Two men, wrongly confined by Dr George Man Burrows in his lunatic asylum in Clapham, win a legal case against him and force him to flee. Lithograph by W. Heath, 1830.

  • Heath, William, 1795-1840.
Date:
[1 February 1830]
Reference:
2490817i
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Description

On the left, Edward Davies, a tea-dealer of Philpot Lane, in the City of London between Fenchurch Street and Eastcheap. He had successfully brought a suit against Burrows for wrongful internment in the latter's lunatic asylum, the Retreat in Clapham. In the background stands Freeman Anderdon, another patient wrongly confined by Burroughs: he is dressed in an eccentric manner and holds one of the many paintings on which he had spent much of his fortune (Suzuki loc. cit.). Right, Burrows flees, accompanied by his associates. A woman who falls backwards is presumably Mrs Bywater, the mother of Edward Davies who had requested his confinement

Publication/Creation

[London (26 Haymarket)] : [Thos. McLean], [1 February 1830]

Physical description

1 print : lithograph, with watercolour ; image 8.5 x 22.8 cm

Lettering

The mad doctors defeated - a sketch of Dr. B-s retreat!!! Davies stands in a tea-crate inscribed "Phil-pot Lane T" and holds a paper saying "Verdict: sane". Anderdon says "I shall have a kick at him next". Burrows says "D--n that grocer, I wish we had fig-ed him". On the ground are briefs labelled "Evidence" and "Insane"

References note

British Museum, Catalogue of political and personal satires, vol. XI, London 1954, no. 16466
Akihito Suzuki, Madness at home: the psychiatrist, the patient, and the family in England, 1820-1860, Berkeley: University of California Press, [2006], pp. 50-61 (does not mention this lithograph)

Reference

Wellcome Collection 2490817i

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