegations of
physical assaults, to the unsavoury behaviours and conditions of his fellow patients
and the state of the food. His letters also reveal a number of romantic
interests, frequently declaring his love and intentions of marriage…. to more than
one woman!
Letter to James Auldis Jamieson, Crown Agent – 15 December 1886
Sir,
I have to
request that you will acquaint the Lord Advocate with the following monstrous
fact that his Lordship may take such steps as in the circumstances are necessary.
There is at
present in our midst a patient suffering from a most virulent attack of venereal
pox, his head is one mass of open sores.
His Lordship
is of course well aware that the poxous matter is a most malignant poison of a
most infectious nature, and that patients suffering from this hateful disease
are invariably confined in solitary confinement. In fact it resembles in many
respects leprosy, and yet this infected monster is allowed to mingle and take
his meals with the other patients.
The other day
one of the sores burst, and the couch on which he was sitting was besmeared
with poxous matter.
Your most
obedient Servant,
John Home
Letter to Miss Mahon, a barmaid at the Balmoral Bar – 9 December 1886
My darling Wife,
I had hoped to get
away from this infernal place this evening but fear I shall not now until
tomorrow. I shall immediately come to you darling and shall bring the Diamond
ring and gold chain and we shall then go along to the University Club and be
married in presence of Mr and Mrs Fenn.
Send me a little
letter by the bearer.
Ever your very loving
Hub,
John Home
Letter to the Publisher of the Scotsman – 4 March 1887
Sir,
I have to request that
you will be good enough to insert the subjoined notice of marriage in your
issue of tomorrow…..
At Edinburgh on the 4th
March
John Home Esq W.S. to
Kate, Daughter of Kearney Esq. of Londonderry
Under the 1866 Lunacy (Scotland) Act, medical personnel were
permitted to open correspondence from patients and hold back any that were deemed
unsuitable, so those of Home’s letters still held in the LHSA collection never
reached their destination. He began to realise this after a few months, writing
numerous copies of the same letter in an attempt to get at least one of them to
its intended recipient.
P.S. Don’t be
surprised if you receive several copies of this letter. I require to take these
measures to ensure one being posted as the utter bugger, at the head here,
excuse the expression, stops all letters….
The rehousing of the collection of letters has now been
completed, with each letter now stored neatly in its own acid-free folder for
preservation purposes and allocated a unique reference number to improve
accessibility. Cataloguing the letters posed a couple of initial challenges –
deciphering unfamiliar 19th century handwriting being the first, and
writing brief yet comprehensive catalogue descriptions for some extremely long
letters being another! I soon became familiar with the characteristics of his
handwriting and with practise the summarising became easier, so hopefully will
assist researchers accessing the collection in future.
 |
| The rehoused collection |
The next step will be to transcribe the collection, which
will require a forensic level of attention to detail and a good dollop of
patience in order to replicate the drafting with complete accuracy. I’m looking
forward to this next step and to providing another update on what the letters
reveal in a future blog!
You can find out more about John Home, his letters and the
wider context of the time in this article:
M. Barfoot and A.
W. Beveridge, ’Madness at the
crossroads: John Home’s letters from the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, 1886-87’, Psychological Medicine, 20 (1990), 263-84.
