Doctors at the London Asylum

Doctors at the London Asylum were required to live onsite. The Asylum would have one physician who was called the Assistant Superintendent. Other doctors were called clinical assistants. The physicians were under the direction of the Medical Superintendant. They would be assigned to specific wards by the Superintendent and were responsible for dispensing and administering medicine, supervising diet, bathing, clothing and cleanliness of patients, visiting their wards twice per day in the morning and at night, and more frequently if there were illnesses. They ensured that the wards were well heated and well ventilated. If the standards were deemed unacceptable the doctors were required to report this to the superintendent In keeping with the principles of moral therapy, doctors were expected to form a good relationship with their patients.

Dr. Thomas Millman was an assistant physician at the London Asylum between the years 1879-1885. He was born in 1850, and received his Bachelor Degree and Doctorate from Trinity Medical College in Toronto. In 1876 he opened a general practice in his hometown of Woodstock Ontario. He married Helen Craig and the couple had five children. Dr. Millman wrote a personal diary which chronicles his life from 1850 until his death in 1921. The diary tells of his daily activities, the lives of his family members, and tales of working at the London Asylum. This remarkable collection of 61 journals is accessible through the Ontario Archives (external link), Journals of Dr. Thomas Millman.