After a very successful
first full year as a public speaker delivering his inaugural illustrated
presentation Early Asylum Life to
family and local history societies, Probus clubs and other interested
organisations across Yorkshire and neighbouring counties, David has been taking
bookings for 2018.
Considerable time has been spent researching and developing a new presentation Evolution of Asylum Patient
Photography to place before interested groups during this year and
beyond. Audiences who haven’t yet heard Early
Asylum Life are recommended to first book that presentation as an
introduction to the subject.
Early Asylum Life:
The audience travels back
in time, becoming a “fly on the wall” in one of the 19th century’s
earliest County Asylums in England, the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum,
Yorkshire which opened in 1818. The voices of the insane poor are heard through
the words of their physicians, relatives, and very specially, the patients
themselves, using material from the UNESCO award winning collection of original
case notes and other asylum records held by West Yorkshire Archive Service.
Listeners learn in intimate detail about why they were committed, how they were
treated and what became of them and their families.
Evolution of Asylum Patient Photography:
The archives of the West Riding Pauper
Lunatic Asylum in Wakefield contain hundreds of photographs of the insane poor.
Rare examples date from 1868, by which time pioneering photographers at other
institutions had been capturing patients’ images since the 1850s. Asylum
Director James Crichton-Browne, the driving force behind the use of photography
in Yorkshire, corresponded with celebrated naturalist Charles Darwin enclosing
numerous patients’ portraits, usually annotated with a diagnosis of their
illness. Through a presentation rich in images captured nearly 150 years ago
the audience learns what motivated photography, how it evolved during the 19th century
and what legacy remains today.
Contact David at david@scrimgeour.biz to
check his latest availability.
Bookings taken for “Early Asylum Life”
Low
Moor Local History Group
|
Aldersgate
Methodist Church,
Cleckheaton
Road,
Low
Moor,
BRADFORD,
BD12
0TW
|
2:30pm,
Friday 2nd February, 2018
|
Huddersfield
Local History Society
|
University
of Huddersfield
Brontë
Lecture Theatre,
Room
BLG/05,
Queensgate,
HUDDERSFIELD,
HD1 3DH
|
7:30pm,
Monday 26th February, 2018
|
Barwick-in-Elmet
& Scholes Probus Club
|
John
Rylie Centre,
Carrfield
Road,
Barwick
in Elmet,
LEEDS,
LS15
4JB
|
10:00am,
Tuesday 27th February, 2018
|
East
Yorkshire Family History Society
|
Beverley
Cricket Club,
Recreation
Park Lane,
Norwood,
BEVERLEY,
HU17
9HX
|
7:30pm,
Tuesday 1st May, 2018
|
Doncaster
& District Family History Society
|
Doncaster
School for the Deaf,
Race
Course Roundabout,
Leger
Way,
DONCASTER,
DN2 6AY
|
7:30pm,
Wednesday 27th June, 2018
|
Norton & Campsall WI
|
Campsall Village Hall,
Bone Lane, Campsall, DONCASTER, DN6 9AW |
7:30pm,Wednesday 29th August, 2018
|
Spen
Valley Historical Society
|
Catholic
Church Hall,
Dewsbury
Road,
Cleckheaton,
BRADFORD,
BD19
5DL
|
7:30pm,
Wednesday 12th September, 2018
|
Bookings taken for “Evolution of Asylum Patient Photography”
Selby &
District Family History Group
|
Town
Hall,
York
Street,
SELBY, YO8 4AJ |
10:00am,
Tuesday 23rd January, 2018
|
Barnsley
Family History Society
|
Buckley
Church Hall,
Union
Court,
BARNSLEY,
S70 1JN
|
7:30pm,
Tuesday 17th April, 2018
|
Keighley
Local History Society
|
Keighley
Carnegie Library,
1
Albert Street,
KEIGHLEY,
BD21 2AT
|
7:30pm,
Wednesday 9th May, 2018
|
Bradford
Family History Society
|
Glyde
House,
Little
Horton Lane,
BRADFORD,
BD5 0BQ
|
10:30am,
Monday 21st May, 2018
|
Lancashire
& Manchester Family History Society,
Oldham
Branch
|
The
Lees Suite,
Civic
Centre,
West
St,
OLDHAM,
OL1 1UT
|
2:00pm,
Saturday 9th June, 2018
|
Rotherham
Family History Society
|
The
Liberty Church,
Station Road, Masbrough, ROTHERHAM, S60 1JH |
7:00pm,
Thursday 5th July, 2018
|
Huddersfield
Family History Society
|
Town
Hall,
Ramsden Street, HUDDERSFIELD, HD1 2TA |
1:30pm,
Tuesday 4th September, 2018
|
Harrogate
& District Family History Society
|
St
Paul’s UR Church Hall,
Belford
Road,
HARROGATE,
HG1 1JA
|
7:30pm,
Tuesday 16th October, 2018
|
David will also be making his third visit
to Garforth Probus Club later this year, the venue where his speaking engagements
started in 2016. This will be the first delivery of his newest presentation Criminal Lunatics: Villains and Patients
a topic which he has been researching during 2017. During the 19th
century the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum cared for hundreds of mentally
ill patients admitted from the justice system where they had been accused or
convicted of a variety of crimes. What had caused their admission to the
Asylum? How were they treated while in the Asylum? What became of them? These
are just some of the questions which will be answered in Criminal Lunatics: Villains and Patients.
Garforth
Probus Club
|
Garforth
Working Men’s Club,
Barley Hill Rd, Garforth, Leeds, LS25 1AU |
10:30am,
Wednesday 3rd October, 2018
|
If you are interested in making a provisional
booking for Criminal Lunatics: Villains and
Patients it should be on "general release" from the beginning of November,
2018. Please get in touch with David to discuss likely dates.
