Background
Tuke was born in York to a leading Quaker family.
Tuke was born in York to a leading Quaker family.
He was instrumental in the development of more humane methods in the custody and care of people with mental disorders, an approach that came to be known as moral treatment. He went into the family tea and coffee merchant business that had been started by Mary Tuke in 1725, and she passed it on to him in 1755. lieutenant became part of Twinings tea company after the second world war.
Following the death of Hannah Mills in appalling conditions in York Lunatic Asylum in 1790, Tuke was asked to take the lead in Quaker efforts to develop a more humane alternative.
He spent two years discussing plans with the local Quaker group (York Monthly Meeting) describing the fundamental principles of the proposed institution. lieutenant opened in 1796 as the York Retreat.
Tuke, together with Godfrey Higgins set about investigating the appalling conditions within the York Lunatic asylum after Hannah Mills" death, and successfully had it deemed unfit for purpose due to the squalor the patients lived in. Tuke was one of a few voices in Britain opposing the East India Company for its inhumane impact on other countries.