Herbal Medicine in Nineteenth Century England: the Career of John Skelton

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Herbal Medicine in Nineteenth Century England: the Career of John Skelton Herbal Medicine in Nineteenth Century England: the Career of John Skelton Alison M. Denham MA by Research University of York Department of History July 2013 Abstract This thesis offers an account of the career of John Skelton (1805-1880) who has been discussed by historians as a Chartist and as a Thomsonian herbal practitioner. Skelton was a member of the London Working Men’s Association and a signatory of the People’s Charter. This thesis demonstrates that he was an active Socialist in the early 1840s, and a labour leader and consistent proponent of “moral force” Chartism throughout the 1840s. He retained a commitment to free thought throughout his life as “there is no mental vigour without exchange of thought." This account shows that he was a secularist in the 1840s, but later became a Christian without losing his commitment to democratic values. In 1848, Skelton became a herbalist and analysis of his recommendations for the treatment of respiratory disease in the Family Medical Adviser (1852) shows that his practice relied on Thomsonian principles, but differed in that he gave prominence to his conception of inflammation. Analysis of the medicinal plants recommended throughout his career found that he drew substantially on earlier British texts, and that he was a consistent advocate of the use of indigenous herbs alongside North American and tropical herbs. He retained a firm belief in the power of nature, which was expressed in A Plea for the Botanic Practice of Medicine (1853). This may have reflected his rural roots, but is also discussed here in the light of the influence of Socialism on his later thinking. This thesis demonstrates his personal commitment to education in that he qualified as a medical practitioner in 1863, and published a textbook Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine (1870) for use by students of herbal medicine. Equally, he was a firm proponent of self-reliance in healthcare and of the use of herbal medicine in working-class communities. 1 List of Contents List of Contents .......................................................................................................................... 2 Figures and Tables in the text. ............................................................................................ 4 Appendices ............................................................................................................................. 4 Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................. 7 American practice: Thomsonianism and Eclecticism ....................................................... 8 Skelton’s medical world ...................................................................................................... 14 Democratic epistemology? ................................................................................................. 20 Summary of Chapters ......................................................................................................... 26 Chapter 2: Biography .............................................................................................................. 28 1805-1830s: early years ................................................................................................. 29 1830s-1848: London ....................................................................................................... 31 1848-1851: Manchester .................................................................................................. 32 1851-1858: Leeds ............................................................................................................ 33 1858 onwards: London, Plymouth ................................................................................. 36 Radical artisan: 1837-1848 ................................................................................................ 39 London Working Men’s Association .............................................................................. 42 Chartist activity ................................................................................................................. 46 Trades’ activity ................................................................................................................. 51 Chartist social life ............................................................................................................. 54 Medical Botanist: 1848 onwards ....................................................................................... 58 Chapter 3: Treatment recommendations in the Family Medical Adviser ........................ 64 Skelton’s sources ................................................................................................................. 66 Regimen: Exercise .............................................................................................................. 70 Inflammation ..................................................................................................................... 73 Composition powder ........................................................................................................ 80 Whooping-cough .............................................................................................................. 81 Pleurisy .............................................................................................................................. 84 Asthma .............................................................................................................................. 89 Chapter 4: Medicinal plants recommended by John Skelton ............................................ 95 Family Medical Adviser (1852): Thomsonian methods .................................................. 99 Botanic Record (1852-1855): European sources and herbs ...................................... 101 Science and Practice (1870): Eclectic medicines appear ........................................... 107 Chapter 5: Knowledge is power........................................................................................... 113 The Zetetic principle .......................................................................................................... 113 Universal Happiness ......................................................................................................... 117 Nature’s laws ...................................................................................................................... 122 2 Man is progressive ............................................................................................................ 127 Chapter 6: Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 131 Appendices ............................................................................................................................. 138 Appendix 1. ......................................................................................................................... 138 Table 2: Lectures given by John Skelton, 1840-1867. ................................................. 138 Appendix 2. ......................................................................................................................... 141 Table 3: Herbs recommended in Skelton’s publications.............................................. 141 Appendix 3. ......................................................................................................................... 147 Figure 8: Memorial Stone in the Graveyard, All Saints, Holbeton, Devon ................ 147 Appendix 4. ......................................................................................................................... 148 Figure 9: 105 Great Russell Street, London, WC1. (photograph taken in 2011) ..... 148 Appendix 5. ......................................................................................................................... 149 Figure 10: Scan of Botanic Record, no. 28 (August 1854), no.29 (September 1854). .................................................................................................................................................... 149 Appendix 6. ......................................................................................................................... 150 Figure 11: scan of Title page of A Plea for the Botanic Practice of Medicine .......... 150 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 151 Unpublished Primary sources .......................................................................................... 151 Published Primary sources .............................................................................................. 152 Newspapers and Periodicals, Nineteenth-Century ................................................... 152 Pamphlets, Nineteenth-Century .................................................................................. 152 Books, first published before 1919, including reprints ............................................. 153 Secondary sources ...........................................................................................................
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