Dr John Kitching:
the third Superintendent of
The Retreat, York
Dr John Kitching was, between 1849 and 1874, the third Superintendent of the Friends' Retreat in York. He was the first superintendent able to bring medical experience to the job. Under his leadership, William Tuke's Moral treatment was supplemented by, and then began to be replaced by, medication, diet and hydropathic treatment.
On his retirement in 1874, Kitching presented the asylum's Committee of Management with a memorandum suggesting nearly a score of improvements which he felt needed to be made. One of these was the building of a Turkishg bath and hydropathic treatment suite.
Paul Dryburgh, Archivist, Borthwick Institute for Archives
Katherine Webb, Archivist, York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Alexandra Mould, Archives Assistant, Borthwick Institute for Archives
This page enlarges an image or adds to the information found below:
The Retreat, York
Victorian Turkish Baths: their origin, development, and gradual decline
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