2 Quotes & Sayings By Philip Catshill
The son of a former soldier, Philip Catshill grew up in a small village in Kent. He was educated at the local grammar school, before gaining a scholarship to the University of London. In 1947 he returned to become a teacher and later a science master. He went on to work as an assistant tutor at Oriel College, Oxford University, where he wrote his first novel, The Crooked Man
In 1960 Catshill was appointed Headmaster of the independent Merchant Taylors' School in Northwood, Middlesex. His stepdaughter died tragically in 1963 and this set him thinking about how to help people who suffer from serious mental illness. He asked his doctor friend Dr Murey to write an article for the British Journal of Psychiatry on 'the mentally ill' and also suggested that they should start up a charity for people with severe and persistent mental illness.
For the next few years both men were busy with their different projects and no progress was made until 1970 when they met again and decided to renew their efforts. With the help of the National Institute for Mental Health they formed the Merseyside Association for Mental Illness (MAM) which would eventually become Mind (see below).