Descriptions of schizophrenia in the psychiatry of Georgian Britain: John Haslam and James Tilly Matthews.

John Haslam's description of James Tilly Matthews is the earliest clear description of schizophrenia in British psychiatric writing. Matthew's life and symptomatology are described. The reasons why there are few unambiguous contemporary accounts of schizophrenia are explored. Schizophrenia was probably first described in Britain during the Georgian period because of the growth of the public lunatic asylum, combined with an improvement in the style of case description.