Susan Carnegie

Susan Carnegie (née Scott; 7 August 1743 - 14 April 1821) was a writer and benefactor who helped found the Montrose Asylum, the first public asylum in Scotland. Early life and education Carnegie was born on 7 August 1743 in Edinburgh to Mary Brown (1712-1794) and David Scott (1700-1768), who was the Treasurer of the Bank of Scotland. She was baptised in 1744. Tutored at home, she studied various subjects including philosophy, and became fluent in French and Italian. She also became skilled in drawing, composed poetry, and was interested in both economics and society. Influenced by Jean-Jacques Rousseau's treatise Emile, or On Education, she drew attention to the differences in educational opportunities afforded to women and their treatment in society, refusing the notion that women were less capable intellectually than men. Charitable work In March 1799, Carnegie was successful in persuading the kirk session of the town council in Montrose to approve her plan for an asylum. She was assisted in her work by Provost Alexander Christie. She was motivated by the then-unusual belief that the treatment of mental illness should be what one modern source describes as "humane and science-based", rather than being a matter for prisons. Funds for the project were raised from the profits of her own estates, which she had secured through her marriage contract, and also through her own networks. The asylum was built and opened in 1781, as the Montrose Lunatic Asylum, Infirmary and Dispensary; it was the first public asylum to be opened in Scotland, and one of the first in the English-speaking world. The institution gained a Royal Charter in 1810, closing eventually in 2011, and the building sold for housing development in 2016.