_____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ A SURVEY OF STAFFORDSHIRE MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS IN 1851 by Richard Sylvanus Williams DRAFT (14 Jun 2018) _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2018. Richard Sylvanus Williams Richard Sylvanus Williams 30 King Street WINTERTON North Lincolnshire DN15 9TP 01724 737254 [email protected] June 2018 A SURVEY OF STAFFORDSHIRE MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS IN 1851 On census night 30 Mar 1851 there was a cohort of 274 medical practitioners1, hereafter called medics, resident (or normally resident2) in the county as it then extended. The population of the county was then 608,716 so that there was one medic to every 2,222 residents. An alphabetical register has been compiled3 in which an account4 is given of the life and career of each medic with appropriate references. Each entry includes material on his birth, parentage, education and career, marriage and immediate family, and death. This survey is based on those entries. A very few of the cohort, or their immediate family, became famous or infamous in national life and are thus mentioned in the Online Dictionary of National Biography. They are: Joseph Barnard Davis, F.S.A. 1801-1891 a celebrated anthropologist; John Massey c1782-1854, of a family of clockmakers; Charles Ferrers Palmer 1819-1900 historian and Dominican monk and his father Shirley Palmer 1786-1852, author and editor of medical works; and lastly, William Palmer 1824-1856 "the Rugeley poisoner" who is not known to have been related to the other Palmers. This survey is divided into the following thirteen sections: 01: THE COHORT IN 1851 02: BIRTH AND PARENTAGE 03: MEDICAL APPRENTICESHIP, TRAINING, STUDY AND QUALIFICATION 04: MEDICAL CAREERS 05: MEMBERSHIP OF SOCIETIES 06: PUBLICATIONS 07: NON-MEDICAL CAREERS 08: MALPRACTICE, CRIMINAL AND NOTORIOUS BEHAVIOUR 09: MISCELLANEA 10: MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN 11: DEATH, BURIAL AND MONUMENTS 12: WILLS, ADMINISTRATIONS AND ESTATE VALUATIONS 13: END NOTE APPENDIX A: 1848 TRIAL OF WILLIAM HARDING FLINT from The Lancet APPENDIX B: STAFFORDSHIRE MEDICAL GAZETTEER FOR 1851 _____________________________________________________________________________________ 01: THE COHORT IN 1851 _____________________________________________________________________________________ 01A: 1851: TYPE OF QUALIFICATION Medics might be qualified as physicians, surgeons or apothecaries. The precise meaning of these titles varied both over time and context. Simply stated the original roles might seem quite distinct. Physicians offered medical advice (physic), surgeons performed operations (surgery) and apothecaries prepared and sold medicinal drugs. However many disputes arose when surgeons or apothecaries were seen to be exchanging roles with physicians (by offering medical advice) or when they strayed into each others specialities. By 1851 the three roles were fairly closely defined in terms of their qualifications as is outlined in Section 03. 1 Eligible for inclusion are those styled apothecary, surgeon, physician, general practitioner or medical practitioner in the census or in a contemporary directory or register including those who had retired or lapsed. There may of course be others as yet undiscovered. 2 Three medics (Nos 15 154 & 162) were on a visit and are listed as "visitors" in the census. Medics who were making more permanent stays for health or other reasons are not included in the cohort. 3 A copy of the register in the form of a printable wordfile is available for a small fee on application to "[email protected]". 4 These accounts must contain errors of both omission and commission; some data is presented as approximate or probable rather than certain. In the following discussion the data is taken as presented, with all faults. The fact of approximation or probability should be taken as read. Most figures of totals or percentages will hardly be affected by this circumstance. A small number of men (30) were qualified as and practising as physicians5, whilst most (244) were practising as surgeons and/or apothecaries, hereafter called surgeon- apothecaries. The 244 surgeon-apothecaries divide into a small group (32) in practice before 1815, and four other groups, who were either qualified surgeon (M.R.C.S., F.R.C.S., L.R.C.S.E. or L.R.C.S.I.) & apothecary (L.S.A. or L.S.A.D.) (140), surgeon only (22), apothecary only (31) or not qualified (19). Of the small group of 32 in practice before 1815 seven qualified M.R.C.S. between 1801 and 1819. The details of the various qualifications are explained in Sections 03F (surgeons) and 03G (apothecaries). It is stated6: "In 1851 medical practitioners were asked in the Census schedule to state whether they had a medical diploma. The replies - never published in the 1851 census reports - showed that only about a third had any qualifications." Certainly most of the cohort have details of their qualifications entered on the census record. The record was filled in by local enumerators whose handwriting and spelling is not always of the highest standard. Some medics simply declare themselves as physician, surgeon or general practitioner. Evidently not all medical qualifications were listed. Those in practice as surgeon or apothecaries before 1815 had no need to hold a qualification and some men record that circumstance on their census record. Some men may have misrepresented or lied about their qualifications. For instance John Cooke Chawner of Hanley, Staffs surgeon ?1793-1860 claimed to be M.D., London in 1851 but this qualification is not recorded elsewhere. 01B: 1851: AGE7 The oldest of the cohort was John Greene of Brewood, Staffs surgeon and apothecary 1771-1858 who was born 18 Sep 1771 and was just two months older than the next oldest, a physician, Francis Hickin Northen of Adbaston M.D. 1771-1861 who was born 26 Nov 1771. The two youngest, both surgeon-apothecaries, were only aged 21. They were John Maule Sutton of Oulton in Stone M.R.C.S.,M.S.A. 1829-1886 (born 15 Jul) and Henry Joseph Stormont of Wolverhampton M.R.C.S.,L.S.A. 1829-1890 (born 26 Apr). Because of the length of their training and education the two youngest physicians were considerably older, both aged about 30. They were Alfred Gilbert Willington of Handsworth 1821-1901 (christened 19 Aug) and John Topham of Wolverhampton 1821-1887 (christened 11 Jan). 5 Some men subsequently qualified as physicians. 6 SOC.APOTH I 193 note [but no source quoted]. 7 AGE Throughout this survey age in years (at any event) is calculated by subtracting the year of birth from the year of the event which will result in slight divergences from actual ages. The average age of the cohort was 43½ (43.52), of the physicians 48 (47.57) and of the surgeon-apothecaries 43 (43.02). 01C: 1851: HOUSEHOLDS Of the 274cohort, on census night, 168 men were in their first marriage, 19 in a second marriage, 15 were widowers, 69 were still bachelors and the marital status of three men was not discovered. The wives of fifteen of the married men were not at home on census night. Ten of these wives were probably away on visits but five of the men appear to have separated from their wives8. Ten men9 were not found in the 1851 census. Of the 264 medics found, 238 men were head of a household, 23 were members of other households or institutions and three were on visits. Of the group of 23, twelve were living with close family members (some themselves medics), six were in the households of other unrelated medics, one was a lodger and the remaining four were resident surgeons at county hospitals10. Of the 238 heads of households 48 were bachelors. There were then 190 married householders of whom 42 had no children living with them. The remainder had between 1 and 11 children with them that night: Only 44 of the 238 households accommodated relatives other than children. Most (29) had a single relative but a few two, three or four, as below. Of the 238 householders, 47 were accommodating other medical men who were usually classed as medical assistants, apprentices or students. Of these 47 households, 40 had one additional medic, four had two, and three had three. So there were a total of 5711 men. The table, below, lists them all. The first six qualified men appear in the main register. In the table are given the men's names, the year, place and county12 of birth and in the right hand column their job description in the census. It is plain that a good many were serving apprenticeships. 8 More detailed studies of marriage and family appear below in Section 10. 9 Nos 139 149 152 178 193 204 217 225 248 272. 10 The hospitals are discussed below (Section 04B). 11 This figure does not include sons who were medics or medical assistants etc. 12 The counties are indicated by the "Chapman County Codes". QUALIFIED MEN INCLUDED IN MAIN REGISTER John James Bunch 1823 Bilston STS L.S.A. Henry Collins 1829 Hampton Court MDX M.R.C.S. medical assistant Philip Henry Harper 1824 West Bromwich STS MRCS "in general practise" Richard Pope Jeston 1827 Henley on Thames OXF M.R.C.S.,L.S.A. assistant Henry Joseph Stormont 1829 Redditch WOR M.R.C.S.,L.S.A. Samuel Hayman Warren 1826 Milverton SOM L.S.A. MEDICAL ASSISTANTS Edwin Daniel Bakewell 1832 Stone STS surgeon's dispensing Assistant George Chapman 1824 Oldswinford WOR assistant surgeon Frederick Cooper 1816 Newport SAL assistant surgeon Charles Cripps 1830 Worcester WOR surgeon's assistant Robert B. Dibben 1811 Leicester LEI assistant surgeon William G. Garman 1831 Bow MDX assistant surgeon William S. Glover 1819 Claverley SAL surgeon's assistant John Green 1831 Stockport CHS medical dispenser Thomas C.W. Jobson 1827 ?Corbyath Scotland assistant surgeon John B.