Annual Reports

The Annual Reports were first produced by the Medical Superintendents only, but later reports by the Boards of Direction and Management were also included. The Medical Superintendent's reports relate to the administration of the hospital and the care and treatment of the patients. Each Physician Superintendent laid his reports out slightly differently incorporating their own style of reporting on the year's events and providing a reflection of their own interests. For example, the earlier reports by Dr W. A. F. Browne are notably longer than some later reports and are in a more narrative style. Dr W. A. F. Browne gave detailed accounts of treatment and types of illnesses, Dr Adam divided his reports under headings, while Dr Rutherford's reports were prefaced by photographs of new hospital buildings. Details of patient statistics including those involved in occupation, recreation and amusements are often recorded in the form of additional tables. Reports for Crichton Royal Institution and Southern Counties Asylum are presented separately from 1861 to 1884 when the two establishments amalgamated and were treated as one Institution. Each report is appended with statistical tables covering information including patient age, education, disease, cause and duration of illness and treatment. These tables again vary with each Medical Superintendent, with the first standardised tables as recommended by the Medico-Psychological Association being used in 1868 by Dr Gilchrist. After their revision in 1882, these tables are used consistently by subsequent Superintendents with some modifications by Dr C. C. Easterbrook and Dr McCowan. Statistical information for the Crichton Royal Institution and Southern Counties Asylum are presented together initially, but are shown separately from 1858, then after 1884 statistics for both houses are presented together. In 1883 a report by the Board of Direction is included, along with the biannual inspection reports by the Commissioners of the General Board of Lunacy for Scotland. The Commissioner's reports then appear consistently from 1887 and the Board of Direction's reports from 1898. Financial information is included in the form of the Abstract of Accounts and Balance Sheets from 1898 until 1947. Additional information is provided at different periods, for example records from the hospital's Climatological Station are included from 1909-1936, and a list of staff publications is included from 1939-1956, covering publications from 1937 onwards. There are indexes to the reports during Dr Easterbrook's period, 1908-1936. The years 1839-1956 are covered by eight bound volumes of Annual Reports. In addition there are thirteen volumes covering 1839-1942, many with annotations by Dr C. C. Easterbrook.

1839-1956

22 volumes

Minutes, DGH1/2/1; Commissioners Reports, DGH1/3/1/1.

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The papers are available at Dumfries and Galloway Archives subject to conditions of UK Data Protection Act 1998, Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and NHS Records Management Code of Practice 2012. Subject to these restrictions, this material is being digitised by the University of Glasgow as part of a Wellcome Trust funded project. Material that is digitised will be accessed freely online through the Wellcome Library catalogue.