Recreation and Printing Scrapbook

This scrapbook comprises over 300 items relating to theatrical and musical entertainment at Crichton Royal Institution and material produced by the hospital's printing press. The items are mostly fixed to the pages of the volume however some are loose and interleaved between pages. Material comprises extracts from the hospital magazine and the local press relating to theatrical performances and reviews; material relating to the first theatricals staged and performed at Crichton Royal Institution with patient involvement and the organisation of these performances, including manuscript minutes from the Crichton Theatrical Committee; printed and manuscript theatre, dance and concert programmes for internal productions and for performances by visiting entertainers; extracts of poems from the New Moon and local press; a request by Dr W. A. F. Browne for shares to be purchased in the New Moon; an appeal for subscriptions to be pledged for the continuation of the 'musical corps' and to purchase new instruments; samples of material from the printing press including a sample admission ticket to a dramatic performance at Crichton Royal Institution and the contents page for a volume of annual reports; lecture tickets, including a ticket for Dr W. A. F. Browne's lectures on nursing delivered between October 1854 and May 1855; a plea for funds for the Institution's Instrumental Band by Dr J. Gilchrist in 1858; programmes for theatricals, lectures and entertainment at other asylums in Britain, including Millholme House Asylum in Musselburgh, York Asylum Royal Edinburgh Asylum, Durham County Asylum, Sunnyside in Montrose and Camberwell House Asylum in Surrey; and a manuscript verse about the death of Matron Ellen Softley. The material is arranged chronologically from 1842 to 1861, with the occasional item out of date order and from 1861 to 1947 there is much less material and many items have not been fixed to the pages. An itemised list of the contents is available for consultation in the Archive search room at the Ewart Library.

1842-1947

1 volume

This scrapbook was compiled by James Flett, Clerk of Works, 1911 to 1939, and reflects his interest in the Crichton printing press and chronicling life at the hospital. In a short article Flett wrote for the hospital magazine, The Crichtonian, in 1939 he describes how he made a collection 'from various sources of a number of the products of the Crichton Press', and that this accumulation of material was stored in the Medical Library at Johnston House. He also notes that he would gratefully receive any further material to add to his collection.

Adam Richardson (Printer), DGH1/6/16/9; C. R. I. Scrapbook, DGH1/6/17/1; Hospital Magazines and patient writings, DGH1/7/1; Theatricals, Concerts and Entertainments, DGH1/7/2

Enquiries for reproduction for commercial purposes should be directed to the Archivist, Dumfries and Galloway Archives and Local Studies

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.