Letters of Sir James Crichton-Browne F.R.S.M. (1840-1938)

The collection is composed of: letters to Dr. Gollanz about an appeal on behalf of Sir James Merchant to the Prime Minister, 1932; an incomplete letter, 1895; letter to Mrs. Thomson declining an invitation, 1911; and, small portrait photograph.

The Scottish physician and psychologist Sir James Crichton-Browne, son of Dr. W. A. F. Browne, Commissioner in Lunacy for Scotland, was born in 1840. He was educated at Dumfries Academy, Trinity College, and Glenalmond, and he studied at Edinburgh University and in Paris, becoming a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1861 and obtaining his M.D. in 1862. Crichton-Browne was the Lord Chancellor's Visitor in Lunacy, 1875 to 1922. He was also Vice-President and Treasurer of the Royal Institution from 1889. His published work includes Victorian jottings (1926), Stray leaves from the physician's portfolio (1927), What the doctor thought (1930), and The doctor remembers (1938). Crichton-Browne was knighted in 1886. Sir James Crichton-Browne died on 31 January 1938.

Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance.

The biographical/administrative history was compiled using the following material: (1) Who was who 1929-1940. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1941.

Compiled by Graeme D Eddie, Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections Division.

Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.

Check the local Indexes for details of any additions.

The local Indexes show another reference to Crichton-Browne related material (check the Indexes for more details): letter to Sir C. J. Pearson, 1894, at Gen. 756, no.86. In addition, the UK National Register of Archives (NRA), updated by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, notes: 1883-1931: correspondence with Macmillans, 1883-1931, British Library, Manuscript Collections, Ref. Add MS 55251.