A Lincolnshire physician rose to fame in the late 1780s when his unorthodox methods helped to treat a 'mad' monarch who had lost control of the country.
King George III ruled over Great Britain and Ireland for 60 years - but his lengthy tenure was plagued by bouts of mental illness. In the 1960s, psychologists theorised his mental illness may have been due to porphyria, though this diagnosis has been challenged by modern experts who believe the most likely diagnosis was bipolar disorder.
It was during the most serious and persistent mental episodes in George III's later life that Dr Francis Willis was called to treat the King on November 28, 1788. Dr Willis was the third son of John Willis, a vicar of Lincoln Cathedral. He was ordained as a priest in 1740 and moved to Dunston, Lincolnshire, with his wife 10 years later.
Although Dr Willis was ordained in accordance with his father's wishes, his main interest was medicine. He received the degrees of Bachelor and Doctor of Medicine from Oxford in 1759 before serving as a hospital physician in Lincoln. It was here that he began treating the mentally ill with great success.
An excerpt from the Stamford Mercury in August 1859 reads: "It is said that the great success that attended the eminent Dr Willis had its origin in an experiment tried upon a tradesman of Lincoln, who on becoming insane was taken to Dunston, where the treatment of his malady was such that in a short time he was enabled to return to this city and resume his duties behind the counter."
In 1776, Dr Willis moved to Greatford Hall, near Bourne, which he developed as a private lunatic asylum. His innovative success with the mentally ill led to him being summoned when King George III first displayed symptoms of apparent madness in 1788.
When Dr Willis was first called, he encountered scorn and hostility from King George's physicians, including Sir George Baker, because Willis insisted on having sole control over the King's treatment. While his treatment of the King at Kew Palace included standard methods of the time like coercion, restraint in a strait jacket and blistering of the skin, Dr Willis was also known for being kinder to his patients than was traditional.
The King's miraculous recovery in 1789 made Dr Willis so famous that he had to open a second hospital to accommodate the numbers of patients seeking his help. He became a British celebrity and was recognised through five portraits by John Russell, one of the most renowned portrait painters of the day. The Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, also awarded Willis a pension of £1,000 a year for 21 years.
Dr Willis has a monument at the Church of St Thomas of Canterbury in Greatford where he is buried. Part of the monument's inscription reads: "He attained the highest eminence in his profession and was happily the chief agent in removing the malady which affected his present majesty in the year 1789.
"On that occasion he displayed an energy and acuteness of mind which excited the admiration and procured for him the esteem of the nation. The kindness and benevolence of his disposition were testified by the tears and lamentations which followed him to the grave."
Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation NHS Trust has a mental health unit named after the physician. The unit treats men with a mental illness who present with challenging and high risk behaviour.
King George III suffered a relapse in 1801, and his symptoms returned. On the second occasion he was treated by two of Dr Willis' sons, also physicians, John Willis and his younger brother, Robert Darling Willis. The King had a final relapse in 1810 that proved incurable and he lapsed into an illness and madness that lasted until his death in 1820.