use of the law to imprison people in asylums and he won a lot of public support, people regarding him as a well meaning eccentric or crank deprived of his liberty and his right to speak freely. In August 1916 Chidley was released from an asylum under conditions that he "not address persons, and particularly women, by circular asking them to grant him interviews, in order that he might explain his theory to them." He was banned from holding meetings in public parks but he was soon addressing Sydney crowds in The Domain. On 16 February 1916 Chidley was again found insane and committed to Kenmore Mental Hospital at Goulburn. Chidley wrote his autobiography, entitled "Confessions" and sent a copy of the manuscript to Henry Havelock Ellis. In 1935 Ellis sent this manuscript to the Mitchell Library, Sydney, remarking "Not only is it a document of much psychological interest, but as a picture of the intimate aspects of Australian life in the nineteenth century it is of the highest interest, and that value will go on increasing as time passes". Chidley attempted suicide on 12 October 1916 and later died suddenly on 21 December 1916 of arteriosclerosis, an inmate at Callan Park Hospital for the Insane. Selected publications The Answer or the World as Joy: An Essay on Philosophy (1915) Confessions of William James Chidley (1977) References Further reading External links [CC-By-SA] 1860s births 1916 deaths Australian philosophers Pseudoscientific diet advocates