Access to the collections and archives of the Crichton Royal Institution have been made easy by the completion of two projects.
The Crichton Royal Institution opened as the last and greatest Scottish royal asylum in 1839. Its archive, owned by NHS Dumfries and Galloway, deposited with Dumfries and Galloway Council, is of international significance.
The completion of two projects to improve public access to this marvellous collection was celebrated on recently at the Easterbrook Hall, Dumfries.
Over the past 6years, more than £200,000 of funding from the Wellcome Trust has helped Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Archives Service to catalogue, conserve, preserve, then digitise the collection. The digitisation was carried out by Glasgow University’s Photographic Unit.
More than 180,000 images of Crichton records can now be freely viewed online, including those of patients’ case notes up to 1914, of patient art work (the earliest examples of ‘art as therapy’ in existence), of records of the founding of the Crichton and its subsequent administration, of staff, of the patients’ journal the New Moon, of photographs and engravings and much more.
The images can be viewed on the website of the Wellcome Library at www.wellcomelibrary.org or by entering Wellcome Crichton into a search engine.
The original records from which the digital images were taken can be viewed by prior appointment at the Ewart Library, Dumfries, t:01387 260 285 or email [email protected]
The launch was introduced by Councillor Andy Ferguson, chair of the Communities committee, and included short talks from Rioghnach Ahern of the Wellcome Trust and Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Archivist Graham Roberts.
Councillor Ferguson said: “The Crichton Royal was a pioneering institution that was well ahead of its time when it opened. Now, its amazing archive is available to all through digitisation. This collection is a magnificent resource offering invaluable insight to the development of the treatment of mental health issues. “
Councillor John Martin, vice chair of the Communities committee, said: “Being inclusive is a priority for our Council. These projects offer access worldwide. We know that 1 in 4 people will, at some time, have a mental health issue and recognition and treatment of mental health issues is vital for well being.”
Representatives from Dumfries and Galloway Council, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, the Crichton Trust, the National Records of Scotland and Lothian Health Services Archive were joined by members of staff and volunteers at the event.
