| Code | BPS/GB/61 |
| Thumbnail | 
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| Name | Sully; James (1842-1923); Professor; HonFBPsS |
| Title | Professor |
| Forenames | James |
| Surname | Sully |
| Dates | 1842-1923 |
| Epithet | HonFBPsS |
| Other Names | James Sully |
| Gender | Male |
| Nationality | British |
| DatesAndPlaces | Born 3 March 1842 Bridgwater, nr Bristol died 1923
Bridgwater 1842-1863
London /1863-1866
Gottingen, Germany 1867/1868
London 1868/1869
Pontypool 1869-1871
Berlin 1871/1872
London 1873-1923 |
| Address | London |
| Relationships | British Psychological Society
Sully was the eldest son of the eight children of James Wood Sully, a liberal Baptist merchant and shipowner married to Elizar Fender (nd).
On 3 October 1868 Sully married Sarah Ann Wood they had 2 children
William James was one of Sully's closest friends. When James died in 1910 Sully wrote of him-"... [he was] one of the strong supports of my life". |
| Activity | Founder member British Psychological Society 1901.
After attending a number of dame schools in Bridgwater, James Sully went to school in Yeovil and Taunton and then to work in the office of his father and uncle in 1859.
Planning to become a minister Sully studied at the Baptist College, Regent's Park in 1863 graduating in October 1866.
In January 1867 he went to Gottingen, in Germany, to study Hebrew under Heinrich Ewald (1866-1948), the Oriental scholar. He arrived in mid-term and spent it as "hospitant" He heard Heinrich Ritter (1791-1869), the historian of philosophy, and R.H.Lotze (1817-1881). During the next term he attended philosophy and psychology under Lotze. He left Gottingen in the winter semester of 1867/1868 and went to Halle University. Visiting professors were Kuno Fischwe (1824-1907) from Jena, and E. Hitzig (1838-1907) from Heidelberg.
After visits to Dresden and Munich, he returned to London. He took his MA degree in 1868, with a gold medal in philosophy- Alexander Bain (1818-1903) was his examiner.
In 1869 he became classical tutor at the Baptist College, Pontypool. In this year he sent a paper on the psychological study of the free will to John Morley (1838-1923) editor of the Fortnightly Review. In 1870 Sully became tutor to Morley's stepson and assisted Morley with his correspondence and proof-reading.
In the winter of 1871-1872 he went to Berlin. His special work consisted of anatomical studies in the physiological laboratory of Du Bois-Reymond (1818-1896) and attendance at lectures on physiological optics by Helmholtz (1821-1894).
In 1878 he was appointed Examiner in logic and psychology in the University of London and in the following year, Lecturer in Theory of Education at the Maria Grey Training College and later at the College of Preceptors.
n 1892 Sully succeeded George Croom Robertson (1842-1892) in the Grote Chair of Mind and Logic at University College London from which he retired in 1903. In 1897 he was secretary to to the organizing committee of the psychological laboratory.
Central to Sully's research was the study of children, which was facilitated by his involvement in the British Child Study Association. Sully became the "the most influential figure in the Association, shaping its ideas and often presiding over its day to day business" (Wooldridge, 37)
Sully held various offices in the London Child Study Society during the 1890's
Beginning in 1874 he frequently visited G.H.Lewes (1817-1878) writer, George Eliot (1819-1880) writer, meeting there Tennyson (1809-1892) poet, W.K.Clifford (1845-1879) mathematician, Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919), Professor of Anatomy, William James (1842-1910) philosopher, Leslie Stephen (1831-1904) philosopher, Michael Foster (1836-1907).
He was also a member of the "Sunday Tramps" "who escape from the dreary London Sabbath once a fortnight and take a walk of between twenty and thirty miles". Leslie Stephen was "Captain of Tramps". Included in the group were: George Meredith (1828-1909) writer, Frederick Pollock (1845-1937) jurist, Edmund Gurney (1847-1888) writer, Carveth Road (1848-?) philosopher, W.P.Ker (1867-1955) Professor of English (1867-1955) and F.W.Maitland (1850-1906) Professor of Laws.
He was made an Honorary Member of the British Psychological Society in 1910.
Sources: Pamphlet entitled "The British Psychological Society 1901-1961" supplement to the Bulletin of the British Psychological Society by Kenna, J.C. (1913-2004) Hon.Archivist BPS (BPS London) 1961
Lyubov G. Gurjeva, Sully James (1842-1923) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [accessed 14 Dec 2004: http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/38636]
Quote from Measuring the Mind: education and psychology in England c 1860-c 1990, Wooldridge, A (1994).
Compiled by Mike Maskill, BPS Archivist for the History of Psychology Centre. |
| OtherInfo | Alongside teacher training, child study provided Sully with a context for defining the role of the professional psychologist in relation to amateur practitioners of the science, and for elaborating his views on the scientific method as a component of humanistic education. |
| PublishedWorks | For many years Sully continued writing and reviewing for the London periodicals- The Fortnightly, the Contemporary Review, The Academy, the Saturday Review, the Pall Mall Gazette, the Nineteenth Century, the Westminster Review, the Cornhill Magazine. He contributed regularly to the journal Mind.
In 1873 he contributed an article on aesthetics to the 9th Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (including an article entitled "Evolution" written with Thomas Huxley (1825-1895). he also wrote on dreams for the Britannica. In 1874 he published Sensation and Intuition, Pessimism in 1877, Illusions for the International Scientific Series in 1881, The Teacher's Handbook of Psychology in 1886, Outlines of Psychology in 1886, The Human Mind in 1892, Studies of Childhood in 1896, Children's Ways in 1897, Essay on Laughter in 1902. Between 1871 and 1901 he published about 50 articles on music, illusions, childhood, laughter and German culture. |
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| Source | Sources: Pamphlet entitled "The British Psychological Society 1901-1961" supplement to the Bulletin of the British Psychological Society by Kenna, J.C. (1913-2004) Hon.Archivist BPS (BPS London) 1961
Lyubov G. Gurjeva, Sully James (1842-1923) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [accessed 14 Dec 2004: http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/38636]
Quote from Measuring the Mind: education and psychology in England c 1860-c 1990, Wooldridge, A (1994) |
| Conventions | International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN ISBN 0-9696035-3-3
National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. |