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The Making of Domestic Medicine: Gender, Self-Help and Therapeutic Determination in Household Healthcare in South-West England in the Late Seventeenth Century

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The Making of Domestic Medicine: Gender, Self-Help and Therapeutic Determination in Household Healthcare in South-West England in the Late Seventeenth Century Middlesex University Research Repository An open access repository of Middlesex University research http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk Stobart, Anne (2008) The making of domestic medicine: gender, self-help and therapeutic determination in household healthcare in South-West England in the late seventeenth century. PhD thesis, Middlesex University. [Thesis] Final accepted version (with author’s formatting) This version is available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/6745/ Copyright: Middlesex University Research Repository makes the University’s research available electronically. Copyright and moral rights to this work are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners unless otherwise stated. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. A copy may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial, research or study without prior permission and without charge. Works, including theses and research projects, may not be reproduced in any format or medium, or extensive quotations taken from them, or their content changed in any way, without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). They may not be sold or exploited commercially in any format or medium without the prior written permission of the copyright holder(s). Full bibliographic details must be given when referring to, or quoting from full items including the author’s name, the title of the work, publication details where relevant (place, publisher, date), pag- ination, and for theses or dissertations the awarding institution, the degree type awarded, and the date of the award. If you believe that any material held in the repository infringes copyright law, please contact the Repository Team at Middlesex University via the following email address: [email protected] The item will be removed from the repository while any claim is being investigated. See also repository copyright: re-use policy: http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/policies.html#copy The Making of Domestic Medicine: Gender, Self-Help and Therapeutic Determination in Household Healthcare in South-West England in the Late Seventeenth Century A Thesis Submitted to Middlesex University in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Anne Stobart,B. Sc.(Hons), M. A. School of Health and Social Sciences Middlesex University December2008 Copyright @ 2008 by Anne Stobart All rights reserved Abstract This thesis explores household healthcare in the later seventeenth century, particularly the extent of household production of medicines based on medicinal receipts. Medicinal receipts were widely collected in the early modem period although the extent to which these recipes were in ongoing use has not been well-established. The aims of this research are to consider the health concerns and activities of lay women and men, to identify resources available for self-help healthcare, and to establish factors affecting selection and use of medicinal receipts. Accounts are analysed alongside family letters and receipt collections, from selected households in South West England, to identify medicinal supplies and medical services provided by apothecaries, physicians, surgeons and other individuals. Households differ in terms of ingredients purchased, preparations preferred, suppliers, therapeutic strategies used, and the extent of use of medical practitioners. Recorded ingredient purchases match few receipts although there is evidence of some favourite preparations being made. Other resources are considered, including gifts of advice and remedies, and plant ingredients from gardens and the wild. I argue that use of these other resources depended on factors such as knowledge, including plant identification skills, and material considerations, including labour availability. Purchased medicines appeared to become increasingly significant in self-help whilst opportunities for gift medicine may have been reduced. I contrast the gentlewoman healer and the patient consumer in their assessment of medicinal receipts, and their use of medicines with children. Both demonstrated strategies for maintaining therapeutic determination and influencing the approach of medical practitioners in relation to their own complaints. This study shows that medicinal receipt collections did not fully reflect the extent of lay healthcare activities and differences between lay household healthcare practitioners. It contributes to our understanding of the gendered shaping of domestic medicine, and the relationship of household healthcare to medical authority and the developing commercial and professional medical market in the eighteenth century. iii Acknowledgements Many people have given freely of their time and knowledge and I would like to express my appreciation for their help. Staff in various record offices and libraries have been of great assistance and include those at Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Kent, Lincoln and Somerset Record Offices and the Bodleian, Guildhall, Middlesex University, Wellcome and West Country Studies Libraries. I have also been ably helped by staff at the institutions of the Royal College of Physicians and Society of Apothecaries. I have been privileged to have access to archives in private hands and thank Lord and Lady Clifford for enabling extended access to their family archive. My thanks also to the Alexander Street Press for access to the extensive on-line resource of British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries. I am fortunate to have participated in a number of seminars and conferences organised by various research groups, local history groups and other networks and especially thank all involved in the Medicinal Receipts Research Group, Centre for Medical History and the South West Women's History Group. Individuals have been most helpful and generous to me at various points and include David Allen, Sandra Appiah, Jayne Archer, Richard Aspin, Jonathan Barry, Caroline Bowden, Giles Brockman, Alick Cameron, Norah Carlin, Bridget Clarke, Elizabeth Clarke, Lesley Coates, Ruth Connolly, Nancy Cox, Michelle Dimeo, Mark Goldie, Lisa Grant, Todd Gray, Ian Gregg, Jamie Halstead, Gabrielle Hatfield, Marij van Helmond, Frances Henderson, Andre and Catherine Hevezi, Elaine Hobby, Lynette Hunter, Huw Jones, Peter Jones, Lauren Kassell, Nadia Koussela, Jo Melling, Ian Mortimer, Sara Pennell, David Rabson, Mary Saunders, Lisa Smith, Kate Tobin, Sarah Toulalan, Patrick Wallis, Andrew Wear, Nicky Wesson, Jane Whittle, John Wilkins, Alun Withey. I would especially like to mention Emma Ball, Elaine Leong and Layinka Swinburne for their support. I thank Margaret Pelling for providing much-needed advice. For editing suggestions I am indebted to Jill Baines. I have received unfailing support and guidance from my Directors of Studies and Supervisors, Sarah Hutton, Celia Bell and Linda Bell. Thanks are due to Middlesex University for financial support for fees, and for enabling me to have paid sabbatical leave in order to gather archive material during 2004. I am grateful to my family for their ongoing forbearance and encouragement, especially my parents and Kay. iv Abbreviations BIWLD British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries BL British Library DRO Devon Record Office DHC Dorset History Centre CFA Clifford Family Archive SARS Somerset Archive and Record Service V Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... iv Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. v Table Contents of ...................................................................................................... vi List Figures Tables of and ......................................................................................... ix Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Household Healthcare Matters ...................................................................... 5 1.1 Context ................................................................................................................ 5 1.2 Rationale and Historiographical Issues 8 ................................................................. 1.3 Relevant Literature ............................................................................................. 21 1.4 Methodology ...................................................................................................... 34 1.5 Sources .............................................................................................................. 38 1.6 Conclusion .................................... ..................................................................... 44 Chapter 2: Medical Ailments and Healthcare Concerns 46 2.1 Introduction ................................................ ........................................................................................................ 46 2.2 Medicinal Receipt Collections Health Concerns 46 and ........................................... 2.3 Selecting Receipts .............................................................................................. 49 2.4 Repeating Receipts 52 .............................. ............................................................... 2.5 Letters about Health Health Concerns 58 and .........................................................
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