A Medical Study of Health and Hygiene on board the Swan River Colony’s Private Merchant Vessels of the Nineteenth Century A doctor’s medical kit from 1850 (Soetens 2001:82).82 Rebecca Ryan Archaeology, School of Social and Cultural Studies at the University of Western Australia Bachelor of Arts with Honours 2013 Supervisors: Associate Professor Alistair Paterson & Dr Jennifer Rodrigues Report—DepartMent of MaritiMe Archaeology, Western Australian MuseuM No. 249 9 8 I declare that this is my own composition, and contains only sole-authored work. No part of this thesis has been submitted in any form for another degree at this or another university. Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is provided. Rebecca Ryan October 2013 i I would like to acknowledge and thank the following people. Dr Jennifer Rodrigues, for constant support and wisdom throughout the year and for pushing me to be involved in the maritime archaeology community. Thank you! Associate Professor Alistair Paterson, for guidance and support. And putting my work into perspective. Madeleine McAllister, for encouragement and support throughout the year. And for her enthusiasm for maritime archaeology. Corioli Souter for advice and help. I would like to thank the Western Australian Museum as well as Steve Howell, senior subject specialist at the Battye Library for their support and assistance. ii Table of Contents List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….v List of Tables………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………viii Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………ix Chapter 1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………….1 1.1. Research Aims………………………………………………………………………………………………….3 1.2. Chronological Overview……………………………………………………………………………………5 Chapter 2. Health and Medicine during Nineteenth Century Britain………………………………...11 Chapter 3.1. Literature Review: Medicine and Health aboard Sailing Ships…………….……….21 3.1.1. Australian Convict and Emigrant Voyages…………………………………………………..25 3.1.2. Convict Transport and Surgeons’ Daily Journals on voyages to Western Australia……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..33 3.1.3. Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………………….36 Chapter 3.2. Literature Review: Archaeology……………………………………………………………………38 3.2.1. Australian Archaeology……………………………………………………………………………….40 3.2.2. Summary……………………………………………………………………………………….……………47 Chapter 4. Shipwrecks and Site Selection……….………………………………………………………………..48 4.1. Summary………………………………………………………………………………………………………..62 Chapter 5. Method…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….63 5.1. Methodological Context………………………………………………………………………………..63 5.2. Functional Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………..64 5.3. Documentary Sources……………………………………………………………………………………68 5.4. Importance and Limitations…………………………………………………………………………..71 5.5. Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………………….73 Chapter 6. Results of Functional Analysis …………………………..…………………………………………….74 6.1. Injuries and Disease……………………………………………………………………………………….93 6.2. Hygiene………………………………………………………………………………………………………….95 6.3. ‘Medical Comforts’ identified in Surgeons’ Daily Journals………………………………99 6.4. The Swan River Colony…………………………………………………………………………………102 6.5. Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………………..102 Chapter 7. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..……………………..……….104 Reference List…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..106 iii Appendix 1……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….122 Appendix 2…………………………………………………………………………................................................123 iv List of Figures Image on title page: A doctor’s medical kit from 1850 (Soetens 2001:82). Figure 3.2.1. Urethral syringes from the Mary Rose (Wood and Hather 2005:206)…………….39 Figure 3.2.2. A marble mortar (Campbell and Gesner 2000:92)………………………………………….41 Figure 3.2.3. Apothecary jars (Campbell and Gesner 2000:93)……………………………………………41 Figure 3.2.4. An ivory syringe (Campbell and Gesner 2000:92)……………………………………………42 Figure 3.2.5. A tourniquet clamp (Campbell and Gesner 2000:93)………………………………………42 Figure 3.2.6. Bronze mortar GT6 (Western Australian Museum)…………………………………………46 Figure 3.2.7. Bronze mortar BAT0457 (Western Australian Museum)…………………………………46 Figure 3.2.8. One of two barbers bronze bowls BAT516A (Western Australian Museum)..…46 Figure 3.2.9. One of four apothecary jars BAT2422 (Western Australian Museum)…………….46 Figure 4.1. Map showing the locations of shipwrecks along the Western Australian coast…48 Figure 4.2. Map showing the location of the shipwreck Rapid along the north-west Australian coast.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...49 Figure 4.3. The wreck site plan for James Matthews (Kenderdine 1995:102)……………………..53 Figure 4.4.The wreck site plan for Eglinton (Stanbury 2003:13)………………………………………….55 Figure 4.5. The wreck site plan for Centaur (Kenderdine et al 1994:7)………………………………..57 Figure 4.6. The wreck site plan for Sepia (Kenderdine 1995:128)………………………………………..59 Figure 4.7. The wreck site plan for Carlisle Castle (Kenderdine 1995:150)…………………………..60 Figure 4.8. The wreck site plan for Day Dawn prior to excavation and relocation (Kenderdine 1995:136)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………61 Figure 6.1. Assemblage percentage from each shipwreck…………………………………………………..75 Figure 6.2. Number of artefacts of each material type………………………………………………………..76 Figure 6.3. Artefact functional categories……………………………………………………………………………77 Figure 6.4. Syringe RP3292 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)……………………….…78 Figure 6.5. Syringe RP5634 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)………………………….78 Figure 6.6. Syringe RP5631 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)………………………….78 Figure 6.7. Syringe CE1014 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)………………………….78 Figure 6.8. Mortar EG1160 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)………………………….79 Figure 6.9. View of mortar EG1160 from above (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………80 Figure 6.10. Water filter EG665 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)…………………..81 Figure 6.11. Water filter EG731, Eglinton display, Western Australian Museum-Shipwreck Galleries (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)……………………………………………………..81 Figure 6.12. Urinal EG1404 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)………………………….82 Figure 6.13. Toothbrush EG1458 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)…………………83 Figure 6.14. Toothbrush EG1459 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)………………...83 Figure 6.15. Toothbrush RP1861 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)…………………83 Figure 6.16. Toothbrush RP5402 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)…………………83 Figure 6.17. Toothbrush RP5433 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)…………………83 Figure 6.18. Lice comb EG1457 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)……………………84 v Figure 6.19. Toothpaste jar base SE886 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)………85 Figure 6.20. Glass perfume stopper EG1513 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………85 Figure 6.21. Shaving mug EG880. (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)………………..85 Figure 6.22. Soap holder EG1336 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)………………..85 Figure 6.23. Holloway’s Ointment Jar EG1137 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………87 Figure 6.24. Victoria Museum Holloway’s Ointment Jar……………………………………………………..87 Figure 6.25. Langton Brothers and Scott Wholesale Druggists jar EG1018 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)…………………………………………………………………………………………….88 Figure 6.26. Langton Brothers and Scott Wholesale Druggists jar EG1037 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)…………………………………………………………………………………………….88 Figure 6.27. Cobalt blue castor oil bottles CA3118 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………89 Figure 6.28. Long necked white bottle CB1601 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………89 Figure 6.29. Zinc oxide bricks EG1588 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)…………90 Figure 6.30. Sulphur EG708 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)…………………………91 Figure 6.31. Castor oil bottle and contents EG933, Eglinton display, Western Australian Museum-Shipwreck Galleries (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)……………………..92 Figure 6.32. Galena EG1362 (Rebecca Ryan, Western Australian Museum)………………………..93 Figure 6.33. Comparison of the Holdfast Bay Jetty vaginal syringe and Centaur syringe, Western Australian Museum………………………………………………………………………………………………96 Figure 6.34. Drawn syringes from the Rapid, Western Australian Museum…………………………96 List of Tables Table 4.1. Shipwreck data…………………………………………………………………………………………………..50 Table 5.1. Information resources and databases………………………………………………………………..70 Table 6.1. Medical comforts of ‘Surgeon Watson’s Daily Journal for the Norwood 1862’…...................................................................................................................................100 vi Abstract This research attempts to provide insights into the medical practices and health- and hygiene-related issues on board nineteenth century Swan River Colony merchant ships by using a functional analysis approach of archaeological artefacts selected for this study. The seven shipwreck sites investigated include the Rapid (1811), James Matthews (1841), Eglinton (1852), Centaur (1874) Sepia (1898), Carlisle Castle (1899) and Day Dawn (1899). Most maritime medical practices have explored the experiences of