Maudsley, Henry

   (1835–1918)

   Born on a farm in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Maudsley graduated with an M.B. from University College London, in 1856. He wanted to enter the East India Company, which required of its medical officers 6 months’ psychiatric experience, so he took brief posts at two asylums. Deciding to remain in the field, in 1859 he became, at 23, medical superintendent of the asylum in Manchester. In 1862, he removed to London, became editor of the Journal of Mental Science, and then remained in London thereafter. In London, he captured a good deal of the "carriage trade," and ultimately worked toward the establishment of the hospital (see below) that would be named after him. In 1867, he brought out his textbook, The Physiology and Pathology of Mind, which reflected the strong organicist views of Wilhelm Griesinger; Maudsley believed that inheritance played a large role in illness; increasingly, he would be influenced by Morelian notions of degeneration. "Were all madness swept from the face of the earth tomorrow, past all doubt men would breed it afresh before tomorrow’s tomorrow," he once wrote (third edition, called simply The Pathology of Mind, 1879, p. 97).