1 1 1 i ill 11 THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES L> (kJCa ^6^J(roL KwiLoX^i Vc^:. Chapter XV. 183 Further Changes in the Staff — Morgan Yeatman — J. Metford — R. J. Allard — Richard Smith, Jun. — F. C. Bowles — William Hetling — Controversy about Apprentice— Richard Lowe — H. Daniel — The Shutes — Premature Canvassing — Nathaniel Smith. Chapter XVI. 196 History continued — ■ Financial position — Bleeding and Leeching — The Physicians — Unruly Pupils — The Apothecary— —Pigs — Condition of Roads — Purchase of Land — Residence of Surgical Staff — Nurses — Lighting by Gas — College of Surgeons — Dissection of Bodies — The Anatomy Act. VI CONTENTS Page Chapter XVII 205 Body-Snatching in Bristol — Abraham Ludlow and " Long Jack " — F. C. Bowles and his Demonstrations — Story of the Negro's Head — Wallis and Riley — Estlin, Harrison, and Waldo — Lawrence Sterne — The case of John Horwood — The Old Newgate Prison— Spurzheim. Chapter XVIII 222 Social Life in Bristol in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries— Cock- Fighting and Bull-Baiting — Dinners — Music — The Bleecks — Tavern Life — The Dolphin Dinners — The Disputa- tion Society — Gaisford — Medical Students' Societies — The Bear's Cub Club— The Catch Club— The Half-Pint Club— The Nagg's Head Clut) — Peter Wells — The White Lion Club — Duels — Richard Vining Perry — His Marriage with Clementina Clarke at Gretna Green — Trial for Abduction. Chapter XIX 247 Medical Practice in Bristol in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries — The Barber-Surgeons — Rosewell— Parsley — Samuel Pye — Hellier — The Apothecaries — Shapland — Allard v. Sowerby Broderip — -The Dispensing Druggist — Thomas Baynton — W. H. Goldwyer — S. S. Salmon — William Barrett — Advertising Quacks — John Taylor — Education of the Apothecaries — Cupping — Extraordinary Remedies. Chapter XX. 266 Attempted Murder of Dr. Logan — Murder of Captain Goodere — Demonstrations on Bodies of Murderers in Board Room — " The Redland Murder " — Mrs. Burdock and Mrs. Smith — William Herapath — General Elections — Caricature — Bristol Riots — Henry Daniel's Evidence. Chapter XXI 276 Resignation of William Fripp — Election of Daniel Cave — Physicians' Pupils — Female Visitors — Apothecary's Title — Readmission of Faculty to Committee— Rise of the Bristol General Hospital — New Out-patient Department — New Wards — Memorial from Medical School — Dressers — Library and Museum — Thomas Bawn — J. J. Palmer — -William Weir — Samuel Johnson — Robert Johnson — Secretary and House Steward — W. H. Bosworth — Fortescue-Brickdale. Chapter XXII 290 New Rules — Chairman of Committee — Increased Power of Committee — Proposed Assistant Officers — Dispenser — President and Treasurer — Clinical Lectures — Age Limit — Apothecary — Consumption of Beer — Teaching — Infirmary Dinner — John Scandrett Harford — Duties of Matron and Secretary — W. H. Bosworth — William Trenerry — The Chaplains — John Swete — -John Mais— The Matrons. Chapter XXIII 301 Dr. George Wallis — Dr. John Howell — Dr. Riley — Dr. Lyon — Dr. J. F. Bernard — John Harrison — W. Hetling's last days— W. F. Morgan — Death of Richard Smith — Henry Clark — Thomas Green — Frederick Leman — C. R. Vachell — Charles Greig — Richard Davis — H. A. Hore — Nathaniel Crisp — J. S. Metford — Robert Powell. CONTENTS Page Chapter XXIV. ....... 315 Want of Accommodation in Out-patient Department — " Two in a Bed " — The Board Room and " Ping Pong " — Domestic Arrangements — Nurses — Anaesthetics — Dr. Beddoes and Humphry Davy — Suple Prize — Mr. Hore's Statistics — Bristol " Royal " Infirmary — Ivyleaf Legacy — Finances — Diet — John George Shaw — Collection of {'9,000 — The Chaplains. Chapter XXV. 327 Erection of Chapel and Museum — Convalescent Room — The Pharmacopoeia — Diet — The Faculty on " Chops " — The Lift — Election of Residents — Hospital Sunday — Clearing off the Debt — The Dispenser — Calls to Consultations — The Telegraph — John Battersby Harford — The Lady with the Votes — Hill's Wards — The Nurses, their Diet and Sleeping Accommodation — W. G. Grace. Chapter XXVI 340 Outward Appearance — " Hats on " — Dressers' Gowns — The New Type — William Budd — Frederick Brittan — Alexander Fairbrother — Edward Long Fox — John Beddoe — Augustin Prichard — R. M. Bernard — H. A. Hore — Crosby Leonard — T. E. Clark— R. W. Tibbits— Robert Phippen— Rules of 1870 — Assistant Medical Officers — E. Ludlow — E. C. Board — Convalescent Homes — Resident Apprentices — R. Shingleton Smith — H. M. Chute — Debt — Insanitary Condition — Temporary Removal to Colston Street — Personal Reminiscences — Re- opening of Infirmary. Chapter XXVII 354 Antiseptics — Pasteur and Budd — Lister at the Infirmary — Changes in the Staff — Finances in 1875 and 1876 — Out-patients and Hospital Abuse — Appointment of House Physician — Deaths of Crosby Leonard and Tibbits — John Hellicar — Rev. James Hey worth — Sir Charles Cave, Bt. — Death of William Budd — J. C. Wayet — Memorial Tablets in the Chapel. Chapter XXVIII 366 Medical Teaching in Bristol in the Eighteenth and early part of the Nineteenth Century — Lectures by Ford and Page — Godfrey Lowe, Bowles, and Smith — Beddoes — His unpunctuality — Thomas Pole — William Hetling's Lectures and the Faculty — Prichard and Stock- — Rolfe — Walks — Thomas Shute's Theatre — Dinners at the "Montague " — Francis Gold — His Adventures in France — " School of Anatomy and Medicine " — " Bristol Medical and Surgical School " — Foundation of the Bristol Medical School. Chapter XXIX 382 Foundation of Bristol University College — Thomas Coomber — Teaching at the Medical School — " Fitz " — Proposed Infirmary School — Out-patients — David Edward Bernard- Election of Greig Smith as Assistant House Surgeon — Edward Long Fox — Infirmary Reports — Rise of the Special Departments ■ — Nurses' Home — Collection of 1881 — Legacies — Renovation of House in 1887 — Harley Bushell — Entrance Scholarships — Teaching of Morbid Anatomy—Dental Department — Dean of Faculty — W. H.Spencer — C. H. Dowson — Appointment of Additional Assistant Surgeon. CONTENTS Page Chapter XXX 305 Qualifications of the Staff — Junior Posts — Entertainments — Rules — Obstetric Department — Bacteriology and Pathology — Nose and Throat Department — Skiagraphist — Anaesthetist — Operation Theatre — Death of Greig Smith — Changes in Committee and Staff — Resignation of Sir Charles Cave, Bt. — Election of Sir George White, Bt. — Deaths of Infirmary Students. Chapter XXXI. ....... 410 Changes in Chaplaincy — Appointment of Casualty Officer — Out-patient Abuse — Queen Victoria Convalescent Home — Luncheons for Students — Princess Christian Hospital — Nurses' Home — Legacies and Donations — Serious Financial Position — Carnival of 1905 — Sir George White, Bt., and the Collection of 1906 — Conclusion. Appendix A 419 Detailed Account of Elections of the Honorary Medical Officers. Appendix B ....... . 460 Biographies — (i) The Richard Smiths. (2) Sir Michael Foster. (3) The Prichards. (4) The Foxes. Appendix C ....... . 481 List of Elections and Resignations of Infirmary Officers. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Richard Smith, jun. Page Frontispiece Plan showing Plots of Land bought by Infirmary Plan of Ground in Neighbourhood of Old Infirmary Plan of Ground near Old Infirmary Dr. Bonython ..... Dr. Bonython's Writing and Signature Thomas Page .... First Recorded Visitors' Notes Bishop Newton's Letter . John Elbridge .... A Prescription of November, 1763 Another Prescription of Thomas Page's Father Page from " Out-patient Book," 1759 West End of Old Infirmary, 1751 . Plan of First Infirmary, 1742 John Page James Ford John Castelman Jerome Norman Dr. Lyne . Facsimile of Dr. Lyne's Letter Signatures of Staff, 1774 Dr. Ludlow Letter of Edmund Burke Joseph Harford Southern Front of Infirmary, 1781 New Northern Front of Infirmary, 1791 Sketch of Quaker Burial-Ground . of Resignation 13 14 15 17 18 21 27 38 44 56 56 60 62 63 66 66 75 75 84 85 94 117 134 134 140 140 147 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Programme of Performance given for Benefit of Infirmary ..... Title-page of Pelly's Memorandum Book Page from Pelly's Memorandum Book Thomas Griffiths William Swayne W. K. Craufuird F. C. Bowles Grave of F. C. Bowles William Hetling Thomas Shute's House in Park Street Nathaniel Smith .... Surroundings of Infirmary, 1826 Notice of Reward for Apprehension of Body Snatchers ....... John Horwood ....... Book bound in Skin of John Horwood . Phrenological Chart of Horwood' s Head Bush Tavern ....... White Lion Hotel, Broad Street . Title-page of Glee Book belonging to Catch Club Thigh Bone of Peter Wells .... Bones of Foot of John Leach, Cook at the Bush Tavern Samuel Pye ....... A Bill of Thomas Hellier, Barber-Surgeon . Silhouette of W. H. Goldwyer House on St. Augustine's Back, the Residence of William Barrett 1759 to 1786 . Toe-Nails of Old Woman who passed as a Witch " Irons " in which body was hung on Gibbet formerly NEAR KlNGROAD ...... William Davis ....... Mary Ann Burdock . . . . . . Cartoon of Political Contest, 1781 Caricature published at time of Bristol Riots Page 149 164 167 170 173 178 188 188 191 194 194 20O 211 2l6 2l6 221 234 234 236 238 238 249 249 257 260 26l 26l 269 269 272 274 xn LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ON J. F. Bernard ..... John Harrison ..... Group of Infirmary Surgeons, 1857. W. F. Morgan Thomas Green ..... Letter conferring the Title " Royal Infirmary ..... William Budd ..... Frederick Brittan .... Five Members of Medical Reading Society, 1854 Crosby Leonard ..... T. E. Clark ...... R. W. Tibbits ...... Group of Infirmary Officials, 1879 Diagram drawn by F. C. Bowles Group of Residents and Students, 1886 . W. H. Spencer ...... Christopher H. Dowson .... J. Greig Smith ...... Infirmary Group, 1903 .... From the Box-Book of the Theatre Royal, Street, August 23RD, 1773 . House of Richard Smith, sen., Charlotte Street Round to Memory of Richard Smith, jun Sir Michael Foster . . James Cowles Prichard' .... Augustin Prichard ..... Edward Long Fox, sen. .... Caricature, probably of Edward Long Fox, sen. Edward Long Fox, jun. ..... THE KlN( Page 305 305 306 307 307 322 342 342 343 346 346 346 364 37° 389 393 393 403 414 430 462 465 467 468 468 474 474 478 INTRODUCTION In the Board Room of the Bristol Royal Infirmary there has stood for many years a row of bulky volumes, fourteen in number, labelled " Biographical Memoirs." These contain written accounts of Infirmary affairs— elections, lists of officers, notices of meetings, letters, newspaper cuttings and historical memoranda, together with biographical histories of many of those who were connected with the Institution from the time of its foundation to the year 1842. As the Bristol Royal Infirmary is one of the oldest provincial hospitals, and has been from its early days intimately associated with the civic life of the city, there is a great deal of miscel- laneous matter in these old books of interest to the antiquary. Moreover, these records were collected by a remarkable man, Richard Smith, who was Surgeon to the Infirmary from 1796 to 1843. Luckily for those who may read this book, Richard Smith was an assiduous collector of anything connected with the Institution he loved so well. He was a man of literary tastes, a facile writer, and a born biographer. He not only put in his notes facts and dates, but he described minute details of dress, manner, and appearance in a way that has, perhaps, never been excelled except by James Boswell. Consequently we can find from these Memoirs not only when a physician or surgeon was elected and when he resigned, but we can, thanks to our biographer, know how he dressed, his manner of speech, and other characteristics. Neither did he confine himself strictly to the affairs of the Infirmary ; we come across references to Chatterton, Burke, Goldsmith, and others, and get glimpses of the social and literary life of Bristol in the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries. The manner in which many of the old documents were rescued from oblivion may be told in Richard Smith's own words : — " In the year 1791 I had the misfortune to lose my Father, and my Indentures were turned over to Mr. Godfrey Lowe, then senior surgeon to the Establishment. At this time I observed in the hands of a nurse a parcel of Papers intended for the common uses of the Ward, and I was rather surprised A HISTORY OF THE to find that they were official Letters addressed to the Governors of the Charity. I questioned her as to the means by which she obtained them, and was answered very coolly, ' Where we get them all — from the Old Ward.' Curiosity led me upstairs, and upon the floor of a deserted and ruinous garret in the old South Wing were piles of papers. I examined them and found them to be the Documents respecting the Institution from its very commencement. The records of the General Boards and committee were also thrown about and equally liable to the depredations of the Servants and Patients." Young Richard Smith carried many of these books and papers to his home in College Street, and made copious extracts from them. Unfortunately, nearly all the remaining documents — letters, indentures, etc. — were utterly destroyed ; but a great deal of interesting material remained in his hands for several years. When Mr. Edward Ash was Treasurer to the Infirmary, he pressed him to put these records into some more definite shape, and furnished him with further information, as did also Dr. Dyer, Mr. Richard Lowe, the widow of Mr. John Page, and Mr. Wintour Harris. From hearsay and from written and printed statements Richard Smith gradually added to these records until they assumed their present bulk. Unfortunately, nearly all the minutes of the early committee meetings were destroyed. Those from February 18th, 1736-7, to April 29th, 1737, are preserved in a book entitled " The Minute Book for the Committee appointed for the Infirmary February 18th 1736-7." This book, moreover, contains a full record of the meetings of Subscribers and the Quarterly Boards. From this store of miscellaneous material antiquaries have from time to time taken much interesting information, and more than one pamphlet and address — to say nothing of newspaper paragraphs — have been obtained from the same source. It appeared to me that if these memorials of bygone times could be brought from their retreat into daylight, and be put into some kind of sequence and order, they could not fail to be of interest to many, not only as a history of a great Charity, but as a means of looking with the eyes of a keen observer into the vivid life of an eventful epoch. Moreover, of the hundreds of biographical histories, although some are very short, yet others are full of important details concerning many Bristol families. I mentioned this idea to the President and to the Secretary and House Governor of the Infirmary, and the Committee gave BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY full consent to the undertaking, and have put every furtherance in my way by giving me access to Minute Books and other records. Unfortunately, Richard Smith, although a most painstaking recorder of details, is frequently inaccurate as to dates, and I have had some difficulty in verifying many of these. My sources of information, besides these Memoirs and the Infirmary Minute Books, are too numerous to mention. But I may say here that I have received help, ungrudgingly given, from everyone to whom I have applied, and have, when possible, acknowledged this help in footnotes. The story of the Bristol Royal Infirmary is not merely a question of how and when it was built, what endowments it had, and how much suffering it has relieved. These are worthy of permanent record, but they are only a small part of its history. It was built up not only as a structure composed of stone and mortar, but, in a much more important way, as a centre round which, and for which, hundreds of talented and devoted men have toiled and died. The history of the building is a history of these men. It is they who have made it what it is ; consequently there is much biography in these pages. The writer has during the long period that he has been working at the subject often felt like the Editor of Professor Teufelsdrockh's Memoirs in Sartor Resartus. As he had to sort out and attempt to reduce to order six large paper bags con- taining " miscellaneous masses of sheets, and oftener shreds and snips, treating of all imaginable things under the zodiac and above it," so an attempt has been made to form a con- tinuous narrative out of the contents of these fourteen large volumes, in which one finds on the same page, for instance, the receipt for payment for a wooden leg, a fragmentary biography of Mrs. Anne Hughes, the Matron, a note on the Apothecary's salary, and an invitation to dinner. Care has been taken to make the biographical notes as correct as possible, and a great deal of matter has been omitted as " not fit for anybody but elderly gentlemen," and because in dealing with the ancestors of many well-known families questions of pedigree might give offence to their descendants ; it being in the writer's experience usually considered a much greater insult to a man to mention that his grandfather kept a small shop than to accuse him of larceny or murder. Many of the details in this history concerning the alteration of rooms and so forth are only of interest to old students of the Infirmary. I have introduced here and there what my readers will BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY probably designate as " squabbles." They were, however, of immense interest to the men who took part in them, and are important now as an indication of the times in which the actors lived. I have not scrupled to insert also a great deal of what may be called " authentic gossip," and there are plenty of anecdotes. At the end of the book I have added some special biographies of a few of the many eminent men who have been connected with the Bristol Royal Infirmary, but the majority of my biographical notes are incorporated in the substance of the book. I have had occasion to give a few details about some of the makers of the Infirmary who are still alive, but for obvious reasons I have said less about the living than about those whose work is over. July, 1914. CHAPTER I THE FOUNDATION — DATE OF FOUNDATION — THE FIRST MEETINGS — CLAIM OF PRIORITY — REGULATIONS — THE TREASURER AND SECRETARY — FIRST COMMITTEE MEETING — SITE OF BUILDINGS — THE FIRST ELECTION At the end of the seventeenth century the condition of the sick poor in England was truly deplorable ; most of the large towns had, it is true, some public institution to which paupers were taken when they were homeless and very ill, but for the most part the indigent were dependent for medical care on the almost gratuitous visits of apothecaries, who were often, like Dr. Johnson's friend Levett, almost entirely uneducated. The consequence was that a poor person in those days had little chance of recovering from any serious illness, and died from want of medical help and from unhealthy surroundings, and the absence of proper nursing. In the early years of the eighteenth century, however, this state of affairs attracted the attention of philanthropists, and in London hospitals supported by voluntary contributions began to spring into existence. This charitable feeling slowly spread over England and Scotland ; and it is to the credit of Bristol that she was one of the first to establish a hospital for the sick poor, supported by the benevolence of the citizens. For many years it has been claimed that Bristol was actually the first in the provinces to found such a hospital. This has given rise to much discussion, and the point is now not easy to settle. This difficulty is due partly to the ambiguous use of the word " foundation," which may be taken to mean either the actual establishment and opening of an institution, or the inception of the plan in the minds of the founders. Complications have also crept in from the alteration of the calendar in 1751. In that year the Gregorian system was introduced into England by Act of Parliament. Before this the year began on the 25th day of March ; in 1752 and after- wards it began on the 1st of January ; for example, the date February 22nd, 1738, according to the " old style " became February 22nd, 1739, according to the new. Great confusion has arisen from ignorance on this point, and careless historians, A HISTORY OF THE finding from the Minute Books that John Elbridge, one of the principal founders of the Bristol Infirmary, was publicly thanked on December 12th, 1738, and then ascertaining that he died on February 22nd in the same year, have condemned one or both of these dates as inaccurate. According to the " old style," of course, February, 1738, would come after December, 1738, and not before, as in the new style. Richard Smith, to whom we are indebted for so much information about the early days of the Infirmary, gives the following account of its origin : — " By an old Memorandum it appears that towards the close of the year 1735 some well-disposed persons had a meeting at which they resolved to endeavour at the establishment of a public Charity, and a large vellum book being procured, the following declaration was written : ' Whereas many sick persons languish and die miserably for want of necessaries who are not entitled to parochial relief, and whereas amongst them who do receive parochial relief, many suffer extremely, and are some- times lost partly for want of accomodation and proper medicines in their own houses, and lodgings (the closeness or unwholesome- ness of which is sometimes one great cause of their sickness), partly by imprudent laying out what is allowed, and by the ignorance or ill-management of those about them — we whose names are underwritten (in obedience to the rules of our holy Religion) desiring as far as in us lies to find some remedy for this great misery of our poor neighbours — do subscribe the following sums of money, to be by us continued yearly during pleasure, for the procuring, furnishing, and defraying the necessary expence of An Infirmary at Bristol for the benefit of the poor sick, who shall be recommended by any of the Subscribers or Benefactors in such manner as the majority of them shall direct.' " a Richard Smith adds that this was signed by seventy-eight persons, all promising sums from two to six guineas. What became of this " vellum book " is not known, nor have I been able to find any trace of it, or of the passage above quoted. The Rev. A. B. Beaven, whose accuracy in fixing dates is so conspicuous in his Bristol Lists, suggested in August, 1912, 2 that probably Richard Smith fell into the trap of confusing the old and new calendar, and finding references in January, 1736 (old style), to meetings in the preceding November and December, concluded that these were held in 1735. Further 1 This preamble is taken almost verbatim from the records of the first meeting of the promoters of the Westminster Hospital in 17 19. 2 Bristol Times and Mirror, August 8th, 19 12. 6 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY investigations show that this was probably the case. I find, for instance, that the date of foundation printed on the front of the Infirmary has been twice altered by order of the Committee. In one of the Minute Books there is the following entry under date August 6th, 1828 : " Mr. R. Smith having intimated that he had no previous documents relating to the Institution, Resolved : that the date of the Institution in front of the building be 1736." There is another entry on December 27th, 1841 : " Date on building to be made to correspond with that on Annual Reports (' 1735 ')•" The first Physician to be appointed to the Infirmary was Dr. John Bonython (or Bonny thon). He was one of the most assiduous of the founders, and a letter from him has recently been published which throws some light on the question. This letter is dated " Bristoll, December nth, 1736," and is addressed to " John Orlebar, Esq., Hinwick by Wellingborough, North- amptonshire," and contains the following : " For this last half year I have been working hard at a scheme which if I can bring it to bear will make a very great alteration in my way of living. It is to set up in this populous and rich city an Infirmary for sick and wounded by an annual subscription as is done at St. James', Westminster, and Hyde Park Corner and lately at Winchester. ... I have printed my proposals and opened our subscription book where we have some very good names," etc. 1 This implies that the undertaking began in 1736, and that Winchester had already founded a similar Charity. We will refer to this again shortly. In the Old Whig newspaper for Thursday, December 16th, 1736, under the heading " News from Bristol," we find : " They also add that the subscription for the Infirmary for the sick and wounded there meets with as great encouragement as could be wish'd or expected ; and that there will be a meeting of the contributors, probably on Friday next, for the further promoting of so great and so good a Design." In an old Minute Book there is an account of a meeting on Thursday, December 23rd, 1736, called " the first meeting of the subscribers," which is probably the one mentioned in this extract from the Old Whig. The first perfectly reliable statement we have is the following entry in the first Minute Book : — " On the 22nd of November 1736 a Subscription was open'd for Erecting an Infirmary in the City of Bristol for the relief 1 Sent to the Times and Mirror of July 4th, 1912. by Mr. Lewis Way. 7 A HISTORY OF THE of such Persons as should be judged proper objects of a Charity of that kind and as soon as a number of Gentlemen sufficient for forming a regular Society had engaged themselves in the undertaking, printed Advertisements were dispers'd, inviting them to a General Meeting of Subscribers to be held at the Guildhall on the 23rd day of December." There is therefore, I think, sufficient evidence to show that the Bristol Royal Infirmary was founded in the autumn of 1736. Then as to the claim of priority. Four rivals are in the field, Cambridge, Rochester, Winchester and Edinburgh. It must be understood clearly that it is a question of which was the first provincial hospital in this country supported by voluntary contributions or endowment. Of these four claimants two may be easily dismissed. ADDENBROKE'S HOSPITAL AT CAMBRIDGE. John Addenbroke left the sum of £4,000 in 1719 for the erection of a " Physical Hospital." Land was purchased in 1728, but the hospital was not built until 1740, and it was not opened (for lack of funds) until 1766. 1 ROCHESTER INFIRMARY. Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, founded a hospital in 1078, about the early history of which we know very little ; but from the year 1627 to 1844 the revenues were enjoyed by the Deans of Rochester " as Governors and Patrons of the Hospital and Brethren of the same," and during this period it seems that there was no attempt to devote this revenue to the relief of the sick. 2 WINCHESTER. The County Hospital, Winchester, was not ready for patients, apparently, until 1759 ; but a house was opened as a hospital on St. Luke's Day (October 18th), 1736. 3 This was eight months before patients were received into the Bristol Infirmary, and Dr. Bonython's letter above quoted appears to confirm this. EDINBURGH. The idea of founding an Infirmary at Edinburgh appears to have arisen in 1721, when proposals were issued for raising a fund for the purpose. The plan met with little success, and was abandoned. It was revived in 1725 by the Royal College of 1 See article by Dr. B. W. Richardson in Medical Times and Gazette, vol. ii., July-December, 1864, p. 631. 2 Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 76, 185 1, p. 35. Article by Thomas Stratton, M.D. 3 Medical Times and Gazette, August 1st, 1868. 8 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Physicians of Edinburgh, and a subscription list was published. The money obtained enabled the promoters to open a small house for the reception of the sick poor on August 6th, 1729. There was no definite medical staff, but the physicians and surgeons of Edinburgh attended and provided medicine at their own expense. Thirty-five patients were admitted during the first year. A Charter was obtained on August 25th, 1736, and the foundation stone of the present Infirmary was laid on August 2nd, 1738, more than a year after the Bristol Infirmary was opened. It may be noted that the Earl of Hopetoun gave £400 annually to this Charity for the first twenty-five years of its- existence, and in 1755 the Lords of the Treasury made a donation to it of £5,000. * Therefore, as regards Winchester County Hospital (the Royal Hampshire County Hospital) and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, the Bristol Infirmary was ready for use before either ; but if the hiring of a house for the use of poor patients is equivalent to founding a hospital, both these institutions have claims prior to those of Bristol. It must, however, be remembered that in the case of Edinburgh the founders were the members of the College of Physicians and Lord Hopetoun, rather than the public ; and at Winchester the Rev. Alured Clarke, D.D., was the organiser and chief promoter. In neither case were the public so immediately and spontaneously concerned as at Bristol. This controversy is, after all, of minor importance, and I have discussed it merely for the sake of accuracy. We know that on November 22nd, 1736, a subscription was opened in Bristol for the erection of an Infirmary, printed advertisements were distributed, and the first general meeting of the subscribers was held at the Guildhall on December 23rd, 1736, the Rev. Dr. Creswick, Dean of Bristol, 2 being " desired to take the Chair." We have no authentic record of the names of those who were present at this meeting, but there is indirect evidence that, besides Dean Creswick, Dr. Bonython, Mr. Thornhill, surgeon, Mr. Serjeant Foster, Mr. John Andrews,. Richard Champion, and John Elbridge, took part in the pro- ceedings, which were energetic and business-like. No less than twenty-three resolutions were proposed ; many of them were 1 These particulars are furnished to me by Mr. W. S. Caw, Treasurer to the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, from a work called Stark's Picture of Edinburgh, published in 1829. 2 Dr. Samuel Creswick, or Creswicke, belonged to an old Bristol family- He afterwards became Dean of Wells. A HISTORY OF THE postponed and carried at subsequent meetings ; but the following were adopted : — i. " That the whole undertaking shall be under the manage- ment of a Board of Trustees, unless in cases to be otherwise provided for." 2. " That all Persons Subscribing two Guineas per Annum shall be Trustees so long as they continue Payment." 3. " That all Persons contributing Twenty Guineas at one Paymt shall be Trustees during Life." 4. " That a Board of Trustees be holden on the First Friday in every month, and all who come to have Votes, And that the first Monthly Board be on the 7 day of J amy next." Many of these early rules were drawn up by Serjeant Foster, whose great ability as a lawyer was at this time becoming conspicuous. It is interesting to note that the Constitution of the Infirmary as settled at this first meeting has continued with only superficial alterations to the present day. The inhabitants of the city took up the scheme with great enthusiasm. In a paper called Read's Weekly Journal or British Gazeteer for Saturday, January 8th, 1736-7, we find the following : " Bristol, December 31st. The undertaking for erecting an Infirmary, meets with universal encouragement ; the first meeting of the Subscribers was held on Thursday last, 1 when Persons of all Persuasions appeared, and not only sub- scribed, but have promised to recommend this truly Charitable Design (of relieving those who have the misfortune of labouring under the most terrible of human Evils, Sickness and Pain) to their Friends and Acquaintance ; and accordingly it is not doubted but all those who are capable of so generous Sentiments, as assisting their Fellow Creatures in their greatest Extremities, will meet the other Gentlemen on Friday the 7th of January next." Richard Smith gives a list of persons who, he says, were present at the meeting on January 7th, 1736, but the names do not tally with those mentioned in the Minute Book, and it is probable that he is referring to the meeting on December 23rd. The list includes : The Mayor (John Black well), the two Sheriffs (Morgan Smith and Abraham Elton), the Rev. Carew Reynall, John Elbridge, Serjeant Foster, several of the Clergy and Doctors, and " Madam Trenchard of Leigh Court," and Mrs. Susannah Heylen. It is interesting to note that " Persons of all Persuasions " took part in the foundation of the Bristol Infirmary, justifying 1 December 23rd, 1736. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY the motto it afterwards assumed of " Charity Universal." In fact, from the very beginning a broad-minded, catholic spirit pervaded the meetings, and at a time when religious differences were very marked, Churchmen and Dissenters united in working for the new Charity. The first meeting of the Board of Trustees was held at the Council House on January 7th, 1736-7, when " Mr. Dean [Dean Creswick] was desired to take the Chair." There were also present : Mr. Recorder (Serjeant Foster), the Rev. the Chancellor (Carew Reynall), Richard Champion, sen., Richard Champion, jun., Nehemiah Champion, Dr. Etwall, Dr. Hardwicke, Dr. French, Dr. Logan, Dr. Keir, Dr. Bonython, William Thornhill, the Rev. Dr. Harcourt, Morgan Smith, Rev. Mr. Penrose, etc. It will be noticed that three Champions were present, all of these afterwards became Treasurers ; of the six physicians at the meeting four came ultimately on the Staff, and William Thornhill was one of the first surgeons appointed. The first resolution passed was as follows : — " That no Physician, Surgeon, Treasurer or Secretary to be employed by this Society shall receive any Salary, Reward or Gratuity from the Society or any Person whatsoever for his Trouble or attendance." Then follow several rules for the admission of patients ; and it was further decided : " That there be a Committee of Trustees to meet every Friday or oft'ner as they shall see occa- sion at such Time and Place as they shall agree on 'till the first Friday in Febry for preparing matters to be laid before that Board." All present at the meeting were to be on the Committee, and " all other Subscribers that come to have votes." This Weekly Committee consisted, therefore, of a definite number who happened to be present at the first Board Meeting ; but practically any Trustee could attend, and the Committee was therefore an " open " one, and continued so for many years. Having so far arranged the constitution of the Society, it was necessary to appoint a Treasurer, and the choice fell upon John Elbridge, Controller of His Majesty's Customs, a most happy selection, for Elbridge was not only a rich and benevolent man, but had great business capacity, and devoted himself to the new Charity, as we shall see, with great zeal. All appoint- ments at first were made by the Board, and John Elbridge formally accepted the office at the second Board Meeting on February 4th, 1736-7. Oddly enough, there is no definite record of the election of a XI A HISTORY OF THE Secretary ; there is merely the statement, written on the margin of the page of the old Minute Book at the meeting of Subscribers on January 7th, 1736-7 : " Mr. Morgan Smith Secretary." A Morgan Smith was one of the Sheriffs of Bristol in 1736, and at the early meetings is referred to sometimes as " Sheriff Smith." Probably he undertook the Secretaryship for a short time, without being definitely appointed, until he found the work became too onerous, when Mr. Richard Lathrop was appointed (in 1739), and received a yearly honorarium for his services. 1 FIRST COMMITTEE MEETING. There is some difficulty in chronicling the meetings of the Committee and Board during the spring of the year 1736-7 ; for not only has Richard Smith left two accounts which do not exactly agree, but the official record in the Minute Book is occasionally duplicated, and the order is not consecutive. There is no doubt, however, that the first weekly Committee took place on January 14th, 1736-7, and that Dr. Creswick was again in the Chair. There were nine others present, Wm. Barnes, Buckler Weeks, Thomas Curtis, Edward Heylyn,. the Rev. Dr. Harcourt, John Andrews, William Stephens, Richard Champion, and Dr. John Bonython. The Committee met at this time at 5 o'clock in the afternoon at " Forster's Coffee House," 2 or at the " Surgeons' Hall ; " some- times at "Mrs. Barry's Coffee House." So far the Infirmary only existed " on paper," but at this first Committee the question of a suitable habitation was discussed. It was finally agreed that members should think the matter over and come to the next meeting prepared to make suggestions " in relation to a House or Houses for carrying on the undertaking." In order to freely advertise the scheme and obtain every possible help, it was resolved to apply " to all the Incorporated Societies in this City." There were at this time, in the Mayoralty of John Blackwell, twenty-two of these Societies,, including " Whitawers and Glovers," " Wire-drawers and Pin- makers," " Inn-holders," and " Barber-Surgeons." The head of the last - mentioned guild was William Camborn. The Masters of all these Societies promised their support to the undertaking. 1 The first Secretary is sometimes referred to as " Deputy Treasurer," sometimes as " Secretary and Recorder." 2 Forster's Coffee House was next door to the Council House in Corn Street. It afterwards became the " City Printing Office." Surgeons' Hall was a large room in the West Indian Coffee House in the Market Place. It was here that two of the Infirmary surgeons, Page and Ford, gave lectures on anatomy in 1746. (See p. 366.) It was used later as a billiard room. 12 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Fig. i. Z^zuitf uos-f z I, M. PLAN SHOWING PLOTS OF LAND BOUGHT BY INFIRMARY. *3 A HISTORY OF THE At the next Committee Meeting on January 21st, 1736-7,. when Dean Creswick was again in the Chair, the important question of a site was discussed. " The Society " (as it is always called in the early records) hesitated between the " White Lodge," x a building at the bottom of St. Michael's Hill, near the King David Tavern, the grounds of which were used as a mason's yard, and two houses in St. James's Churchyard near Maudlin Lane (now Lower Maudlin Street) . A suggestion was also made that some rooms in " the Mint " (as St. Peter's Hospital was then called) should be utilised. It was decided that Dr. Bonython and Mr. Thornhill (repre- senting medicine and surgery) should examine the houses in St. James's, and that Messrs. Morgan Smith, Andrews, Curtis and Champion " be desired to inform themselves upon what Terms the said Houses may be had," both reports to be presented at the next meeting. These Sub-Committees reported favourably of "a Loft, Warehouse, Cellar and other Buildings and waste ground situate in Maudlin Lane ; " and " at a General Meeting held at the Surgeons' Hall, Mr. Recorder [Serjeant Foster] in the Chair," it was agreed that Serjeant Foster, John Elbridge, John Andrews, and Mr. Richard Champion " be desired to accept of a Lease ; " and that these gentlemen, together with Alderman Rich, Thomas Curtis, Paul Fisher, William Thornhill and Dr. Bonython should form a Committee to prepare the house to receive patients. According to John Townsend (who was elected Surgeon in 1754) these buildings had formerly been used as a brewery. They were situated on the piece of land marked 64 on the plan shown on page 13 (Fig. 1), which is copied by permission of Mr. Noble Pope from old deeds in his office. It covers part of the ground now occupied by the lower end of the south-west wing of the present Infirmary and a portion of the Out-patient Department. Below it, to the south-east, there formerly ran a narrow road called Earl Street, and below this were Mr. Scudamore's house and Whitson Court, both standing in gardens. Farther down still was St. James's Church and Churchyard. (See Fig. 2.) It has been stated that the first Infirmary was built upon ground which had at one time been used for religious purposes. This is very probable, as St. James's Priory was situated near 1 This belonged to the Edgar Family, and was built by Sir Thomas Langton in the time of Charles II. It was destroyed in 1829-30, and some small houses were built on the site called " Mulberry Place," from a tree which stood in the garden. H /' 444 4 444^4 4 £ 4 4 4 4 ±H\ fc 4 % 4 4 4 44 4 4 4 4444 " i ) ... j . - i .I .. : i .. i r*i "X S I " — ■ — JJ'ra K-^.-zl rp m 7 K r-ra \ - 'iJHJB m PLAN OF GROUND IN NEIGHBOURHOOD OF OLD INFIRMARY Fig. 2. "Ml- ■ 84 - rnV — **.' *^— . <*£*>,/ °^ y^£ J/f,dt£&>*J\ 0M.J/& Pru "V ' ' C — " ■ <» I -tV ■^ ,^- ,« PLAN OF GROUND NEAR OLD INFIRMARY Fig. 3. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY the spot, and according to Leland " ruins of it standithe hard buttyne to the Est ende of the Parish Church of that name ; " 1 moreover, the Grey Friars owned land in the neighbourhood. z (See Fig. 3.) That the parish was under strict, godly supervision would appear from the fact that in 1679 " at a Vestry of Saint James's Church, four persons were held guilty, being convicted of a most heinous crime, and cited into the Spiritual Court for purloining the Lord's day, in travelling to Bath on foot." 3 This house and land chosen for the future Infirmary belonged to " Thomas Pococke, Lydia Pococke his wife and Andrew their son." At their death Anthony Sharpe, of Dublin, was the " inheritant expectant." By arrangement with these parties the ground was taken by the founders of the Charity on a lease of three years at twenty-one pounds per annum, then for nine hundred and ninety-nine years. There was a ground rent of £2 1 6s. per annum payable to Samuel Jones. 4 The lease is dated July 26th, 1737, " in the Eleventh yeare of the Reigne of our Sovereigne Lord George the Second." The Committee appointed to prepare these tenements for hospital use set to work with great energy, and had the advantage not only of the sound judgment of John Elbridge, but also of his purse. In fact, he became so identified with the matter that a special vote of thanks was given him at a General Meeting of the Trustees on April 1st, 1737, " for his extra- ordinary care in carrying on the Building ; " and in a pamphlet published in 1775 on Bristol Charities 5 occurs the following : " Bristol Infirmary, Earl Street. The House was built and furnished at the sole expense of John Elbridge, Deputy Controller of the Customs at the Port of Bristol." It is estimated that he spent at least £1,500 on the Institution during the first two years of its existence ; he certainly built and furnished a new ward with twelve beds, and appears indeed to have gradually taken the place of the Building and Furnishing Sub-Committee, as evidenced by such entries in the Minute Book as this : " Mr. Elbridge be desired to continue to furnish the Buildings for taking in In-patients and to give directions for the making the Bedsteads," etc. 1 Leland's Itinerary, vol. vii. p. 85 (second edition). 2 See The Bristol Grey Friars Minors, by the late G. E. Weare. 3 See Evans's History of Bristol. 4 By the year 1817 Anthony Sharpe, who inherited this property, his son and grandson were dead. A new settlement was made on the marriage of the grandson in 1783 ; some of his executors died a few years after and were replaced by others, so that the receipt given on March 25th, 18 17, was very complicated. 5 An Account of the Hospitals, Alms Houses and Public Schools in Bristol. Printed by H. Farley, for T. Mills, Bookseller, 1775. (Rare.) 15 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY As " the House " 1 was getting rapidly into readiness, the question of appointing a Matron and Resident Apothecary came to the front. There were several applicants, including Mrs. Fancourt and Mrs. Hughes for the former post, and Mr. Owen and Mr. Nathaniel Rumsey for the latter. These were all recommended as eligible by the Committee, but it was decided to appoint the Medical Staff first. Accordingly, on May 20th, 1737, at the Surgeons' Hall, " Mr. Recorder in the Chair," at a general meeting of the Subscribers, it was agreed that four Physicians and two Surgeons should be appointed " for the care of the Infirmary." A summons was sent, a fortnight before, to all the Subscribers, and apparently more than a hundred voted, with the result that Dr. John Bonython, Dr. William Logan, Dr. Hardwicke, and Dr. John Middleton were elected Physicians, and Messrs. William Thornhill and Thomas Page were elected Surgeons. (See p. 420.) At the same meeting an Apothecary, Mr. Nathaniel Rumsey, " was chose by 27 Votes." Dr. Middleton declined to serve, and at the next monthly meeting of Trustees, on June 3rd, 1737, Dr. Etwall, " at the unanimous request of the Society, undertook his part of the care of the said Infirmary." 1 It has been the custom to refer to the Bristol Infirmary as " the House " irom the earliest times, reminding one of the French name " ' Bastille,' or Building, as if there were no other building." — Carlyle's French Revolution, book iv., chap. iii. 16 Fig. DR. BONYTHON. CHAPTER II MEMBERS OF THE FIRST MEDICAL STAFF — BONYTHON — HARD- WICKE — LOGAN — MIDDLETON — ETWALL — THORNHILL — THOMAS PAGE — NATHANIEL RUMSEY — NICHOLAS SIMPSON — MRS. HUGHES —SIR MICHAEL FOSTER Thanks to Richard Smith and others, we are able to form some idea of the medical men who were elected on May 20th, 1737. DR. JOHN BONYTHON. The first place must be given to Dr. John Bonython, 1 for he not only took an active part in establishing the new Charity, but he was one of the first to conceive the idea of founding an Infirmary in Bristol. From a letter written b}' Mr. J. Cobb, of Charlbury, Oxford- shire, to his son George, then living in Park Street, Bristol, we learn that John Bonython was descended from the Bonythons of Bonython Hall in Cornwall. He was educated (probably as a King's Scholar) at Eton, and then at King's College, Cambridge, where he took his degree of M.D., and became a Fellow of his College. (For portrait see Fig. 4.) He had a sister who married Mr. Gilbert Cobb, Chapter Clerk and Attorney at Bristol, and this may have induced him to come to this city, where he practised in a house in Park Row, exactly opposite Lodge Street. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Lane, who was twice Mayor of Bristol (in 1687 and 1691). He left no issue. He was born in 1695, and died on November 13th, 1761, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. 2 He was forty-two years old at the time of his election as Physician to the Infirmary. Dr. Bonython was in easy circumstances, cared little for private practice, and devoted most of his time to the Infirmary, where his services are recorded on a tablet erected in the Board Room. Many eulogiums were published after his death 1 Also spelt Bonnython, Bonithon and Boneithon. 2 From Felix Farley's Bristol Journal for November 14th, 1761 : '" Thursday, died at his House near the Red Lodge on St. Michael's Hill, Dr. John Bonython, a judicious and successful Physician, who for many Years attended the Infirmary." In an obituary notice in the same paper for November 21st it says : " He resigned himself to God with chearfulness." 17 A HISTORY OF THE which do not seem to be overdrawn. From all accounts he appears to have been tender-hearted and kind, delighting in helping the poor and sick ; exceptionally well educated and refined ; " with all good grace to grace a Gentleman." (For specimen of his writing see Fig. 5.) He is referred to in the Annual Report of 1761 as " Our good Friend Dr. Bonython." He was buried near the Communion Table at St. Michael's Church, Bristol. J '&i?/9ifi+*i+np from ^ fa t^L II rfflicitrvti^ DR. BONYTHON'S WRITING AND SIGNATURE. DR. HARDWICKE. I can find very little about Dr. Hardwicke, except that he resided at 8 Corn Street, in a house which was destroyed in 1799 to make room for the Bank of Messrs. Harford, 1 In the Register of St. Michael's Church is the following entry : " July 26th, 1749. It was unanimously agreed at a Vestry held this day that Dr. Bonithon and family shall enjoy their pews as long as they continue in the Parish. ' ' Bonython and his wife were buried under the chancel of St. Michael's Church. The inscription on their tombstone in the crypt is only partly legible, but the date of his wife's death is decipherable as June 9th, 1744. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Davis & Co., who removed there from Small Street. He died on September ist, 1747, " after a lingering decay of body." DR. LOGAN. Dr. William Logan lived in Castle Green. According to the statement of Alderman John Page, distiller, Logan was " a strict observer of professional costume, and never stirred abroad, or was visible at home, unless in full dress, i.e. his head covered by the immense flowing wig of George the Second's time, a red roquelaure 1 hanging from his shoulders to his heels, his wrist graced with a gold-headed cane, and his side furnished with a long French rapier." He died at Bath on December 14th, 1757. He is stated never to have recovered from a large dose of arsenic given him by one of his servants ten years previously. (See p. 266.) DR. JOHN MIDDLETON. Dr. John Middleton, who was elected on May 20th, 1737, but declined to serve, lived in a large house, 2 College Green, near St. Augustine's Church. Sir Jarrett Smith after- wards lived there, and the house became for a time famous as the place where Sir Dinely Goodere spent his last day before being dragged by his brother on board the Ruby and murdered. (See p. 267.) Richard Smith was told by " Clarke the Coach Maker " that Dr. Middleton was the first physician in Bristol who kept his carriage. Clarke's description of this vehicle is that " it was a great lumbering thing without springs, with two small glasses in the doors, and that the horses never went beyond a foot pace ; that it was, in fact, a sort of genteel wagon." He died on December 20th, 1760. In the Bristol Chronicle or Universal Mercantile Register 2 for Saturday, January 5th, 1760, is the following : " Died at his house in College Green, greatly regretted, John Middleton, M.D., a gentleman of great natural and acquired abilities in his profession, of an unaffected piety, diffusive benevolence and untainted morals, 20th December, 1760." Dr. Middleton wrote a short essay on the operation of Lithotomy {i.e. the removal of urinary calculi), a surgical procedure which Castelman, Thornhill, James Ford, and the Pages became rather famous for in the early days of the Infirmary. 1 A red cloak generally worn at that time by physicians. 2 Published by John Grabham and William Pine, price 2M. 19 A HISTORY OF THE DR. ETWALL OR ATWELL. I can find very little about this gentleman. He resigned in 1743, and the vacancy caused by his resignation was not filled until 1747, an omission which was much discussed in the papers at the time. WILLIAM THORNHILL. William Thornhill's name frequently appears in the first meetings of the Subscribers and Founders of the Infirmary. He came of an ancient and very respectable Dorsetshire family, and was a man of ability and skill both as an operating surgeon and as an accoucheur. 1 In 1750 he married Miss Thompson, described in an old newspaper cutting as "a very agreeable lady with a good fortune." According to Richard Smith he was " a handsome well- grown man, and took care to show his person to advantage by constantly wearing an entire suit of black velvet, and an elegant steel-handled rapier." He was well read, of polished manners, and lived in " better style than any other surgeon in Bristol." He was, however, careless and easy-going, and was on several occasions repri- manded by the Visitors for the irregularity of his attendance in the wards. (See p. 70.) He lived in Com Street, and removed to Small Street in 1744 ; when he resigned his post at the Infirmary he retired to an estate he owned in Yorkshire. In Thornhill's time professional etiquette was not at all strict about advertising, and in Richard Smith's MS. there are various cuttings from old newspapers which show this. One, for instance, dated 1742, is as follows : " Last week two boys were cut for the stone in the Bristol Infirmary by Mr. Thornhill ; both of them are in a fair way of recovery." THOMAS PAGE. Thomas Page was born in 1688. 2 He claimed that he was a descendant of the first Mayor of Bristol, and although this probably could not be proved, yet there is no doubt that he belonged to a very old Bristol family. He lived in a large house at the " top of Redcliff Street, with a noble front towards the river, and crowned with a glass cupola." It was in this 1 He attended the mother of Richard Smith, senior. 2 In the Register of the Church of St. Philip and Jacob, under date Oct. 15th, 1682, is the entry: "Thomas Page m. Ann Vaughan." This is probably the father of Thomas Page the Surgeon. 20 : . V THOMAS PAGE. Fig. 6. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY house, then occupied by Robert Rogers, soapmaker, that court martial was held upon Yeamans and Boucher in 1643 for a " Bloudy Plott against the City of Bristoll." Yeamans and Boucher were Royalists, and attempted to deliver the city into the hands of Prince Rupert. They were hanged on a gallows in Wine Street. In 1702 Queen Anne was entertained in this same house. It was then occupied by Mr. Thomas Day. ■ Thomas Page was elected Surgeon to the Infirmary when he was forty-nine years of age. He died on May 5th, 1741, aged fifty-three. He was buried on May 8th in the Baptist Burial- ground, Redcross Street. I have in my notes on Mr. Crosby Leonard (p. 246) shown the family connection between the Pages and Mr. Leonard the Surgeon, and Mr. Edward A. Leonard who was Secretary to the Infirmary. The portrait (Fig. 6) is from an oil-painting at the Bristol Royal Infirmary by Rymsdyke. 2 NATHANIEL RUMSEY. The first Apothecary received a salary of £30 a year. I can find very little about him. Several of the Subscribers were apothecaries practising in Bristol, and some of these were appointed " Visiting Apothecaries," and were supposed to pay occasional visits to the " Shop," as the Dispensary was then called, to see that all was right. The first Visiting Apothecaries were James Bush, Richard Charlton, Giles Baily and Francis Freeman ; they took a month in rotation. This Shop was at first furnished with utensils which cost £20, and medicines which cost £30. The Honorary Medical Staff formed a sub-committee for the purpose, and reported on the 4th November, 1737, " They do think that it will not exceed these two sums." On July 7th, 1738, Mr. Henry Rumsey was elected assistant to the Apothecary, with a salary of £5 per annum. Nathaniel Rumsey held the post until 1739. NICHOLAS SIMPSON. On October 19th, 1739, Nicholas Simpson was elected in his place " by 26 votes." There were several candidates, 1 See Evans's History of Bristol. 2 Rymsdyke painted portraits of Thomas and John Page, Dr. Lyne. Barrett and others, and was, according to Mr. William Edkins, " a tall raw- boned German and excessively proud, although a sign painter." He was brought into notice, according to Richard Smith, by a sign-board he painted for a public house at the corner of Cart Lane, Temple Street. This was a '' Bacchus astride on a tun," and was much admired. He was lazy and generally m need of money, often wearing, according ^to Mr. Edkins, William Barrett's cast-off clothing. 21 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY and " it appearing that two of the candidates were married men they were rejected as unqualified persons." Simpson kept an apothecary's shop in the Market Place when he retired from the Infirmary. He practised finally at the Hotwells, where he died. He married a Miss Mary Jones, " an agreeable lady with a very handsome fortune." MRS. HUGHES. On October 7th, 1737, Mrs. Ann Hughes was elected Matron with a salary of £15 per annum. This was supplemented every year with a gratuity of five guineas. There were two other applicants for the post, Mrs. Axford and the " Widow of Lyon Fancourt." Mrs. Hughes died in the service of the Infirmary in June, 1770, " having discharged the duties of the situation for thirty- three years with great ability and great integrity." SIR MICHAEL FOSTER. A name which frequently appears in the first records of the Infirmary is that of the Recorder of Bristol, Sir Michael Foster. He, John Elbridge and Dr. Bonython were the three most energetic promoters of the Institution, and Dean Creswick and R. Champion should perhaps be given the next places of honour. At the time of the foundation of the Infirmary Michael Foster was forty-seven years of age, and although a most able lawyer, had been little known until he published a pamphlet called A Letter of Advice to Protestant Dissenters ; and in 1735 a celebrated reply to Bishop Gibson's Codex Juris Ecclesiastici Anglicani. He was made Recorder of Bristol in 1735. Sir Michael gave up a great deal of his time to the Infirmary, and was nearly always present at the early meetings, frequently in the Chair. He gave his legal advice cheerfully and gratuitously to the Institution on all occasions, and took the chief part in drawing up the first series of Rules, which are conspicuous for their clearness and comprehensive nature. A short biography of him will be found at the end of this volume. (See Appendix B.) 22 CHAPTER III THE OPENING — THE ANNUAL DINNER AND SERMON — HOUSE VISITORS — THE FIRST PATIENTS — THE WARDS — THE STAFF AND NURSES — THE MATRON — THE PATIENTS' DIET Under the personal supervision of John Elbridge, Richard Champion, and the newly-elected Medical Staff, aided by an energetic weekly Committee, the House was soon in a state of readiness, and on June 20th, 1737, was quietly opened for Out- patients. There was an outlay, as mentioned before, of £50 on the Dispensary ; but we learn from the Minute Book that all the expenses for medicines and appliances from June 20th until the formal opening in the following December were borne by Richard Champion, and for this he received a vote of thanks from the Committee on January 6th, 1737-8. 1 In the meanwhile rooms were being fitted up as wards, sleeping apartments were prepared for the Matron and Apothecary, and nurses were hired. On December 2nd, 1737, is the following entry : " That the Infirmary be opened on the 13th of this month, and that a particular summons be sent to every Subscriber to meet at the Infirmary at 10 of the Clock in the Morning and to dine at the Nagg's Head." This dinner became an annual ceremony, and one of the principal yearly events in Bristol. It is important to give an account of it, not only as a picture of the civic life of the time, but because it shows the interest taken by all classes in the new Charity. The " Society " resolved " to return Thanks to Almighty God who had been pleased to bless their humble endeavours to establish a place of refuge in sickness and in Wounds for their afflicted Fellow Creatures." To carry out this pious wish, Mr. Elbridge, the Treasurer, and Dr. Bonython waited upon Dean Creswick to beg him to preach a sermon on the occasion, and he cheerfully complied with their request. At ten o'clock on the morning of December 13th, 1737, the Mayor (Nathaniel Day) and the Aldermen met at the Infirmary 1 Readers are again reminded that according to the old calendar January 6th. 1737, would come after June 20th, 1737. 23 A HISTORY OF THE and proceeded to St. James's Church in the following order : first came the tall Dean, with the Mayor on his right hand, followed by the members of the Corporation, fully robed ; then the Faculty in their cloaks, the Trustees bringing up the rear. After Divine Service, at which it is said Dean Creswick " preached an excellent sermon," the company repaired to the Nagg's Head Tavern 1 in Wine Street, where they dined together, and (according to Richard Smith) " finished the day amidst the smoke of tobacco, and in emptying and replenishing mugs of fat Bristol ale." According to the custom of those days, the dinner was served at three o'clock, and continued until late at night, the chairman and the more dignified people leaving about six or seven o'clock, when the company chose a lively president, round whom they rallied, and had in bowls of punch or bishop. Four stewards were annually appointed to make arrange- ments for the dinner, and the tickets were usually five shillings each. Apparently the proceeds did not always cover the ex- penses ; Dr. Plomer, for instance, who was one of the stewards in 1755, has left a memorandum, " N.B.— Money out of Pockett." For the first few years, when the cloth was removed the Secretary read the audited accounts, subscriptions were collected from those present who were in arrears, and a collection was made for the Institution, which amounted at the first dinner to £4. 15s. The affairs of the Infirmary were discussed, sometimes with great animation, leading even to " broken heads and bloody noses." Dr. Rigge, whose acquaintance my readers will make, I hope, before long, on one of these occasions, after most of the guests had gone, got into a dispute on the subject of the Surgeons, and used his cane freely, other arguments failing, and a regular scrimmage took place. To avoid these amenities, it was after a time decided that no " business " should be transacted at the dinners, which were thrown open to anyone who cared to pay his five shillings, whether he were a Subscriber or not. In the Minute Books there is an annual statement of the appointment of Dinner Stewards until the year 1780 ; after this there is no mention of the subject. Richard Smith asked J. P. Noble (who was Surgeon to the Infirmary from 1777 to 1812) why these annual dinners ceased. He answered, " Because, sir, people did not choose to have their heads broke ! " — " Heads broke ? "— " Yes, sir, latterly after dinner there was- such bickering and quarrelling that one was afraid to go without a good cane, but the Person who knocked 1 Then kept by Matthew Mease, who died in 1772. 24 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY up the meeting was Dr. Rigge — he went there on purpose to meet some People with whom he had a misunderstanding and a Paper war. In the evening they began to abuse each other, and from words they came to blows and there was such an uproar that after that Anniversary no one would undertake the office of Steward, and so it went to the Dogs ! " The second Annual Sermon (first Anniversary) was preached at St. James's Church on Tuesday, December 12th, 1738, by the Rev. Carew Reynall, D.D., Chancellor of the Diocese and Rector of St. John's, Bristol. x The sermons were printed at the expense of the Trustees and distributed. Dr. Reynall's sermon was dedicated " to John Elbridge, Treasurer," and was an eloquent discourse on the true meaning of Charity. 2 It was considered a great honour to be asked to preach on these occasions, and some heart-burning was caused amongst some of those Divines who were not invited to do so. For instance, in October, 1773, the Secretary wrote, on behalf of the Board, to the Rev. Sir James Stonhouse, Bart., M.D., requesting him to give the Anniversary Address. This gentleman was formerly Rector of Great and Little Cheverell, Wiltshire, but was at this time living in Bristol. As he had a " triple handle " to his name, being a baronet, a doctor of medicine, and a clergyman, he thought rather highly of his own importance. He consented to give the sermon, but wrote in answer, " I must own that I have thought it rather extraordinary that I should never have been apply'd to on this occasion by the Governors during my ten years residence here and could consider it in no other point of view than as a personal Disrespect." This letter is dated : " Park Street, 22 Oct. 1773." I can find no record of his preaching for the Infirmary that year. 3 The preachers did not always confine themselves to religious matters, but occasionally brought in local politics, especially references to the Chaplaincy at the Infirmary, for many years a source of quarrel amongst the Subscribers. (See Chapter iv.) 1 He was made Bishop of Down and Conner in 1739, and translated to Derry in 1743. He was born in 1698, and died in 1745. 2 See Richard Smith's MS. at the Central Library, Bristol. 3 Sir James Stonhouse was evidently rather " touchy." There is a letter of his, dated January 3rd, 1780, refusing a request to preach at the Mayor's Chapel. He complains that he has not been asked " in his turn," and concludes, " But as the present Mayor has thought proper to act differently from his predecessors, the Doctor chooses to decline Preaching at the Chappell during Mr. Miller's Mayoralty." He wrote a book of Prayers for the use of Private Persons ; Friendly Advice to a Patient; Spiritual Directions to the Uninstructed, etc. He gave some books to the Infirmary, amongst others one on midwifery. He wrote of this book, " ' Nee temere nee timide ' ought to be the motto for a practitioner in midwifery." 25 A HISTORY OF THE Reading some of these old sermons, one is struck by the attitude taken towards the poor, who were often referred to as " the lower orders," and as people who had no right to practise vices which were more becoming in those of higher rank. One of these sermons was preached on March 18th, 1745, at St. James's Church, by the Rev. Josiah Tucker, Vicar of All Saints', Bristol, afterwards Dean of Gloucester. It is entitled, " Hospitals and Infirmaries considered as Schools of Christian Education for the adult Poor ; and as Means con- ducive towards a National Reformation in the common People." J Amongst other pleasant reflections on the " masses " he says : " For the lower Class of People are at this Day so far degenerated from what they were in former Times as to become a Matter of Astonishment and a Proverb of Reproach." He pronounces " the Common People of our populous Cities to be the most abandoned and licentious wretches upon Earth." He traces this depravity chiefly to the extension of the franchise, and laments, for the people's sake, that the good old times of bondage and vassalage had passed away ! Copies of this sermon were distributed as usual amongst the patients, and one cannot be surprised that his remarks were severely criticised by the Press, or that afterwards, when he appeared in the streets, he was " hooted by the boys and rabble." The Bishop of Bristol 2 preached what is called in the reports a " Spital Sermon " before the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, Sheriffs and the Governors of the London Hospitals " at the Parish of St. Bridget," on Monday in Easter week, 1740, and eloquently extolled the Bristol Infirmary. He mentioned the proximity of Bath, and said : " Some poor objects will be sent thither in Hopes of Relief from the Bath Waters, whose case may after- wards be found to require the assistance of Physick or Surgery " at the Infirmary — a remark which shows great discrimination on his Lordship's part. At the formal opening of the Infirmary on December 13th, I 737» seventeen men and seventeen women were admitted as In-patients ; and there were thirty-four Out-patients on the books, the numbers in each case being limited. On December 2nd, 1737, a Committee was appointed consisting of nine Trustees, who were called " House Visitors." Their duties were to " inspect all the affairs and management, 1 Printed for William Crossley, bookseller, in Bristol. 2 Bishop Butler of the Analogy. 26 F \tim1feii7f-0*? • v> • '*" t /; '"' [ . '1-Vt ^"-"'■■/ M*r£7i /^tfasWrz*** FIRST RECORDED VISITORS' NOTES. Fig. 7. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY to examine into all the expenses and to give such directions as they shall think most to the interests of the Charity." The first House Visitors were Messrs. Joseph Beck, John Andrews, Benjamin Glisson, Paul Fisher, Richard Champion, Samuel Hunt, Daniel Goizin, John Bartlett and Thomas Curtis. They were appointed from the 13th of December to the 6th of January. On the latter date five of them retired, and eight new ones were elected, making twelve in all. The following month (February 3rd, 1737-8) the Mayor of Bristol was elected a Visitor, and many clergymen appeared in the lists. It was soon found that their attendance was irregular, a thing not to be wondered at when one finds that such busy men as the Mayor of Bristol, one of the Sheriffs, and a Judge were amongst them. The number was then increased to fifteen, and soon after they were chosen every week, and visited on Mondays and Thursdays. They had the important function of " examining all persons offering themselves as patients," to " certify that they were qualified according to the Rules of the Society," the first regulation made for checking hospital abuse. They also had to see the meat and provisions brought into the House, and " to examine the malt liquor that it be wholesome and proper for the Family." The first recorded note made by these Visitors (preserved in R. Smith's Memoirs) is under date December 17th, 1737, when the entry " noe Complaint " is made ; but on December 19th we find that Messrs. Hunt, Fisher, Goizin and R. Champion, jun., make entry : " Examin'd the beer and find it not good enough for the Price." (See Fig. 7.) Their third entry, on December 20th, is also worth record : " Wanting for ye Surgeons use, 2 Surgery Boxes wth Panakins for each, two Copper and 2 tin, 2 Tables for making ye dressings. The Matron informing us that the Chimneys in the Apothecary and Surgery-Rooms Smoak, ordered them to be mended." Amongst other things ordered by the Visitors in the first two weeks we find, " Four Pillows to be made three quarters wide and three quarters and a half long, four Cradles, * and half a Sheave of Helm, 2 two Fracture Boxes, a bell to the Committee room," " a kinderkin of ale " and a " Powdering Tub." The first mention by name of a patient is on December 2 4 tn > 1-737 (eleven days after the Infirmary was opened), when the Visitors considered a " Complaint against Robt. Clare for giving abusive language to the nurse." The Visitors at this time actually admitted patients and dismissed them, a function which afterwards led to some disputes. The first record of 1 An apparatus used for broken legs. 2 Straw. 27 A HISTORY OF THE admission is that of Thomas Hofman, and the first " discharged cured " was Charles Arnold, on February nth, 1737-8. 1 The wards of the Bristol Infirmary at this time must have presented a curious spectacle, difficult for us to picture. Thanks, however, to the few preserved records of the Visitors, and the many interesting notes, newspaper extracts and letters collected by Richard Smith and others, we can give a tolerably graphic and accurate account of them. The wards were devoid of pictures or ornaments ; ventilation was effected by occasionally opening a window ; the bedsteads were closer together than now, and were at first made of wood. Over the fireplace in each ward a board was fixed on which was printed in large letters, " The Rules and Orders which relate to the Conduct of the Officers, Patients and Servants." These regulations were " publickly read over in each ward every Tuesday morning by one appointed by the Matron for that Purpose." The house was lit at night by " good candles at 6/3 per dozen " — expensive things, which were used with great economy, so that during the long nights of winter the whole ward usually depended for its light on one candle. Patients were admitted by the House Visitors — or by the Physicians and Surgeons in their absence — every Monday and Thursday from twelve to one o'clock ; Out-patients were seen on Tuesdays and Fridays ; the Medical and Surgical Staff attended at the same time as the Visitors, and as often other- wise as they thought necessary. The nurses were rather of the " Mrs. Gamp " style, without any special training for their work, but probably respectable and well behaved. They were expected to clean their wards by seven o'clock in the morning in summer, and before eight o'clock in the winter ; and the patients were supposed to help them. 2 Breakfasts were served round " within an hour after the wards were cleaned." There is mention of one night nurse in 1740, but the ordinary nurses were kept on duty very late, apparently until eleven or twelve o'clock. Extra nurses were paid only half a crown a week ; mothers of patients and near 1 Unfortunately the old records are so disfigured by time and rough usage that it is often very difficult to read them. The first entry (without name) of an In-patient that I can find is " Dec. 19, 1737. Tumours in the hip and knee." December, 1737, in old style, coming, of course, before February nth, 1737. 2 In the first set of Rules, No. V., for In-patients, reads : " That such Patients as are able to work, do assist the Nurses and other Servants in nursing the Patients, washing and ironing the Linnen, washing and cleaning the Wards, and in doing such other Business as the Matron shall require." 28 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY relatives were allowed to help nurse their friends ; others were only permitted to do so by leave of the Committee. Above each bed was placed a card, written by the Apothecary, with the name of the patient, the trustee who recommended the case for admission, and the physician or surgeon in charge, together with the diet. 1 The patients themselves were supposed to provide their own linen, but if they could not do so the Matron supplied them with clean night-dresses and night-caps ; and they were made to "clean their clothes " before they were admitted. Besides helping in the wards, the able-bodied amongst them were given material which they made into " laced stockings and other bandages." They were forbidden (Rule IV.) " to play cards or Dice or any Other Game, within the Walls of the Infirmary, or smoak anywhere within Doors." Neither were they to " swear, curse, or give abusive Language." A large notice was put up on the walls : " That no Patients do lie in a Bed with their Cloathes on — nor on the Bed with their Shoes." The preparations for meals were carried on largely in the wards, with the restriction that " no Greens of any kind " were allowed to be dressed in them. In order that any complaint might be heard privately, an old rule ordered : " That when the Visitors enter the Wards, the Nurses shall immediately retire." The Matron was really the governor of the Infirmary during the absence of the Visitors and Staff. Every week she received a hundred pounds or so from the Treasurer, and paid with this the expenses for food, drink, and appliances. She also paid the nurses, servants, the Apothecary, and his assistant. She had charge of the keys, and had to see that the outer gates were closed from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. in the winter, and from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. in the summer. She could permit patients to leave the House for short walks on week-days, and on Sunday afternoon she could give them permission to go to church. The Infirmary was surrounded with ill-lit, narrow streets and slums, looked after at night by an occasional watchman, and precautions had to be taken that the inmates returned to their ward betimes, and in a sober condition. All this threw a great responsibility on Mrs. Hughes, the Matron, who must have been an exceptional woman. She occasionally reported that goods were sent under weight. On one occasion the coal 1 As to the " Distempers " (complaints) from which the first batches of patients suffered, I find " A large tumour of the neck," " Lepra Elephantiaca," " Loss of feet from cold, with carious bones," " Lost ye use of his limbs by a dry cholick," " Constipatio alvi pertinacissima," etc. The last was in from March 2nd to April 6th, and was discharged " cured." 2 9 A HISTORY OF THE which should have been forty-two bushels was found " on fair measurement only 28." The members of the Quarterly Board were equal to the occasion. They passed a resolution that in such cases " the smallest quantity in any waggon load shall be agreed upon to be the quantity in each waggon to be paid for." If infectious cases were inadvertently admitted, or if small- pox or any contagious disease broke out in the House, the Matron had, amongst her many other duties, to find lodging for such patients, at the expense of the Infirmary, in some neighbouring house, where the Physicians were supposed to attend them. On Saturdays at n o'clock the whole Staff, Physicians and Surgeons, met, " to direct for all the In-patients." Thus was initiated the excellent plan of consultations, which is still in vogue at the Bristol Infirmary, where it has been carried out, on the surgical side of the House, more consistently and thoroughly than perhaps at any other hospital, conducing to a friendly feeling amongst the Faculty and to the welfare of the patients. We have seen what kind of men the first Physicians and Surgeons were. It will be noticed that, especially in the early days, they were frequently of good family. They differed in religion and politics, but the Staff had from the first a bias towards Toryism. George the Second was on the throne, and Bristol had, like the rest of England, acquiesced in the Hanoverian Dynasty ; but many of the medical men at the Infirmary had real sympathy with the Old Pretender, whose son eight years later landed in Scotland and won the battles of Preston Pans and Falkirk. These political opinions not only tinctured the social life of the time, but became important factors at the Infirmary. In 1737 there was a great distinction between the doctor and the patients who attended the Charity ; the latter were treated kindly, but there was little of the friendly and even familiar relationship of a later date. The patients in the wards were expected to realise their position. The difference was further emphasized by the ignorance of the one and the erudition of the other, which latter was shown more ostentatiously than now. The dignified entrance of good Dr. Bonython in his laced ruffles, voluminous wig, and red cloak or long frocked coat, with his gold-headed cane, or of the handsome Mr. Thornhill, with his black velvet suit and French rapier, was much more impressive than the "rush" of the present-day members of the Staff. We are told that the ordinary dress of a medical man in those days was " a light 30 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY drab coat, waistcoat and small cloaths, the latter just down to the knee, and the former without a collar ; a large wig, a close stock buckled round the neck, black silk stockings, and square toes with small silver buckles." They frequently wore also the red roquelaure. There were, as we have seen, many exceptions to the above, a great deal of fancy being often displayed in colour, material, and cut. Even the students went about with red cloaks and swords, although this costume began to alter towards the end of the century, and the younger members of the profession discarded the roquelaure before this. One of the last Infirmary pupils to wear it was George Blandford, who was an apprentice of Mr. Morgan Yeatman in 1793. His appearance used to annoy Mr. Noble (Surgeon, 1777-1812), who said to him on one occasion : " Better not go too near the curtains, sir, perhaps that flaming dress of yours may set the bed on fire ! " Swords were not merely for ornament in those days. A surgeon visiting the Infirmary after dark might find the weapon useful. For instance, in 1743 " a gentleman walking in Johnny Ball's Lane " (adjoining the House) " was attacked by a Fellow dress'd in blue, with a blue apron on, a little Hat uncock'd, of a middling stature," who proceeded to rob him. 1 The visiting Staff were expected to live in Bristol, not in the neighbouring villages of Clifton or Redland, otherwise they would have run the risk, on night visits, of being stopped by highwaymen. Perhaps my readers would like to know what these gentry really looked like. In 1748 a gentleman was relieved of his watch about a mile from Bristol by a " knight of the road " dressed in a " White Duffle Surtout over a Brown Drab Frocke, with flat Brass Buttons, a dark Bob Wig, and a small Hat without a Button ; " he was "mounted on an Handsome Grey Gelding, with a Pelham Bit Bridle, and had a Patch over his left Eye." As to diet, three meals were given daily to the patients, breakfast, dinner, and supper. Those were the days of " depletory " or lowering treatment, and a large proportion of the medical cases and many of the surgical were treated by low diet, bleeding, cupping and purging. It was from the first found necessary to have two recognised diets, " common," and " low " or " fever." To these two others were soon added, viz. " milk " and " dry." The Common Diet was as follows : For breakfast a pint of broth or " milk pottage." For dinner ten ounces of beef or mutton were allowed on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and 1 Bristol Oracle and Weekly Miscellany for January 29th, 1742-3. 31 A HISTORY OF THE Saturday ; on other days a pint of " Rice-milk or Pap." For supper a pint of broth or two ounces of cheese alternately. Twelve ounces of bread and three pints of small beer were given daily to each patient, but from Michaelmas to Lady Day only -one quart was allowed. On " meat days " " a basin of bread and broth " was served before meat ; this was abolished in 1764. Dry Diet consisted of bread and cheese for breakfast, six ounces of beef or mutton, alternating with eight ounces of boiled rice, for dinner, and bread and cheese for supper, with rather more cheese than at breakfast. One pint of beer or cider was allowed each day. Milk Diet consisted of milk, pap, milk-pottage, gruel, and milk pudding, with twelve ounces of bread and " Three Pints of Drink per Day, 1 Pint whereof is Milk and 2 Water." Low or Fever Diet was composed of one or more of the following : " Water Gruel, Panado, * Sago, very thin Broth, Rice Gruel, Barley Gruel, Barley Water, Toast and Water, Pippin Water, Cyder Whey, and Baum or Sage Tea." Tea and coffee were not at that time used except amongst the rich and at coffee houses. 2 The citizens came down to a breakfast of bacon and eggs and small beer, and there was no recognised meal called " Tea." From the old records we find that the consumption of beer at the Infirmary was at this time nearly four times as great as the consumption of milk ; as late as 1762, 16,634 gallons of ale and beer were used annually and only 4,746 gallons of milk. The Committee paid for " good fresh rnilk " fourpence a gallon for nine months of the year, and fivepence for the remaining three months. Some of the milk-woman's receipts are still in existence ; she could not read or write, and " made her mark " instead of signing her name. " Good Ox-Beef " and mutton were supplied by contract at 2d. or i|d. a lb. Meat was then less expensive than rice, of which large quantities were used in the patients' diet. The Matron, as stated, had all this menage under her supervision. The Resident Apothecary had the sole medical charge of the patients during the absence of the Physicians and Surgeons ; he had also to send out notices of accidents, emergencies, etc., to the Staff, do a great deal of the " dressing " 1 Panado was made by boiling bread in water to the consistence of pulp and sweetening. Sometimes broth was used instead of water, otherwise it was the same as " pap." 2 Coffee could be obtained at these houses at " three halfpence a dish." Tea cost from 7s. to 30s. a pound. Even as late as 1802 inferior kinds of tea cost 4s. a pound. 32 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY of wounds, carry out the orders for cupping and bleeding, and dispense many lengthy prescriptions. The members of the Monthly Board of Trustees and the Weekly Committee met regularly and did their work well. They took a very practical interest in the affairs of the House, and went freely into the wards. Although the Committee was open to all Trustees who cared to attend, the management was really in the hands of some dozen energetic men, including the Physicians and Surgeons, two or three of the House Visitors, and the Visiting Apothecary. Patients who required wooden legs, etc., were supplied with them at the expense of the Infirmary ; " it was agreed to provide all kinds of Machines for Patients upon whom operations had been performed." 33 CHAPTER IV SPIRITUAL WELFARE OF THE PATIENTS — THE CHAPLAINCY THE BURIAL-GROUND Whilst the bodily comforts of the patients were thus cared for, their spiritual needs were not forgotten. Nothing can be more honourable to the citizens of Bristol than the eager and disinterested manner in which everyone strove to assist the new Charity. The clergy were not behindhand, and many volunteered to conduct services for the inmates. Dean Creswick organised this band of gratuitous helpers, and it was soon arranged that prayers should be read every day in the wards, this duty being taken in rotation. A large Bible was kept on a stand in each ward, and Testaments were distributed amongst the patients. In 1744 the Bishop of Bristol sent fifty of these Testaments to the Institution, and afterwards a dozen yearly " to make up loss and damage." Some copies of the Bishop of Sodor and Man's Knowledge and Practice of Christianity Made Easy to the Meanest Capacities were also kept, and when patients left the House Visitors frequently gave them the Bishop of London's Advice to a Person Lately Recovered from Sickness. Many tracts were also sent. The patients who wished could go to service at a neigh- bouring church on Sunday with the permission of the Matron ; but this was soon stopped, for sometimes " on their return they but too clearly exhibited marks of having been to the alehouse instead of the Church." Most of the first managers of the Infirmary were prominent Churchmen or members of the Society of Friends ; and it was probably owing to this mixture that a tolerant spirit was prevalent, and patients were always allowed to have a clergy- man or minister of their particular sect to see them. This commendable spirit occasionally led to difficulties. In 1798, for instance, the followers of John Wesley obtained a great footing amongst the patients, and one evening the Apothecary heard a hymn being loudly sung in one of the wards when the inmates should have been " settling in " for 34 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY the night. This, for obvious reasons, had to be stopped. Sometimes private individuals have wished to address the patients on religious matters. For example, in October, 1841, Mr. Guinness, of Clifton, applied for leave " to expound the Scriptures in the wards," and as late as 1896 a religious society requested that they " might sing hymns in the wards." Such applications have usually been referred to the Chaplain, or declined with thanks. As stated above, however, every furtherance has always been given to those who wish for any special form of spiritual consolation. Richard Smith tells the story of a poor Irishman whose leg had to be cut off to give him his only chance of recovery. He refused to undergo this " until Mr. Plowden, the Catholic priest, was sent for to receive his confessions and give him absolution." His request was granted, and the surgeons waited until the solemn rites were over, " after which he quietly submitted to amputation of the thigh, very high up, and died in a few hours." Another instance is given of a man who received the extreme unction, and was trephined " at almost the same instant." It was the custom for the Matron to collect such of the nurses who could be spared, and some of the convalescents, and walk with them to St. James's Church on Sunday morning. Mrs. Preece, who died in 1790, was the last matron to adopt this plan. Two practical difficulties soon became felt. One was that the clergyman whose turn it was to read prayers in the ward was occasionally prevented from coming, and could not always find a substitute. This gradually led to irregularity in the daily services. The other difficulty was in connection with the burial of the dead. Trustees who recommended In-patients were expected to pay twelve shillings to defray funeral expenses if the patient died in the House. If the friends could afford to take the body away, this sum was refunded apparently to the recommender. If they were too poor, the Infirmary either assisted them or undertook the burial altogether, at first in some neighbouring churchyard, and later, after 1757, in a piece of ground granted to the Institution by the Corporation. (See p. 40.) The difficulty, however, was to get a clergyman to officiate. The Rev. William Davis, 1 then Curate of St. James's, was, owing to the proximity of his church, frequently called upon 1 Mr. Davis was of Welsh extraction, and was at Jesus College, Oxford. He died April 24th, 1772. 35 A HISTORY OF THE to perform this office, and he was thus brought into close contact with the Institution, and gradually came, in the course of two or three years, to act as Chaplain. His name appears upon the Weekly Committees, and as he was not a subscriber, this must have been in virtue of his services. He compiled a manual of prayers for use at the Infirmary, and was very assiduous in his attendance on the patients. In the list of officers for 1751 he is mentioned as " the Chaplain." For some years this voluntary work received no payment except by thanks ; but the clergy of Bristol, feeling that a burden was being put on Mr. Davis's shoulders, collected amongst themselves and friends the sum of £20 a year, which was given him as an honorarium, and about the year 1755 this sum was doubled. In the Annual " State " l for 1762 we find this £40 per annum referred to as his " salary ; "' also that any surplus collected was " laid out in proper Books to be given to the Patients when discharged." An appeal to the public was made in the Annual State for 1768, with a list of subscriptions to the Chaplaincy Fund, amounting for the year to only £34. On December 5th, 1769, Mr. Davis wrote himself to the Quarterly Board enclosing a list of subscriptions to the Chaplain, " setting forth a deficiency and begging a Gratuity to be granted to him for burying the Dead." At the next Board Meeting on March 6th, 1770, " it was the opinion of the Gentlemen present that no Gratuity cou'd be made him out of the General Stock as it was thought it wou'd prejudice the Charity." This refusal was received with some disgust, and the following year the collection made for the Chaplain was rather larger. A great deal of correspondence appeared in the local papers on the inadequate stipend of the Chaplain ; but in the spring of 1772 poor Mr. Davis fell ill, and died on April 24th. For several months after his death no clergyman attended at the Infirmary with any regularity, a fact often referred to in the Press ; and at meetings when the matter came under consideration a great deal of bitterness was shown. At one of these a trustee declared that " the House was no more in want of a Parson than it was of a fishpond ! " The quarrel was, in fact, between the Church and the Nonconformists, including the Society of Friends. The subscribers to the Chaplaincy Fund had formulated a short code of rules, the first of which was that in case of a 1 The published annual reports were always called the " States." 36 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY vacancy the nomination should be vested in the Bishop of the Diocese. In accordance with this regulation the Rev. Thomas Johnes was chosen and appointed by the Bishop of Bristol on November 9th, 1772. He commenced duties, however, on May 27th, before his formal appointment. Mr. Johnes, who was of Welsh extraction, came to Bristol quite poor, and began his career in this city as a clerk in a Fire Office. He appears to have had a fair education, and soon got employment as an usher at a school at Long Ashton, established by Nathaniel Ainsworth, and then taught Latin at a " Seminary " kept by " a pompous, ignorant old Pedagogue " called William Williams. He was hard-working and ambitious, and managed to go to Jesus College, Oxford, as what was called a " term-trotter." He took his degree, came back to Bristol, and was ordained Curate at St. John's at a salary of £60 a year. He afterwards was Curate at St. James's. He was appointed Rector of St. John's in 1779, domestic chaplain to the Earl of St. Vincent in 1798, and Archdeacon of Barnstaple in 1807. He was in addition Librarian to the Bristol Library Society, and for some years Treasurer of the " Bear's Cub Ciub." (See p. 231.) He was of medium stature, rather thin, not good looking, but with a pleasant smile. He spoke with some hesitation and frequently repeated himself, but the substance of his remarks was sensible and showed thoughtfulness. On February 1st, 1773, fourteen of the leading clergy of Bristol, together with Mr. Charles Lee, Master of the Grammar School, wrote a letter to the Treasurer of the Infirmary (then Mr. Richard Champion) complaining that the Chaplain had no regular stipend, and making the following statement : " We do therefore agree amongst ourselves from the 1st January, 1773, to appropriate the subscriptions we have hitherto paid to the General Charity to the salary of the Chaplain in particular . . . and we shall in every respect notwithstanding consider ourselves as Subscribers to the Infirmary and continue to recommend patients as usual." This disquieting letter was considered at a special Board convened on March 16th, 1773, and according to R. Smith " a long, angry, and tumultuous debate " followed. The Charity was in danger of losing either the support of the Church or of the Dissenters, who threatened to withdraw if this request was complied with. Mr. Henry Cruger (mentioned in Chatterton's scurrilous satire, " The Exhibition ") spoke strongly in opposition to this 37 A HISTORY OF THE demand of the clergy, and it was finally resolved " that no person who does not pay his subscription to the Treasurer for the usual purpose, can be considered as a Subscriber to this Charity or be allowed to recommend patients." This quarrel threatened to do great harm to the Infirmary, one evidence of which is the fact that collections at places of worship fell from £134 in 1772 to only £58 in 1774. Both parties held their ground, and occasionally broke out into sarcastic and virulent letters in the newspapers. Matters were brought to a crisis by the Lord Bishop of Bristol, 1 who wrote a letter to the Treasurer, which was described at the time as " the Bishop's bull," " the ban of the Church," etc. It will be seen in this letter, which is reproduced here in full, that he withdraws his subscription from " such an unchristian Institution as an Infirmary without chaplain." (See Fig. 8.) This letter, according to R. Smith, " so widened the breach that the existence of the Infirmary was in danger," but at this critical stage the Corporation of Bristol and the Society of Merchant Venturers came to the rescue with a timely offer of an annual subscription of £20 each to the Chaplain's Fund. The matter was for the time patched up ; and Mr. Johnes gradually instituted regular services in the Board Room on Sunday evenings for all who could attend, besides services in the wards. Mr. Johnes's clerical and social duties steadily increased, and, especially after his appointment to the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple in 1807, he had so many engagements that his attendance at the Infirmary became irregular, and finally was chiefly by deputy. At length, at a Committee Meeting held on December nth, 1816, it was reported that the Chaplain "had not been in attendance for a long time past, but that he had appointed the Rev. Mr. Parsons to officiate during his absence." Upon this it was resolved " that the Office of Chaplain to the Bristol Infirmary ought net to be performed by Deputy, except in cases of emergency to be judged of by the Committee." Two Trustees, Messrs. Burges and Tozer, were requested to communicate this resolution to Mr. Johnes, " adding such other Observations in reference to the Resolution as they may think 1 Dr. Thomas Newton, the author of Dissertations on the Prophecies. He wrote some disparaging remarks about Dr. Johnson's Lives of the Poets in an account of his own life, published after his death. When Johnson was staying with Dr. Adams at Oxford in 1784, " the Bishop of Bristol having been mentioned, Johnson, recollecting the manner in which he had been mentioned by that Prelate, thus retaliated : ' Tom knew he should be dead before what he has said of me would appear. He durstn't have printed it while he was alive.' Dr. Adams : ' I believe his Dissertations on the Prophecies is his great work.' Johnson : ' Why, sir, it is Tom's great work ; but how far it is great, or how much of it is Tom's, are other questions.' " — Boswell's Life of Johnson, Fitzgerald Edition, vol. hi. pp. 73, 74. 33 . , * s« S jf ^f ,, ,., ^. BISHOP NEWTON'S LETTER. Fig. 8. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY proper." What " observations " may have been made by these two gentlemen does not appear, but the result was a letter from Mr. Johnes, dated " St. John's Parsonage, January 8th, 1817," stating that he had that day signified to the Bishop of the Diocese, from whose predecessor he had received the appoint- ment, and to the Mayor and Master of the Society of Merchants, from whom he had received " the annual Donations for per- forming the Duties of the Office," his intention to resign on the 25th day of March next. 1 It was at once decided to send a letter to the Bishop " requesting his concurrence in the nomination of a Chaplain by the House Committee," and another letter to the Corporation and Society of Merchants asking them to continue their annual donations. The Corporation and Society of Merchants consented to continue their former subscriptions. No answer from the Bishop is mentioned in the Minute Books. In the meanwhile two candidates appeared, viz. the Rev. J. Carter (late Librarian to the Bristol Library Society) and the Rev. J. Swete. The former addressed his application to the Bishop, the latter addressed his to the Mayor and Corporation. There was $. great discussion in the papers as to the nomination, and the Bishop was written to by Mr. Johnes and strongly urged to interfere ; but on January 22nd, 1817, the Committee appointed the Rev. John Swete, 2 " during the pleasure of the House Committee for the time being." It was thought by many that the Committee had no power to appoint a Chaplain, and attempts were made to rescind the resolution of January 22nd, but unsuccessfully. Mr. Swete at once made application for " two Portable Desks," to be used for the services in the wards, which he held in the evenings. Forms were arranged opposite the Chaplain's desk for the nurses and convalescents, and it was requested that the sick should " put themselves in the best posture which their state of health will permit in order that both may attend with devout reverence on the Worship of Almighty God." 3 He also had printed and distributed " A Form of Prayer which is used in the Wards of the Bristol Infirmary." The extreme sinfulness of his congregation is the dominant note in this, and in his published Chaplain 's Address to the Patients. 1 Mr. Johnes held the office for forty-four years, his predecessor, Mr. Davis, for thirty-five years. 2 Mr. Swete was at this time Curate of St. James's and Chaplain to the Colston Almshouses. He afterwards became Rector of Blagdon. He died September 17th, 1869. 3 Committee Minute Book, April i6th, 18 17. 39 A HISTORY OF THE BURIAL-GROUND. It has been mentioned that a burial-ground was given to the Infirmary by the Corporation in 1757. It will be convenient here to say a few words about this. It seems that in the Mayoralty of Henry Dampier, Michael Foster being Recorder, the Committee made a representation to the Corporation requesting the grant of " a piece of void ground near John Ball's Lane for a burying Place for the Infirmary." * On March 22nd, 1757, this ground, with an old tenement on it, which was pulled down, was granted for " 999 years in consideration of a Peppercorn as a quit-rent " to " John Clements Esq. and others his then Co-feoffees and Trustees of the Lands Tenements and Hereditaments belonging to the said Infirmary." This piece of ground was at that time " in the possession of Susannah Bennett," and lay between Lewin's Mead and Maudlin Street. It was about 80 feet square. On September 10th, 1757, the Mayor (Giles Bailey), the Rev. John Culliford, Rector of St. Michael's Church, and eighteen others, petitioned the Bishop to consecrate this ground, and on September 14th this was done. The witnesses of the Bishop's signature (in the Registry of the Episcopal Court of Bristol) are : — John Culliford, Rector of St. Michael's. P. Fisher. Christ. Willoughby. J. Bonython. Richard Parker, Notary and Deputy Registrar. This little cemetery was surrounded with a wall, and a tool- house was built upon it. We have recorded some of the offices held by our friend Mr. Johnes, and his increasing difficulty in attending to the Infirmary. He was a somewhat parsimonious man, and only gave his substitute, Mr. Parsons, five shillings a week for acting as Deputy Chaplain. We cannot, perhaps, wonder that the work was done by the latter in a perfunctory manner. On one occasion the body of a deceased patient was kept so long waiting to be buried that the grave-diggers sent for Mr. Parsons, who answered that he was otherwise engaged and could not come. When asked what they were to do with the body, he sent word : " Put it in the tool-house, I '11 come to-morrow," but one of the undertakers read the burial service and the body was interred. " Some time after," says Richard Smith, " I fell in with the Archdeacon [Johnes] and told him of it — he turned up his eyes 1 Extract from the Corporation books. 40 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY and hands and gave one of his peculiar shrugs of the shoulders, but said not a word." This small plot of ground, not much more than a cricket pitch in length or breadth, served as a burial-place for nearly all the pauper patients who died in the House, and it naturally became crowded with dead bodies. Some of the ground was rocky, with only a thin layer of earth, and on March 6th, 1770, it was decided at a Board Meeting to have part of it quarried " to make more room." On June 15th, 1815, Mr. Wintour Harris, then Chamberlain of Bristol, wrote to the Committee on behalf of the City Surveyors, complaining that the graves " for the interment of Persons who die in the Hospital are frequently not filled up after such interment, but sometimes only a little earth is thrown over the Coffins, leaving the upper part for the reception of one or more Corpses, so that in some instances the upper Coffin is scarcely under the surface of the earth." This letter was discussed, and some of the Committee visited the ground, and were assured by Mr. Fry, the carpenter, " that the graves had been regularly filled up," one only having been left open owing to " the Grave-Digger not being able to get it finished that Day." It was decided, however, that each grave should be made nine feet six inches in depth, instead of nine feet. At this time it was computed that "if each grave be nine feet deep six bodies may be placed in it," and that by adopting this plan 1,924 more bodies might still be buried there ! This state of affairs was by no means confined to the Infirmary burial-ground ; l and such superficial interment made " body-snatching " much easier. The grave-diggers were a rough lot, often doing a surreptitious trade as assistants to " resurrectionists." Many of the churchyards and burial- grounds in Bristol were in such a scandalous condition, that on April 7th, 1854, an order was made in Council by which the Infirmary ground was closed, that in Redcross Street was reserved for members of the congregation, and only one body was to be placed in each grave in the Quaker burial-places. After this the interments were made in neighbouring churchyards, and ultimately at Arno's Vale ; but an undertaker continued in the employment of the Infirmary until December 15th, 1857, when he was dismissed. He lived in a small hovel on the place of his labours, but we find from an entry of this date in the Minute Book " that John Hamblett who now occupies a Shed in the Infirmary Burial Ground be ordered to quit the place and give up possession." 1 See footnote, p. 66. 4 1 CHAPTER V FINANCES — DEATH OF JOHN ELBRIDGE — ELECTION OF JOHN ANDREWS AS TREASURER — NEW BUILDINGS — ELECTION OF NICHOLAS SIMPSON AS APOTHECARY — APPRENTICES Unfortunately there are no official balance sheets of the Infirmary in existence before the financial year ending December 2ist, 1742. According to R. Smith, the original collection made by the founders amounted to £822. This was nearly all spent in altering the building and furnishing the rooms, etc. There is, however, amongst the R. Smith MSS. at the Bristol Central Library a printed statement of accounts which appears to be copied from the early records for distribution amongst the Trustees, and may be considered reliable. x This is as follows : — r s . d. " Paid the Matron for Victuals, Drink and all Necessaries of the House ; some Medicines for the Apothecary's Shop ; Salaries, Wages and the whole Expense of the House, from the day of Opening to the Twenty first of December 1738 House Rent for the Year Ground Rent ditto . . 410 21 2 16 433 16 670 9 Balance in Treasurer's Hands £1104 5 o" With regard to the rent, we have seen (p. 15) that as time went on the payment of this £21 became complicated owing to the deaths of several of the Sharpes of Dublin, who inherited the property. In 1806 the Institution owed rent for three years " for want of a legal Discharge," and the Committee calculated the three years' rental as amounting to ^59 17s. od., having sub- tracted the Property Tax, which was then one shilling in the pound. In the State for 18 16 is the following : — " To Representatives of R. A. F. Sharpe Esqr, 14 Years Ground Rent at £21 (per annum) less ^23 7 3 Property Tax — ^270 12 9." Here again the deduction for the Property Tax has been wisely calculated at compound interest. On April 14th, 1824, Mr. W. E. Sharpe, a descendant of the above R. A. F. Sharpe, offered to sell to the Governors of the Infirmary " the fee of the Ground Rents 2 for ^500 Irish Currency." This was agreed to, the actual sum paid for " an Annual Chief Rent of £21 " being ^461 10s. 9d. 1 Some of the figures are mentioned in a resume of the yearly income published in the Annual Report for 1756, and tally with this. 2 The term " Ground Rent " is sometimes used in the old documents as synonymous with " Rent " or " Chief Rent." 42 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY 312 10 15 15 446 5 285 5 40 2 4 The Income in the first Balance Sheet was made up as follows : — £ s. d. Yearly Subscriptions for 1737 Benefactions Yearly Subscriptions for 1738 Benefactions Poor Box One Year's Rent for Cellars . . £1104 5 o Two minor sources of income should here be noticed, the Poor Box, and what was called " Arbitration Money." A box was fastened on the wall of the Infirmary, probably near the entrance, and afterwards one was fixed in each ward. Patients, occasional visitors, and others put small sums into these Poor Boxes, which were opened at every Monthly Board Meeting. The " Arbitration Money," which amounted sometimes to ten or even twenty pounds a year, has the following curious history. Personal disputes in those days were not brought into Law Courts so frequently as now ; the ultimate settlement was not infrequently by duel, but short of this a common method was to appoint arbitrators, sometimes three in number, sometimes only one. It became the custom about the year 1743 for the disputants to deposit each a guinea or so in the hands of these referees, who usually gave this money to the Infirmary. Thus in the year 1744 £15 ns. was given in this way. Amongst the arbitrators the names of Messrs. James Macartney, William Jefferies, Isaac Hobhouse and William Reeve frequently appear. Mrs. Eliza Cove, after whom a ward was subsequently named, heads the fist of Benefactors with £100. The balance of £670 in the Treasurer's hands could only have existed by the liberality of John Elbridge, who, as we have said, paid for many of the structural alterations and furniture, etc., out of his own pocket. During the first year 194 In-patients were treated and 232 Out-patients, making a total of 426. It is stated that " 241 were cured." 1 On December 8th, 1738, there were in the House 35 In- patients and 74 Out-patients were on the books, making a total of iog under treatment. Almost from the first the accommodation was far too small 1 Of the In-patients admitted from Dec. 15th, 1737, to Dec. 9th, 1738, 88 were cured, 16 died, 2 were discharged as incurable, and 9 left from " Irregularity or their own request." 43 A HISTORY OF THE for the demands made upon the Charity, and a new ward was added by John Elbridge, who paid for every detail of the furnishing, etc. At a General Meeting held at the Rummer Tavern on December 12th, 1738, is the entry : " Mr. Elbridge was pleased to declare that the new ward was ready furnished, and might be made use of, for which his benefaction he received the thanks of the Society." John Elbridge did not live to see the full fruition of his labours. He was elected Treasurer on January 7th, 1736-7, and died on February 22nd, 1738-9, bequeathing £5,000 to the Society. His death was felt as a great calamity, and on March 2nd, 1738-9, the Trustees decided " that a Separate board be put up, reciting Mr. Elbridge's benefactions, and that Mr. Jere Burroughs, Dr. Bonython, Mr. Serjeant Foster, and Mr. Henry Woolnough be appointed to fix upon the form in which it shall be done." This board is now on the wall of the Board Room. John Elbridge carried out his charity in so quiet and un- ostentatious a manner, that with the exception of this resolution very little notice was taken of his benevolent deeds. Few men who have spent so much on the poor and uneducated have received so little acknowledgment after death. A great-niece of John Elbridge, Elizabeth Woolnough, married Sir John Hugh Smyth, Baronet, of Ashton Court. She died as the Dowager Lady Smyth in 1825. Various papers connected with the Elbridge Family are preserved at Ashton Court. I am indebted to Mr. Lewis J. U. Way, F.S.A., who has kindly looked through these old documents, for the following particulars of the Elbridge Family. John Elbridge's father, Thomas Elbridge, and his wife were amongst the early settlers in New England. The date of their departure from Bristol is not known, but they kept up unbroken intercourse with their native city by means of ships plying between the New World and the port of Bristol. They were driven from their first home at a place called Pinequid by attacks of Indians, and migrated with their young family to Marblehead, in the County of Essex in Massachusetts, where they finally settled. They had four sons and two daughters ; the eldest son was named Aldworth, to perpetuate the name of a well- known Bristol merchant, Robert Aldworth, who, leaving no issue, bequeathed all his estate to Giles Elbridge, merchant, who had married Aldworth's niece. Another son, Thomas, married Ann Stayner, of Shirehampton, and became a well-to-do merchant. John Elbridge, with whom we are more immediately concerned, was sent to Bristol by his parents at the age of twelve, with his eldest sister Elizabeth, to his cousin, 44 Fig. g. JOHN ELBRIDGE. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Mr. Thomas Moore, Controller of the Customs. His ability and industry enabled him to amass a great fortune, and he succeeded his cousin Moore as Controller of the Customs. He resided for many years at a large house on the site of the Royal Fort, and he also had a seat at Cote, in the parish of Westbury-on-Trym. On the grounds of his property at the Fort he built and endowed a school for the education and clothing of twenty-four girls ; the scholars were admitted as In-patients to the Infirmary without any further recom- mendation than the signed request of the schoolmistress. This privilege was used as late as 1825. On June 27th of that year Susannah Nash, who was then mistress, wrote to the Visitors requesting that "Ann Russell who is a Pupil duly elected in the Blue School founded in Fort Road, Bristol, by the late John Elbridge, Esqr.," might be admitted to the Infirmary. John Elbridge died, as before stated, on February 22nd, I 738~9. and was buried in Temple Church in the fine tomb of his relatives the Aldworths, the only inscription referring to him being the words, " Here also is buried John Elbridge Esq." The portrait of him is a reproduction of a painting by Marcus Henry Holmes, done in 1716, now in the Board Room of the Bristol Royal Infirmary. (See Fig. 9.) By his will, which is dated February 20th, 1738-9, and proved March 27th, 1739, he left— besides the £5,000 to the Infirmary— £3,000 to his School for Girls, £10,000 to his niece Rebecca Woolnough, together with his house at the Fort, his house at Westbury to his nephew Thomas, £10,000 to his niece Frances, and many smaller legacies to his clerk, servants, etc. The residue of his estate was divided equally between his nephew and niece, Thomas Elbridge, jun., and Rebecca Woolnough. Dr. Samuel Creswick, Dean of Bristol, was one of his executors. Mr. Samuel Loscombe James, who was apprenticed to Richard Smith, sen., Surgeon to the Infirmary, has recorded " that on March 28th, 1778, the said Richard Smith amputated the leg of George Elbridge Rook, a grandson of the founder of the Infirmary." This is obviously a mistake, as John Elbridge died without issue. His brother Thomas's son (also called Thomas), who had no direct descendants, left his property to Withington Rooke, whose brother, Thomas Rooke, of Somerton, had a son named Thomas Elbridge Rooke, who lived at Street, Somerset. He was a wealthy man, and it is not likely that he ever became an Infirmary patient. 1 1 It is stated in the Richard Smith Memoirs that Richard Smith, jun., performed his first amputation at the Infirmary upon " a lineal descendant of the great Edward Colston in 1796." 45 A HISTORY OF THE The relationships before mentioned will be made quite clear by the table below, for which also I am indebted to Mr. Lewis Way : — w w w Cl, .2 o W 2 en tuO c t! •« ••= -5 £ ^ 5 H ^ £ > W £ &6z?<& yfcty \ft/W£j AT // 'J A3 /J. // J ■ ^ &0ZM 0/tf%6 r PAGE FROM "OUT-PATIENT BOOK," 1759 again as a standard round which all men could rally and sink private quarrels. At this time (1749) there were 76 beds available for patients, 47 for men and 29 for women, of which no less than 26 were 60 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY set apart for patients undergoing treatment by mercury carried to the extent of salivation. In 1750 the west wing was so far advanced that twenty new beds were ready, but it could not be opened for want of sufficient capital. This does not mean that the Infirmary was not well supported, for the annual subscriptions had steadily risen from £312 in 1737 to £779 in 1750, and many useful legacies had fallen in ; but the number of patients had greatly increased, and the general expenses for the year now amounted to more than £1.300. It was, however, very important that these wards should be opened : 180 patients, fit cases and properly recommended, had been refused admission this year (1750) for want of room, and many cases had to be lodged, at the Society's expense, in neighbouring houses, where they were visited by the Staff. To obtain more money the following plans were suggested : (1) To send circulars to gentlemen residing in the neighbouring counties ; (2) Personal application to the citizens ; (3) Annual collections at places of worship. Also, to limit expenses, (1) that a number of the House Visitors should be chosen every year by ballot " to inspect the whole Transactions of the Charity daily," and (2) that brewing and baking should be carried out at the Infirmary. It was estimated that this might be done by an initial outlay of about £600. These suggestions were all carried out sooner or later. The collection at churches and chapels, which became a very important addition to the yearly income, amounted in 1751 to £344 18s. io|d. According to the newspapers nineteen churches and seven Nonconformist chapels contributed. The " Fryers and Temple Street Meeting House " headed the list with £43 17s. 6d., then came Lewin's Mead with £35 16s. 7d. St. Nicholas Church collected £23, All Saints' £17 6s. 6d., and St. Augustine's £iy 5s. 8d., etc. The straightforward statement and call to the public published in the Annual State and in the papers, which should be noted as the first urgent appeal for help, produced a considerable increase in the number of Subscribers (from 319 in 1750 to 378 in 1751), and a handsome donation of £1,000 from a " Person who desired to be unknown," through the hands of Mr. Paul Fisher 1 and Mr. Nehemiah Champion. 1 Mr. Paul Fisher was a prominent and energetic member of the Infirmary Committee, frequently taking the Chair at General Meetings. He built, in 1747, the fine house on Clifton Hill afterwards famous as the residence of the Symonds Family. , 61 A HISTORY OF THE There is no clue to the identity of this benevolent donor. An old newspaper cutting pasted into the R. Smith MS. says : " On Thursday last £1,000 was deposited in a Bank for the use of the Poor of the Infirmary, for which generous benefaction the Society would return more particular thanks if the person who gave it had not, by a taste peculiar to such exalted souls, desired to be unknown." A legacy of £3,000 was also left by Mr. Richard Percivall, formerly of Bristol. He was travelling, for his health, in Italy, and was warned by his physician that it would be prudent to set his affairs in order. He therefore made his will, but a short time before his death he left word that he had omitted to leave a sum of money to the Bristol Infirmary. This message was brought to England, after his decease, by his servant, to his father, Mr. Joseph Percivall, who immediately carried out the wishes of his dead son and sent the Treasurer a cheque for £3,000. From these and other sources the income for the year 1751 amounted to £5,829 12s. 5d. Of this, some £250 was spent in furniture for the new wards and building, and £872 was paid to Mr. Thomas Richards for a " House and Brew-House in Maudlin Lane, adjoining the Infirmary." 1 These houses are shown in the drawing by Mr. Henry Smith. (See Fig. 13.) The new wards, which were situated in the west wing over the Committee Room, contained twenty beds. They were quickly furnished and opened ; two " drying rooms " were added, and a little later an iron gate and railings were erected on the south-east of the Infirmary (then the front), and the piazza figured in the old prints was covered with lead in place of the Cornish tiles which hitherto protected it. The building now, for the first time, began to look like the plan published in 1742. (See Fig. 14.) This plan gives a moderately correct representation of the house, as a two-winged building, with three stories. The Matron's and Dispenser's bedrooms were in the west 2 wing, as was the Committee Room. It must be remembered that owing to the incline of Lower Maudlin Street (or " Lane " as it was then called), the lowest floor was at the sides and back of the house partly underground, and the Infirmary is described in the old records as consisting of Cellarage, Ground Floor and Chamber Floor. The Waiting Room and Dispensary were on the cellar floor. 1 The piece of land on which these houses stood, and a strip of ground behind them, are marked 62A on the plan shown on page 14. The brewhouse was at the time used by " John Jones, Brewer." 2 For convenience the south-west portions will be referred to in future as the west, the north-east as the east, the north-west as the north, and the south-east as the south. 62 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Hitherto operations had been performed in the wards or in some adjoining room ; there was no regular Operating Theatre. The urgent need for one came before the Board in 1752, but it was not until 1755 that a special room was set apart for this purpose. In 1753 there is an entry in the Minute Book that a skeleton was to be procured " for the use of the Infirmary only " — no doubt the same that has done such yeoman service in the Surgeons' Consulting Room for many years. The Committee Room was a spacious apartment on the ground floor of the west wing. It had two windows only, looking out on Lower Maudlin Lane ; and two doors, one of which led down a flight of steps to " the Dead Hole," where deceased patients were taken before burial. This dark and miserable cellar, below the Committee Room, was lighted by a small, half -hidden window (just visible in Henry Smith's drawing, Fig. 13) ; and to use R. Smith's words, " a dead hole it was in every sense of the word." We shall have more to say of it afterwards. We have, luckily, amongst some old Infirmary memoranda made by Mr. Richard Champion, sen. (Treasurer 1768-79) for Mr. William Fripp (Treasurer 181 1-29) and preserved by Richard Smith, the following catalogue of the furniture of this old Committee Room : " One Windsor Chair and Cushion, one large Oak Table, three Benches, one Frame for Benefactions." Here, with the Chairman on the cushioned chair and the rest on benches, met the Weekly Committees and Monthly and Quarterly Boards, listening to complaints, inter- viewing the Matron and Apothecary, ordering food and coals, etc., and testing the beer and victuals, samples of which were regularly brought before them. No room in Bristol has had a more varied history than this old Committee Room. It has been used for Divine Service, for anatomical and surgical lectures, for the occasional examination of dead bodies, and for demonstrations on the carcases of murderers who had undergone the extreme penalty of the Law. The Committee kept a sharp look-out, especially on trades- men and officials. At a meeting held on September 21st, 1764, for example, we find the following entry : " The Committee order'd the Baker for the future to weigh every Sack of Flour, to measure all the Malt and likewise to tail 1 all the Faggots brought into the Infirmary." We have seen before how carefully the coal was scrutinised. The first coal, we notice, that was taken into the Infirmary was brought by a woman, Bridget Stone, who " made her mark " 1 To " tale " or count. 63 A HISTORY OF THE on her receipts, being unable to read or write, and received " Sixteen Shillings for sixteen horse loads of coal ! " 1 The Committee had also to think of patients when they left, for they often went out from the Infirmary quite destitute, perhaps with their friends at a distance. Sometimes money was given them to pay their journey home, sometimes clothing. The authorities at St. Peter's Hospital did their best to help with these poor creatures, and promised that if they had due notice of discharged patients they would " do the necessary for their immediate relief here and pass them to where they belong," a proposal gratefully received by the Committee. When " resurrectionists " or " body-snatchers " were about, the poor naturally became suspicious, and on one occasion, at least, a man accused the Infirmary authorities of keeping his wife's body for dissecting purposes, and burying something else in the coffin, which had actually to be opened to satisfy him. Complaints like this, and the control of a large and (in the case of the apprentices) troublesome "family," kept the Committee's hands full. During the few years we have been considering some important changes occurred in the personnel of the Institution. On the resignation of John Andrews, Richard Champion, sen., was elected Treasurer on December 18th, 1739. A short account of him, and of the other members of his family who became Treasurers, will be found in Chapter ix. Thomas Page, one of the first two Surgeons elected, died on May 5th, 1741, and on June 5th, John Page, his son, was appointed Surgeon. (See Appendix A.) JOHN PAGE. John Page was born at his father's house in Redcliff Street in July, 1713. (See p. 20.) He received a liberal education, and was indentured to his father in 1728, both as a private apprentice and at the Infirmary. He used to boast that he was the first person who ever dressed a patient there. He afterwards studied at a London Hospital and at the Hotel Dieu at Paris. He left his father's house in Redcliff Street in October, 1743, and went to live at St. James's Barton, and on April 27th, 1749, he married Miss Sarah Fisher, of Chew Stoke, who survived him for twenty-two years. He left no issue. 1 At this date the Infirmary paid for " prime ox-beef " one guinea per cwt., about 2^d. per lb. 64 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY He was twenty-eight years of age when he came on the Infirmary Staff, and he soon became well known as a man of sound judgment and knowledge. He is described asa " good, steady operator," and became famous for his operations on stone in the bladder, an operation which in those days was considered the greatest test of a man's skill as a surgeon, requiring a steady hand, a keen eye, anatomical knowledge, coolness and judgment. His results were very good. It was he who used to remove fingers and toes with a chisel, and students were in the habit of saying that " Johnny was going to play at hammer, chisel and block ! " He was fond of long prescriptions containing a farrago of drugs now considered almost useless, and was a great advocate of balsams and ointments. He resigned his post at the Infirmary in the spring of 1777, and on the 6th of May, at a General Meeting of Subscribers, he was thanked for the services which he had " rendered this House during a Series of near Forty Years," and was " desired to attend as Surgeon extraordinary." This appointment, made without previous notice to his surgical colleagues, gave him a high-sounding title without any definitely fixed privileges. He himself naturally thought that it should confer on him a stronger position in surgical consultations ; this was resented by the other Surgeons, and a coolness arose in consequence. Surgery, in fact, was making rapid advances, and John Page's advice could not be always followed by the younger members of the Staff. Matters were brought to a head soon after the election of Mr. Joseph Metford. A young woman came into the Infirmary with disease of the bones of the foot. Metford proposed a partial amputation, with which his colleagues agreed, but not Page, who vehemently insisted that the whole foot should be removed. The matter had to be put to the vote, and Metford's plan was decided on. The case did so well that with a " stuffed boot " no difference between the two feet could be detected, and there was no lameness. Soon after John Page happened to go into the ward to inquire after this patient. She was seated by the fire, and rose and walked towards him. " For a few seconds he appeared chagrined, but presently, turning to the Surgeons, he said, ' Gentlemen, this convinces me of what I have latterly suspected, which is that you do not need my assistance, and that it is also time for me to give up Surgery.' He dropped the profession from that moment." He died on June 30th, 1792, aged 79 years. He was a Unitarian, and " attended at Lewin's Mead." 65 A HISTORY OF THE He was buried in the " Baptist's Yard " or burial-ground, Redcross Street. x Thomas Skone (Surgeon 1767-70), who knew John Page intimately, has recorded of him that he was " a good, friendly, warm-hearted man, of a lively, pleasant disposition, with a good deal to say for himself." Skone told Richard Smith, " If, sir, you are going to write anything about him [John Page] let it also be mentioned that his wife made him so comfort- able by his own fire-side, that, except when professionally engaged, he never left his home for a single day from the hour of his marriage to the day of his death ; nor ever, during forty years, gave himself but one week's holiday, and then he took his wife with him." His devoted wife continued to live in the same house during the long period that she survived him, and it is pathetic to read that " his papers, books, and other things remained in the places where he had left them in his study, having never been touched." He apparently never made much more than £300 a year by his practice ; but he always considered this a good income. (For portrait see Fig. 15.) JAMES FORD. When " Cove's Ward " was opened in 1743 it was decided to add another Surgeon to the Staff, and on June 13th of that year James Ford was duly elected ; he had previously been a candidate when John Page was appointed. James Ford was the son of Thomas Ford, of Wells, Somersetshire. He was apprenticed to " Old Rosewell," a famous barber-surgeon of the old school, and went afterwards to London, where he became a pupil at St. Thomas's Hospital. He completed his medical studies at the Hotel Dieu and Hopital de la Charite at Paris. He married a Miss Horner, of High Street, and resided in Trinity Street. He was a man of con- siderable talent, a good anatomist and surgeon, and, like Page, established a reputation for operations on stone in the bladder. His ultimate success as a practitioner was, however, due chiefly to his appearance and fascinating manners. In the year 1758 1 His father, Thomas Page, was a Baptist, and his son John was brought up in the tenets of that sect. A writer in the Western Daily Press for September nth, 1913, referring to the Baptists' burial-ground, estimated that at least ten thousand persons were buried there between the years 1679 and 1836. I am indebted to Mr. W. Pountney for the following curious entries from the Baptist Burial Registers : "29 May, 1749. Sarah Carter (a Patten Young Woman) was (from the Infirmary) Inter'd upon George Humphries." "n Nov., 1 761. Mr. William Taylor was Inter'd with his head close to the South East Quoin of Mr. Andrew Gifford's tomb about 14 yards 2 feet from the South Wall a large child of Mr. Thomas Eyres's buried March 26, 1760 taken up and laid upon him (It was one about 11 years old)." 66 P VI X BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Lord Bute came to the Hotwells to take the Bristol waters, which in those days had a great reputation ; he came across Ford, and was so charmed with him that he induced him to come to London, promising that he would use his influence to obtain his appointment as Physician-Accoucheur to Queen Charlotte. This was kept a profound secret for some time, and made Ford so preoccupied and absent-minded that when sent for on one occasion to see a lady who urgently required his services, he came into the bedroom, and after a few words of conversation said " good morning," and went away. He was fetched back by the anxious husband, and explained that " he was absorbed in thought at the moment and quite abstracted from surrounding objects ! " He resigned his post at the Infirmary on June 5th, 1759, and his appointment to the Queen's household was soon afterwards announced. He became famous in London, was made a Licentiate of the College of Physicians and obtained a medical degree from Aberdeen. He also became " Consulting Physician and Man-Midwife " to the Westminster General Dispensary, which was established in 1774. When David Garrick offered for sale his share of Drury Lane Theatre in 1777 James Ford and Richard Brinsley Sheridan purchased it, it is stated, for £35,000. This was an unfortunate transaction for Ford, who lost considerably by it. Soon after this purchase the King (George III.) saw him and asked if it were true. Ford replied, " Yes, may it please your Majesty." "Oh! Aye, aye!" rejoined the King, "it pleases me well enough ! Quite right, quite right, all very proper, for Charlotte assures me you are quite at home behind the Curtain ! " (For portrait see Fig. 16.) Extracts copied from Ford's private memoranda show that in twenty years he made £951 4s. by pupils and apprentices. From the same source I find that his yearly professional receipts steadily increased from £42 10s. 6d. in 1740 to £1,524 in 1759. After this he probably continued to make a large annual income, but we have no data. Ford introduced from France the fungus called " Agaric " as a styptic for stopping haemorrhage, and tried it largely at the Infirmary, using it after amputations and so on. He formed a high opinion of its efficacy, but other methods soon superseded it. (See Medical Practice in the Eighteenth Century, chap, xx.) Two other changes on the Staff may be mentioned here. Dr. Etwall resigned in 1743, but the remaining Physicians, Drs. Bonython, Logan and Hardwicke, did not think it necessary to appoint another. However, on Dr. Hardwicke's death in 67 A HISTORY OF THE September, 1747, it was decided to fill both vacancies, and on December 15th Drs. Drummond and Cadogan were duly elected. (See Appendix A.) DR. ARCHIBALD DRUMMOND. Dr. Archibald Drummond was a descendant of the Dukes of Perth ; his father was Provost of Edinburgh, where his son appears to have been educated. He was born in 1720, came to Bristol about the year 1743, and resided at first in Castle Green and afterwards at 13 St. James's Square. For some time he did very little in the way of practice, making only £20 during his first year, but his learning, skill and good manners soon enabled him to do very well. It is recorded that when he first set up in Castle Green, an undertaker of the name of Harris, living at the coiner of Marsh Street, sent round circulars to the chief medical men of Bristol offering them a percentage on any funeral he got through their recommendation. Dr. Drummond did not receive one of these circulars, and when asked by a friend why he had been omitted, he answered, " with a low bow, and in a broad Scotch accent : ' Because I am not sufficiently eeminent to make it worth the fellow's while ! ' " He married in 1757 a Miss Parsons, of Rudgeway, who was said to have a fortune of £30,000. His name stands fourth upon the first list of the " Edinburgh Medical Society," to which many of the Bristol Infirmary Physicians subsequently belonged. He resigned his post on October 29th, 1771, in a remarkably short letter to the Trustees. He died August 26th, 1801, aged eighty-one, and was buried in St. Thomas's Church, Bristol. DR. WILLIAM CADOGAN. Dr. William Cadogan was a native of Cowbridge, in Glamorganshire. He resigned his post at the Infirmary on March 3rd, 1752, and went to London. He received by " Royal Mandate " a degree from Cambridge University, was made a Fellow of the College of Physicians in 1758, served in the Army, wrote on gout, on the management of children's diseases, and rapidly rose to the head of his profession. He was one of the physicians called in to see David Garrick during his last illness in January, 1779. As an authority on gout Dr. Cadogan felt it to be his duty to inculcate great temperance in eating and drinking. He himself, however, appears to have tried both " full " and " low " diet. The following story is told of him in The Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature and Arts, Oct.-Dec, 1828 :— 68 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY " When dining one day at a College Dinner, after discoursing most eloquently and forcibly on abstinence and temperance— and particularly against pie-crust and pastry— he is reported to have addressed a brother M.D. in the following terms : ' Pray, Doctor, is that a pigeon-pie near you ? ' ' Yes, sir.' ' Then I '11 thank you to send me the hind quarters of two pigeons, some fat of the beef steak, a good portion of the pudding crust, and as much gravy as you can spare ! ' " RICHARD LATHROP. Morgan Smith, who for a time acted as Secretary, was replaced in 1739 by Richard Lathrop. This gentleman was born in 1712, and was therefore twenty-seven years of age at the time of his appointment. The exact date of his election is not mentioned in the Board Book, or in the mutilated remains of the first Committee Book ; but on December 7th, 1739, it was resolved at a General Meeting " that a reward of ten guineas be allowed Mr. Lathrop for his trouble." The following December he received twenty, and the next year thirty guineas. He attended the Lewin's Mead Meeting House, was a pious, kind-hearted man, and had eulogistic verses written and printed about him after his death, which took place on September 19th, 1751. He was for some time " Cashier at the Custom House for the Port of Bristol." JOSEPH BEECH. His successor, Joseph Beech, was appointed under the title of " Treasurer's Clerk." He is sometimes styled " Deputy Treasurer," or " Secretary and Receiver." He was given twenty guineas for his first year's services, but on December 4th, 1753, it was agreed that his salary should be £26 per annum. He continued Secretary until his death on February 2nd, 1771. Richard Champion, the third Treasurer, died on February 23rd, 1747-8, and was succeeded by his son Nehemiah, who was elected on March 8th of that year. (See account of the Champions in Chapter ix.) In 1752 the officers of the Infirmary were as follows : — Treasurer : Nehemiah Champion. Physicians : Drs. Logan, Bonython, Cadogan and Drummond. Surgeons : Messrs. Thornhill, Page and Ford. Chaplain : Rev. William Davis. 69 A HISTORY OF THE Apothecary : Joseph Shapland. Secretary and Receiver : Joseph Beech. Matron : Mrs. Ann Hughes. The Senior Surgeon, " the handsome William Thornhill," was a busy man, with many professional and social engagements. It appears by various entries that he became irregular in his attendance at the Infirmary, and was more than once expostulated with by the Visitors, who requested him " to appoint another Gentleman of the Establishment to act for him " in his absences. He, however, in a light-hearted, careless way, made vague promises of amendment, but went on much as usual. A few years later, in 1754, a lad was admitted under his care who had been accidentally shot in the leg by his master. This gentleman, anxious that the boy should be well looked after, gave Thornhill a fee " to quicken his attentions." He was foolish enough to accept this, and the storm raised by this breach of Rules ended in his resignation in the autumn of 1754. The Infirmary had by this time a great reputation, not only in Bristol, but in the surrounding counties, and patients were constantly sent in from a distance. On their discharge they were frequently helped by small sums of money, etc., as before mentioned ; but a complaint was made by the Governors of St. Peter's Hospital that " a great number of paupers from other places either really or pretend to resort hither to partake of that useful, beneficial and extensive charity, the Bristol Infirmary' ; and after being cured or discharged as incurable, remain in this city in continual acts of vagrancy." No remedy was suggested. Mr. Paul Fisher, who was in the chair when this communication was received, wrote an answer, asking for particulars as to any definite cases. The matter seems to have dropped. Not only was the Institution popular as a place of healing for the poor, but it was beloved by nearly everyone who worked within its walls. Many letters are still preserved, yellow with age, addressed by old students to Richard Smith and others, full of enthusiasm and love for their old hospital. I have, for example, come across the Inaugural Thesis for the degree of M.D. of Leyden University, written in the curious monk-Latin used for such dissertations, by Dr. Samuel Cave, who was a pupil at the Bristol Infirmary. This thesis is dated 1779, and is dedicated, oddly enough, not to his former teachers at Bristol, but to " the very learned and experienced William Barrett " (" viro 70 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY erudissimo expertissimo ") . He writes with gratitude of his "six happy years" at the Infirmary, where he laid the foundations of his medical knowledge. On June 24th, 1766, James Ford wrote to the Committee from Albemarle Street, London, requesting that one of his sons might be received as an Infirmary apprentice " in a school where I am sure he will learn nothing that I shall hereafter wish him to forget." The whole letter is, in fact, full of praise of his old hospital. We shall find similar expressions of affection constantly used by Infirmary officials in the pages of this history. 7i CHAPTER VII NEW WARDS — OPERATION ROOM — FINANCES — BREWING AND BAKING — DIET — ELECTION OF THREE SURGEONS — JOHN CASTEL- MAN — STORY OF " MY ZUN'S HEAD " — JEROME NORMAN — JOHN TOWNSEND — ANECDOTES OF TOWNSEND In the year 1755 the number of beds had been increased to one hundred and thirty-two — seventy-four for men and fifty- eight for women. The centre of the building was raised and a room was furnished " proper for performing all operations in Surgery." More than a thousand In-patients and two thousand Out-patients were treated during this year. There was still considerable over-crowding, beds being arranged down the centre of the wards as well as at the sides, and generally in the passages. In 1757 the income from all sources amounted to £3,197, and the expenditure to £2,473. There was therefore a favourable balance of £724 ; but in spite of this, the next year the Quarterly Board found it necessary to make an appeal to the public to get the Institution out of debt, so heavy had the yearly expenses become. The citizens rose to the occasion, £1,371 was collected, and matters were again on a satisfactory footing. We have more than once referred to the consumption of beer at the Infirmary. From time to time the question came before the Board and Committee whether this heavy item of expenditure could not be lessened by establishing a brewery on the premises. Three houses close to the east wing were bought from a Mrs. Jolliffe in the spring of 1755 ; one of these tenements belonged to her, and the other two were " a Security to her for the payment of an Annuity of ten Pounds per Annum." She agreed to dispose of the three houses to the Infirmary for " an annuity of £15 per annum for Life." These houses were probably used at first as extra accommodation for patients, but on September 7th, 1762, a Sub-Committee was appointed to consider whether they could not be utilised as a " proper place for brewing and baking," and a year later (September 6th, 1763) it was announced that " the brew-house and bake-house were nearly completed." It was decided to hire two persons, one expert in brewing and one in baking, " in order to give a due light how to contract with a person to carry on the two branches 72 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY united, and be an inhabitant of the House." Apparently it was not until some years later that the business was sufficiently in working order to be entrusted to one man ; but in 1772 the Secretary advertised for a Brewer and Baker " at 7s. per week, with board, washing and lodging." We find, however, from the Annual Accounts that beer was purchased until 1775 ; after this malt and hops were bought. In 1764 it was decided to abolish " the pint of beer allowed on rice-milk days, a custom which we imagine rather prejudicial than necessary." On the days when meat was given (Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) it had been the custom to serve a basin of bread and broth before dinner ; at this date it was resolved to keep this broth " for their suppers, agreeable to the Rules of other Hospitals." J One of the functions of the Visitors was to find out whether the provisions supplied to the patients were good. It was the custom from the earliest days of the Institution for the Matron to place upon the table of the Board Room at the weekly Committee Meetings a jug of beer and a loaf of bread and some cheese for inspection and tasting. Dr. Plomer, who succeeded Dr. Bonython in 1761, was a very regular attendant at these Committees, which were not usually well attended. Upon these samples " the doctor made a most formidable attack, and continued to eat the whole of the sitting, or at least as long as his appetite and the provisions held out ; if by design or accident they were forgotten, he would ring the bell, and looking at the Porter as if he were going to eat him, exclaim, ' Where 's the bread and cheese, sir ?— and the beer ?— bring them directly ! ' " His name frequently appears as the only one present at these meetings, when his meal was therefore quite undisturbed by business. William Thornhill's resignation in the autumn of 1754 led to one of the most celebrated of the Infirmary elections, resulting in the appointment of three eminent surgeons, Jerome Norman, John Castelman and John Townsend, on December 20th, 1754. There were therefore for a time six Surgeons on the Staff and only three Physicians. This election is notable as the first occasion on which any scheme of " Assistant Surgeons " arose. It was actually pro- posed that out of the six candidates one should be elected Surgeon and three others made " Assistants." The idea was, however, strongly opposed, in one of the printed pamphlets 1 From entries in the old Minute Books we find that" good rice " was 16s. 6d. per cwt., " good vinegar " 8d. per gallon, "old and clean rectified spirit " 4s. 8d. per gallon, and spirits of wine as 4d. per gallon. Beef and mutton were about ijd. the lb. 73 A HISTORY OF THE which were freely circulated, as a plan calculated to make an " arrogant " distinction between Surgeon and Assistant Surgeon, the latter of whom would be " but a slave and a drudge ! " This election also gave rise to a number of bitter attacks on the Infirmary, some of which are given elsewhere. * Operative surgery was widening its scope, and the poor had a chance now of being cured by its means. The Infirmary Surgeons, thanks to the wise regulations as to consultations, were subject to the advice and keen criticism of their colleagues, and anything like carelessness or want of judgment was not tolerated. But many of the public then (as nowadays) looked upon operations with such horror that occasionally an outcry arose against the imagined fondness for the knife of the Surgical Staff , who were sometimes called " Elbridge's Butchers." Many jokes (now become time-honoured) were also made about their fees. JOHN CASTELMAN. Of the three Surgeons elected in December, 1754, John Castelman received the most votes. He was born near Tetbury in the year 1728, and, like many of the early medical officers of the Bristol Infirmary, he was a man of good family. His ancestors lived at a large manor house about four miles from Cheltenham, famous as the residence for a time of Charles the First. The Castelmans lost heavily at the bursting of the " South Sea Bubble " in 1720, and the surgeon's father, Paul, had in consequence to sell his estate, for which he received £40,000. The young John Castelman used to visit Bristol to see his uncle, the Rev. John Castelman, who was Prebendary of the Cathedral, and on July 25th, 1744, he was indentured to James Ford, for which he paid a fee of two hundred guineas. Like many other well-educated medical men of that time, he spent some two or three years at Paris, studying at the Hotel Dieu, etc. He married in 1758 Miss Letitia Fisher of this city, 2 and resided at first in Prince's Street. He resigned his post as Surgeon to the Institution by a letter to the Treasurer dated July 28th, 1779, and died at 6 Dighton Street, King's Square, on March 31st, 1801, aged seventy-three. He was buried in St. Paul's Churchyard. He is described as " plain in his dress, simple in his manners and quiet in his deportment ; " he was not brilliant in any way, and made no pretentions to literature. There are in existence two reports by eye-witnesses of his abilities as an operator, and 1 See Appendix A. 2 She died May 7th, 1822, aged 84. 74 L .it, 1 L .. 1 s / JOHN CASTELMAN. Fig. 17 JEROME NORMAN. Fig. 18. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY these are somewhat contradictory. But it is probable that he had little nerve, got easily flurried, and lacked the determination and boldness necessary for a really good surgeon. He was, however, painstaking and assiduous in his work, and was generally esteemed. (For portrait see Fig. 17.) Mr. Godfrey Lowe narrated the following anecdote. In the year 1761 the son of a Kingswood collier died at the Infirmary from fracture of the skull. Castelman, the surgeon of the case, wanting the skull as a specimen, cut off the head and took it home with him to his house, which was at that time in Duke Street. The body was then placed in a coffin and delivered to the friends for interment. They, however, suspicious of " resurrectionists," opened the coffin and found the head missing. The story must be told in Dick Smith's own words : — " In the middle of the night there was a violent knocking at the door (of the Infirmary), and the Apothecary, who was known by no other name than ' Neddy Bridges,' thrusting his head and night-cap out of window, half asleep yawned out, ' What d'ye want ? ' ' Want ! ' said a hoarse, rough voice, ' want ! d thee, why I da want my zun's head, and I '11 ha' 'un too, or else I '11 ha' thine ! ' Bridges endeavoured in vain to pacify him and make him come on the morrow, but the fellow became outrageous, and continued to vociferate, ' Gee I my zun's head, or else I '11 zend a stone through thine and pull the 'Firmary about thy ears.' Bridges, finding the matter becoming serious, was obliged to tell him that he must speak to Mr. Castelman, who lived hard by in Duke Street. Away went the man and began to thunder away at that gentleman's door, who speedily throwing up the window, enquired ' Who 's there ? ' ' Who 's there ? Why I be here ! I be Jack's father, and thee 's got his head, and if thee doesn't gee 'un to me I '11 ha' thine ! ' With that he hurls a great stick up and knocks to pieces a pane of glass ! " Castelman, in great alarm, tried in vain to persuade him that the head was at the Infirmary, but as the unfortunate father was violent, and seemed inclined to break all the windows and arouse the neighbours, "Castelman went to his surgery and wrapping the cranium in a towel, unbolted the street door and delivered it into the hands of the collier, who had on the instant thrust himself into the hall. The fellow, that he might not be deceived, deliberately unfolded the cloth, and having exposed the countenance, ' Aye, aye ! that 's Jack ! ' said he." After further angry parleying and threats that he would give Castelman " a dowse in the chops," the man " went off grumbling," as he very well might, leaving Castelman " to 75 A HISTORY OF THE receive the congratulations of his wife, who was trembling at the head of the stairs." JEROME NORMAN. Of Jerome Norman little is known. The portrait here reproduced (Fig. 18) is from a pencil sketch in Richard Smith's Infirmary Memoirs. It bears no inscription, but from the workmanship and style I conclude it was drawn by Mr. Goldwyer, probably from an oil-painting. From old newspaper cuttings we learn that he lived " at the corner house in Trenchard Street," and afterwards on St. Michael's Hill, that his wife survived him, and that he was considered an " ingenious Surgeon." There is evidence that he was a man of ability, in many respects in advance of his time. He published a book in 1756, in which the local origin of certain surgical complaints, etc., is considered. He had a long controversy with another Infirmary Surgeon, Thomas Skone, on the best method of operating in strangulated hernia, some of which appeared in the daily papers ; and he was the first in England to propose the operation of amputation at the hip-joint. The year after his election on the Infirmary Staff a patient came under his care with such advanced disease of the leg that death seemed certain. Jerome Norman " called a consultation," and explained to his colleagues that he had a proposal to make which " had occupied his mind for some time," namely, that in such a hopeless case it would be justifiable, and indeed one's duty, to take off the limb at the hip-joint. The other Surgeons, however, were " horror-struck," and all voted against it. This operation had been proposed some years before in France, but never executed except upon the dead subject. It was performed in England in 1776, and again in 1813, by Dr. Henry Gresley Emery, of Banwell, who was educated at the Bristol Infirmary. JOHN TOWNSEND. John Townsend, the third of the trio elected in 1754, was born in 1730, the son of a " respectable clothier " of Bristol. He was apprenticed to Thornhill, for whose pretty daughter he formed an attachment, and when he had " served his time " he proposed to her, but was rejected. He took this cross in love so much to heart that he determined never to marry, and always spoke of Miss Thornhill with the deepest affection. Perhaps it was this mishap which made him one of the hardest 76 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY of workers at his profession. He saw every kind of patient who applied to him, rich or poor, and did an enormous amount of cheap midwifery, " fagging with unceasing industry from morning to night and almost from night to morning." He resided in Broad Street, " having a side door in Cider House Passage." His surgery is described as " calculated to strike terror into all beholders." It was fitted up with glass cases in which were openly displayed " an iron screw ambe " for the reduction of dislocated shoulders, actual cautery irons, forceps, knives, and all the complicated " apparatus major " used in those days in surgery, so that it was said to resemble the torture room of a Spanish Inquisition. x His devotion to business soon brought him a large practice, and in 1778 he set up his carriage, being apparently the third surgeon in Bristol to do so (his master, Thornhill, and Peter Wells being the other two). In this carriage he " went his rounds," economising time by spreading ointments, as he was driven along, ona" spreading board " which he had fastened on the front seat, with tin cases for ointments, spatulas, and " white and brown tow." In personal appearance he is said to have strongly resembled Samuel Johnson. He was taciturn and abrupt in his manners, parsimonious on some points, but kind-hearted and sometimes generous. " His costume never varied : he wore a large unpowdered brown wig, with a cocked hat, an entire suit of dark snuff-coloured cloth, worsted stockings, square-topped shoes, and small silver knee and shoe buckles. His waistcoat had two large flaps hanging half-way down his thighs, and in his coat he had always four pockets generally filled with a tow bag, salvatory 2 and instrument cases." His death, at the age of seventy, was due to devotion to his work. We have said that he attended a great many cheap midwifery cases amongst the lower orders. A short time before his death two of these cases required his attention at the same time, one in the Market Place, the other at Bedminster. He went to the first mentioned, and asked Mr. William Goldwyer of Bridge Street to go to the other one, which he cheerfully did. The night was a dreadful one, but as Townsend had finished his 1 This surgery is referred to in a satire by Chatterton, who used to visit at Townsend's house to see his apprentice, Richard Smith. Chatterton writes •of Townsend : — " A thing of flatulence and noise Whose surgery 's nothing but a heap of toys." 2 " A Box to hold Salve, Ointments, &c." — Bailey's Dictionary. 77 A HISTORY OF THE first case by twelve o'clock, he set off in torrents of rain to relieve his friend Goldwyer. He arrived at the woman's house at Bedminster wet through, his body " steaming " from his exertions, and his hands swollen with the gout. He was deaf to all his colleague's entreaties to go home to bed, and sat up all the rest of the night in his damp clothes. The next day he showed Goldwyer his swollen hands with the prophetic remark, " I 'm gone, she 's done for me." He died on November 12th, 1800. He lived with an old housekeeper, called " Molly," who was, like many others who knew the real worth of the man, much attached to him. She " burst into tears " when Noble called to ask when he was to be buried. The barber who used to attend to him came as usual after his death and insisted on shaving him in spite of expostulations, declaring that " his old master should not go such a figure to his grave." He was buried in Christ Church, where a marble tablet is erected to his memory. Although his household was a very modest one, he gave good dinners to his friends, and always provided two bottles of wine for each. He himself, being full of work, usually left the party after " the second glass of port." x On November 14th, 1781, he invited his surgical colleagues to dinner, and when the cloth was removed told them that he had that day sent in his resignation to the Committee and had finished his career at the Infirmary. He then, according to Mr. J. P. Noble, " put his hand into his pocket, and taking out a parcel of small rolls of paper, ' here,' said he, ' are my patients — scramble for them ! ' and tossed the papers upon the table. Upon this we all laid hold of those that fell near us, and found the name of a patient upon each." Thus his Infirmary patients were divided amongst the other Surgeons. It is interesting to know how a man verging upon seventy years of age managed to work all day and attend so many cases at night. Luckily we have records from those who knew him which throw light on this point. It must be remembered that Townsend did very little besides his professional work ; he never read, and seldom indulged in any social function. He was robust and with a sound nervous system, able at a short notice to cast away his cares and sleep soundly. When he attended a midwifery case, having ascertained that all was 1 According to Mr. Lunell, of Brunswick Square, who knew Townsend well, he dined " almost invariably upon a leg of mutton," but " when he gave a grand dinner the Lawrences always sent game or venison, and his brother in London sent a handsome dish of fish." 78 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY going well, he took off his wig, put on his night-cap, and reclining on a sofa or a couple of chairs, immediately fell into a sound sleep, from which nothing but a shaking could arouse him. He was too busy to be at all regular with his meals ; but when visiting patients about two o'clock (his usual dinner hour) he frequently invited himself to their meals, and if the meat was not ready " he would request that a slice might be cut off the spit for him." He had the reputation of " looking after his fees " very carefully, and many anecdotes are told of his methods of getting paid. For example, on one occasion a gentleman who had been attended by him put down upon the table a number of guineas and asked him to take his fee from these. " Thank ye," said Townsend, " and swept the whole into his hand ! " A rather parsimonious old lady, at his last visit to her, slipped three guineas into his hand. Townsend thought this too little. He thereupon, as if by accident, dropped the money on the floor, and when he had picked up the three guineas continued to search with the candle, saying that he could " only find three ! " The old lady understood the hint, begged him to leave the search to her maid, and gave him two more guineas ! On the other hand, he could be very generous ; and once when attending a woman whose husband had just been bankrupt he said, " How many times have I attended you ? " She answered, " Seven." " And I charged you three guineas a time ? " x " Yes," answered the woman. " Then," said Townsend, " there are twenty-one guineas for you ; you want them now more than I do ; but mind, I forbid you saying anything about this to anyone but your husband." One day, when a chimney-sweep named Brewer, a well- known character at that time, was at work at his house and the sweep's apprentice had just come down the flue, Brewer remarked, " This is a shocking trade, Mr. Townsend." " Aye," said Townsend, " and yet Master Brewer, I had rather be a chimney-sweep than a surgeon." This story, related by Mr. Samuel Williams, a contemporary, would seem to show that he was not very fond of his profession, and worked so hard at it as a relief from his early disappointment in love, and from habit. Such an odd personality was certain to have many tales told about him, and some got into the papers. One of these (from an old cutting, without date, pasted into Richard Smith's Memoirs) I will quote verbatim : — 1 That is, for her confinements. 79 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY " The late Mr. J. T nd, walking down Broad Street •during an illumination, observed a boy breaking every window which had not a light in it. — Mr. T. asked him how he dared to destroy people's property in that wanton manner ?— ' 0/ said the urchin ' its all for the good of trade— I 'M A GLAZIER ! ' — ' All for the good of trade is it ? ' said Mr. T., raising his cane and breaking the boy's head, ' there then, you young rascal, that is for the good of my trade— I 'M A SURGEON ! ' " 80 CHAPTER VIII DR. WOODWARD — OLIVER GOLDSMITH — DR. LYNE — DR. PLOMER — EDWARD GARLICK — PREVALENT DISEASES — APPRENTICES — CONCERTS Dr. Logan, one of the first batch of Physicians appointed, died on December 14th, 1757 (see p. 19), and nine days after his death, on December 23rd, two Physicians, Drs. Woodward and Lyne, were elected at a General Meeting of Subscribers. According to the custom at the early elections the candidates waited in an adjoining room during the ballot to hear the result, and two or three gentlemen (in this case Mr. Richard Combe and Mr. Harford Lloyd) were " desired to acquaint them with it." They were appointed without, apparently, soliciting a single vote, a very unusual thing in the annals of Infirmary elections. DR. FRANCIS WOODWARD. Dr. Francis Woodward was born in Bristol in 172 1, and was educated at the Free Grammar School in Christmas Street, of which Alexander Catcott (Richard Smith, senior's, father-in- law) was then head master. He entered the school with his brother Richard (who afterwards became Bishop of Cloyne, in Ireland) about the year 1733. He appears to have been an industrious and clever boy, and held a high position amongst his fellow-scholars. On April 7th, 1738, a " visitation " was made to the school by the Mayor of Bristol and other important citizens. On this occasion young Woodward recited an oration written in Latin, and some verses in English composed by him as a " holiday task," called " The Visitation." These were afterwards published by Felix Farley. He took his degree of Bachelor of Medicine at Oxford, and settled in practice, at the lower end of Trinity Street, about the year 1749. He was Physician to the Infirmary from 1757 to 1769. On November 29th, 1769, he resigned on the score of ill-health necessitating his living at Bath. I can find no record of his wife's name, but we know that A HISTORY OF THE she predeceased him, from some verses he wrote J on her death from consumption at the Hotwells. These verses, above the average in style, and full of affection for his departed wife, end as follows : — " But yet, rememb'ring that the parting sigh, Appoints the Just to slumber, not to die, The starting tear I checked — I kiss'd the rod, And not to earth resigned her — but to God ! " Dr. Woodward is described as a " squarely built man, extremely well-bred, polished in his manners and conversation, and of a very pleasing, gentlemanly address." He was devoted to music and played well upon the violin, to which, it is said, he gave more time " than was consistent with his professional avocations." He was a retiring, studious man, fond of reading and the belles-lettres. He knew most of the litterati of the day, and numbered amongst his personal friends Samuel Johnson, Baretti, Goldsmith, Garrick and Lord Charlemont. 2 He was always a great advocate of the authenticity of the so-called " Rowley Poems," refusing to the last to believe they were written by Chatterton. This, amongst other reasons, made a firm friendship between him and George Symes Catcott, whom the doctor calls " Rowley's midwife," from the part he took in bringing these poems before the public. There is a letter of his dated October 5th, 1772, worth reproducing perhaps, which probably refers to the Rowley controversy. It is addressed " To Mr. George Catcott : To be delivered this evening," and runs : — " Dear George, Ld. Charlemont has desir'd me to present his Compts. to you and to let you know that he is extremely obliged to you, for the Pleasure you intend him. He goes into the Cold Bath tomorrow morning, and therefore cannot be with you exactly at ten — but will certainly before eleven, and unless prevented by unforeseen Business, I will attend Him. "Y r affectionate "Sunday Even g - "F. W. Hotwells October $th 1772." Another letter of his, also addressed to Mr. George Catcott, in St. Thomas Street, near the Bridge, Bristol, dated April 5th, 1 According to Richard Smith's statement ; but the lines are usually- attributed to Henry, second Viscount Palmerston. 2 This was the Earl Charlemont who had the temerity to ask Dr. Johnson if it was true that he was taking lessons in dancing of Vestris. See Boswell's Life of Johnson. 82 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY 1771, is of real interest as giving us a glimpse of Oliver Goldsmith as a visitor to Bristol : — " Dear Sir, "The Gentleman who brings you this Letter is Dr. Goldsmith, very justly famous for his Poetical Talents, and is really a man of fine Taste. I have read him some of the Old Poems you communicated to me — and he has a proper relish for these excellent compositions— but is doubtfull of their Antiquity, at least being as far Back as their date, which has induc'd me to introduce him to you, as I know you can convince him on that point. » He deserves too well of the Poetical World to be debarr'd any Pleasure that can be deriv'd from works of that sort, and I am sure you will find much satisfaction in his Society. " I hope to see you soon in Bath, mean time remain, with great truth, "Y r oblig'd & affectionate "humble Ser 1 " F. Woodward." Dr. Woodward was one of the founders of the Dolphin Society, and was present at the inaugural meeting at the Cock Tavern in Corn Street on November 2nd, 1749. He died on Wednesday, October 12th, 1785, aged sixty-four years, and is buried in Bristol Cathedral. He left his old friend, the mild, kind-hearted, credulous George Catcott, an annuity of ten pounds for his life, which, although a small sum, was enough, according to the recipient, to " liberate him from a state of servitude to which he was reduced by an unfortunate connection in trade." 2 He could never speak of Woodward's kindness to him " without the most visible emotion." Dr. Woodward attended Hannah More when she was about sixteen years of age. " On one of his visits, being led into conversation with his patient on subjects of literature, he forgot the purpose of his visit in the fascination of her talk ; till suddenly recollecting himself, when he was half-way down stairs, he cried out : ' Bless me ! I forgot to ask the girl how she was ; ' and returned to the room exclaiming, ' How are you 1 Probably Goldsmith was not convinced. Johnson, whose opinions he generally shared, laughed at Catcott 's zeal, and at once concluded the poems were Chatterton's. 2 George Catcott received another small legacy from Dr. Glynn of Cambridge ; the post of Assistant Librarian to the Bristol Library, at 30 guineas a year, was given him, and on these slender sums he lived comfortably on Temple Back, with his sister Martha, until his decease in 1802. 83 A HISTORY OF THE to-day my poor child ? ' (Roberts's Memoirs of Hannah More, vol. i.) DR. EDWARD LYNE. Dr. Edward Lyne was born in Bristol. His father made a considerable fortune in the tobacco trade, and retired to a house on St. Michael's Hill. Dr. Lyne practised at first at Tetbury or Cirencester, but did not succeed in making an income, and came to Bristol, where he lived in Castle Green. His father allowed him £200 a year, and for some time he added very little to this by professional fees. A piece of good luck befell him, however. He happened to be called to see a citizen of some consequence who was suffering from dropsy. The patient got better under his care, talked freely to his friends of " the wonderful cure," and Dr. Lyne suddenly found that he was famous as a " specialist in dropsy." He accepted the situation with cheerfulness, for he was of an easy-going temperament, and not fond of the hard work of general practice. His plan of treatment remained a profound secret for years, and patients could only obtain his medicine from a special apothecary. At length, however, he became so convinced of the potency of his specific that he published a short treatise upon the subject. It turned out that the basis of his nostrum was the kind of sherry wine known by the name of " Bristol Milk ! " He not only recommended this agreeable medicine to others, but set the example by taking it himself. He was a man of regular habits, and never deviated from his daily routine if he could help it. He dined at two o'clock, and never wished to be troubled with patients after that hour. As soon as his meal was ended, " in the winter he placed himself in his easy chair by the fire-side — and in summer in an alcove in the garden. He now commenced his operation for the evening by lighting his pipe and drawing a cork from his favourite medicine bottle." He invariably finished the bottle himself, and allowed no one else to touch it ; but nothing gave him greater pleasure than to have a friend with him, for whom he provided another bottle of this " elixir vitae." Mr. Alderman Page said of him : " Although he wore a great pompous wig, yet he was a good-tempered, easy, gentlemanly fellow, who never vexed himself about anything." He married a widow lady named Willcocks (or Wilcox), whose maiden name was Cecilia Ball. Her sister, Love Ball, married Nehemiah Champion, son of the fourth Treasurer of the Infirmary. He was elected Physician to the Infirmary on December 84 Fig. 19. DR. LYNE. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY 23rd, 1757, and resigned in 1765 by the following laconic letter :— Fig. 20. " -cfan ^ 5£lj£~~/*J>jL~ ~ ^^^^/&^^s£y^ CqJ^^/J 2s^y^y>^ £~J£&£. W, FACSIMILE OF DR. LYNE'S LETTER OF RESIGNATION. He died, after a tedious illness, at his house in Castle Green on November 22nd, 1772. The picture of Dr. Lyne is from an oil-painting by T. C. Rymsdyke made in 1762, now in the possession of Mr. Arthur McDonald, of Clifton, to whom I am indebted for permission to reproduce it, and for some details as to Dr. Lyne's marriage, etc. (See Fig. 19.) It is necessary to explain that all important elections at the Infirmary were effected by the general body of Subscribers. Details of management, household arrangements, and payment of nurses and officials, etc., came within the province of the Weekly Committees. These Committees did not consist, as now, of a definite number of Trustees, but were " open," that is anyone could attend who was a Subscriber. As a matter of fact there were only a few who came regularly to the meetings, the Physicians and Surgeons and some half dozen others, who gradually assumed considerable power and managed affairs in a somewhat dictatorial manner, as will appear later on. At the recommendation of this Committee the Quarterly Board decided on September 4th, 1759, that in future " the number of Physicians and Surgeons belonging to the House shall not exceed four of each." When the good Dr. Bonython died in 1761 a strenuous canvass at once began for the coveted post of Physician to the Infirmary amongst three strong candidates, Drs. Plomer, Gordon and Mackenzie. 1 So fierce a struggle seemed imminent that many of the Trustees made an attempt to rescind the rule 1 See Appendix A. 85 A HISTORY OF THE as to number and appoint two of these candidates. A newspaper war was waged for some days, but ultimately only one, Dr. Plomer, was elected, on December 8th, 1761. He played an important part in the affairs of the Infirmary for thirty-six years, especially in various disputes, and it is therefore interesting to ascertain what kind of man he was. JAMES PLOMER. James Plomer was bom at St. Michael's Hill, Bristol, on November 18th, 1714. x He was educated at the Free Grammar School, and was then apprenticed to an apothecary named Browne, who lived in Wine Street. At the expiration of his indentures he opened a shop on the Welsh Back, and soon after moved to Redcliff Street. He does not appear to have done very well in business, but he managed to have made enough money by the age of forty to enter at Glasgow University as a student of medicine. On May 15th, 1759, he published his inaugural thesis, entitled " de Iliaca Passione," under which heading he includes all kinds of acute intestinal obstruction. 2 His diploma is interesting as containing the signature of the celebrated Adam Smith. He returned to Bristol and began practice as a physician at his father's house on St. Michael's Hill, on the door of which he fixed a brass plate with the inscription, " Plomer, M.D." He married twice, firstly a Miss Miller and secondly a Miss Millet of Corn Street (in 1764). A child was born to him by each wife, but neither survived. Dr. Plomer, from the time of his election in 1761 to his resignation thirty-six years afterwards, took a keen interest in the Infirmary. We have seen how regularly he attended the Committee meetings and tested the bread and cheese and beer (p. 73). He was one of the four stewards appointed to arrange the Annual Dinner in 1755, by which he was " out of Pockett." He attended the House very regularly until his resignation on April 4th, 1798. He had not much practice during the last few years of his long term of office, which affected him little, as he was by this time a man of property. He was Senior Physician for sixteen years. He died at his house in Park Street on October 8th, 1803, and was buried at St. Michael's. 1 I can find nothing about his parentage except that his maternal grand- father was the Rev. James Taylor, Rector of St. John's, Bristol, and that his father was a " Land Waiter in the Customs." 2 This dissertation is written in the plethoric dog Latin common to nearly- all the theses for degrees at that time ; the style is so similar that one cannot but conclude that they were usually composed not by the candidate, but by an impecunious literary hack for a fee. 86 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY " His costume," says R. Smith, " never varied— he walked at a slow and measured pace, holding in his hand a gold-headed cane— he had a large bushy wig, surmounted by a three- cornered hat, and from his shoulders hung down to his heels a large blue roquelaure cloak." There is no evidence that he was particularly skilled as a physician ; he was a great stickler for professional etiquette ; of a morose, sullen and overbearing disposition, and apt to take offence A female relative of his who acted during his last years as housekeeper to him said that his death released her from an " Egyptian bondage," which she could not have borne had she had any other means of subsistence. He was scrupulously honest, upright and moral ; he appears however, to have ridiculed all forms of public worship, and did not attend church or chapel. According to R. Smith, "if he had any religion at all he was a Deist— but even that is doubtful." When he resigned his post at the Infirmary the then Treasurer, Mr. Edward Ash, wrote to him enclosing a copy of a vote of thanks from the Committee, and adding very eulogistic remarks on Dr. Plomer's benefits to poor patients. On November 20th, 1763, a certain Edward Garlick, a gentleman of means, and interested in philanthropic work (he gave £200 towards the foundation of the Worcester Infirmary), addressed a letter to the Subscribers in which he rather severely criticised the general management of the Bristol Infirmary, especially the amount spent on food and drugs. He compared Bristol with St. George's, the London Hospital, and the Exeter, Gloucester and Salop Infirmaries, covered pages with figures and statistics, and came to the conclusion that there was unnecessary outlay on each patient at Bristol. He concluded by making three practical suggestions : (1) That a "Diett Book" should be kept ; (2) that a House Steward should be appointed " to keep accounts of Provision of all Sorts that come into the House ; to deliver out everything himself and account for the consumption of it in writing to the Friday Committee ; " (3) that a Committee should be appointed to inquire " into the present means of prescribing drugs." Mr. Garlick was a Subscriber to the Infirmary and a regular attendant at Boards and Committees, and his complaints and recommendations were discussed at a Board Meeting specially called for the purpose on November 20th, 1764. The report of this meeting in the Minute Book is short and uncompromising. Three questions were put, embodying Mr. Garlick's suggestions. (1) Should there be a Steward appointed ? 87 A HISTORY OF THE " Carried by universal consent that there should be no Steward.' ' (2) Should a " diett-book " be kept ? Negatived. (3) Should a drug committee be appointed ? Also negatived. That is the official account ; but we learn from the papers that something like a personal conflict took place at this meeting between Garlick and the Junior Physician, Dr. Plomer, who "gave him rough and scurrilous language." As a matter of fact, a great part of Garlick's attack was directed against Plomer, who had, when he was an apothecary, sold a kind of universal cure-all compounded by a fellow-practitioner ; and for many years after his appointment on the Infirmary Staff he was in the habit of ordering large quantities of this nostrum for the patients. This glaring evil went on for fourteen years in spite of many protests. At length Richard Smith, sen., and Godfrey Lowe made a determined stand against the practice and stopped it. Garlick, naturally annoyed at the reception of his really well-meant efforts, wrote and printed two pamphlets, containing in all seventy-five pages, in which he reiterated his assertions. This occasioned a great deal of correspondence ; and an answer was printed and circulated, full of acrimony and accusations of a wish on Garlick's part to engender strife. He at length wrote a long letter to the Infirmary Trustees complain- ing of " rude and unkind " treatment. Without entering into this old " squabble " too minutely, one may at least assert that the calculations of Mr. Garlick were more correct than those of the Infirmary authorities, who had a hand in the composition of the answer above referred to. They estimate the cost of each patient per annum thus : — For the year 1762 there were 1,024 In-patients admitted. At the end of the year there remained in the House . . 133 patients. The servants of the Institu- tion were 26 in number. Total . . . . 1,183 If 1,183 persons cost £1,214 12s. o|d., what will be the cost of each ? Answer, £1 os. 6|d. Whereas Edward Garlick calculates, more correctly, thus :— Average number of patients in House . . 136 Household 26 Total 162 If 162 persons cost £1,214 12s. o|d., what is the cost of each ? Answer, £y 9s. n^d. 88 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY That is, he bases his calculation upon the number of beds and not upon the total number of patients who occupied them in rotation. This controversy is incidentally of interest to us, because it gives an insight to the chief diseases of Infirmary patients a hundred and fifty years ago. In the " Animadvertory Letter," as it was called, in answer to Garlick's assertions, we have the following list :— " Admitted In-patients from the 31st of December, 1761, to the 31st of December, 1762, Fevers of all kinds Inflammations Mortifications Malignant sore throats Pleurisies and peri- pneumonics Bilious cholics Pictonic cholic Asthma Rheumatism . . Dropsical disorders 162 12 9 42 2 20 7 54 46 The surgical complaints taken from the register book : Palsies 16 Haemorrhages . . . . 13 Jaundice . . . . 2 Gravel 5 Stone 8 Ischuria 2 Diarrhoea and Dysentery . . . . 13 Scurvy 6 Leprosy 10 etc." include tumours, abscesses, contusions, fractures, wounds, diseases of bone, and a large number of ulcers. The reader will notice the prevalence of fevers, dropsy, pleurisies, pneumonia, rheumatism and painter's colic, and the occurrence of scurvy and leprosy. At this date, although the preventive action of lemon juice had been known for some years, scurvy was still so common in the navy and on merchant vessels, that more than 1,000 cases were admitted to Haslar Hospital in 1780 ; in 1806 only one case was admitted. The word " leprosy " is probably used to indicate certain common skin diseases. True leprosy had practically dis- appeared from England before the accession of Henry VIII. The last indigenous leper in Britain was seen in the Shetland Isles in 1798. 1 The Garlick controversy gradually died away, but the Committee and Board had other disputes to deal with. For instance, in 1766 there was open war between the Surgeons' and Apothecary's apprentices. The latter were allowed, rather as a favour, to attend operations, and the former claimed that as an equivalent for this they, the surgical pupils, should be allowed 1 See Clifford Allbutt's System of Medicine, also Watson's Medicine. 89 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY to go to the Dispensary and study the Physicians' prescriptions. The matter was brought before the Committee, who advised the Staff " to settle the affair amicably and make an order respecting it." This does not appear to have been done, for the dispute frequently arose afterwards, leading sometimes to scuffles in the passages and personal violence. One of these young men, Dear by name, used in 1768 " to come to the House in a gold-laced hat and wore a sword." The Surgeons, however, objected to the latter, and it was discontinued. The income of the Infirmary has been supplemented from time to time by the proceeds of concerts, theatrical performances, etc. For instance, in August, 1756, The Conscious Lovers, with the dancing of Miss Baker, and a farce called Florizel and Perdita were given at the old Jacob's Wells Theatre for the benefit of the Infirmary ; and in the receipts for that year we find this referred to : "Of Isaak Elton Esq : being the neat Produce of a Benefit Play £50 2s. iod." In 1765 The Clandestine Marriage was acted " at the New Theatre in King Street" for the "benefit of the Infirmary," and on December 6th, 1774, there is an entry in the Minute Book of the Quarterly Board Meetings " that thanks be given, to the promoters of a Concert and Oratorio, for £100 3s. id., from the Musical Performance at the Cathedral on the 31st of March last." Many of the early Treasurers, including some belonging to the Society of Friends, were staunch supporters of the Theatre, such as Mr. Joseph Flarford. We shall refer later to this subject. go CHAPTER IX THE APOTHECARIES— SAMUEL STONE— JOSEPH SHAPLAND— ANECDOTE OF HIS SECOND MARRIAGE— EDWARD BRIDGES- THOMAS ELMES— JOHN ELLIS— HOSPITAL FEVER— JOHN ROWAND AND HIS FIGHTING COCKS — WILLIAM BABINGTON — DUEL BETWEEN DR. RIGGE AND RICHARD SMITH— JOHN B. BORLASE— LUDLOW AND TILL ADAMS— BAYNTON— THE CHAMPIONS— HAWKESWORTH— RICHARD CHAMPION (THE THIRD) The Resident Apothecary, who was at first chiefly concerned in dispensing drugs, gradually became a House Surgeon, with much of the medical and surgical work of the Institution upon his shoulders. From the earliest days of the Charity he had a great deal to do with the apprentices, a thorough training in pharmacy being then considered the keystone of medical practice. His duties, in fact, were always important, and he was usually looked upon with great respect by the Committee and Staff. He came closely into touch with both, constantly attended committee meetings, reported the state of the patients to the Visitors as well as to the Faculty, and, generally speaking, knew more about the Infirmary than anyone else, with the exception, perhaps, of the Matron. His salary was raised on December ist, 1767, from £30 to £40 per annum, and on March 17th, 1778, to £60. No one was eligible for the post who had not served " five years regular and careful apprenticeship, at least, to an Apothecary, and his being two years longer in the said Business," so that his training extended over seven years. SAMUEL STONE. Nicholas Simpson, the second Resident Apothecary, resigned in 1744, and on June 5th of that year Samuel Stone was "chosen by a great majority." I can find very little about this gentle- man, except that he gave offence by retiring before the expiration of five years. He appears to have given an assurance that he would serve for this period, and at his resignation on March 3rd, 1746, it was resolved that in future " no Person shall be chosen an Apoth y to this House without giving a Bond of 91 A HISTORY OF THE Fifty Pounds Penalty to the Treasurer for the time being that he will Serve the Society for Five Years." JOSEPH SHAPLAND. On March nth, 1746, Joseph Shapland was " chosen without opposition." We have referred (p. 50) to Shapland's apprenticeship. He was born in 1727, was apprenticed at the early age of twelve, and was appointed to the responsible duties of Resident Apothecary when he was only nineteen. He gave notice of his resignation on March 3rd, 1752, but continued in office until the following midsummer. When he left the Infirmary he married a Miss Jones, and set up in practice in Queen Square. He was a handsome, gentlemanly man, of pleasant manners, and well grounded in his profession. He soon became so busy that he took a partner, Mr. William Broderip, and these two, together with Mr. William Dyer of Bridge Street " almost divided the city between them." He left Queen Square and lived for some years in a house in Prince's Street, opposite the Merchants' Hall. His first wife died in November, 1782, and Shapland, who was now fifty-five years of age, in comfortable circumstances, and with plenty of society, did not apparently contemplate changing his condition. Amongst his patients, however, he had a certain Mrs. Diaper, the widow of a well-known Dissenting Minister of Bristol. 1 " One day, during a visit, she said to him, ' I wish, sir, to consult you upon a matter unconnected with your profession — may I do so ? ' ' Certainly," said Mr. Shapland. — ' Then, sir,' said Mrs. Diaper, ' suppose a woman of mature years and judgment were to think that she knew a gentleman with whom she thought that she could pass the remainder of her life happily, and that their ages, fortunes and prospects for the future threw no obstacle in the way of their union, would there be any indelicacy in the Lady giving him a hint upon the matter ? ' ' Certainly not,' said Mr. Shapland. ' Then,' said she, ' if that is your opinion, when you go home look at the 2nd Book of Samuel — the 12th Chapter and the 7th Verse.' He did so, and found it ran thus : ' And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man ! ' " He took the hint, and they were soon after married. Shapland joined the Freemasons on November 16th, 1753, 1 He died in 1763. 92 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY and became Warden at the Fountain Lodge in conjunction with Nicholas Simpson. About 1782 he procured a diploma from Aberdeen, became Dr. Shapland, and purchased a good house in Park Street (No. 4). Soon after this he began to withdraw from practice. He died on April 2nd, 1801, aged seventy-four, leaving his house and an annuity of £1,000 to his widow, who survived him some years. EDWARD BRIDGES. Edward Bridges was elected in Shapland's place on April 7th, 1752. A " Mr. Davis " was also a candidate for the post. Bridges served his apprenticeship to a Mr. Hardwicke of Sodbury, and then became a Surgeons' pupil at the Infirmary. He afterwards studied at the London hospitals and practised for four years at Portbury, where, apparently, he had only a few patients. He was much esteemed by those who knew him, and served the Institution faithfully for twenty-two years. He unfortunately contracted " Hospital Fever " (Typhus) from a patient, and died at the Infirmary on Sunday morning, November 27th, 1774. The Committee, in advertising the vacancy, speak of the " loss the Charity has sustained," and impress on the Trustees the importance of care in the choice of his successor. " No man," says Richard Smith, " was ever more beloved and esteemed by every individual connected with the House than this gentleman. I have heard my father, Mr. Lowe and Mr. Noble frequently mention him in the highest terms of commendation, and even Dr. Rigge, in his letter of resignation, says that ' whilst Mr. Bridges was alive it was a pleasure to go to the House, but now 'tis so no longer.' " His popularity arose, so far as one can judge, from his strict devotion to duty and his kindness to the poor. A news- paper obituary notice says of him : " He has left this world amidst the plaudits of the many who experienced his compassion and beneficence." He was a Freemason, a member of the Fountain Lodge. The election of so important a man as the Apothecary to the Infirmary was an interesting event in those days, especially when there were several good candidates. Poor Bridges had only been dead two days, when a letter appeared in the papers from Samuel Barry in favour of his son's application for the vacant post ; and this was quickly followed by applications from Thomas Shellard, who was formerly a pupil at the House, Thomas Elmes, who had also 93 A HISTORY OF THE been apprenticed at the Infirmary, John Blunt, a practitioner of some standing at Gloucester, and William Balme Farnell, of St. Michael's Hill. These candidates and their friends vigorously canvassed the Subscribers, and the competition was so keen that some acrimonious and bitter things were said and published. Dr. Farr, who was appointed Physician in 1767, rather warmly espoused the cause of John Blunt ; but the enemies of this gentleman accused him of being imperfectly qualified as an apothecary, not having served a long enough apprenticeship. This attack on Blunt gave rise to such a newspaper war that the Physicians and Surgeons thought it best to postpone the Fig. 21. *sfyrz* *L~»S*<* ' °7* J¥ J^^«-^-r Y-SCyj^-r, ^.^^A Ay. Z 9^/L^J yC /C* <£^774- littrethlnteitnecrffjry to inform the SuMcr!- I "Mr. BRrTCES, the Apotbrqiry, died on 5 i and jmprelTrJ »;th a Scofe of the Loft the , and thogrr.it Care that thtCho ncdi By Or* e Lie rty of requeuing thl 1 nfagc thc.r Vote on the Oeta -THOMAS B A WN," Secretary. SIGNATURES OF STAFF, 1774. 94 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY election for a couple of months. They sent a letter to this effect to the Quarterly Board which met on December 6th, and their request was agreed to. I have reproduced Ithis letter as an interesting record of the signatures of members of^the Staff in 1774. (See Fig. 21.) For two or three months an immense amount of wrangling went on, in the Infirmary and amongst the Trustees, the chief points of dispute being the question of qualifications and the rival merits of education at Bristol or elsewhere. But although the affair was no doubt of great interest at the time, it has now lost its point and need not detain us. | ■ |i • The election took place at the Guildhall on Monday, March 6th, 1775, at ten o'clock, when three candidates came to the poll, Messrs. Blunt, Elmes and Farnell. The result of the ballot was a large majority of votes for Elmes. THOMAS ELMES. Thomas Elmes, who appears to have been an able and deserving man, had a short and rather troubled term of office. The dispute at his election, which had extended itself to members of the Staff (notably Drs. Farr and Plomer), did not die out for many months, and other apothecaries in Bristol looked with jealousy on the Infirmary Resident. On May 3rd, 1777, an attack was made by an anonymous writer in Felix Farley's Journal, reflecting on the condition of the drug department at the Infirmary and on Elmes 's manage- ment. He begged for a full investigation, and six of the leading apothecaries of the city (Messrs. William Dyer, H. F. Yeatman, John Morse, Thomas Blagden, Thomas Berjew and Robert Priest), together with a number of the House Visitors, inspected the Shop and its arrangements, and reported the accusations to be quite groundless. Thomas Elmes died on October 18th, 1777, from " Hospital Fever " contracted from a patient in the House. JOHN ELLIS. His successor was John Ellis, who was unanimously elected on November 12th of this year. He had good testimonials, and was chosen, according to the papers, "by universal approbation." But the fever which was so prevalent at that time in jails, hospitals and other crowded places claimed him as a victim, as it had his two predecessors, Bridges and Elmes, and he died on January 7th, 1778, only fifty-six days after he entered on his duties. 95 A HISTORY OF THE The stringent rules as to the qualifications of the Resident Apothecary gave rise, as stated, to great discussion, and on the death of Ellis many of the Bristol practitioners protested strongly against what they considered such exclusive regula- tions, the leader of the malcontents being Robert Priest, then living on St. Augustine's Back. A certain J.N. Smith was the first to apply for the vacancy by an application in the papers on January 14th, 1778 ; where- upon the Committee, in advertising the post, laid special stress on the fact that candidates " must have served five years' apprenticeship and have been two more in business." The notice concludes thus : " N.B. — No exception to a middle-aged man, the nearer thirty or forty the better. The Income, besides Meat, Drink, Washing and Lodging is Eighty Pounds per Annum or Upwards." There were many candidates for the post, in spite of the fact that three successive Resident Apothecaries had died of typhus. Amongst the applicants was a young man named John Rowand, who had been acting as a stop-gap since Ellis's death. This gentleman was, however, " detected in having received £5 from the Duchess of Beaufort as her subscription. This money he lost at a Cock Fight by betting, and being called upon for it, was a defaulter and was discharged the House." 1 Dr. Rigge, who was never happy except when in active opposition to other people, warmly espoused the cause of J. N. Smith, who was ineligible as he had not received the necessary seven years' training ; and is described in one of the Bristol papers (which in those days were full of libellous personalities) as " an illiterate boy ! " The election had to be postponed, as any decision, except by club-law, seemed impossible. WILLIAM BABINGTON. In the meanwhile a powerful candidate had appeared in the person of William Babington, who came from London with excellent testimonials from the medical staff of St. Thomas's and Guy's. He soon obtained promises of support from all the Physicians of the Infirmary, Dr. Rigge, the champion of J. N. Smith, having resigned in disgust, partly because his protege was not accepted and partly because of internal feuds between the Physicians and Surgeons, which we shall refer to later. 1 Rowand kept fighting cocks, probably in the Dispensary. He joined the Monmouth Militia, went abroad, and died at sea near the African coast in 17S4. 96 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Babington was certain of election, but on May ist, 1778, he withdrew his application, as " his friends had advised him to settle as a Surgeon in a situation they had fortunately procured him." He afterwards became very celebrated in London, as Dr. Babington. He was made Physician to Guy's Hospital in 1795, and was appointed Lecturer on Chemistry there. 1 Three candidates finally came to the poll at the Guildhall on Monday, June 22nd, 1778 : Messrs. John Bingham Borlase, Benjamin Mason and Samuel Higgs. Borlase was elected. The battle which raged in the newspapers round this election was carried on chiefly by two correspondents, who wrote under the respective names of " Detector " and " Subscriber." Letters full of recrimination and sarcasm appeared day after day. " Detector," who sent more than forty communications to the papers, some of four columns in length, assailed his antagonist with taunts about " roaring catches," obviously meaning that " Subscriber " was very fond of spending his •evenings in singing at the " Catch Club." (See p. 234.) Everyone soon knew that " Detector " was the quarrelsome Dr. Rigge and " Subscriber " was Richard Smith, sen., who was elected Surgeon in 1774. Argument being of no avail, " Mr. Smith challenged the Doctor, who immediately accepted, and appointed the next morning, behind Brandon Hill, for the meeting. The parties in consequence met and were about to fire when the seconds determined to make one more effort to prevent an appeal which might be attended with such serious consequences to two Gentlemen who had each a wife and family. Dr. Rigge was by nature inflexible and courageous, but being undoubtedly the aggressor in this business, he consented at last to make an apology." * Such an apology, made there and then, meant anything but a reconciliation. This description of the two members of the Infirmary Staff, the fierce, bumptious and rather illiterate doctor, and the handsome, well-mannered surgeon, with their coats off, ready to shoot each other in the early morning " behind Brandon Hill," gives an interesting glimpse of old times. We must now return to Mr. Borlase and the difficulties that arose after his election. 1 He was born in 1756 and died in 1833. " History does not supply us," says Dr. Munk, " with a Physician more loved or more respected than was Dr. Babington." His son Benjamin was elected Physician to Guy's in 1840. His portrait may be seen in a group of the Medical Society hanging at the Bristol Medical Library. 2 The quotation is from Richard Smith, junior's, MS. Readers of Smollett will remember that Dr. Rigge is mentioned in Humphry Clinker. 97 A HISTORY OF THE JOHN BINGHAM BORLASE. John Bingham Borlase was the son of the Rev. William Borlase, LL.D., F.R.S., Rector of Ludgvan in Cornwall, and noted as an antiquary. The son inherited his father's ability, and appears to have been an able apothecary and a man of good address ; but he was not fitted for the post he had chosen. He was very fond of shooting, and was too frequently out at his favourite sport. He actually kept pointers in the " Elaboratory," as the Dispensary was then called, and was in the habit of inviting the apprentices into his room to play cards. This led to quarrelling, and on one occasion at least he had a stand-up fight with the senior apprentice. These practices made him unpopular with the Physicians, with whom he had as little to do as possible. Not long after his appointment he contracted typhus, and instead of asking one of the Staff to attend him, he called in Dr. Abraham Ludlow, a very successful practitioner, who had been Surgeon to the Infirmary from 1767 to 1774. (See his biography, p. 117.) Dr. Ludlow had incurred the displeasure of his colleagues at the Infirmary by obtaining a diploma at St. Andrew's University, and thereafter practising both as a surgeon and physician, as well as an apothecary (see Chapter xix., on "Medical Practice in Bristol"), and when Borlase called him in the Physicians were much offended. Dr. Ludlow prescribed for his patient, and sent the prescription to be "made up" at the Shop, or Dispensary. This had been foreseen by the Physicians, who " forbad at their peril all the Apprentices and Assistants from dispensing it." Mr. Till Adams, a well-known Quaker apothecary, who had called to see Borlase, took this prescription himself to the Dispensary, where Dr. Plomer happened to be. The irascible Plomer (who apparently had been waiting about for this) tossed the prescription out of the room, " and Mr. Till Adams," we are told, " nearly shared the same fate." Borlase' s friends in vain interfered ; the Physicians would allow nothing to go from the Shop to the sick man's room. Mr. Noble declared that " it was a sight worthy a Hogarth when either of the Physicians happened to pass Dr. Ludlow in the House. They made to each other the most profound and ceremonious bows, whilst their faces mutually wore the most contemptuous smile." 98 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Dr. Ludlow was well able to hold his own in such encounters. He had cultivated a stately and pompous walk, with a stiff, " stand-off " manner, and his enormous wig, which was of the kind called the " Royal George," 1 was in itself most imposing. Under these circumstances Till Adams undertook to make up all the prescriptions Dr. Ludlow ordered, and when Borlase had recovered, sent in a bill for £n ios. to the Infirmary Committee. The Physicians (who do not appear in the most amiable light in this affair) objected to this being paid, and the matter was referred to a General Board, held on December ist, 1778. A large number of Subscribers came to this meeting, including many apothecaries brought by our friend Mr. Priest, in the hope, apparently, of raising objections to the regulations for electing apothecaries to the Infirmary. After a turbulent discussion it was decided that the bill should be paid. Directly Till Adams had received the money he wrote a letter to the Board, dated " Bristol, 6th Month, ist, 1779," and beginning, " Esteemed Friends," in which he presented this £11 ios. to the Infirmary as a benefaction, and it appears as such in the State for that year. Before this bill was paid Borlase had resigned his post. It was the custom, as before stated, for the Matron to see that the doors were locked every night. Borlase had gone out one evening to visit a friend, was too late, and found he was locked out. He then, says Richard Smith, " attempted to get in at one of the windows, and for that purpose had climbed over the outer rails and had reached the leads of the Piazza, when he was observed by the Watchman, who mistaking him for a common depredator, challenged him, and receiving no answer, sprung his rattle. The ' family ' was alarmed, and the Apothecary was discovered in a corner where he had flown for concealment." It was ascertained that the " friend " he had visited was anything but respectable, and the circumstance gave the Physicians the opportunity they wanted for his dismissal. On March 2nd, 1779, it was decided at a Board Meeting that the Physicians and Surgeons should report on " the Abilities of the Apothecary." This, of course, was a " gentle hint," which Borlase was wise enough to act upon. His letter of resignation shows a great deal of astuteness : — 1 These wigs had 108 or no distinct rows of curls. The Royal George, then the pride of the Navy, had 108 guns, hence the name. 99 A HISTORY OF THE " Bristol Infirmary. " Gentlemen, " Having been persecuted by two Physicians of this House merely because I thought proper, during my late illness, to employ a Physician out of the House and apprehensive the defeat of their late infamous scheme will hurry them on to other acts equally injurious to my place and their own reputation, I beg leave now to resign the place of Apothecary to the Charity. " I am, with the greatest respect to the Society, gratefully and sincerely their most obliged humble servant, "J. B. Borlase. " Infirmary, March 24th, 1779." On Thursday, May 6th, 1779, Benjamin Mason was elected Apothecary at the Guildhall. Samuel Higgs was an unsuccessful candidate. Borlase afterwards practised in Cornwall. THOMAS BAYNTON. During these disputes about the Apothecary, it is noticeable that many of the official notices of meetings are signed by the senior apprentice, Thomas Baynton. He was indentured on September 5th, 1775, and although he was only fourteen years of age, he soon gained the confidence of the Staff and Committee, and was allowed to take upon himself very responsible duties. I have given some details about him in Chapter xix. (See p. 255.) We must now retrace our steps and consider briefly the changes in the office of Treasurer during the years 1739 to 1778. John Andrews, the second Treasurer, resigned on December 7th, 1739. (See p. 47.) RICHARD CHAMPION. Richard Champion, who succeeded him, was elected on December 18th, 1739, at the Rummer Tavern, where such meetings were frequently held. (See Chapter xviii., on " Social Life in Bristol.") He was the son of Nehemiah Champion, of Stapleton, and was born in the Old Market in 1680. He married twice, firstly Miss S. Finny in 1702, and secondly Miss Esther Palmer in 171 1. By his first wife he 100 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY had two sons, Nehemiah and Richard, both of whom subse- quently became Treasurers to the Institution. He was amongst the first who took a keen interest in the foundation of the Infirmary. He paid the expenses of all the drugs and necessary appliances for Out-patients during the six months which preceded the formal opening of the Charity (see p. 23), and his name is frequently mentioned in the early meetings of the Board. The first Committee Minute Book was destroyed, together with many other valuable records (see Introduction), but here and there in the papers and notes collected by Richard Smith are quotations which he has copied from fragments of this lost book. Amongst these is an entry made soon after Richard Champion's death, as follows : " Ordered that there be inserted in the large Book an enumeration of the Services and Benefactions of the late Treasurer Richard Champion . . . for this and for his early care, to which means only we think this Great Affair could have been carried on." He held office at the Infirmary until his death, after a lingering illness, at his house in the Old Market, on February 23rd, 1747-8. He is referred to in the Bristol Oracle for February 27th, 1747-8, as " that venerable patron of Religion and Social Virtue." He is reported to have been worth £50,000 at the time of his death. NEHEMIAH CHAMPION. Nehemiah Champion, son of the above, was born in 1703, and was elected Treasurer at the Merchant Tailors' Hall on March 8th, 1747-8. In accordance with the rule he entered into a " penal bond " with the Society for £5,000 a week after his election (March 15th), " and at the same time the Security given by Mr. Rich d - Champion Deceased the late Treasurer was delivered up to Mr. Nehe : Champion one of his Executors." * He married twice, firstly Hannah Love Ball, and secondly A. Whitehead. He died at his house in the Old Market on December 12th, 1753, aged fifty. 2 He was the first Treasurer to have a complete list of the Annual Subscribers published in the yearly reports. RICHARD CHAMPION. Richard Champion (the second), brother of the above Nehemiah, was born in 1704, and was elected Treasurer on 1 Board Minute Book, March 15th, 1747-8. 2 Felix Farley's Journal, December 15th, 1753. IOI A HISTORY OF THE Thursday, December 20th, 1753, a week after his brother's death, " at the Merchant Taylors' Hall at three o'clock in the afternoon," and continued in office until his death at his house in the Old Market, on January 9th, 1766. He was a good man, not only rich, but generous, and was generally known by the name of " Gospel Champion." He was one of the proprietors of the brass works established at Baptist Mills, and was connected with the bank in Corn Street. In Felix Farley's Journal for Saturday, January nth, 1766, occurs the following obituary notice of Richard Champion : " He has been many years treasurer of the Bristol Infirmary, an office well adapted to him, for his heart was ever disposed for Universal Charity, and his hands always ready to relieve the necessitous, nor was he less eminent for the practice of every other virtue that constitutes the Good Man and the real Christian." ABRAHAM RICHARD HAWKESWORTH. Abraham Richard Hawkesworth was elected Treasurer at a General Board Meeting held at the Infirmary on Tuesday, February nth, 1766. It is stated that twenty-six Subscribers were present, and that he was " unanimously chosen." He belonged to a well-to-do Quaker family, and was connected with the Champions. 1 He married Miss Lydia Waring, of Alton, in Hampshire (who survived him some eighteen years), and lived in an old house in Castle Green, afterwards used as Sarah Farley's printing office. 2 He died October 29th, 1768. He was well educated, rich and benevolent, and seems to have been generally mourned by all classes, especially by the poor and needy, at his death. Richard Champion, writing to Mr. James Dallaway, of Bisley, on October 27th, 1768, two days before Hawkesworth's death, refers to him as " the friend of mankind," and says, " He has been confined for these few days past with a slight feverish complaint, which grew better till last night. . . . But in an hour after the Physicians left him there was so great a Change as leaves little hope of his surviving." 3 He was known in his later years as a strict member of the sect to which he belonged ; but in his youth he appears to have been a lively young fellow, a boon companion and a frequenter of the " Nagg's Head Club." (See p. 238.) 1 His father, Richard Hawkesworth, married a Miss Rogers, a sister of Richard Champion (the third's) grandmother. 2 And after that as a school kept by the Rev. Joseph Porter. 3 I am indebted for this extract and for other information to the kindness of Mr. F. L. Rawlins. 102 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY An astonishing number of eulogistic poems were published at his death, some of which were collected in a small pamphlet. Amongst them is one dated October 29th, 1768, which is interesting as an example of the shameless plagiarism which existed in those days. The first two lines, for instance — " Let others hail the rising sun, I bow to him whose race is run," are taken verbatim from an ode written by David Garrick on the death of Pelham in 1754. It may interest my readers to give Richard Smith's account of a Quaker funeral in the year 1768. At Richard Hawkesworth's decease " it was his order that his funeral might be as private as possible ; but the great respect of his friends and the curiosity of the public attracted an immense multitude. As the procession, which was in itself plain and simple in the extreme, moved from Castle Green to the Quakers' burial-ground in Redcliff Pit the streets were filled and [the procession] got on with difficulty. At length it arrived at the grave, and the corpse being placed on a bier near it, his wife advanced, and laying her hand upon the coffin, seemed wrapt in profound meditation, as one waiting for inspiration. The crowd was hushed into profound quietness and expectation. . . . Mrs. Hawkesworth broke silence by these words ' we must be trembling sinners before we can be glorified saints.' She then continued to preach for a very considerable time in a very animated and eloquent strain to the persons assembled, who were as much delighted as astonished at the manner in which she acquitted herself. This was the first and last time that she ever spoke at any meeting of the Friends, or upon any other occasion." Although Hawkesworth's term of office at the Infirmary only lasted for two and a half years, it covered an eventful period. Five members were elected on the Honorary Staff, Drs. Farr, England and Rigge and Messrs. Ludlow and Skone ; the number of Annual Subscribers was increased from 459 to 498 ; four disreputable houses adjoining the Infirmary in Bull Lane were bought and demolished ; the salary of the Apothecary was increased ; a " house to house " canvass was instituted to obtain more Subscribers ; and the important question of having a special ward " for the delivery of poor married women " was discussed, but ultimately negatived. RICHARD CHAMPION (THE THIRD). Richard Champion was elected Treasurer in Hawkesworth's place on December 6th, 1768. This Richard Champion was the son of Joseph Champion, who was son of the first Richard Champion by his second wife. 103 A HISTORY OF THE He was therefore a nephew of Nehemiah and Richard Champion, who had been his predecessors in the office of Treasurer. The relationship is made clear by the following pedigree :— » x X < w X w x w S o < X v o II z, - < o. 31 K w H s — , ffl "5 > O fOhJ £11 « Mj «j W (V fc < ll~ & H r-. < a w (/) W 1 £ K CT> tZ) ffi o ">| eight legacies of small sums brought in £720 ; and a sum of £5,000 was given to the Institution by the executors of Mrs. Mary Ann Peloquin, a rich and benevolent lady, who left £19,000 to the Corporation for charitable purposes. Other important legacies came in during the next three years, so that in 1782 the capital amounted to nearly £23,000. The flourishing condition of the finances and the urgent need of erecting new and more sanitary buildings determined the Committee and Staff to call a General Meeting of Sub- scribers to consider the questions whether a new Infirmary should be built, and if so, where. 114 CHAPTER XI ALTERATIONS ON THE STAFF — DR. FARR — DR. ENGLAND THOMAS SKONE — ABRAHAM LUDLOW — DR. RIGGE — STORY OF THE NEGRO — PRIVATEERING — DR. WRIGHT — DR. PAULL — RICHARD SMITH, SEN. — DR. MONCRIEFFE — GODFREY LOWE — JOHN PAD- MORE NOBLE — STORY OF THE PARROT — DR. COLLYNS — JAMES NORMAN — DR. BROUGHTON — JOSEPH HARFORD — THE MATRONS — MRS. WILLIAMS — MRS. PREECE — MRS. SIMMONS Before considering the new building, the erection of which was to be discussed in the autumn of 1782 (see end of last chapter), it is necessary to say something about important changes in the Staff and amongst other officers of the Infirmary. In the year 1767 three Physicians and two Surgeons were appointed : Drs. Farr, England and Rigge, and Messrs. Ludlow and Skone. DR. SAMUEL FARR. Dr. Samuel Farr was elected, on Dr. Lyne's resignation, on January 13th, 1767. He was the seventh son of Alderman Farr, a well-known Bristol merchant, and was born in 1741. He was educated at the Free Grammar School, and studied medicine at Edinburgh and Leyden. He travelled a great deal, visiting most of the European Universities, and returned to England in 1764. He was a voluminous writer on medical and philosophical subjects, and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1779, the first, but by no means the last, of the Infirmary Staff to receive this honour. 1 He resigned his post at the Infirmary by a letter to the Trustees dated April 13th, 1780, and retired to Curry Rivel in Somersetshire. Afterwards he removed to Taunton, where he had many friends, and died on March 19th, 1795, aged fifty-four. He was a good type of the learned and cultured physician, a good classical scholar, and a great reader. He was, perhaps, too studious and retiring to fill any public office with comfort to himself, and he did not take much part in Infirmary affairs, beyond doing his duty to his patients. 1 Amongst his works may be mentioned : Observations on the Character and Conduct of a Physician; Elements of Medical Jurisprudence ; An Essay upon the Medical Virtues of Acids, etc. 115 A HISTORY OF THE For some years he was medical attendant on the Dowager Countess of Chatham, and was a personal friend of her celebrated son, William Pitt. His brother, Mr. Paul Farr, who was Master of the Merchant Venturers in 1775-6, has left behind testimony as to the worth of Samuel Farr's character which is borne out by others who knew him. At the meeting on January 13th, 1767, when Dr. Farr was elected, a resolution was passed fixing the number of Physicians and Surgeons at five of each. This necessitated the election of another Physician, and the meeting there and then " unanimously chose " Dr. John England. DR. JOHN ENGLAND. I can find very few references to this gentleman ; he lived in a large house in Prince's Street, and was apparently well-to-do. His application is written in a particularly modest and un- assuming manner, and shows a desire on his part not to enter into the differences between some of the Infirmary officials that were then disturbing the Society. (See Appendix A.) He had scarcely entered upon his work at the Infirmary when he contracted the then prevalent typhus fever, and died in March, 1767. The rule that had been so emphatically insisted upon on January 13th (see above, also Appendix A) necessitated the addition of another Surgeon to the Staff. The election was fixed for January 20th, and on that date Abraham Ludlow and Thomas Skone each polled 147 votes, and were both elected, making the number of Surgeons six. THOMAS SKONE. Thomas Skone was born in Haverfordwest, but was educated under Mr. Seyer at the Bristol Grammar School. His father was a tyrannical man, and flogged his son Tom in a merciless manner, so that the boy looked forward to his return to school with as much delight as most children welcome their holidays. His unhappy youth, and an unfortunate love affair with a Miss Polly Bowen, better known as " the handsome Quaker," made him absent-minded and melancholy, and increased a tendency he had to gambling, which soon developed into an absorbing passion and ruined his career as a surgeon. After his election he practised in Charlotte Street, Queen Square (see Fig. 80) ; but his losses at cards impoverished him, and his desperate attempts to retrieve his fortunes by playing for high stakes soon brought the creditors about his 116 PUBLISHERS' NOTE. The manuscript of this book was practically CDmpleted by the author prior to the outbreak of the war, which has caused the delay in its publication. The Introduction is dated July, 1914, and it will be found that none of the facts set out in the body of the book or in either Appendix are of a later date. The author sought only to give the history of the Infirmary from its foundation to the building of the magnificent new Surgical Wing, which was opened by Their Majesties King George and Queen Mary on June 28th, 1912. The growth of this great Medical Charity since that time, and an account of the splendid use to which the new wing has been put during the war as a branch of the Second Southern General Hospital, is left for some future historian to place on record. It is a cause for deep regret that Dr. Munro Smith (who died 13th January, 1917), did not live to see the completion of his labours in the publication of the work, but a large part of it was in type and the proofs corrected by him before he passed away. Reference should here be made to the great loss the Infirmary has sustained by the death of its late President and Treasurer, Sir George White, Bt., who died 22nd November, 1916. The modern developments of the Infirmary have been largely due to his initiative and beneficence. October, 1917. Fig. 22. DR. LUDLOW. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY house, and he had to escape to London. On the 4th of June, 1770, he wrote to John Page, then senior Surgeon, resigning his post, " which," he says, " to have held was the Happiness and ambition of my life." He migrated to Jamaica, and wrote to Richard Smith in 1775 a cheerful letter — full of fond memories of his old friends L and his Infirmary life — expressing the hope that in two years' time he would be able to pay his creditors and return to his native land. 2 But in this letter he quotes two lines of Horace : " Quid sit futurum eras fuge quserere," 3 and " Caliginosa nocte premit deus," 4 as if apprehensive of some hidden fate in store for him. A short time afterwards he remitted a hundred pounds to his creditors, with the words, " Bless God that he has given me the means of fulfilling a duty nearest to my heart." He began to make arrangements for his homeward journey, but was thrown from his horse, and died in a few days' time from injuries to his head. Skone was a well-read man, a good classical scholar, and was much beloved by nearly all who knew him. He is described as a " man of a plain person, but of an insinuating and gentlemanly address, of an exceedingly ready wit combined with great talents for conversation." ABRAHAM LUDLOW. Abraham Ludlow, elected at the same time as Skone, on January 20th, 1767, was the son of Abraham Ludlow, surgeon, who competed with John Page for the surgeoncy in 1741. He was born on August nth, 1737, at his father's house in Castle Ditch. He received a good education at the Taunton Grammar School, and was afterwards apprenticed to his father. He was a good classical scholar, and kept up his taste for these studies all his life. (For portrait see Fig. 22.) He had a fondness for medicine and for writing prescriptions, imbibed probably from his father, and after his election on the Surgical Staff of the Infirmary he aroused the anger of Dr. Rigge by daring to write prescriptions without adding " Chr." to his signature, to denote that they were " written by a surgeon only." The antagonism between the two men was increased by the following incident. A man was accused of the murder of his 1 He quotes the words " Veteres revocamus amores." 2 He sent a copy of some verses to George Symes Catcott, dated " Tobago, West Indies, Aug : ioth, 1770." These lines appeared in Felix Farley's- Journal many years after, on December 2nd, 1797. 3 Book i., Ode ix., line 13. 4 Book hi., Ode xxix., line 30. 117 A HISTORY OF THE wife by poison, and Dr. Rigge gave very positive evidence to this. Ludlow was present at the post-mortem examination, and expressed to some of those present his belief that the woman had died from natural causes. The counsel for the defence heard of this, and he was called upon to give evidence, which he did in so impressive and forcible a manner that the man was acquitted. Rigge considered this a personal insult, and never forgave Ludlow or the jury. This bitterness on Rigge's part was further increased by Ludlow taking a degree at St. Andrew's in November, 1771, the former having after this no longer the argument — which he constantly used before — that a man who was a Doctor of Medicine was altogether on a superior footing to the man who was not. After he became " Dr. Ludlow " his practice increased greatly ; he gradually dropped surgery, and on December 6th, 1774, he wrote to the Trustees resigning his post at the Infirmary on the grounds that " his engagements in Physick " had deter- mined him to " decline the practical part of surgery." This letter is dated from Brunswick Square. We have spoken elsewhere (see Chapter ix.) of his attendance on Borlase the Apothecary, and the disturbance this occasioned, of his large income, his resemblance to Samuel Johnson, and his enormous wig. 1 " He was distinguished from the common mass," says Richard Smith, "by an imposing exterior. He moved with a measured step and affected a meditating abstraction of countenance, with a pomposity of diction and manners which could not but keep the vulgar at a respectable distance." Ludlow was a man of immense activity and power of work ; he had not only the incessant calls of a practice which brought him in (chiefly in small fees) £2,500 a year, but was also Physician to the Bristol Dispensary, one of the founders of the Bristol Library Society in 1772, and together with Dr. Rodbard and Mr. John Ford inoculated patients and kept a small-pox hospital at a house on Barton Hill. During the busy time of his practice in Bristol he was noted for his custon of putting down straw in front of houses where he was attending serious cases of illness — the number of streets with straw in them being an index of the extent of his business. It is hardly necessary to add that this habit was attributed by his enemies to a wish to advertise himself. He married twice, his first wife being a Miss Figgins, of Devizes, his second was a well-to-do widow, the relict of a Mr. Gibbs, clothier, of Wiltshire. 1 The story of Ludlow and " Long Jack " is narrated on page 206. 118 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY After many years of strenuous work he retired from the profession and spent much of his time at his estate at Heywood, in Wiltshire, where he endeared himself to his tenants by many acts of kindness. He frequently visited Bristol and saw his old comrades at the Infirmary, for whom he entertained no un- friendly feelings. Some months before his death he noticed a swelling in his neck, which soon showed signs of malignancy. In those days— even more than now — there was no hope for such a condition, and this Ludlow knew only too well. He bore his sufferings with great fortitude, and died on July 15th, 1807, at the house of his married daughter, Mrs. Walker, at Redland. * THOMAS RIGGE. A Quarterly Board Meeting was held on March 3rd, 1767, only a few days after Dr. England's death, and Thomas Rigge was unanimously elected Physician, there being, apparently, no other candidate. We have already referred to Dr. Rigge more than once as one of the most turbulent spirits ever connected with the Infirmary — a man who lived and moved in an atmosphere of rage and indignation. Little is known about his early history. He had a brother who, according to Richard Smith, kept a " large boiling house in Lewin's Mead and drove for some years a thriving trade," and an uncle who lived at Leigh, from whom he had great expectations, - and who helped to defray the expenses of his nephew's education. He was sent to school in Yorkshire, where he perhaps attended one of the cheap " colleges " like that presided over by Mr. Squeers. He never learnt to spell properly and his grammar was frequently incorrect, an un- fortunate thing for one who was always writing to the papers. He was intended for a sugar-baker, but disliked the work, and with difficulty persuaded his rich uncle to allow him. money enough to get a medical education. With a slenderly-stocked purse he " therefore burthened himself with as little clothes as possible, and slinging his bundle, at the end of a stick over his shoulder, set out on foot for the University of Padua," where he afterwards said " he learnt Physic, Arts and Sciences." On his 1 He was one of the donors of a picture by E. Bird presented to St. Paul's Church, Portland Square, on September 29th, 1793. The picture is still on the walls of the church. 2 It is recorded of this uncle, who was an " oddity," that he never engaged a coachman without asking the man these three questions : (1) " Can'st thee plant potatoes ? " (2) " Bee'st thee sure thee can'st harness the horses ? " (3) " When thee hast done thy work, can'st thee sit down quiet in the kitchen -without meddling with the maids ? " Iig A HISTORY OF THE return from the Continent he settled at Preston, and then came to Bristol, where he was elected Physician to St. Peter's Hospital. His fighting propensities soon began to show themselves. A negro died at St. Peter's Hospital, and Richard Smith and Rigge wished to make a dissection of the body and obtain a specimen for the Infirmary Museum. The matron, who had the key of the dead-house, refused to give it to them. The two enthusiasts for science broke open the door, and obtained what they wanted, greatly to the indignation of Alderman Dampier, who was then in office as " Governor of the Incorporation of the Poor." The Guardians passed a resolution that in future no corpse should be examined without permission from the Governors of the Hospital. Dr. Rigge, after his usual fashion, at once " rushed into print," abusing the officials of St. Peter's in his characteristically violent style. An anonymous writer, however, answered him, without attacking him by name, but by allusion to " running his Riggs," etc., leaving no doubt as to whom he meant. The furious Rigge addressed a newspaper reply " to Henry Dampier Esq," calling his opponent " a cowardly assassin." The alderman answered him, disavowing any knowledge of the anonymous writer, but telling the doctor plainly that he was " an ill-natured, ill-conditioned man." It leaked out, however, that the unknown opponent was one Mr. Rowland Williams, and Rigge immediately challenged him to a duel. Williams was not, however, fond of fighting, and excused himself " on account of his wife and family." Rigge turned from him in disgust, and poured out columns of abuse in the papers, produced letters from the Surgeons of Guy's in favour of post-mortem examinations, and at length succeeded in inducing all the Medical Staff of the Hospital to resign. There was a strong feeling at this time amongst medical men as to the importance of obtaining anatomical and patho- logical knowledge — in the only efficient way possible — by examination of the body after death, and in consequence it was impossible to fill up the vacant posts. Dr. Rigge's virulent style of newspaper attack may be gathered from the following extracts from one of his letters : " Whereas the majority of the Overseers of the Bristol Poor- house, under the influence and direction of the Turkish Bashaw (sic), the Russian Bear, and their trusty Squire the guzzling Dragoon, have treated their Physicians and Surgeons like French prisoners and Hirelings . . . this is therefore to BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY caution you to examine strictly into the merits of the affair lest you should accept of such proposals ... so mean, despicable and infamous," etc., etc. He further calls St. Peter's Hospital " a dirty, stinking, pestiferous house ! " For some reason one cannot fathom he signs this letter " Terrae filius." The public naturally complained loudly of the ill-feeling of Dr. Rigge, who thus kept anyone from accepting office as Physician or Surgeon to the Charity for nearly a twelvemonth. At length the papers refused to publish any more correspondence on the subject ; a new sensation in the shape of the " Letters of Junius " x attracted public attention, and the vacancies were filled. We have seen (in Chapter ix.) how he quarrelled with the Surgeons, with Ludlow, and the Committee. On one occasion he sent a written order to John Page (who had then been Surgeon to the Institution for nearly thirty years) to bleed a patient. Page refused to come, but sent his apprentice, which so incensed Rigge that he charged the senior Surgeon with neglect of duty, and threatened to report him to the Committee I In the scanty records of the Committee Meetings still remaining it appears that Dr. Plomer (who always strongly upheld the dignity of the Physician) was frequently in the Chair, often the only person present, and had Rigge carried out his threat Page would no doubt have been reprimanded. Bristolians were very much engaged in Privateering towards the close of the eighteenth century, and Dr. Rigge entered very keenly into this business. In the year 1781 he invested a large sum of money in a ship called the Enterprise. This vessel was insured for a month from June 23rd, and was captured off the coast of Ireland on July the 23rd. 2 Dr. Rigge in vain tried to obtain the insurance money ; he brought the case into court, but failed. This dispute, which lasted for four years, so engrossed the doctor's attention, that he had little time for any quarrels with his colleagues at the Infirmary. He practised at Paradise Row, Hotwells, but he had a house of call " next door to Mr. Norton's the Booksellers, opposite to St. Werburgh's Church," which at the time we speak of was generally " crowded with Captains of Ships and Brokers." 1 Richard Smith attributes these celebrated letters to Jack Wilkes. Junius's statement, however, " I am the depository of my own secret, and it shall perish with me, " has so far proved true. 2 England was at this time at war with the American Colonies, Spain, and France. 121 A HISTORY OF THE At length, in March, 1785, the affair of the Enterprise came before a special jury at the Guildhall. The doctor's counsel maintained that an insurance policy for one month, dating from June 23rd, did not terminate until July 23rd, but the Judge, Lord Kenyon, almost at once gave judgment that it expired on the 22nd. Rigge, however, with a pertinacity one cannot but admire, was so determined to gain his point, which he considered he had lost by want of skill on the part of his advocates, that he actually gave up his profession, which was then bringing him in between two and three thousand a year, and entered as a student in Lincoln's Inn. He went through the necessary routine of work, and was in due course called to the Bar. He only practised as a barrister in his own case of the Enterprise, but he never succeeded in getting a jury to agree with him. He retired to Kensington, but frequently visited Bristol, where he had interests in the African slave trade. He married a Miss Wilcox in May, 1777. * He became in his last years a martyr to gout, and died in May, 1794. He had made a considerable fortune by his practice, and as he also received £30,000 from his uncle at Leigh, he died a wealthy man. He left two daughters, one of whom married Mr. George Worrall, the other Major James Rooke. We have said a great deal about his irritability and prone- ness to quarrel. He evidently suffered, like Swift, from a " saeva indignatio," and thought the world was against him. But there is evidence that he could be kind to his friends and to the poor, and his popularity as a clever practitioner was apparently well merited. 2 The " strict rule " that there should be neither more nor less than five Physicians and five Surgeons, passed on January 13th, 1767, was not only broken by the election of a sixth Surgeon (p. 116), but when in November, 1769, Dr. Woodward resigned, the vacancy was not filled. It was not until Dr. Drummond sent in his resignation in October, 1771, and there were then only three Physicians, that steps were taken, and on November 4th of that year 1 From Felix Farley's Journal for May 29th, 1777 : " Tuesday last was married at Clifton Dr. Rigge of the Hotwells to Miss Wilcox, only daughter of John Wilcox Esq., of Thornton, in Yorkshire." 2 Rigge fell under the lash of Thistlethwaite in his poem called " The Consultation " : — " Next, deckt in all the dignity of wig, Came the almighty, self-important Rigge, Rigge whom dame Nature gravely bade dispense Wonder to fools and mirth to common sense," etc. 122 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Dr. John Wright was elected, and on September 5th, 1772, Dr. John Paull. (See Appendix A.) JOHN WRIGHT. John Wright was born in the year 1732, probably at Congleton, in Cheshire. » He and his brother Thomas were trained for the Presbyterian ministry, and came to Bristol together. Thomas, who died in 1777, was for forty-eight years Minister at Lewin's Mead Chapel. John preached for some time in Eucher Street (leading from Bristol Bridge to Temple Street), in a small meeting-house long ago destroyed ; but when about thirty-nine years of age he suffered from some throat affection, which left his voice so weak that he was obliged to give up any kind of public speaking. He turned his attention to medicine, and became a pupil at the Infirmary. He probably went to London after this and then to Leyden, where he is stated to have taken his degree. He was one of the founders of the Anchor Society in 1700. and was elected President at " The Three Tuns " in Corn Street in 1774, in which year the collection amounted to £120 10s. He married a sister of Alderman Ames in 1774, and resided in Lower Montague Street, leading into St. James's Barton, a few doors from his brother. His wife, described as " a lady of true piety," died in September, 1785. In 1775 the Bristol Dispensary was founded, and Drs. Wright and Ludlow were amongst the earliest to offer their gratuitous services to this charity, the first, I believe, of its kind in the provinces. Wright was, in fact, a man of wide philanthropy, and took a keen interest in the poor, amongst others in the wretched creatures who were confined for small debts ; he was also an enthusiastic " anti-slavery man " at a time when, in Bristol especially, it was thought very eccentric to meddle with the He was strongly infected with the principles of the French Revolutionists, even condoning the massacres of September, 1792, asserting constantly, " Why, it is impossible but all this darkness must end in something glorious." On the question of the American Colonies or the French Republicans he was never tired of talking, and according to Mr. Small (above quoted) whatever hurry he was in, if anyone started one of these topics " he would immediately put down his hat, draw a chair, and 1 Mr W P Small, who was living in Brunswick Square in the year 1820- gave this and other items of information about Dr. Wright to R. Smitn. 123 A HISTORY OF THE neither business, meals, nor anything else were thought of — he would talk as long as ever you would sit to hear him." He was a man of strict morals, punctual and business-like, somewhat phlegmatic and cold to those who did not know him, but very generous. It is recorded of him that when visiting people who he thought were not well enough off to procure the comforts so welcome in sickness " he more frequently left a guinea behind him than took a fee." He had a large practice and did his rounds on horse-back. Thanks to Richard Smith, we are enabled to catch a glimpse of him on his daily visits. A gentleman who knew him well said, " I was passing Stokes Croft one very wet day when Dr. Wright turned the corner. He had on a large, white, dishevelled wig, over which hung a huge, napped Quaker's hat ; with one hand he held up an umbrella, x and with the other the bridle of a little pony upon which he rode ; from his shoulders his red roquelaure was spread over the hind quarters of the animal, reaching almost to his heels, and forming altogether a caricature so irresistibly droll that everybody turned round in the middle of the rain to look at him." Wright himself appears to have had no perception of humour, and it is narrated of him that once when in court Burke convulsed the whole audience with laughter, he never moved a muscle. He died on December 23rd, 1794, and was interred in the Unitarian Burial-ground in Brunswick Square. He viewed his approaching end with great composure, and shortly before his death said to an attendant : "I am very glad that I am upon the ground floor instead of an upper story, as it will give the men who carry my coffin so much less trouble." He was succeeded at the Infirmary by Dr. Robert Lovell. DR. JOHN PAULL. Dr. John Paull was elected Physician on September 5th, 1772, and resigned on July 10th, 1775. He was born at Salisbury, to which place he retired when he left Bristol, and in 1791 was elected Physician to the Infirmary there. He married in February, 1775, Miss Snow, daughter of Robert Snow, banker, of London. According to Mr. Beaven's Bristol Lists he died on June 15th, 1815. He was immoderately fond of the violin, and was sometimes called" the Phy- and Mw-sician." 2 This led him into a 1 An umbrella was a great novelty in the streets of Bristol in those days. 2 The joke here is, of course, from the two Greek letters

-~r* '/&*#/* yp&/L,^ yxs* y. '. -s> LETTER OE EDMUND BURKE. Fig 23 JOSEPH HARFORD. Fig. 24 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY facts of his life, and no doubt the two men had considerable influence on each other. Joseph Harford was a " Whig of the old School." He was bred a Quaker, but became a member of the Church of England in 1780. He was a man of literary tastes, a great admirer of Shakspere's works, and an advocate of the theatre as a means of education. He was, in fact, one of the most active in establishing the theatre in King Street. He was a man of an extraordinary memory ; an excellent linguist, especially in the Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and French languages ; he was also a good Latin scholar. He travelled a good deal in England, but only once went abroad, when he visited Paris, and, with letters of introduction from Burke, made the acquaintance of Franklin. His son, Charles Joseph Harford, wrote an account of him for Richard Smith (dated " Stapleton, May 25th, 1820 "), in which he states that at the Gordon Riots of 1780 Joseph Harford, " by acting with calmness and resolution (being then one of the Sheriffs of Bristol), saved the Chapel of the Roman Catholics then in St. James's Back, and probably the houses of several of those of that persuasion from the fury of the mob." Perhaps, however, his most remarkable characteristic was his mathematical faculty and power of working out long and difficult calculations in his head. His son says of this : " His powers of calculation were so strong that when indisposed it was his amusement to work the most difficult problems in arithmetic by head, particularly those proposed to Buxton x by the Royal Society, which he could perform in a much shorter time than that celebrated calculator." (For portrait see Fig. 24.) THE MATRONS. It will be convenient at the close of this chapter of biographies to say a word or two about the Matrons. On the death of Mrs. Hughes (see p. 22) there were four applicants for the vacancy : Mrs. Ann Williams, Mrs. Patience Woodford, Mrs. Elizabeth Roach, and Mrs. Elizabeth James. So important was the post considered, that a preliminary meeting of Subscribers was called together at the Coopers' Hall in King Street, on June 17th, 1771, at which building the actual election took place on June 25th. 1 Jedediah Buxton, a farm labourer from Derbyshire (1707-7 2 ) was a " calculating orodigy " who exhibited in London in 1754 and engaged the attention of the mathematicians of his time. One of his mental feats was the doubling of a farthing 139 times. He is said to have worked this gigantic sum in his head ; the product contains no less that 39 figures. When in London he went to see Garrick in Richard the III., but apparently took no notice of the play, being engaged all the time in " counting the words used by the actors ! " — See Diet, of National Biography. 135 A HISTORY OF THE MRS. ANN WILLIAMS. Mrs. Ann Williams was chosen " by a majority." * She died in the service of the Infirmary in 1778, and on November 19th of that year Mrs. Elizabeth Preece was elected at the Guildhall. There were five other candidates, two of whom, Mrs. Moffat and Mrs. Cooke, were considered ineligible, as they had " dependant families." The other three were Mrs. Elizabeth Ellat, Mrs. Ruston, and Mrs. Mary Jenkins. MRS. PREECE. Mrs. Preece was the daughter of a respectable grocer in St. Thomas Street. The Matron in those days was not chosen for any special proficiency in nursing, but for her general capabilities as a discreet and managing woman. Mrs. Preece died at the Infirmary on March 12th, 1790, and from an old newspaper cutting we gather, that by her " great attention to the duties of her office the domestic concerns of that extensive Charity were conducted with exemplary propriety and good order." She left all her belongings to the Infirmary. The sale of her goods was held in the Committee Room in the old west wing, and the students had privately sprinkled the floor with powdered hellebore and various other drugs, " so that when the company began to assemble they were — auctioneer and all — set sneezing in such a manner that they were obliged to leave the room ! " We have quite a Boswellian description of the Matron of those days from Richard Smith, jun., who was then an observant youth in his teens. He writes : — " Mrs. Preece was a friendly and motherly woman, but considered it necessary to keep up a state and dignity in order to over-awe the Nurses and Household. " She never appeared but in the full costume of a Lady of those days — her hair was always toupee'd and full dressed. She wore a large pair of mock pearl ear-rings, and a necklace of what was then called ' Mackerel's Eyes ' — a pair of white gloves and ruffles decorated her arms, and a large-patterned, stiff brocade gown was stuck out by a hoop. " When she visited the wards she was always followed by her servant, and the moment she began to move, ' Madam is coming ! Madame is coming ! ' was echoed through the House, and all was speedily in order to receive her. She would not reply to the term Mistress. ' Mistress,' she would repeat, ' don't 1 Her competitors were Mrs. Patience Woodford, Mrs. Elizabeth Roach r and Mrs. Elizabeth James. 136 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Mistress me ! Every wench is Mistress now ! Please to remember that I am Madam Preece ! ' " MRS. JANE SIMMONS. The election of Mrs. Preece's successor took place on April 8th, 1790, at the Guildhall. There were four candidates, Mrs. Simmons, Mrs. Herring, Mrs. Wilcox, and Mrs. Turner. According to Rule XV. of the 1779 code, " that all Persons concerned as Servants in the House be free from the Burthen of Children," it was argued that the Matron should also have no family ties of this kind, and a long discussion ensued, terminated at length by a show of hands in favour of enforcing the rule. Mrs. Jane Simmons was elected. She continued in office until the spring of 1812, and appears to have been an excellent manager. When she resigned, after twenty-two years' service, Mr. Edward Ash proposed, at a special Board, "That the thanks of this Meeting, with a pecuniary Compliment of 25 Guineas be presented to Mrs. Jane Simmons on her quitting the Office of Matron to the Institution as a Testimony of the good Opinion entertained by the Subscribers of her past services." This was carried unanimously. It may give some idea of the importance attached to the post to mention that when her successor, Miss Mary Davy, was elected at the Guildhall on February 27th, 1812, no less than 378 Trustees voted. 137 CHAPTER XII THE NEW BUILDING — RED LODGE ESTATE — THE EAST WING — HOWARD — WILLIAM TURNER AND HANNAH MORE — OPERATION ROOM — THOMAS BAWN — JOHN JORDON PALMER — EDWARD ASH — THREATS OF INVASION — THE " MEMORABLE YEAR " I797 — THE WATER RAM — " OVER-TIMES " — MUSICAL FESTIVAL — RICHARD REYNOLDS — JOHN BIRTILL AND THE ROTATION SCHEME — INNYS FUND— SOURCES OF INCOME We are now — having described some of the men and women who took an active part in Infirmary affairs during the last decade of the eighteenth century — in a position to continue our narrative from the end of Chapter x. We have seen that there was an urgent need for new buildings, and on Thursday, November 14th, 1782, a General Board of Subscribers met at the Guildhall to consider the matter. This must be acknowledged to be one of the most important meetings in the history of the Infirmary. The Rev. Dr. Camplin was in the Chair, and many influential citizens were present. The report in the Minute Book is brief and to the point. Two motions were submitted : (1) " Whether a New House was necessary or not, which was carried in the Affirmative ; " (2) " Whether the House should be built on the present spot, or elsewhere, and carried for the present situation." A Committee was formed " to put the same into execution." We know, however, from the newspapers and from Richard Smith's notes that the discussion was long and tumultuous, that there was much intriguing before the meeting and a great deal of correspondence afterwards, and that the decisions arrived at were not approved of by those who were, perhaps, best able to judge. The contention was, of course, about the locality. Documents produced at the meeting showed " that the present Building and ground, together with the contiguous premises lately purchased is valued at £1,694." On the other hand, it was reported that " Mr. Jacob the Attorney of Mr. Godwin, the owner of the Red Lodge will dispose of the same for £4,000, subject to a Chief Rent of a few shillings per annum." 13S BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY The argument of economy, which strongly appealed to the Trustees, was therefore on the side of those who favoured the old site. The Red Lodge Estate is described in contemporary advertisements as " situate on Stony Hill, part whereof being in the Parish of St. Michael and the other Part in the Parish of St. Augustine the Less." " Stony Hill " ran up from Tren chard Lane to Park Row to the west of the present Lodge Street, and the grounds belonging to the Red Lodge sloped downwards towards Trenchard Lane and the River Frome. Where now there is a mass of houses was then gardens and lawns, and the view of the ancient city and the open country beyond must in those days have been very beautiful. To the north of Park Row was the estate of Mr. Tyndall, called "The Park," which then reached to the road, and was therefore only a little way from the Red Lodge. Mr. Tyndall naturally objected to the proximity of an Infirmary, and strongly opposed the scheme. John Townsend, who had resigned the Surgeoncy a few months before, was a relative of the Tyndalls, and was the only medical man connected * with the Institution who opposed the new site ; all the members of the Staff were in favour of it. One of the objections was the supposed absence of water at the Red Lodge (which proved to be incorrect), but the objectors carried their point by a small majority of five or six, and the plan was negatived. The Faculty made an attempt to alter this decision by a letter in the daily papers addressed to the Subscribers, in which they state that " they had called together all the medical men who subscribed to the Infirmary," and " that it was the opinion of all present except one that the Red Lodge was the most airy situation and most conducive to the health of the patients ; " that there was a good spring of water on the spot, besides other springs near, and that rain water was best for brewing, etc., etc. 2 In spite of all protests, it was decided to build a New Infirmary on the old ground, and a large " Building Committee " was formed, consisting of the Physicians and Surgeons, the Rev. John Camplin, James Ireland, William Battersby, John Daubeny, Robert Priest, John Vaughan, and others. 1 He was a Trustee, but had resigned his post of Surgeon to the Institution before this. 2 It was the opinion of many of the old doctors, nevertheless, that the sloping ground from Kingsdown to the Horsefair and St. James's was well drained, dry, and particularly healthy. I have heard my father, who was educated at the Medical School in the Old Park, assert this. *39 A HISTORY OF THE As a preliminary it was agreed to purchase some of the neighbouring hovels, and (in the strong language of Richard Smith) "to exterminate the human vermin which infested them ! " The ownership of some of these houses could not be made out, and the wretched tenants were got rid of by offering them small sums of money. l It was at first suggested that the new building should be on the plan of the Ratcliffe Infirmary at Oxford (which was begun in 1759 and opened in 1770), but this was rejected in favour of a scheme of Mr. Thomas Paty, a well-known architect then living in College Place, Bristol. The main idea was to have a central portion and two " wings " at right angles to this, so that the whole would be shaped like the letter H, the upper or northern arms projecting only a short distance from the cross-bar, the lower (or southern) arms being much longer. Although, as formerly explained, the wings are referred to as " east " and " west," and the front and back as facing "north" and "south," yet the actual position was as indicated in this diagram : — X w- An important item in the new plan was that the main entrance, which was in the old building on the south, opening into a narrow road called East Street, was in the new building to be made facing Marlborough Street, on the north. It was not until 1791 that the picture at the head of the Annual State showed this alteration. (See Figs. 25 and 26.) One of the initial difficulties was the slope of the ground. A letter was addressed to the Building Committee on November 13th, 1783, signed " Subscriber," pointing out that " the ground floor will be fifteen feet below Marlborough Street," and that part of this floor in the wings would be "on a level with the earth of the street." This difficulty was got over by using the ground floor in front for kitchens and other offices, no ward being built below the level of the front entrance. Contracts were sent in, and the cost of the east wing was estimated at £1,796. It came ultimately to a great deal more than this. 1 Part of this ground is marked 65 on the plan on p. 14. 140 1751. The STATE of the BRISTOL INFIRMARY. M» .. SI iiit 1 s i j l JOSE P II U A R I' R n, .'. T ;, : : .. [ER, M. D. 1 1 W IGHT, M.O. 1 tA M MoNCRIEFF, M. D. „ Bi ■ n it K, M.D. J M ifb'eyJ • ['ABM ■ n - J. ' ■ ■ ' .-, ■ , Chaplain. •' 1 • Noi vr, SOUTHERN FRONT OF INFIRMARY, 1781. Fig. 25 1791. TheSTATEofthcBRISTOLINFlRMARY i I ftlllllB Ell E 1-B | i *' f '■ E 8 ill B i * 1 H| 1 1 ictr J O S.E PH H ARF O ,GHT, M.D. Edward I V riiOMAS JOHl Mr. Thomas Webb D\ Secretary. NEW NORTHERN FRONT OF INFIRMARY, 1791. Fig. 26. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY The old building had to be pulled down bit by bit. The east wing was the first to be built, and consequently the old east wing, which was the most surrounded with dirty houses, was the first to be demolished, and clearing the space took a long time. At length, on June 2nd, 1784, the first stone was laid " in the presence of William Blake, Esq., Dr. James Plomer, Rev. Thomas Johnes, Richard Smith, Godfrey Lowe, J. P. Noble, and John Scandrett Harford." x On January. 23rd, 1786, the building was so far advanced that an official inspection was made by the Committee, and on May 17th of this year orders were given for its occupation, and estimates were " to be in readiness " for the central part of the Infirmary. One day, when this east wing was completed, a young apprentice, Francis Cheyne Bowles, then a promising youth of fifteen years of age (they began their medical studies early in those days), was leaving the House, when " a gentleman accosted him and desired to know if a stranger might see the Infirmary ? Mr. B. replied in the affirmative and returned with him. The stranger examined everything very minutely and made notes of all, and having finished, he said ' Young gentleman, I feel obliged to you for your kind attention to me, and perhaps the time will come when you will not think it ill bestowed. Be pleased to give to your managers this card, and say to them, with my respects, that all is as it should be, but the windows, which ought to have been flush up to the ceiling. For this defect there is now no remedy but tunnels in the corners of the wards ; but let me advise them to remedy this fault in the centre and other wing — my name is Howard.' " 2 Young Bowles carried this message to the Building Committee, and although the plans were in readiness and agreed to, yet so great was the influence of the name of Howard, physician and philanthropist, that the arrangements for windows in the centre and west wing were altered. Howard made other suggestions which were readily adopted. He was one of the many people of judgment who condemned the action taken by the Infirmary authorities in building on the old site. In his Lazarettos (1789, p. 190) is the following note : " The Bristol Infirmary, now building in the close and confined situation of the old one will be a monument of the unskilfulness of the Subscribers or of their inattention to what constitutes a 1 Afterwards Treasurer of the Infirmary. It will be noticed in many of the old lists of names copied from the newspapers, Minute Books, etc., that the epithets " Mr.," " Esq.," etc., are quite indiscriminately applied. 8 John Howard, 1726-90. 141 A HISTORY OF THE healthy hospital, when a fine situation was proposed at no great distance and was strongly recommended by the gentlemen of the faculty." The readiness of the Building Committee to discuss any reasonable suggestion speaks well for their earnestness. Their zeal may be gathered from such a resolution as this (from the Minute Book) : " Resolved that in the several contracts for the new Building particular care be taken that everything which can be possibly thought of be included therein." There can be no doubt that this Committee carried out the work they had undertaken with remarkable care and foresight, and made the building the best of its kind then existing in the provinces. Neither the Weekly Committees nor the Trustees generally were troubled with details ; the Building Committee were given full powers and managed everything. Owing to the large amount of capital in the hands of the Society in 1782 (due, as we have seen, chiefly to munificent donations and bequests), the public thought the Charity well off, and slackened their efforts to support it. Church collections and Annual Subscriptions lessened, partly no doubt owing to the enormous expenses incurred by the American War, which had for some years previous to its termination in 1782 raised the prices of provisions all over the country. The cost of patients had not materially decreased .during the building operations, for there was such a demand for admission that cases had to be crowded into the undemolished parts of the house whilst the east wing was being erected ; they were also boarded out in neighbouring temenents. On April 16th, 1788, " contracts were delivered " for the central block. These amounted to £6,508. The bulk of the work was in the hands of Daniel Hague, 1 mason and architect, who " gave a penal bond of £1,000 for the due performance of his contract." " It is only justice to say," writes Richard Smith, " that he did his duty thoroughly, and that in the opinion of the Trade there never was put out of hand a more workman- like job — in fact the massive arches and walls remain — and I trust will remain for centuries — a monument of his integrity." The first stone of the central building was laid on June 24th, 1788, in the presence of Messrs. Joseph Harford (Treasurer), William Turner, William Battersby, Godfrey Lowe, Joseph Metford, Thomas Paty, Richard Smith, Dr. Edward Long Fox (who had two years previously been elected Physician), and others. 1 Hague lived (according to Matthew's Directory for 1793-4) in Wilder Street. £119 was given to Messrs. Paty and Joel Gardiner for drawings and plans. 142 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Immediately after the ceremony Mr. William Turner, who had taken a keen interest in the work, 1 " placed in the hands of the Treasurer a benefaction of £1,000." This welcome gift was duly acknowledged with gratitude in the State for the year. As Miss Hester Turner, sister of the above, bequeathed £2,000 to the Infirmary in 1790, it may interest the reader to learn something of this family, and at the same time get an authentic glimpse of bygone times and of Hannah More. William Turner, the son of a Norway deal merchant who lived in Trinity Street, was in his youth a great " buck " or beau, and used to send to Paris for his waistcoats, in which article of apparel he displayed great taste. 2 He is said to have usually worn a plain silk waistcoat under his outer one. " Old Hagley the tailor, who lived at the corner house in Orchard Street opposite the Ball Court corner of the Grammar School, borrowed money of the father and son and took it out in clothes." William Turner was a fine, well-built man, an excellent swordsman and boxer, and a constant visitor to the Fencing Rooms kept by Chebas " over the Market Gate in High Street, where he was always willing to handle the foil against all comers." John Noble told the following story about him : — There was a time when the walkers in the London streets were divided into two classes, those who gave and those who took the wall. Turner, from his prowess with his fists, and as became a " blood," belonged to the latter. He one day came upon a man who refused to give way to him, and they at once began to jostle each other. The fellow, who had no sword, challenged Turner to fight with fists. He immediately took off his coat, wig, and sword and gave them to a bystander. His antagonist hit very hard, but Turner was a " pretty man " with his hands, and the battle promised to be hot. Presently a gentleman stepped up and said to Turner, " Do you know that the man you are fighting is ' Broughton the Bruiser ' ? " " No ! " was the answer, " then I '11 fight no more ; here, give me my coat, wig, and sword ! " He hunted in vain, however, for the holder of these articles, who had decamped. The whole family were violent Jacobites. William Turner was one of a club which used to meet at the " Nagg's Head " in Wine Street, where they drank the health of the Pretender upon their knees, (See p. 238.) 1 He was a Trustee and joined the Building Committee in 1783. * The long-flapped waistcoat was at this time rapidly going out of fashion, and the short garment of some brilliant coloured material was in vogue. 143 A HISTORY OF THE Amongst his peculiarities may be mentioned that he " gave two guineas a year to each of his servants not to drink tea," he insisted on their wearing white gloves (this was not then unusual), he never used a looking-glass, and he "invariably gave work to all beggars." Perhaps, however, the most interesting fact about him, •especially to Bristolians, is his connection with Hannah More. Turner lived at a beautiful house at Belmont, near Wraxall, and he was in the habit of inviting his cousins, the two Miss Turners, to pay visits to him. He extended his invitations to any young lady friends whom they might like to bring with them, and they chose their two young governesses, Hannah and Patty More. William Turner, who was at this time (1767) forty-six years of age, had " a most respectable and worthy lady " who " managed and kept his house for him," 1 and the visits became more and more frequent, everything being conducted with the utmost propriety. Turner was a man of taste and particularly fond of poetry ; Hannah was a fascinating girl, well read, refined, interesting, and a good talker. He, of course, fell in love with her, proposed, and was accepted. According to Richard Smith, " she planned and chose mottoes for his root-houses, alcoves and so forth, at Belmont," gave up her interest in the school, and made preparations for her marriage. Turner, however, could never '" muster courage enough to go to the altar," and after a time her friends interfered, and the affair was amicably settled by an agreement to separate. Turner, who evidently felt that he had been in the wrong, was anxious to make compensation by settling an annuity upon her. Sir James Stonhouse was the chief arbiter in this matter, and although Hannah More is stated to have at first indignantly refused this, yet Sir James (who, my readers may remember, was so annoyed about the Annual Infirmary Sermon, see p. 25) thought that " part of the sum proposed might be accepted without the sacrifice of delicacy ! " 2 and Miss More enjoyed an annuity of £200 from her old lover until her death. To return to the building. During the erection of the large central block great difficulty was experienced not only in accommodating the patients, but owing to the necessary destruction of various offices, new arrangements, which cost a great deal, had to be made. For instance, the brewing and baking (see p. 72) had to stop, and in 1789 the amount paid for 1 See Roberts's Memoirs of Hannah More, vol. i. 2 It is doubtful if the Rev. Sir James Stonhouse, Bart., M.D., ever saw the humour of this modified " sop." 144 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY beer was £504, the annual cost of malt and hops used in the Infirmary being usually about £300. l The central wing took four years to build, and was not ready for patients until the summer of 1792. An important addition to this block was the Operation Room, which was one of the first rooms to be got ready for use. It was fitted up under the direction of the Surgeons. Richard Smith, sen., presented an " Operating Table " in the year 1786, a solid, steady, useful piece of furniture, which served its purpose well for a hundred years. The Surgeons at first brought their own instruments with them ; it soon, however, became necessary to have a proper supply in readiness at the House, and at first these were kept in any drawer or cupboard which happened to be available. On September 4th, 1811, the Surgeons requested to have "a Cup- board over the Mantelpiece in the Apothecaries' Shop " to keep their tools in. Later on they were kept in a mahogany cupboard with shelves, in the dining-room, and finally they were removed to their proper place, the Operation Room. THOMAS BAWN. Thomas Bawn, who succeeded Joseph Beech as Secretary in 1771, died on December 18th, 1790, having served the Infirmary faithfully for nearly twenty years. He was the first Secretary to give a " penal bond " on his appointment for ^500. It is made between him, Nathaniel Stephens, and Richard Champion. JOHN JORDON PALMER. On January 8th, 1791, John Jordon Palmer was elected Secretary. On his appointment " a book was opened for subscriptions to the south (west) wing." Amongst the Sub- scribers are the names of Mr. Joseph Beck, who gave £500, and Miss Goldney, who gave £200. This year an attempt was made to form a " Close Com- mittee," composed of a definite number of Subscribers. Hitherto the Committee had been an " open " one, made up of the Physicians, Surgeons, and any Trustees who chose to attend ; the constant change of personnel, and the frequently poor attendance made such an alteration desirable. The attempt, 1 The quality of the beer was a frequent subject of discussion, requiring a great deal of " tasting " by members of the Committee and Faculty. It is difficult from the Annual Reports to understand why sometimes beer was purchased, and sometimes malt and hops. When the " brew " turned out very thin it was probably reinforced by the addition of some better stuff. Thus in 1803 we find in the accounts, " Beer /391 4s. od.," in 1804, " Beer ^445 14s. iod.," and in 1805, " Malt, Hops and Strong Beer ^609 us. od." HS 10 A HISTORY OF THE however, failed. The Board Meetings at this time were badly attended except on important occasions. For instance, on June ist, 1790, according to the Minute Book, only one person, Mr. William Barker, was present ; and at the next Quarterly Board, on September 7th the entry is, " No one attended ! " In September, 1791, the Society sustained a great loss by the resignation of Mr. Joseph Harford. He was succeeded by Mr. Edward Ash, who was elected December 20th, 1791. EDWARD ASH. Edward Ash was the eighth Treasurer in succession who belonged to the Society of Friends. He was born in 1736, and died at his house in St. James's Parade on May 13th, 1818, aged eighty-two years. His father was a manufacturer of raisin wine and " British Sweets." His " raspberry brandy " was famous in Bristol. Edward Ash was a successful Treasurer, particularly clever at organising collections for charitable purposes, and was a man of sound judgment. He felt strongly the inconvenience of the " Open " Committees, and in his letter of resignation on March 15th, 1808, he proposed a scheme for appointing twenty Subscribers, who should attend in rotation. He presided over many turbulent meetings with great discretion and ability. He was buried, like many of his predecessors, in the Quaker Burial-ground at " Redcliff Pit," on May 20th, 1818. Richard Smith was present at the funeral, and gives the following description : " A Hearse contained the Body. It was followed by five ' Number Coaches.' The Corpse having been brought through St. John's Street to the spot, was placed upon tressels. The assembly stood round in silence about a quarter of an hour, when Mr. Frank [of the Pin Manufactory, Waring, Frank & Co.] began to speak. He said very little of the deceased, and that not in the strain of eulogy — it was rather upon points of doctrine in the Society of Friends, than in favour of Christianity in general, or morals. It lasted about half an hour, when he put on his hat. There was no plate-name or ornament of any kind upon the Coffin, and the earth having been thrown in the ground was levelled, so that no trace of the spot remains where Mr. Ash lies." Richard Smith got into conversation with an old man who " remembered the funerals of Mr. Hawksworth, Mr. Champion 146 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY and Mr. Harford," and from his description made the rough plan of the ground reproduced here. Fig. 27 /^M^**— SKETCH OF QUAKER BURIAL-GROUND. As mentioned before, the Annual State for 1791 is the first which is ornamented with a picture of the new Infirmary. This represents a complete building, whereas the west wing (to the right) was not completed until 1809. (See Fig. 26.) H7 A HISTORY OF THE I was puzzled at this until I came across a note by Richard Smith, who writes, " Soon after this Production a Friend, I believe, if my recollection serves me, the late Mr. Matthew Wright, stood up at a General Board and holding it x up, ' here,' said he, ' is a Plate which bears a falsehood upon the very face of it ! Here we have a fine complete building, but it is upon paper only — where is the original ? Does that resemble it ? No ! it is a mere pig with one ear ! ' " It will be noticed that the engraving shows a three-storied building, much lower, and therefore comparatively longer, than the present house. This New Infirmary was from the first divided into equal portions, one for men and one for women, the men being located in the west end. Strong iron gates, which were locked at night, were erected in the passages to separate the male and female wards. These gates were removed in 1890. The building of the east wing and centre made great inroads into the capital, and the west wing was not finished for many years for want of funds. Various means were adopted to obtain money ; for instance, at the " Riding-School, in Stoke's Croft," a mixed performance was given on Tuesday, October 26th, 1790, at which, according to the programme (see Fig. 28) " the Little Devil will run up a platform 10 feet high," and " the Child of Promise will stand on her Head on the Point of a Spear ! " Then, on Monday, September 24th, 1792, at the Theatre Royal, was produced " the Historical Play of Cymbeline, King of Britain, written by Shakespeare," the Committee strongly supporting " this humane effort," as it is described in the papers. Performances were also given at " the Assembly Rooms, Prince Street, a of Collin's Evening Brush for rubbing off the Rust of Care, by the Author, for the Benefit of the Infirmary — — Admittance, 3s." On December 4th, 1792, at a Quarterly Board it appeared that " to compleat the remaining Wing of the Infirmary and to enable the Treasurer to discharge other Demands on the Society for Buildings, Furniture and Current Expences to the close of the present year would require the Sum of Seven Thousand Pounds." In fact, by the expenditure of capital the annual income had been reduced by some four hundred pounds. It was, therefore, resolved that three or four gentlemen should make a personal application in each parish of Bristol ; these canvassers (in the words of the Minute Book) " to submit to each Individual in a respectful, but by no means in an Urgent Manner," the claims of the Institution. 1 i.e. the Annual State. * Demolished in 1912. 148 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY It was also decided to appeal to the public in the newspapers, and that " Books shall be opened and left at all the Banks and Coffee Houses, and at the Pump Room at the Hotwells to receive the voluntary Benefactions of the Charitable and well dispos'd." Fig 28. FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE BRISTOL INFIRMARY: An ODE to PHILA N-T H R O P V Will be recited by A CENTLEMAN ofili Ciiy. MelT. HANDY and FRANKLIN'S COMPANY will perform This present TUESDAY, OMer 26, ; 79 o, /t th. RIDING -SCHOOL, in STOKEs CROFT, AND EX1HBIT A GREAT VARIETY OF Extraordinary Amufements, Tjk PARTICULARS of .h.ch are by far loo mmrnau to info*. . HorfeminOiSp. Tumbling, Dancing, Trampoline, &c. by all the Troop. Mefs. HANDY & FRANKLIN & the CHILD of PROMISE Will go through the Cur* VERY SURPRIZINC TEATS ai M thrir Benefki. The LITTLE DEVIL will run up a Platform 10 Feet high, FIRE r°"w"6 R K S ! AND THROW A SUMMERSET FROM THE TOP. Mr. HANDY will Leap thro' a Hogfliead of FIRE-WORKS! THE^CHILD OF PROMISE WILL Stand on her Head on the POINT of a Spear! The Whole lo CONCLUDE with Th a TAYLORs JOURNEY to PARIS, For NEW MODES and FASHIONS: French Poft-Boy's Journey to London: Alia die, HUMOURS of the FRENCH POST-BOY and CLOWN. Mailer, ... Mr. FRANKLIN | _. „ Clown, _ Mr. HANDY ; Frenchman, Mr. KERBY ; l_. „ ,„ Taylor, ... Mr. SMALLCOMB. The Docn lo be opened ai SIX o'clock, and the Performance lo begin at a Quarter before SEVEN petit! , . l.adiet and Gentlemen who with 10 lectin: FRONT SEATS for Thi> Evening, are rapidled to apply for TICKETS to Mr. HANDY, at the FULL-MOON. ]. ROSE, Printer, No, II, Grotdoead, BRISTOL. PROGRAMME OF PERFORMANCE GIVEN FOR BENEFIT OF INFIRMARY. The result of this appeal was so satisfactory that by February 2nd, 1793, sums had been promised amounting to £1,912. The number of Annual Subscribers was also increased from 570 in 1792 to 648 in 1794, and there was a steady increase 149 A HISTORY OF THE until the year 1797, when there were 918 Subscribers, bringing in annually £2,202. Provisions were still very dear. The unsettled state of the Continent was partly the cause of this ; the French Revolution, and after that the rise of Napoleon, influenced the Infirmary in more ways than one. Many of the younger medical men joined the army as surgeons, some with fighting commissions ; and with the dawn of the nineteenth century came the fear of invasion, which was felt to be so imminent that on December 6th, 1803, it was actually " unanimously agreed " to put apart 52 beds " for the reception of such of the Volunteers and Military of the Garrison of Bristol who might be wounded." This resolution was, however, rescinded at the March meeting as almost impossible to carry out. The threat of invasion caused a general enrolment of citizens in volunteer corps. Amongst these was " The Royal Bristol Light Horse Volunteers," which consisted in 1803 of two troops of cavalry and one " Dismounted Troop." Several medical men joined this gallant company. From an old newspaper cutting I find the names of the Commissioned Officers were : — 1st Troop. R. Pearsall, Esq., Captain. J. Vaughan, Esq., Lieut. D. Baynton, Esq., Cornet. Mr. W. Clarke, Qu. Master. 2nd Troop. L. Ames, Esq., Captain. J. Wedgewood, Esq., Lieut. C. Harvey, Esq., Cornet. Mr. W. Parsons, Qu. Master. And Mr. Samuel Simmons Salmon, Surgeon. S. S. Salmon applied for the surgical vacancy on Mr. Metford's retirement in 1796, when R. Smith, jun., was elected. In spite of every care, so large an establishment could not be maintained on the annual income, and a public meeting was called at the Guildhall on April 20th, 1797, when the financial state of the Infirmary was laid before the public. General statements were made at this meeting sufficient to show the urgent need for help. James Harvey, the Mayor, was in the Chair ; a Committee was appointed " to examine the affairs of the Society," consisting of the Treasurer and some eminent citizens, and a list of subscriptions was opened there and then. The report of this Committee appeared on July 6th, 1797, at a meeting at the Guildhall, again presided over by the Mayor, and revealed an amount of arrears and deficiencies which required some courage to publish. The case, however, was stated accurately and without any attempt to hide the truth. The report showed : (1) That the Society was in debt to 150 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY the Treasurer for advances to the amount of £2,955 ; (2) that £2,544 na d been borrowed from the sum expressly collected for building the west wing ; (3) that £1,366 was owing in various ways, independently of the current expenses for the year, which amounted to £3,000, so that nearly £10,000 would be required to put things straight. l An urgent appeal was made in the local papers, in the Annual State, and from the pulpits of nearly every church and chapel in Bristol. Personal canvassing was also carried on. The result may be told in the words of Richard Smith : " The General Estimation in which this institution was held now shone forth with great lustre, and, as soon as its embarrassments were fairly known, they were swept away by that benevolence and liberality which the Citizens of Bristol have never failed to display upon all occasions where an appeal has been made to them in a proper manner." The amount collected by this appeal was £10,128 4s. 6d., more than £8,000 of which was subscribed within three months. The total receipts for the year 1797 were £13,515. It was said at the time that this was the largest sum ever collected for any charity by private individuals in so short a time. The Committee, in publicly thanking the donors for " the effectual relief of the exigencies in the memorable year 1797," state that a balance of £300 remained in the hands of the Treasurer, after paying off all debts. How public-spirited the citizens were may be gathered by this short and almost pathetic entry in the Annual Accounts for 1796 : — *' Of David Evans and John Wilcox Esqres., Sheriffs of this City, instead of appropriating that Sum to Public Dinners . . . . . . £200 0." This act of renunciation was specially noticed in the papers. During the alterations which were made this year (1797) a circumstance occurred which ought to be recorded. A plumber was employed to fix a leaden pipe to carry water from a cistern on the middle story of the building to the kitchen below. He found that when the tap at the end of this pipe was turned off, the sudden pressure of the long column of water above nearly always burst the pipe. To remedy this he soldered a smaller pipe immediately behind the tap and carried it to the same height as the cistern. This plan succeeded, and prevented the main pipe from bursting. 1 The report is printed in extenso in Bonner and Middleton's Bristol Journal for Saturday, July 8th, 1797. 151 A HISTORY OF THE Secondary Pipe — : Cistern vk '/lain Pipe It was noticed that when the tap was turned off a jet of water was ejected to a great height from the upper end of the smaller pipe. This additional pipe was therefore continued to the top of the building, and was utilised to fill a cistern from the waste water forced up by closing the tap. (See diagram.) This workman therefore in- vented the principle of the Water Ram. Montgolfier improved on this and made it self-acting, but the honour of first using this appar- atus is due to the plumber at the Bristol Infirmary. The incident is mentioned in the Journal of Sciences and Arts of the Royal Institution, vol. ii., 3rd edition. In spite of the generous re- sponse for help, which relieved the Committee from any im- mediate anxiety, no further remaining buildings could be thought of, and the idea of commencing the (west) wing was postponed. The needs of the Infirmary at this time excited great sympathy. One little incident which I find narrated in Felix Farley's Journal for August 26th, 1797, may be given as a good instance of this : " On Sunday the Rev. — Cooper delivered an open air Sermon in Lower College Green for the Benefit of the Infirmary. Though the weather was unfavourable the Collection amounted to £50 8s. nd." During these years there had been a smouldering feud between certain members of the Faculty and the Committee as to " over-time " patients. The Committee were in favour of a weekly investigation into all cases that had been three months in the wards. Patients had been sent out without the sanction of the Physician or Surgeon in charge, and some of these had to be immediately re-admitted. The Faculty thought the dismissal of patients should be left entirely to them. A Sub-Committee was appointed to confer with the Medical Officers, and an " over-time list " was made a rule of the House, and has since been in force as a useful custom, especially after it became a monthly, instead of a weekly, scrutiny. This controversy caused great effusion of ink ; long letters were written to the papers about it, and there were many *5 2 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY angry discussions, which a little quiet talk could easily have settled. In 1799 the expenditure exceeded the income by more than £300. Napoleon's project of closing the ports of Europe to British trade caused a panic, and the price of flour and other articles of food rose by leaps and bounds. In 1798 the Infirmary paid £326 for flour, in 1799 £421, and in 1800 £755. The Peace of Amiens, signed in March, 1802, gave a temporary respite to hostilities, and in this year the flour bill fell to £237. Another urgent appeal was made for increased subscriptions in 1799. This again met with a generous response, and the income for 1800 rose to £5,405. In 1804 it was decided " to revise and digest the whole code " of Rules, and a Committee consisting of the Treasurer, five Trustees (one of whom was the Rev. John Rowe), together with one Physician and one Surgeon, was appointed for this purpose. The Faculty do not appear to have approved of this arrange- ment ; they attended none of the meetings, and when the report on the new Rules was brought forward at a General Board on December 3rd, 1805, all the alterations and additions were negatived, chiefly on a point of order that these amendments, etc., had not been stated in the summons. Most of the alterations, however, afterwards became law. Efforts to obtain money continued. On Sunday, January 2nd, 1803, selections from the Messiah were performed at Temple Church and a collection was made ; and in the Easter week of this year a " Grand Musical Festival " was held for the benefit of the Infirmary, under the patronage of the Mayor, the Duke of Portland, the Marquis of Worcester, the Earl of Berkeley, Lords Ducie and Sheffield, and other distinguished persons. The performances were held in St. Paul's Church at midday and at the Theatre in the evening, and brought to the Infirmary the handsome sum of £202 13s. 6d. On Monday, September 9th, 1805, the theatre was lent to a company of amateurs, who offered "their Theatrical Suffrages to a generous and discriminating Audience " in the play of Douglas, for the benefit of the Infirmary, the part of young Norval to be played by " Master Weeks." " A Rehearsal by the Young Gentlemen at Mr. Pocock's Academy " brought in £y, and on Sunday, October 20th, selections of vocal and instru- mental music were given at morning and afternoon services at St. Paul's Church for the Charity. One of the wards in the new building, although furnished and ready for use, had been locked up for want of sufficient funds i53 A HISTORY OF THE to support it. In February, 1805, " an unknown friend to the Charity," afterwards identified as the philanthropic Richard Reynolds, promised £500 provided the ward were opened. 1 The Subscribers were called together on February 19th, 1805, to consider this proposal ; speeches were made and lists were started, and by the following August enough money had been collected to justify the Committee in opening the ward. A special fund was gradually being formed for the com- pletion of the House, and by the end of the year (1805) it was announced in the Annual State that " the amount of Benefactions and Subscriptions has warranted the Building Committee to proceed in their measures for the erection of the remaining Wing." The foundation stone of this west wing was laid by Mr. Edward Protheroe 2 on Monday, June 15th, 1806, and early in the following year " the framing of the roof was fixed." Many letters appeared in the papers containing suggestions for the new building, amongst which we may select the following : — 1. The advisability of good bathrooms with hot and cold water. As this deficiency is pointed out in more than one paper, and is not contradicted, we may infer there was no proper bathing accommodation in the central block and east wing, the patients still using " tubs." 2. Proposal for a common eating-room for patients well enough to leave the wards. The chief argument used in favour of this is that the scraps of food left could be more easily collected, apparently for future use for soup, etc. 3. The need for a Chapel. 4. That the wards should be numbered. Most of these suggestions were afterwards carried out. One of the Subscribers at this time was a Mr. John Birtill, currier, of Redcliff Street, who took a keen interest in Infirmary affairs. Amongst other things, he drew up proposals for the appointment of a House Surgeon, who was to be a paid official, devoting all his time " to Casualties and In- and Out-patients ; " to take his week in rotation with the Surgeons, with whom he was to be on a footing " with respect to professional usages." It was hinted that the large sum of £10,000 was forthcoming if the plan were agreed to. The author of this scheme called upon Richard Smith on 1 Richard Reynolds was a wealthy Bristol Quaker, said to have given away on an average ^10,000 a year in " acts of benevolence." He died at Cheltenham on September 10th, 18 16, aged 81. 2 Mr. Protheroe during his mayoralty of the previous year had taken a great interest in the Infirmary. !54 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY March 4th, 1807, and on March 31st his proposals came before a meeting of the Surgeons, who " were unanimously of opinion that the plan was fraught with such evil that they deemed it impracticable." Their objections, although no doubt they seemed weighty at the time they were made, read now as chiefly rhetorical. They were written out for the advocates of the scheme to see, and are of interest to us chiefly because a clear account is given of the method of attending casualties at that time. I quote verbatim :— " As soon as the Patient arrives the Porter rings a Bell, which is answer'd by one of the Apprentices of the Shop, who enquires into the nature of the Accident, orders the Patient to the Ward and immediately sends for the Pupil, 1 if a slight case, and a sealed note to the Surgeon ; if the case is of more import- ance an open summons is sent to the Surgeon requiring his immediate attendance and mentioning the accident ; if of still greater magnitude the Apprentices themselves are bearers of the account not only to the Surgeon of the Week but to all the others, and if the Surgeon is prevented attending, one of those present do the needful, etc." Those who are acquainted with the present system at the Bristol Royal Infirmary will recognise the essential likeness between the new routine and the old. The above-mentioned Mr. Birtill was the chief advocate of what was called the " Rotation Scheme," a proposal that each Physician and Surgeon to the Charity should be elected for ten years, at the expiration of which time he should be eligible for any subsequent vacancy except for that post which he had just resigned. This was brought before a largely-attended Board Meeting on June 16th, 1807, at which Mr. Benjamin Baugh * was in the Chair, and after a long discussion was passed. At this time the senior Physician, Dr. Moncrieffe, had been on the Staff for thirty-two years, and the senior Surgeon, Mr. Noble, for thirty years ; and probably many practitioners in the city thought that some term ought to be fixed to the tenure of offices which so many coveted. The arguments that " new blood " was essential to the progress of such an Institution, and that after a certain age men have less capacity for such work, were also used. 3 This was a revival, in a modified form, of a scheme proposed 1 i.e. the Surgeon's pupil or apprentice. 2 Treasurer of Incorporation of Poor at this time. 3 The latter reason, however, had in those days little weight. Both with the surgeon and physician age was generally looked upon as an advantage. 155 A HISTORY OF THE by a writer in the Bristol papers in November, 1781, which then met with no support. Dr. Beddoes also, in 1789, wrote a pamphlet recommending a partial change of the Staff every year, instancing the Glasgow Infirmary, where two Physicians and four Surgeons were elected annually. The Staff opposed the " Rotation Scheme," and Richard Smith wrote an ingenious letter to the Bristol Mirror, founding his main argument on the assumption that " out of four persons one will die every fifth year." He drew up elaborate tables to prove that if this rule came into operation there would be certain years during which the House would be in charge of " recruits " only. Owing to the death of one of the Surgeons, Francis Cheyne Bowles, in May of this year (1807), there was an active canvass being carried on for the vacancy, no less than thirteen candidates applying. So keenly did Bristolians feel about this " Rotation Rule," that William Hetling, the successful competitor, declared that the regular question asked him in his canvass was, " If we vote for you, will you support the ten years' rule ? " The whole question was rediscussed at a Board Meeting held a fortnight after (on June 29th), when 148 Trustees voted, and the proposal was negatived by a majority of fourteen. During this discussion two interesting points may be noticed. One of the Physicians " spoke against the measure and in justification of his own conduct." This referred to certain accusations of laxness in attendance which had been made, and which were probably justified ; and Mr. Metford proposed as an amendment to the rule " that at the age of fifty all Officers should resign the functions in ordinary and become honorary Consulting Physicians and Surgeons." This " met the approbation of the majority," but Sir Henry Protheroe considered the amendment out of order, and the subject dropped. This was the first suggestion of a " retiring age," which with slight modifications was afterwards adopted. Amongst the expenses of such institutions as the Bristol Infirmary an important item is the provision of wooden legs and other surgical appliances for patients. For many years these were supplied from the general funds ; but in 1771 Mrs. Mary Innys left two legacies of £500 each, one without any stipulation, the other " to be invested in the Public Funds and the interest thereof to be applied to the use of Incurables." The whole £1,000 was, however (from an oversight), carried to the General Account, until Richard Smith pointed out the error, and in May, 1807, the Secretary wrote to the Faculty asking for suggestions as to the distribution of the interest of 156 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY this money. It was decided that from this fund monetary relief or appliances should be given in suitable cases to Out-patients and cases leaving the House. The " Bristol Samaritan Society," which was founded in 1807, began its useful career by helping in many ways cases which could not well be dealt with by other Charities. It assisted " The Stranger's Friend Society," " The Society for the Discharge of Prisoners confined for debt ; " and amongst other good actions sent notices to the Infirmary that it would supply trusses to patients in need of them on the recommendation of one of the Surgeons. Amongst the sources of income for this year 1807 may be noticed : — £ s. d. " A New Years Gift from the Children of a family in moderate circumstances . . 200 Mr. Polito, from an Exhibition of Wild Beasts at the Fair . . . . . . . . . . 10 o Mr. Ingleby, the Proceeds of an Exhibition of Slight of Hand 10 18 " Also a fine imposed by Alderman Evans on " A.B." and another fine " for an Assault on the Chief and Petty Constables ot Trinity Ward " . . . . . . . . 440 *57 CHAPTER XIII COMPLAINTS — MARY FIDDIS — FREEDOM OF THE PRESS — THE WEST WING — COLLECTION IN 1813 — MUSICAL FESTIVAL — SAMUEL BIRCH — THE AFFAIR OF EDWARD PELLY — EXCLUSION OF FACULTY FROM COMMITTEE — WILLIAM FRIPP The reader will already have gathered that the Treasurer and Committee had not always an easy time ; finances were an ever-present anxiety, misunderstandings were common enough ; and another trouble which often came to the front, namely complaints from patients and their friends, may now be briefly considered. A case which occurred in 1805 is typical of many other somewhat similar attacks on the Institution. A certain Mary Fiddis was admitted, under Mr. Yeatman's care, from the Bridewell, where she was undergoing imprison- ment for some trivial offence. She was suffering from a complaint which the Surgeons thought required an operation, and several consultations were held. She, however, refused operation, and wished to go home. She was told that she could not do this without an order from Mr. Miller, the keeper of the jail. This was obtained, and she left the Infirmary. A practitioner called Thomas Lee, who had previously attended the woman in private, paid her visits whilst she was in the Infirmary, and requested that he might be present at the consultations, and at the operation upon her, if such took place. He was very properly told that the rules of the House did not permit this. He then published a pamphlet, twenty-four pages in length, in which he stated (1) that Mary Fiddis begged that he might attend at the Surgeons' deliberations, and promised to allow herself " to undergo any treatment thought necessary if he were present ; " (2) that the unfortunate woman was " threatened with Bridewell " if she would not submit to an operation ; and (3) that when she left the Infirmary and again came under his care she was much worse, and that " her life hath been in most imminent danger, her sufferings have been protracted, and her future existence probably embittered," etc. The Surgeons wrote to the Committee on September 4th, 1805, requesting a full inquiry, which was at once arranged, 158 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY and by a special Committee of forty referees they were " honourably acquitted," with only four dissentients. During this inquiry eight of the appointed Visitors (Messrs. J. Bishop Estlin, Henry Lawrence, Henry Daniel, William Horler, Oliver Thomas, George Whitchurch, George Wallis, and Richard Hanson) , made the following declaration : " We whose names are hereunto affixed do solemnly declare, and are willing to make oath, that we are in the constant habit of accompanying the Surgeons of this House to visit their Patients ; that we saw Mary Fiddis several times daily, and that we never heard her express the least wish to see Mr. Lee, or ever ask permission for him to be present at the operation." This statement shows the interest the Visitors then took in the wards, and proves that they actually accompanied the Surgeons on their rounds. The Apothecary, nurses, and patients were all carefully interrogated. Mary Fiddis herself informed the Committee of Inquiry that " she had quitted the Infirmary with a lie in her mouth, for which she hoped God would forgive her." Amongst the numerous letters which appeared in the papers on this incident the question of freely admitting the profession in general to operations was discussed. A writer under the name of " Old Subscriber " expresses himself on this point as follows (his letter is dated " Bristol, 6th Sept., 1805 ") : '* Reflect, I beseech you, if the present prudent limitation be done away, where or how will you establish a boundary to prevent the whole body of the Profession ' with all its imperfections on its head ' from rushing, like a muddy torrent, into your hospital, and converting your operation room into a theatre of endless disputation and dangerous contention ? What security have you, in such a case, that your wards shall not be turned into cow houses and your apothecary's shop into a manufactory of Gases ? " The references to " cow houses " and " manufactory of Gases " are hits at Dr. Thomas Beddoes, who had opened the famous " Pneumatic Institute," and was treating hundreds of cases with inhalations of nitrous oxide gas. He also strongly advocated the breathing in of cow's breath as a remedial agent. Richard Smith, who was at this time one of the proprietors of the Bristol Mirror, busied himself in the controversy by writing to the papers. He corresponded under a nom de plume, but his style was recognisable, and Thomas Lee wrote a letter, dated October 25th, which is an excellent example of the license permitted in the Press in those days. It is addressed " To Mr. Smith," and begins by referring to him as " an object i59 A HISTORY OF THE of dread, detestation and contempt," with power " to blast innocence and to depress industry ; " the writer then speaks of his " pusillanimous writhings," and accuses him of being " callous to a woman's agonizing entreaties," and " dark and baleful ! " The whole effusion reminds one strongly of Mr. Pott's invective in the Eatanswill Gazette in Pickwick. The Surgeons were also accused of being " too fond of operating." The operator who has the courage of his con- victions has always been subject to this kind of ignorant abuse, and the Faculty of the Infirmary did not escape. There was, however, on the Staff at this time a gentleman who was so timid and loath to inflict the pain of an operation, that his patients sometimes suffered from his over-sensitiveness. A boy named Samuel Clarke came under his care, suffering from stone in the bladder. The operation for this, before anaesthetics were known, was a terrible ordeal to the patient and to the surgeon. Feelings of pity had to be sternly suppressed, and this, in the case of a frightened boy, required a great deal of determination and a strong sense of duty on the part of the operator. In Samuel Clarke's case the cutting was deferred and deferred, until, as the least objectionable way out of the difficulty, the poor lad (who was deaf and dumb) was taken from the Infirmary, and Richard Smith, assisted by two other members of the Surgical Staff, performed the operation on him at his father's house. Here the modern surgeon may pause and wonder that such an operation as lateral lithotomy could be carried out, as it frequently was, on a struggling patient, in a mean, dirty room, on an ordinary bed, without antiseptics or anaesthetics, and yet with a fairly low mortality. That there were complaints that Out-patients were kept waiting goes without saying, this being a perpetual point of attack upon any hospital system that has yet been evolved. On one occasion, a few years later, a woman named Sarah Bayce complained to the Committee that she was not only kept waiting a long time to be bled, but that one of the students told the operator to " prick her deep," and remarked that she was " fond of bleeding ; " also that the Surgeon in charge said "D e" (damme?). Full investigations showed the groundlessness of these charges. Patients were occasionally troublesome in other ways. For instance, the Matron once stated that John Board, when he went out cured, had a clean shirt given him to wear, which he returned in a few days in a parcel " torn into strips." For 1 60 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY this offence the Secretary was directed to write to the Magistrates. Complaints more difficult to deal with were those made by the friends of patients on whom post-mortem examinations had been made. These examinations were carried on in the dead-house (described as " a mere coal hole with a foot square grating opening in Lower Magdalen Lane "), and had to be done surreptitiously, the Committee condemning but condoning the practice. (See p. 209.) A complaint was made on July 8th, 1812, when potatoes were very dear, from some female patients who refused to '" take rice as a substitute." There is a note in the Committee Minute Book that " the Matron was desired to provide Cabbage for the Nurses during the present scarcity of Potatoes." What the patients were given instead we are not told. Of the escapades of students we shall hear later. From 1806 to 1810 the west wing was being erected, and in the State for the latter year (issued June 5th, 1811) the Com- mittee (now for the first time called " the House Committee ") announced that " the New Wing was ready for the reception of Furniture, previous to the admission of patients." It had cost more than £10,000, and in spite of the fact that the finances were in a moderately satisfactory condition, the ■estimated up-keep of so large a block debarred the Committee from opening it. In the Annual State for the year 1812 the report of the Building Committee is published. This shows that the sum of £19,849 had been received specifically for the new wing ; that £10,370 of this had been spent, and that the balance of £9,479 had been invested in " 4 per cent. Stock." Also, that the wing would lodge fifty patients besides nurses and officials, and that " the Committee under the direction of Dr. Kentish have provided Cold, Warm and Vapor Baths and placed them in the most commodious situation." On June 3rd, 1813, a General Meeting of the Subscribers was held at the Guildhall under the presidency of the Mayor, Mr. Michael Castle, at which the members of the Building Com- mittee, who had worked so many years under their able Chairman, the Rev. John Rowe, were heartily thanked. In order to raise funds for the support of the new wards, etc., a large and representative Committee of fifty-three well-known citizens was chosen, the members of which were to " separate themselves into different districts " and canvass the city. By means of this canvass, together with a donation of £500 made by Mr. Thomas Bonville on the opening of the wing on 161 11 A HISTORY OF THE February 23rd, 1814, and the proceeds from a Musical Festival (£865), the total yearly income reached £8,162. This Musical Festival was the second of its kind given in aid of the Infirmary, the first having been held in 1803. (See p. 153.) At a meeting held on February 9th, 1814, it was resolved : " That it is the opinion of the House Committee that Musical Performances may be held in Bristol similar to those in Birmingham and Liverpool with great benefit to this Institution." A Sub-Committee was appointed, with Mr. Thomas Weld as Chairman, who submitted their report on February 16th. The Festival was held in the Theatre Royal, King Street, on June 13th, 14th and 16th, 1814. The principal vocalists were Madame Catalani and Braham ; the conductor was Sir George Smart. The affair was a great success, and a densely- packed audience listened with enthusiasm to Madame Catalani, who sang " Rule Britannia " at the end of the performance, by " General Desire." Napoleon had abdicated on April 5th, and had been sent to Elba ; peace was restored, and everyone was in a good humour. The two allied Sovereigns (the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia) were on a visit to England, and were at the time of the concert at Oxford. It was thought that this might detract from the proceeds, as many people flocked to that " neighbouring seat of learning," but the receipts show that this was not the case. In addition to the performances at the Theatre, selections of sacred music were given at St. Paul's Church on the mornings of June 14th, 16th and 17th. A number of ladies volunteered to hold collection plates at the church doors, and " by their earnest solicitations very much increased the Contributions." x The Committee gave them a hearty vote of thanks in the following gallant language : " When it is recollected that a considerable part of this sum was collected by the Ladies at the Church Doors, to whom they feel themselves indebted for zeal and fervour in the cause of humanity that gave fresh lustre to beauty, and rendered even the Voice of Charity more irresistible," * etc. The actual receipts from the Festival were £2,592 15s., and the expenses £1,767 10s. 6d. 2 1 Committee Minute Book, July 6th, 1814. 2 It may here be mentioned that another Musical Festival was held on behalf of the Infirmary in October, 1821. It was given at St. Paul's Church and the Assembly Rooms, Prince Street, and Madame Catalani was again the great attraction. The net proceeds were ^585 9s. 8d. Concerning this concert there is a curious criticism in the Bristol Mirror. The Benedic'us of Mozart was sung in English at the church, and the critic writes : " The word Benedictus is translated ' blessed is he,' which, when sung or heard at a distance, sounds like ' Blessy dissy.' " 162 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY The House, with the fifty additional beds contained in the west wing, could now accommodate some hundred and eighty patients. The length of each wing was 105 feet, and the whole frontage was 214 feet long. Each ward contained twelve or thirteen beds, and was, on an average, 44 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 15 feet high. 1 It was suggested that two wards should be set apart for convalescent patients, but it was thought by the Faculty that the " air in the wards was sufficiently pure and salubrious." The male and female parts of the House were separated, as before, by iron gates ; and at first the ground floor was allotted to " Physical " cases, the second floor to Surgical. The building of this New Infirmary extended over thirty-two years, from 1782 to 1814, and was carried on under the management of four successive Treasurers. On the resignation of Mr. Edward Ash, Mr. Samuel Birch was elected Treasurer on Tuesday, December 20th, il SAMUEL BIRCH. Samuel Birch was born in 1765, and became a very prominent citizen of Bristol. He was Sheriff 1800-1 and Mayor 1807-8. * He held the post of Treasurer to the Infirmary for three years, from 1808 to 181 1. His tenure of office was a troubled one, chiefly on account of an important change in the constitution of the Committee, which gave rise to a great deal of bad feeling ; and his resignation was connected with an affair concerning a remarkable medical student named Edward Pelly, whose history deserves record. Mr. Birch died on August 5th, 1851. THE AFFAIR OF EDWARD PELLY. In the year 1805 there came to Bristol, from his father's Vicarage at Weston-sub-Edge, on the north border of the Cotswolds, a delicate lad named Edward Pelly. He attended " the Academy of the Rev. Mr. James Porter in Castle Green," and two years later was indentured to Richard Smith at the Infirmary. He was a particularly gifted boy, devoting much of his time to study ; he read English literature with avidity, wrote sonnets and plays, and was fond of the classics. He worked hard at his profession, and was " rapidly improving himself in Surgery and the Science of Anatomy and Physiology," 1 At a Committee Meeting on November 10th, 1813, two tenders for bedsteads were handed in, one from Messrs. Griffiths at 32s. each, the other from Messrs. Poole and Son at 4d. per lb., " which at 96 lbs. each amounts to 32s." The order was " split." 2 Beaven's Bristol Lists. 163 A HISTORY OF THE when a circumstance occurred that altered his career, and is supposed to have hastened his death, which took place at the early age of seventeen. Amongst the Out-patients in the autumn of 1810 was a woman named Charity Filer, who suffered from an ulcerated leg, under the nominal care of Mr. Allard. (See p. 185.) Pelly dressed the sore on several occasions, but in October she stopped coming, and brought an accusation against him that he had discouraged her further attendance on the grounds that nothing more could be done for her. She also complained that during thirteen weeks' attendance she did not once see her Surgeon, Mr. Allard, who was away from home, nor Mr. Lowe, 1 who was doing his work at the Institution during his absence. On November 14th, 1810, the Committee resolved : " That it was to be regretted that the patient did not see the Surgeon who was supposed to be attending her during so long a period as thirteen weeks, as it is the indispensable duty of the Surgeon himself to inspect the cases of all the Individuals committed to his care." It was further resolved : " That the Committee also feels itself called upon to censure the conduct of the said Mr. Edward Pelly, who by using to the said Charity Filer discourag- ing expressions as to the probability of her cure caused her to withdraw herself from this Hospital," etc., and " that Mr. Edward Pelly be directed to attend the Committee on the 28th Instt. to receive a communication from the Chairman." At the weekly Committee on November 21st Mr. Fripp announced that Mr. Birch proposed " to resign the situation of Treasurer " at the next Quarterly Board. Great regret was expressed, and a deputation was formed to wait upon Mr. Birch to ask him to reconsider his decision. At the next Committee Meeting, on November 28th, Mr. Birch was himself in the Chair, and the deputation appointed at the last meeting " to wait upon the Treasurer " said that they " were not prepared to communicate the answer they had received." Mr. Wintour Harris then moved " that the resolution of a former Committee respecting Mr. Pelly be carried into effect, and that he be now called in to receive the communication from the Chairman." After a long and angry discussion, during which (according to the newspaper accounts) " Mr. Lowe expressed contempt for the Committee," and " Mr. Daniel 2 hissed one of the Trustees 1 Richard Lowe, son of Godfrey Lowe. He was elected Surgeon in 1807. 2 Henry Daniel was elected Surgeon on September 27th, 18 10. 164 . . • .. ^ . t / A, TITLE-PAGE OF PELLY'S MEMORANDUM BOOK Fig 29. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY whilst declaring his sentiments," it was decided by twenty-five votes to twenty-two that Pelly should not be called in "to receive the communication of the Chairman," and that " no blame attached to Mr. Lowe in the Case of Charity Filer." This result was due chiefly to the advocacy of Richard Smith. He made a great impression on the meeting by reading an affidavit made by Edward Pelly before Alderman David Evans. In this document it was stated that Charity Filer's condition was steadily improving during her attendance as an Out-patient ; and the deponent solemnly declared "as he hopeth for salvation hereafter that he never said or declared to the said Charity Filer . . . that he could do no more for her, nor ever used any discouraging language to her during her attendance at the said Infirmary." Mr. Birch was much annoyed by this decision, and in a letter to Mr. Ash, dated December 4th, 1810, said that he Lad been placed in such a position that he was determined to relinquish his office. A General Board was called for Friday, December 14th, 1810, at the Guildhall, to consider this letter. At this meeting, presided over by the Mayor, Mr. Philip Protheroe, the Treasurer, Mr. Birch, read an account of the proceedings which had taken place with reference to Charity Filer, and gave his reasons for resigning. Mr. Bright then proposed a series of resolutions, seconded by Mr. Sheriff Fowler, which were carried without opposition (apparently none of the Staff were present) : — 1. That the vote of censure on Edward Pelly decreed on November 14th be carried into effect. 2. That the conduct of the Officers of the House who voted against this resolution at a subsequent Committee Meeting (on November 28th) " is highly indecorous and reprehensible." 3. That the behaviour of Mr. Lowe and Mr. Daniel was " particularly unbecoming." 4. That to prevent the recurrence of interruptions at future meetings of the Committee it would be expedient " to rescind the Rule by which the Physicians and Surgeons now form a constituent part thereof." Mr. Daniel and Mr. Lowe sent letters to the Chairman regretting their behaviour in " expressing contempt " and " hissing," and a vote of thanks to Mr. Birch for his " manly conduct " concluded the proceedings. Pelly was summoned to attend a Committee Meeting on December 19th, but declined to do so, concluding his letter : " Allow me to assure you I am rather willing to submit to the 165 A HISTORY OF THE severest Penalty which a disobedience to your Commands may incur than receive the Communication of your Censure." Poor Pelly, who was under seventeen years of age, and had been made a scapegoat in this affair, had no one to fight his battle for him on this occasion, and the Committee resolved " that for his contumacy in refusing to attend this Committee, he, the said Edward Pelly, be excluded from re-entering the Infirmary until the next General Board, and it is the opinion of this Committee that it should be recommended to such General Board to resolve on the total expulsion of the said Edward Pelly from this House." A few days afterwards the unfortunate boy, who was of a proud and sensitive nature, obtained permission to cancel his indentures with Richard Smith, to whom he was articled, and left the Infirmary for ever. He returned home, and devoted himself to study ; it is said that he " scarcely allowed himself time for taking rest or food ; a book was constantly either in his hand, on the table at his elbow, or on his pillow." His health began to fail ; he showed signs of consumption, and died from haemorrhage from the lungs on October 12th, 181 1, aged seventeen years and nine months. At the death of his mother a note-book of Pelly's came into the hands of Richard Smith, containing a short diary of the last few months of his life. It shows that he read a great deal of poetry, history, and classics ; that he wrote a comedy in five acts, called " Every One in His Turn," and many short poems. One of these, called " Horace in Bristol," is preserved in the Infirmary Memoirs, and is a well-written and amusing adapta- tion of the seventh Ode of the First Book. A few months before his death he fell in love with a Miss S. Ward, who returned his affection, but her father refused his consent to an engagement. In his diary, written in Greek letters, a page of which is here reproduced (together with a small almanac found in his pocket after death), there is an entry under June 6th, 181 1 : "I spit blood this morning — I walked three miles with my dear S. W., and saw her for the last time." (See Figs. 29 and 30.) I have given this incident at some length, not only because it appeared to me that the history of such a life should be rescued from oblivion, but because it was bound up with such important changes at the Infirmary. There is little doubt that Pelly was misunderstood, and that an injustice was done him ; but we are told that his manners were " austere " and against him, and the advocacy of his 166 1* 6 f T7 (5»_ T^< f> - \J J~ C V _ f I / -4 . /-^ «^<" - ^y Jafr-tv- eat ^tfi cr-Ci -j-» e"- 1 )^k f-t TO f> ^>v S-w- ,)6t»i/r <>w IvTtst ' T"- A 7i . . £*, « _w * ^ its.'- Pi kirrr? Jju/r^r* r-A ,, t>*s^* ^i3> Z, - + ~ <--+ ,sr f'j - - .- *•■ •:- - - v— . — . — » — ». * i _ H— O X w fe £ w 2; (A o 1 — 1 li Q g Q gov-. rt >,£ t/J O >-> -gro *- O .2 5 « I C faO-2 fa <-" 55 ffi Anne, the youngest daughter of Mr. Joseph Swayne, of Hereford, married Thomas Baynton. (See p. 255.) The portrait of William Swayne is from a painting now in the possession of Miss Swayne of Clifton. (See Fig. 32.) 175 A HISTORY OF THE The following changes occurred about this time amongst the Physicians. EDWARD LONG FOX. Dr. Edward Long Fox was elected on April 3rd, 1786, in Dr. Broughton's place. (See Appendix A.) I have collected some data about the three Foxes who were connected with the Bristol Infirmary, and for convenience of reference have placed them at the end of the volume. (See Appendix B.) ROBERT LOVELL. Dr. Robert Lovell, who was elected on January 7th, 1795, to the vacancy caused by Dr. Wright's death, was born at Barbadoes about the year 1753. He practised first at Ipswich, and came to Bristol in 1792. Whilst at Barbadoes he married a Miss Osborne, who (according to Richard Smith) was a native of Bristol, and this may have induced him to come to this city. He lived in St. James's Square, and we may conclude that lie was a social man, as there are several records of his attending and opening discussions at the " Bear's Cub Club." He resigned his post at the Infirmary on August 29th, 1810, and not long after gave up his profession and retired to a beautiful estate at Frenchay, called Begbrook House. He died on April nth, 1823. JOHN NEW. Dr. James Plomer, whom my readers may remember as a constant sampler of the Infirmary bread and cheese and beer, 1 resigned on April 4th, 1798, and two weeks afterwards (on April 18th) Dr. John New was elected in his place. Dr. New had served as Apothecary's apprentice at the Infirmary under Thomas Griffiths, and took his degree at Edinburgh. He was chosen Physician to the Dispensary in 1799, and resigned his post at the Infirmary in October, 1802. WALTER KENNEDY CRAUFUIRD. He was succeeded on November 18th, 1802, by Dr. Walter Kennedy Craufuird, a native of Ayrshire, but with relations in Bristol, to which city he came about the year 1790. His medical studies were interrupted by ill-health, for which he took a voyage to Spain, after which he returned to Glasgow, where he graduated. His thesis for the degree of M.D. was 1 Page 73. 176 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY entitled " De submersis suscitandis," and he chose for this the motto, " Facilis descensus Averni . . . sed revocare gradum . . . hoc opus, hie labor est." He first practised at Tewkesbury, but did so badly there that he scarcely made his bread and cheese, and in distress wrote to his uncle, Thomas Farr Ellison, of the Customs, who advised him to come to Bristol. He followed this advice, and " put up his plate " at a house in Albemarle Row, Hotwells. Patients at first came very slowly, and he had some difficulty in maintaining himself, so that he was often thankful for the hospitality of his uncle, at whose house " a knife and fork were laid for him daily." He canvassed for the post which was supposed to be vacant at the Infirmary in 1794, when there was a rumour that Dr. Wright had resigned, and again on Dr. Plomer's resignation in 1798. Although unsuccessful on these occasions, he became better known as a promising man, but his income continued to be very small. About the year 1798, however, a piece of good fortune befell him. A certain Mr. Garth, a gentleman of good means, but of weak health, was told by his doctors that a voyage to Madeira would be beneficial. He wanted a medical man to accompany him, and offered Dr. Craufuird one thousand pounds if he would take charge of him, and two thousand more if he brought him safely back. This trip was a success, and on his return to England Craufuird had £3,000, which was the nucleus of a considerable fortune which he ultimately made. l He married a Miss Emily O'Connor, daughter of Sir Patrick O'Connor, of Cork, " by special licence in the Ball Room of Gloucester House." She is described as "a little, sort of Corsican fairy looking girl." She died of consumption on November 13th, 1801. Apparently she was in feeble health at the time of her marriage, as we read that " she was carried from her lodgings in a Palanquin to be married." 2 After his election on the Staff of the Infirmary in November, 1802, he began to do an immense amount of private work, a great deal of it in consultations, his income reaching over £3,000 a. year at the busiest period of his life. He had a high opinion of the importance of Physicians, and was extremely annoyed, when the Committee requested the •opinion of the Faculty as to setting apart a ward for fever cases, that the Surgeons considered themselves included in the consultation. " In fact," says Richard Smith, " he wrote 1 Mr. Garth died of phthisis about two years after his return. 2 The marriage of consumptives was in those days considered romantic and interesting, and there was not usually any protest made against it. 177 12 A HISTORY OF THE concerning the Surgeons so disrespectfully that there was at first an intention of resenting it, but on mature reflection it was considered to be an ebullition of waspishness, which might as well be allowed a peaceful consignment to the oblivion of the Secretary's iron closet." He wrote a strong letter to the Committee about the construction of the wards, maintaining that the patients lay " immersed over head and ears in a noxious, heavy atmosphere floating three or four feet high on the floor." He likened this stratum of air to a " pond of water," and advised cutting down the windows as low as possible to let it out. Little attention was paid to his letter, and this neglect seems to have annoyed the doctor. He one day met a member of the Committee, and rudely asked him " what the Committee knew about the matter," reiterating his statement about the " pond " of foul air. " Gently, friend Craufuird," replied the other (who was a Quaker), " we did not presume to deny thy pond of foul air, but it appeared to us that a trifling circumstance had slipped thy memory, that there was a door which was almost constantly open, and, according to the law thou hast set forth of the gravitation of fluids, we conceived that the foul air might contrive to creep out that way, and tumbling over the staircase, get through the passage into Marlborough Street, without the expense of tearing the House to pieces ! " He resigned his post of Physician on March 13th, 181 1. On July 20th, 1817, he began to complain of internal pain, and died on July 24th, after much suffering, of what was then called " enteritis." x He left in his will one hundred pounds to " the Chancellor of the Exchequer in trust for the nation," and expresses the hope " that every man will contribute in proportion to his property." The newspapers correctly style this " a very vain hope." The portrait here reproduced is from a pencil sketch by a Mr. Thomas, executed from memory, and said to be a very accurate likeness. (See Fig. 33.) He is described as tall, ungainly, and " raw-boned ; " holding himself erect ; cold, distant and ceremonious ; his countenance " meagre, strongly marked, lowering and ill- favoured," with an " authoritative eye," and usually with knitted brows. He was one of the last of the profession in Bristol to powder his hair ; he dressed in black, and wore " half boots." 1 One gathers from the symptoms described in Richard Smith's Memoirs that this word " enteritis " included appendicitis and various forms of intestinal obstruction. 178 W. K. CRAUFUIKD. Fig. 33. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY In spite of his somewhat forbidding exterior, he was apparently a favourite with the ladies, and no less than four applied to his executor for his ring as a keepsake, each being under the impression that he had intended to marry her. To one of these he left £2,000. He affected a superiority of manner and an " aloofness " which probably impressed the public, and helped him in his profession. He was very unpunctual, seldom answered even an urgent summons to a case without delay, and maintained his dignity upon all occasions. He would not stop his carriage for any appeal, neither would he see in consultation any patient if he thought he was called in because some other physician was away or ill. Amongst his peculiarities may be mentioned his love for giving cobwebs by the mouth, for various complaints, to such an extent that " the cellars of Bristol were ransacked for a supply," and his habit of examining patients' tongues with a strong magnifying glass, making this quite an imposing ritual. He was idolised by many of his patients, and was sometimes extremely generous. He expressed himself on one or two occasions as having little faith in any revealed religion, but afterwards " regretted that he had ever doubted the truth of the sacred writings." He was a great reader, and kept his books littered about the floor of his bedroom, and anywhere else that he could stow them. He was one of the first Physicians appointed to the Bristol Penitentiary. ANDREW CARRICK. Dr. Andrew Carrick, who was elected Physician on September 20th, 1810, after a severe contest which turned chiefly on political bias, was descended from a good family in Sterling. He was born in 1767, and educated at Glasgow and Edinburgh, taking his degree at the latter University. He then studied in London, and in Paris at the Hotel Dieu, and afterwards at Rome. He returned to England in 1789, came to Bristol, and set up his plate in Park Street. In 1797 he wrote a book on the Hot Wells Water, which brought him some fame, and his unsuccessful canvasses for Dr. Wright's and Dr. Plomer's vacancies made him well known. He married Miss Caroline Tudway, of Wells, and entered actively into the social and philanthropic life of the city, especially in the " Bear's Cub Club," the Library Society, the Bristol College, and the Clergy Society. He was very regular, 179 A HISTORY OF THE too, in his attendance at the St. Andrew's Festival ; he is Teferred to in 1836 as " the father of the Society." Like many physicians of his time, he was a great " bleeder," and carried out a depletory line of treatment on his patients. He spent usually one or two hours in his out-patient room, where he was always deliberate and sedate. " He always," says Mr. Alford, " came to the Infirmary in his carriage, and many a weary hour his old horses and coachman must have had to wait for him in the street." He resigned in August, 1834, at the age of sixty-seven, having been on the Staff for twenty-four years. He died on June 14th, 1837. Carrick was a good speaker, and took his part in the Medical Societies which were coming into existence towards the close of his life. One of the best of his speeches was made at the large meeting at the Guildhall on February 28th, 181 1, when the vexed question of the exclusion of the Faculty from the Committee was discussed. 1 He published an ably- written pamphlet on the same subject in 1825. At his death he was a wealthy man, and owned a large estate of over eleven thousand acres at Nettleton, in Wiltshire. We have an interesting record, copied from his books, of his yearly professional income from 1789 to 1834. He booked £5 5s. the first year, £107 15s. the second, £2,264 15s. the twenty-third, and continued to make between one and two thousand annually until 1829. JOHN EDMONDS STOCK. Dr. John Edmonds Stock was elected Physician on March 28th, 1811, in Dr. Craufuird's place. He was the son of John Stock, who was apprenticed when a youth to an apothecary, but afterwards kept a paper warehouse " opposite to the Bridgewater-Slip on the Back." 2 He was born in 1775, and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He came to Bristol with a curious reputation. When he was a student in Scotland in 1793 he was infected, like many young men at that time, with the principles of the French Revolutionists, and associated himself with the Edinburgh Republicans, Watt and Downie. He became so deeply implicated with them, that he was indicted for high treason, and only escaped the gallows by flight to America. His companion 1 Well reported in the Bristol Gazette and Advertiser for March 7th, 181 1. 2 From Farley's Bristol Advertiser, March 22nd, 1745-6: " John Stocks' Paper Warehouse. N.B. — Most Money for all Sorts of Rags, for the finest Linnen Rags Two Pence Halfpenny a Pound." 180 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Downie was executed. On Stock's return to England a few- years later the prosecution was abandoned in consideration of his youth. He graduated at Philadelphia. In July, 1803, he married Miss Charlotte Shapland, of Marshfield, Gloucestershire, and set up in practice in Park. Street, Bristol ; afterwards he moved to Royal York Crescent. During the seventeen years he was Physician to the Infirmary (from March 28th, 1811, to January 30th, 1828) he not only did a great deal of work in the wards and amongst Out-patients, but became noted as a lecturer. He gave, in conjunction with Dr. Cowles Prichard, a course of lectures on " Physiology, Pathology, and the Practice of Physic," in 1816, which brought him a great deal of well-deserved fame. Unlike Dr. Carrick, he was a great believer in tonics and food, and used himself to munch biscuits whilst visiting his patients. Some of his prescriptions are still in existence, and show that he was more merciful than many of his colleagues in his doses of aloes, mercury, gamboge, etc. He also took part in the social and political life of the city ; he joined the " Bear's Cub Club," where he initiated several discussions (one, on January 13th, 1809, on the Rowley Poems), and in 1816 was President of the Anchor Society. He died on October 4th, 1835, at " The Lodge," near Tewkesbury, the residence of his brother-in-law, the Rev. J. Shapland. He was buried at the Lewin's Mead Burial-ground, Brunswick Square, on October 10th. Richard Smith and Dr. Carrick were amongst the pall-bearers. The event in Dr. Stock's life which brought him most prominently before the public was, however, not his scientific work, but his change of religious opinions. He left Lewin's Mead in 1816, and on November 16th of that year wrote a letter to the Rev. John Rowe, expressing his belief in the Divinity of Christ, and renouncing Unitarianism as untenable. Such a change of belief in a prominent man naturally excited some comment ; but his correspondence with Dr. Lant Carpenter on the subject was freely discussed in the papers, numberless letters were published and many pamphlets were written ; in fact, " Dr. Stock's Conversion," as it was called, was the talk of the place. The pamphlets were generally written under some nom de plume, such as " Philo Christi," " Eluzai," etc., and were advertised by leaflets and hand-bills, printed in large type and distributed everywhere ; indeed, the public greeted the controversy as a great asset to the conversation at evening parties, and looked upon it in a very different light from the doctor himself, whose mind (he says) was like a troubled 1S1 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY sea, and whose days and nights were given up to the study of Chambers, Wardlaw, Lawrence, Hull, Belsham, and many other religious writers. Nowadays this correspondence is not of great interest, but some of the letters by Dr. Lant Carpenter — notably one in the Bristol Mirror, dated September 18th, 1817— may still be read with admiration for their masterly style and the force of their arguments. J. C. PRICHARD AND H. H. FOX. On February 29th, 1816, two notable men, James Cowles Prichard and Henry Hawes Fox, were elected Physicians. Biographical notes on them will be found at the end of this volume. (See Appendix B.) 182 CHAPTER XV FURTHER CHANGES IN THE STAFF — MORGAN YEATMAN — J. METFORD — R. J. ALLARD — RICHARD SMITH, JUN. — F. C. BOWLES — WILLIAM HETLING — CONTROVERSY ABOUT APPRENTICE — RICHARD LOWE — HENRY DANIEL — THE SHUTES — PREMATURE CANVASSING — NATHANIEL SMITH We must now chronicle some changes on the Surgical side of the House. MORGAN YEATMAN. Morgan Yeatman, the brother of Charlton Yeatman, the Apothecary (see p. 169), was born in Guinea Street, Bristol, in April, 1751. He was educated at the Free Grammar School, and indentured to John Ford, who was related to the family, and received him as a pupil without the payment of any fees. He afterwards studied in the Borough, under John Hunter and William Cruikshank, in Great Windmill Street, and " walked " the London hospitals. In 1779 he offered his services to the newly-established Bristol Dispensary, was appointed on the Staff, and did a great deal of useful work there. He was made Surgeon to St. Peter's Hospital in 1780, and on November 27th, 1781, was elected Surgeon to the Infirmary. He was a Tory in politics, and was President of the Dolphin Society in 1804. He was also a member of the Society of St. Stephen's Ringers. He appears to have changed his residence frequently, for his letters are dated at different times from Lower College Green, Charlotte Street, Cumberland Street, Gloucester Street, and St. James's Square. He resigned his appointment at the Infirmary in June, 1807, and died of phthisis on December 6th, 1817. JOSEPH METFORD. Joseph Metford, who succeeded James Norman as Surgeon on April 1st, 1783, was born at Taunton on February 17th, 1755. He was, therefore, twenty-eight years of age when he became Surgeon to the Infirmary, and it is worth noting that in those days Surgeons were appointed on the Staff at a very young age, 183 A HISTORY OF THE John Padmore Noble being only twenty-two. To be elected to so important a post at such an age would now be considered very unusual, and even at that time there were sarcastic remarks made in the Press about " raw young gentlemen " being put in charge of important cases. " Age " was an important asset in those days to medical men ; experience was considered of much more value than book knowledge, and if a man looked young he often endeavoured by his dress and demeanour to make himself look older. Joseph Metford was educated at the Bristol Grammar School, and at the age of seventeen was indentured to Mr. Castelman. At the time of his pupilage there was a custom at the Infirmary to allow every apprentice to perform one capital operation. " Some dissatisfaction having in consequence prevailed amongst the Patients," it was determined to stop this, but when Metford had served his time and " made application for the usual indulgence," he was allowed to amputate a leg. This was in 1777, and was the last major operation performed at the Infirmary by a student. In 1778 he became a member of the " Corporation of Surgeons " (the College of Surgeons was not founded until 1800), and set up in practice at Castle Ditch, from which place he afterwards removed to Bridge Street, and then to Berkeley Square. 1 He married twice, firstly a " Miss Matravers of Westbury- under-the-Plain," and secondly Mrs. Hannah Hann, of Wiltshire, whose sister married Dr. Ludlow. It will be seen from the account in Appendix A that Metford canvassed unsuccessfully for vacancies in 1777, 1779, and 1781. He failed chiefly because he was a Quaker 2 and a Whig. It was thought that he owed his success at his fourth canvass in a great measure to the fact that the Rockingham Administration of 1782, and the coalition of Mr. Fox with Lord North, had for a time shown the public " the folly of voting for, or against a man, merely on account of his religious or political opinions." He resigned his post at the Infirmary in June, 1796, but kept up his interest in the Institution for many years. Amongst Richard Smith's notes is the following record : " His children and a few chirurgical friends were summoned to 1 He made ^115 his first year and /180 the second, a good record at a time when fees were small and surgeons bled patients for one shilling ! 2 At the Parliamentary Election in 1812 Joseph Metford refused, when voting, to take the oath required, and substituted an affirmation, which was objected to because he omitted any promise to " defend the person of the King." It was, however, ultimately allowed. 184 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY dine with him (Metford) on the 19th of February, 1818. The following Gentlemen met and passed the evening in the pleasant recollection of past times — Dr. Thomas Griffiths, Dr. Thomas Webb Dyer, Richard Smith, Wm. Hetling, Richard Lowe, Henry Daniel, Nathaniel Smith, Robert Lax, Richard Edgell, Wm. Swayne." Towards the end of his life Metford spent much of his time at a fine estate he possessed near Axminster. When he was seventy-two years of age he told a friend that he was " well and hearty," and that his sight was as good as ever, in proof of which he had in one morning shot two snipe and a woodcock. He concluded, " I think that is pretty well for an old fellow like me ! " He died on March 25th, 1833, in his seventy-ninth year. ROBERT JONES ALLARD. Robert Jones Allard was elected Surgeon, on the death of Richard Smith, sen., on July 7th, 1791. He was born on Christmas Eve, 1765, and was educated at the Free Grammar School at Gloucester, under the Rev. Thomas Rudge, B.D. 1 He was indentured as an " In-door apprentice " to Joseph Metford, and was one of the numerous applicants who began a premature canvass in December, 1790, when there was a rumour that Metford was going to resign. I can find little about his career as a Surgeon to the Infirmary, but he appears to have been a good operator, and on August 1st, 1791, performed an amputation at the shoulder-joint. He acquired a large practice, which brought him in during its most profitable period some £1,800 per annum. He lived for some time in Unity Street, and afterwards at 37 College Green. He took an active part in social and political life, and became very well known. We have had occasion to refer more than once to the fear of invasion which hung like a cloud over England during the years of Napoleon Bonaparte's ascendancy. At the Meeting of Citizens held at the Guildhall on July 27th, 1803, for the purpose " of increasing the Military Forces already raised " to resist " the meditated Attack of our ambitious, unrelenting and implacable Enemy," - Allard was appointed 1 This learned divine, who prided himself on " the moral and classical Improvement of his Pupils," was born in 175 1 ; he married Sarah King ; was Archdeacon of Gloucester, Chancellor of Hereford, Rector of the Parish of St. Michael's, Gloucester, Vicar of Haresfield, and J. P. for Gloucester. He was appointed to the Free Grammar School of St. Mary de Crypt in 1788. His great-grandson, Mr. C. King Rudge, is now in practice in Clifton. 2 From a newspaper cutting. 185 A HISTORY OF THE Surgeon to the new Second Regiment of Bristol Volunteers. He was also connected with a Hospital for Sick Soldiers in Guinea Street, and was Commissary for the French prisoners in Bristol. He resigned the Infirmary in September, 1810, and soon after came into a considerable property in Glamorganshire. He took the name of Kemys, was knighted by the Prince Regent on March 6th, 1817, for presenting a patriotic address, and lived the life of a busy country squire, taking great interest not only in all sorts of public affairs, but also in horses, dogs, shooting, and theatrical matters. He died on January 10th, 1832. ' RICHARD SMITH, JUN. Richard Smith, jun., was elected Surgeon on June 23rd, 1796. Particulars of his life will be found at the end of this volume. (See Appendix B.) FRANCIS CHEYNE BOWLES. Francis Cheyne Bowles was elected Surgeon 1n Joseph Metford's vacancy on April 24th, 1806. He was born in the year 1771, at Bradford, in Wiltshire, and was the youngest son of Edward Bowles, barrister, a gentleman of independent means, who lived in The Fort, St. Michael's, Bristol. 2 He was educated at first by his father, who was a good scholar, and afterwards at the Free Grammar School. He was indentured to Richard Smith, sen., in 1784, and went, according to the usual practice of those days, to complete his medical education in the Borough, at Guy's and St. Thomas's. 3 On his return from London in 1790, he lodged at first at Mrs. Richard Smith's, 17 College Street ; but after his 1 Some further particulars about Allard will be found in Chapter xix., p. 251. 2 His ancestors came from Scampton, in Lincolnshire, where thev held for many generations an estate called Bolle Hall. F. C. Bowles had a brother called Edward, whose daughter married Mr. Charles Hare, of Bristol. An ancestor of Bowles, John Bolle of Thorpe Hall, distinguished himself in the expedition to Cadiz in 1596, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth. There is a legend in the family that when he was abroad a Spanish lady of high birth fell desperately in love with him. When she found that he was already married she entered a nunnery, where she died. It is alleged that her ghost frequently appeared as his guest in the dining-room of Thorpe Hall, where a chair and plate were always placed ready for her. It is claimed that this is the original story from which the poem in Percy's Reliques, called " The Spanish Lady's Love," is derived. 3 F. C. Bowles took careful notes of the lectures he attended. There is at the Bristol Royal Infirmary a note-book of his in which he has written an excellent resume of a course of lectures on midwifery given by Dr. Lowder " in St. Saviour's Churchyard, Borough." 186 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY marriage to the eldest daughter of John Slade, of Warminster, he removed to No. 12 in the same street. He afterwards lived in Queen Square. He was a very strong advocate of proper anatomical teaching. His surreptitious demonstrations on dead bodies, and also his lectures to students, are referred to in Chapters xvii. and xxviii. He was always a hard worker, but in the early part of his life he combined work with a great deal of gaiety and social pleasure ; afterwards he became serious-minded, and gave up many amusements, such as the theatre, of which he was very fond. With this change in his mode of life was associated a marked alteration in his personal attire. The " Frank Bowles " of 1787, we are told, was a very different person from the " Mr. Bowles " of ten years later. Before this change, which was no doubt partly owing to failing health, he was a bon vivant, fond of a beef-steak supper and a glass of punch, always ready for any midnight frolic, and welcome at many festive gatherings, where he sang the senti- mental and drinking songs of those days with great applause. He was, in fact, one of the " beaux " of the city, and was exceedingly vain of his person, which was small, but neat and well made. It may interest my readers to hear from a contemporary (Richard Smith) what kind of toilet an English " buck " of the time of the French Revolution performed daily : — " His hair was fully pomatomed, powdered and frizzed, and tied behind in a tail. His chin was buried in a large cravat, with what was then called a ' flowing jib ' or ' Muslin Cascade,' in the middle of which was fixed a brooch an inch and a half long, with the figure of Charlotte at the Tomb of Werther,' in ivory, executed by himself in Indian ink ; a fancy, figured, short waistcoat, a pair of high, leather, yellow breeches, reaching half way down the calf of his leg ; blue silk stockings ; a shoe which just covered his toes, surmounted with a large brass buckle, and false straps. " It was always a difficult job to get fairly into his long -clothes (as they were jokingly termed), and as soon as that was accomplished they were plaistered over with wet yellow ochre and allowed to dry to make them sit close. " After this operation there was half an hour's clapping and rubbing, so that before Frank Bowles was breeched at least an hour was expended. If a pair of boots were to be drawn on, the assistance of a second person to soap the instep and help to pull was indispensably necessary, since he would not have 187 A HISTORY OF THE worn an article which would have yielded to his single exertions." In spite of his foibles, there is no doubt that Bowles was an exceptionally gifted man. He was not only an excellent surgeon and anatomist, but a good linguist, a Hebrew scholar, and a great reader of all sorts of classical literature. He had, too, the faculty of continuous, steady work, and great strength of will. He soon acquired a good practice ; but we are told that as he " got on " and made money he became parsimonious, making his own candles, and even compelling his servants to use " dripping in tin lamps " for lighting purposes. When he married he was very short of ready money, and actually had to borrow five guineas from his bride to pay the clergyman, Mr. Masey, Rector of Warminster, for officiating. He was, however, a subscriber to many charities, and was more " close-fisted " than miserly. The wear and tear of his rather dissipated youth and constant attention to work undermined his naturally fragile health. He developed a cough and fever, for which he took a voyage to Lisbon in 1803. He was improved by this, but a few months after his election at the Infirmary he broke down, and died on May 18th, 1807. From the history of his illness, and from his portrait, I think we may conclude that he died of phthisis. After some search (in which I was aided by Mr. E. J. Hodnett, to whom I am indebted for much valuable help), his tomb was found in a corner of the south part of the old churchyard of St. Michael's,- Bristol. It is in a very dilapidated condition, and the inscription on it is almost obliterated. (See Fig. 35.) The portrait is from a copy of one at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, given to Richard Smith, jun., by Mr. C. Bowles Fripp, January 1st, 1830. (See Fig. 34.) WILLIAM HETLING. William Hetling was elected Surgeon on June 2nd, 1807, in the vacancy caused by the death of F. C. Bowles. One of the disadvantages of the old method of canvassing for Infirmary posts was this, that the mere suspicion of a resignation at once brought candidates into the field, and votes were so often given to the first person who asked for them, that priority was everything. Consequently, when a Physician or Surgeon on the Staff became seriously ill, the temptation to begin a secret canvass sometimes induced applicants to start before the breath was out of his body. This happened when Godfrey Lowe was 188 Fig. 34. F. C. BOWLES. GRAVE OF F C. BOWLES Fig. 35. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY in his last illness, and several days before Bowles's death the Trustees were being asked to " reserve their votes ! " William Hetling was born in 1773. His father, whose name also was William, lived at Bath, where (according to Mr. H. E. Hetling 1 ), " he pursued his adventurous and ruinous career of Surgeon, Distiller of Spirits, absconder to Gretna Green with an heiress for his wife, finishing up with a seizure of the Distillery ■by the Excise and a Company of Light Infantry, a bankruptcy, a flight to Paris, and most probably a bloody end during the orgies of the Revolution, for when that was over Mr. William Hetling appeared to be over too, for nothing more was heard of him." The heiress above referred to was a Miss Rishton, * whose guardian naturally intended her " for his son Tom." " She fell in love," says Richard Smith," with Mr. H., who was a dashing, handsome man. They agreed that he should wait at a famous pye-shopin Broad Street ; and here, having joined him, he popped her into a post-chaise and rattled off to Gretna Green ! " The Hetlings are of German extraction, and came to England in the train of the Georges from Hanover. The following table will make the relationship of William, the Infirmary Surgeon, to the present representative of the family in England, clear :— Dr. Ernest Von Hetling. \Yilliam=Miss Rishton. Miss Wickham--=Thomas. WHIiam=ANNE Brown. Anne=Rev. R. C. Ray. (Of Tetbury.) | W. E. Hetling=Ann Hewlett. Henry Ernest Hetling. William Hetling, the subject of this biography, was indentured to Joseph Metford as an indoor apprentice, for which his father paid three hundred guineas. He went to Guy's and St. Thomas's, and settled first at Chipping Sodbury. In December, 1794, he married Miss Anne Brown, daughter of Mr. Brown, ironmonger, of Bridge Street, Bristol. He came to this city about the year 1806, and resided at Colston Parade. He unsuccessfully applied for the vacancy on the death of the senior Surgeon, Mr. Godfrey Lowe, but was, as we have seen, elected the following year. A few months after Hetling's appointment there occurred one of the numerous difficulties about apprentices. 1 I am indebted to Mr. H. E. Hetling for many interesting particulars -which I have made use of in the above account. 2 Miss Rishton was descended from the Hungerfords of Farleigh Castle. 189 A HISTORY OF THE A young man named Adams had been admitted under the Surgeons as a pupil for one year, stating that he had already served four years' apprenticeship in Wales. It was found that this was incorrect, and that he had served for two years only. The rule was that every apprentice must serve for five years at least, and could only be entered at the Infirmary for the whole of that period or for its completion. He was therefore requested to pay the additional premium required. This he failed to do, and the Surgeons decided that his money should be refunded, and that he should not be admitted to the House. The premiums paid by pupils were divided equally amongst the Surgeons, and all but Hetling refunded their shares to Adams. A few days after this Richard Smith was about to operate on a stone case, when Hetling entered the room and said, " As a matter of right I introduce Mr. Adams as my apprentice." This was considered such an affront that " an altercation ensued," and Richard Smith, although a man of great nerve, and by no means easily upset, " judged it desirable to postpone the operation," feeling that it was not wise to undertake so delicate a manipulation in an agitated condition. This controversy was finally referred to Mr. Edmund Griffiths for a legal opinion. He decided that according to the rules of the Infirmary Adams should not have been introduced to the Operation Room. This dispute, although it appears trifling to us, was of importance, because it was one of the many which caused division amongst the Surgeons, and helped to bring about the exclusion of the Faculty from the Committee. Hetling's activities at the Infirmary as a lecturer are mentioned in other parts of this volume. He resigned on November 8th, 1837, after more than thirty years' service, and died on November nth of that year at his house in Royal York Crescent, Clifton, aged sixty-four years. An account of his last days, and his pathetic farewell to the Institution he was so attached to, will be found on p. 306. It will be gathered from various references to William Hetling in this history that he was a man of great determination and rather prone to quarrel. Mr. H. E. Hetling used, as a child, to spend much of his time at his grandfather's estate at Shiplake, and writes to me : " Everybody in the house sooner or later had to engage in battle with the old gentleman. . . . He was a man of strong and determined character, of great mental capacity, and of considerable reputation. He was established 190 WILLIAM HETLING. •Fig. 36. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY in practice before the College of Surgeons was chartered, and received from them a request to accept their diploma." Mr. Henry Alford * writes : — " Mr. Hetling was a slight, thin man, not very free or communicative with his pupils ; regular in his visits to the Infirmary, and he took a great deal of pains with his patients there. . . . He drove a close carriage and pair in his professional visits, but he sometimes walked to the Infirmary." (For portrait see Fig. 36.) RICHARD LOWE. Richard Lowe was elected Surgeon on July 9th, 1807, in Morgan Yeatman's place. He was the son of Godfrey Lowe, who was on the Staff for thirty-one years. He was educated under Mr. Charles Lee at the Free Grammar School, and was indentured to his father. He married a daughter of Mr. John Thomas, wine merchant, of the Barton, and lived in Queen Square. His abilities and skill as a surgeon soon procured him a good practice, and during the long tenure of his office on the Staff (nearly forty-three years) he became widely known as one of the leading medical men of the city. In spite of his partiality for strong green tea, which he used to drink very freely, he was a remarkably good operator, deliberate, steady, and free from nervousness. He was a tall, spare, muscular man, clean-shaven, with a determined expression. " He often wore breeches and top- boots, the latter beautifully made and well polished, with very light-coloured and well-made tops. In this dress he walked to see his patients and visited the Infirmary. He had very well-formed and tapering hands and feet, and was supposed to be rather proud of them." 2 He liked a good joke, was rather cynical in his remarks, and fond of talking gossip with his friend Richard Smith. In November, 1826, Richard Lowe presented a fine collection of books to the Infirmary, which, together with those given at the same time by Richard Smith, formed a valuable Medical and Surgical Library. He died on February 9th, 1850. HENRY DANIEL. Henry Daniel was elected Surgeon on Allard's resignation on September 27th, 1810 ; he was the first aspirant to the 1 Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Journal, September, 1890. 2 Henry Alford, supra cit. 191 A HISTORY OF THE coveted post of Surgeon to the Bristol Infirmary who could add to his name " M.R.C.S. of London." He was born on October 7th, 1783, in the Old Park, Bristol, and was educated under Mr. Simpson, of Keynsham, and then under the Revs. Thomas and John Eden, at Upper Easton, with whom " he read Horace, Vergil, and Martial, together with Xenophon and Homer." In January, 1800, he was made an " In-door Apprentice " to Mr. Humphrey Langley, at Wellington, in Somersetshire. The indentures were for four years, and he paid one hundred and eighty guineas. He became a pupil of Richard Smith in January, 1804 ; afterwards he studied under Abernethy and Thynne in London, and passed the Apothecaries' Hall in March, 1806. When he was elected on the Staff of the Infirmary in 1810, the senior Physician, Dr. Moncrieffe, had held office for thirty- four years, the senior Surgeon, Mr. Noble, for thirty-three, Mr. Johnes had been Chaplain for thirty-eight, Mr. Dyer Apothecary for twenty-one, Mrs. Simmons had been Matron for twenty, and Mr. Palmer Secretary for nineteen years. Henry Daniel married on October 8th, 1810, Cecilia, third •daughter of Mr. John James, of Lansoar, in Monmouthshire, and lived at 16 Queen Square. For some years he was in partnership with a surgeon named Frederick Granger ; their profits were not great, and the partnership was ultimately dissolved. He gradually obtained a very lucrative private practice, and lived in some style, keeping a good carriage and fine pair of horses. He is described by Mr. Alford as " a stout, good- looking, well dressed man ; rather loud and positive in express- ing his opinions and laying down the law." He belonged to the " depletory " school, bleeding freely, and prescribing lowering •drugs. He resigned his post at the Infirmary on July 6th, 1836, after nearly twenty-six years' service, and died on April 19th, 1859, aged seventy-five. He entered keenly into the social life of Bristol ; was President of the Dolphin Society in 1808, and was a notable Free- mason ; he was member of the Society of St. Stephen's Ringers, and devoted much of his leisure to botany and the cultivation of flowers and fruit, obtaining several prizes for exhibits at the " Bristol Royal Horticultural and Botanical Society." THOMAS SHUTE. Thomas Shute, who succeeded John Padmore Noble as Surgeon on July 9th, 1812, was the son of Thomas Shute, a 192 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY -well-known fox-hunting practitioner, who lived in Trinity Street and afterwards in a house at the lower end of Park Street, which was pulled down in 1824-5 to make room for four shops .. 1 have reproduced a photograph of a water-colour sketch of this house ' that my readers may see what a fashionable residence in Park Street early in the nineteenth century was like. Thomas Shute, jun., was born at Winterbourne, in Gloucestershire. . He was indentured to his father, and had a free admission to the lectures given by Messrs. Bowles and Smith in College Green in 1798. (See Chapter xxviii.) He then went to London, where he became an in-door pupil to Mr. Headington, of the London Hospital ; he also attended the lectures of Abernethy, Brooks, and Currie. .4.1. He began practice in 1805 at 5 Park Street ; he then lived at 61 Park Street, and in 1814 removed to 1 Unity Street, where Allard formerly resided. One of the great ambitions of his life was to be on tne Surgical Staff at the Bristol Infirmary, and he applied for the post on four different occasions. (See Appendix A.) He did not, however, enjoy this coveted distinction for long. It was noticed by his colleagues in the summer of 1816 that he was hardly equal to the strain of performing major operations ; and one day towards the end of August, after operating on a severe case, " he was, " writes Richard Smith, " in a dreadful state of exhaustion, the drops of sweat stood on his forehead, and his whole countenance looked ghastly." Other matters weighed heavily upon him. He had formed an attachment to a young lady who was formally engaged to someone else. She, however, persisted in a preference lor Shute, and they agreed to be married on September 7 th, 1810 The gentleman to whom she had been previously betrothed thereupon sent a friend to " arrange a meeting," but bhute refused on the grounds that he considered duelling unlawful in the eyes of God and man." A few days after receiving this challenge he suffered from a pain in his side ; he sent for a neighbouring apothecary, who bled him freely. The next day he was again bled until he fainted. - His friends insisted on his seeing a physician, and Dr. Nott was sent for. He found him very exhausted, and prescribed rest and the horizontal position. The next day, September 2nd, he felt better, disobeyed his doctor's instructions, sat up in bed, and died. There is little x No name is attached to this sketch, which was probably drawn by Richard Smith's brother Henry. (See Fig. 37-) . 2 Patients were sometimes ordered to be bled until ^ they J amte d. The prescription ran : Vena.sectio (or V.S.) ad deliqmum (or defectionem) animi. *93 13 A HISTORY OF THE doubt that the immediate cause of his death was syncope from excessive blood-letting. Richard Smith received on the morning of September 2nd a request from Shute that he would look after his work at the Infirmary. " I went therefore," he says, " to the House, and was seated at the Table with the admission notes, by the side of Dr. Prichard the Physician for the week, opposite to Mr. Swayne the Apothecary. — When we had about half done the business of the day Mr. Alfred Bleeck 1 came in and whispered to Mr. Swayne, who seemed a good deal shocked. After a short pause, I said to him : ' I am afraid you have received some unpleasant intelligence ' he replied — ' Shute is dead ! ' " This graphic picture of the Infirmary Admission Room in the year 1816 is supplemented in Richard Smith's Memoirs by the statement that, in spite of their keen sorrow at the loss of a loved and respected colleague, the thought occurred to each of the three (Prichard, Smith, and Swayne), " There is a vacancy," and as Swayne had a brother, Prichard a brother- in-law, and R. Smith a friend who were anxious to apply, " each dispatched a messenger and returned to his occupation. . . . Within an hour the city was filled with the bustle of a canvass." In those days it was truly said, " Men neglected their calling to make their election sure." Thomas Shute was a tall, loosely-made man, " with a ceremonious carriage. . . . His usual costume was a long, loose surtout, lined with silk, and a pair of over-alls, buttoned from his waist to his ankles. The moment he came into the Infirmary he hung up his hat, affixed a long towel to the upper button of his surtout, and in this fashion he went round the House." His hair was highly powdered, and he usually wore a pair of white gloves. He should always be remembered as the pioneer of systematic lectures to students, and the real founder of what was known as the Anatomical Theatre. (See Chapter xxviii.) NATHANIEL SMITH. Nathaniel Smith, who was elected as Shute's successor on September 19th, 1816, was born at Islington on March 31st, 1 Alfred Bleeck was a practitioner in Redcliff Parade and afterwards in Unity Street. He was a prominent man in his day, making a large income and leading a social, energetic life. Many of his letters are extant, several asking Richard Smith to " a glass of Punch " or to dinner. One, a regular " Tom and Jerry " letter, refers to glees and oysters, and ends, " The first libation should be to our next merry meeting ... I hope this may be continued for some years yet, for though, as ' prime of life boys ' we may be a little passe, I trust we shall still be found up to a thing or two." (See also p. 224.) 194 (til iiil IFT? FPT 77? TF? Trt Irrr rrr use THOMAS SIIUTE'S HOUSE IN PARK STREET. Fig. 3; NATHANIEL SMITH Fig. 38. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY 1782. He received his schooling under the Rev. Mr. Croles at Islington, and the Rev. Mr. Eyres at Hackney. His family came to Bristol in 1796, and Nathaniel then " read Homer, Vergil, and Horace with Mr. Griffiths, as a private pupil." He was indentured in 1799 to F. C. Bowles, and when that gentleman left England for his health, to Richard Smith, in 1803. He practised at Horfield Road and afterwards in Queen Square, and became well known and busy, doing a large amount of midwifery. l In November, 1809, he married a daughter of Joseph Hall, of Mary-le-Port Street. Vaccination for small-pox, discovered by Edward Jenner in 1780, had become general at the time of Nathaniel Smith's election to the Infirmary. There was then no public Vaccina- tion Institute (one was founded in Bristol in 1838), and the need of this protective measure was urgently felt. Nathaniel Smith realised this, and had printed on his Out-patient cards, " Vaccination every Tuesday at half-past Twelve." 2 After a long career at the Infirmary he resigned in August, 1844, and some years afterwards went to live at Weston-super- Mare, where he continued to practise as an operating surgeon. He was a remarkably good, steady, and neat operator, and retained his skill to a great age. He died December 20th, 1869, aged eighty-seven years. He was a short, active, bright little man, with polite, polished manners and pleasant conversation. His neatness of dress and person were very noticeable ; he was " natty " both by name and nature. (For portrait see Fig. 38.) Although he had a fairly lucrative practice, he was unbusiness-like and careless in money matters, and in consequence was occasionally in such need of ready cash that he was unable to pay his coachman, who sued him, cheerfully drove him down to the police court in his stylish carriage, and took him back again when the affair was amicably settled ! I am informed by an old patient of his that he seldom sent in his accounts for professional attendance ; appeals were un- availing, and " you had to send him a cheque from time to time, guessing what you owed." 1 His name is in the notices of the " Bristol Medical and Surgical School," at 5 King Square, as Lecturer on Midwifery in 1829. 2 Inoculation with small-pox, which preceded vaccination, was carried on in Bristol by the surgeons and apothecaries, usually for a fee of half a guinea. A Mr. John Lancaster advertised in 1775 that he inoculated at Stoke's Croft for this charge. 195 CHAPTER XVI HISTORY CONTINUED — FINANCIAL POSITION — BLEEDING AND LEECHING — THE PHYSICIANS — UNRULY PUPILS — THE APOTHE- CARY — PIGS — CONDITION OF ROADS — PURCHASE OF LAND — RESIDENCE OF SURGICAL STAFF — NURSES — LIGHTING BY GAS — COLLEGE OF SURGEONS — DISSECTION OF BODIES — THE ANATOMY ACT It was realised that when the new wings were open the ordinary annual income would be inadequate to support the increased number of beds, and a large Committee was appointed on June 3rd, 1813, to make " personal application " to non- subscribers. The result of this appeal, and of the Musical Festival, etc. (see pp. 161, 162), was so encouraging, that in the spring of 1815 the House Committee were able to publish a satisfactory balance sheet, the income from all sources being £8,000, and the expenses £6,000. During the next few years, however, the subscriptions fell below the average, and the decrease unfortunately went on, and by the end of 1826 the Institution was in the following condition : The number of In-patients had increased from 1,380 in 1816 to 1,662 in 1826, the Out-patients had increased by 1,334 I provisions cost £343 more per annum than in 1816, and other expenses had increased pari passu ; in 1816 there were 1,301 subscribers, in 1826 only 972, a decrease representing a loss of £841 is. Here, as in other instances, the condition of England was reflected in the Infirmary balance sheet. The disbanding of a large army after Waterloo, the outcry of employes against machinery, and the general labour unrest, produced the Cato Street Conspiracy and the riots at Man- chester ; and in 1825-6, owing to the breaking of " bubble " companies, hundreds of banks stopped payment. The Committee realised that their Institution was bound to suffer from the depression of trade ; in spite of the melancholy tone of the Annual Reports, they kept up a good heart, and the internal life of the House went on vigorously. Three notable men, James Cowles Prichard, Henry Hawes Fox, and Nathaniel Smith, were elected on the Staff in 1816, the same year that William Swayne was made Apothecary ; 196 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY and no change occurred in the Faculty, honorary or resident, for eleven years after this. The reputation of the Infirmary grew rapidly, and this period, although financially gloomy, was fruitful in medical and surgical work. Mr. Henry Alford, who was a student at the House from 1822 to 1828, has left some interesting reminiscences of those days. 1 He was one of the resident apprentices or " House pupils," and describes the different treatment prescribed for patients by the " anti-phlogistic " Drs. Carrick and Prichard, the very dissimilar " feeding " plan of Drs. Stock and H. H. Fox ; the peculiarities of the jovial Dick Smith and of his friend, the brilliant operator, Richard Lowe ; the painstaking William Hetling, the assertive Henry Daniel, and the neat-handed " Nat " Smith. What the patients thought of the Physicians may be seen by the doggerel verses in Appendix B, "The Prichards." Of the bleeding practised in those days the following memorandum bears witness : — " Patients bled by Mr. Seagram 2 on Monday, July nth, 1831 :— 10 In-patients. 36 Out-patients. 1 Cupping note." Although there was only one Resident Medical Officer (the Apothecary) , his three apprentices and the pupils serving under the Surgeons (of whom there were sixteen in the year 1818) carried out a great deal of the routine work of the House, and when not quarrelling or getting into mischief were very useful. (See p. 51.) The Physicians, too, were beginning to surreptitiously introduce pupils, and in the code of Rules for 1824 it was proposed that each should be allowed to have three under his care. This was negatived ; but the matter came up for discussion in 1829, and on December 10th of that year Richard Smith, jun., wrote a long letter to the Treasurer, J. S. Harford, and to the members of the " Conciliation Com- mittee," stating his arguments for and against (chiefly against) the Physicians having pupils. He lays stress on the " excite- ment of numbers," and thinks disturbances and battles would take place when the Physicians' and Surgeons' pupils " crossed each other's line of march " in the passages ! He was partly 1 " The Bristol Infirmary in my Student Days," by Henry Alford, F.R.C.S.. in the Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Journal, September, 1890. 2 William Lye Seagram was born at Warminster (where his father and grandfather practised surgery) in 1814. He was therefore only seventeen years of age when he bled in one day forty-six patients ! 197 A HISTORY OF THE justified in his opinion of these " young dogs," for we read in the Committee Book of a " general disposition to turbulence and noise " in 1817 ; in 182 1 an Infirmary pupil was " committed to Bridewell ; " and on May 5th, 1824, there is an entry in the Minute Book that certain of the Surgeons' apprentices denied " that they threw lighted tow from the Shop into Earl Street." Again, on December 2nd, as the Secretary (Mr. Samuel Johnson) was entering the Infirmary by the Porter's Lodge, Richard Godfrey Lowe, son of Richard Lowe, and one of the Surgeons' apprentices, was standing at the door. He held a gun in his hand, " which he presented within two yards of the Secretary's face and snapped the lock. The Secretary thought the gun was unloaded, but in a few seconds it was fired in the air." Johnson complained to the Committee, and " an order was made to prevent a repetition of it." Apparently the apprentice did not approve of the Secretary's complaint, and two days afterwards, when he met him outside the buildings, " addressed him in the following words more than once : ' You are a little nasty sneaking blackguard liar ; and if you tell any more lies about me, I will give you a good thrashing.' " R. G. Lowe excused himself on the grounds that as these supposed offences occurred outside the House, the Committee had no jurisdiction in the matter ; but as other trifling peccadillos were laid to his charge, such as breaking windows, tearing down wire-guards, smoking and drinking beer on the roof, etc., for these offences he was admonished and finally excluded from the Infirmary for one month. The Apothecary's work must have been very heavy, for besides his other business, he frequently, according to Richard Smith, saw all the Medical Out-patients for the Physicians. He, however, makes an honourable exception in the case of Dr. Prichard and Dr. Carrick, who, he says, were very regular in their attendance in the Out-patient Room. The Apothecary's duties were chiefly with the Physicians. He went round the medical wards every morning, accompanied by his two senior pupils and by some of the Surgeons' pupils. It was also his duty to attend the Physicians, both in their visits to the wards and when they saw Out-patients, and he wrote down their prescriptions for them. If he were called away to see an emergency, one of his pupils took his place. Bleeding and other forms of "anti-phlogistic" treatment were vigorously carried out, and formed a large item in the day's routine. Mr. Henry Alford, whose account of those days has been quoted more than once, fell ill when he was a resident 198 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY pupil (about the year 1822-3) with some kind of " continued fever " (possibly typhoid). He was seen by Dr. J. C. Pri chard, who ordered him to be bled to twenty ounces (one pint) in the afternoon ; the same evening to have twenty leeches on his temples, and the following morning to have ten grains of calomel in one dose ! Leeches were in constant use. As late as 1833, when the Out-patient Department was built, and there was a re-arrange- ment of the interior of the House, two rooms were set apart for " leeching ; " and in the Minute Book of the House Committee we find the entry (September nth, 1833) : " Zaccheus Hunter for Leeches £yg 6s. 6d." We have spoken before of the over-crowding, and the habit of putting two patients into one bed. The Committee wisely made many attempts to stop this. In January, 1841, there is a protest entered in the Minute Book against this practice, but this did not stop it. The general surroundings still left much to be desired. It will probably surprise even those who know something about the condition of hospitals early in the nineteenth century to learn that up to the year 1833 pigs were kept on the Infirmary premises ! The Committee not only brewed the patients' beer and baked their bread, but they also cured their bacon. The following curious entry is taken from the Minute Book of the House Committee for September nth, 1833 : — " Resolved, that it being considered that the maintenance and propagation of Swine is not advantageous to the interests of the Institution, the grains and wash shall in future be sold and a supply of Pigs thereby rendered unnecessary." The rough cobbles on the adjoining roads must have made traffic very noisy, and somewhat distressing to sick patients. In 1824 this was apparently recognised, for we find the following Minute in the House Committee Book (under date March 10th, 1824) :— " Ordered, that the Secretary endeavour to obtain the majority of the inhabitants of Marlbro' Street and Lower Maudlin Lane to join in a request to the Paving Commissioners to have the Street in front and on the West Side of the Infirmary steined instead of pitched." * This was ultimately done. Many poor and disreputable houses still surrounded the Infirmary, especially on the north-west side, where " Bull Lane " ran. There was a courtyard at the back where convalescent patients occasionally took a little exercise and air. Further 1 " Stein (Provincial), to mend with stones as a road." — Lloyd's Encyclo- pedic Dictionary. " Pitch, to pave roughly." — Ibid. 199 A HISTORY OF THE back was the narrow Earl Street, and beyond that were gardens and respectable houses. The two pictures here reproduced, taken by permission from the Braikenridge Collection at the Bristol Museum, give a good idea of some of the surrounding houses in the year 1826. (See Figs. 39 and 40.) It was recognised that it would be a great advantage to the health of the patients to have some of this ground at the rear of the building ; and on January 29th, 1824, William Fripp, the Treasurer, reported to the Trustees that he had engaged to pay Messrs. Dighton and Richards £3,700 for some freehold premises situated behind the Infirmary, " comprising two Sugar houses, a dwelling house and other Buildings, with the Gardens attached thereto." Mr. Fripp was " respectfully requested to complete his contract," and part of this land became the property of the Infirmary in December, 1826. The year before this Earl Street was closed, and a new road was made through Whitson Court premises. During these alterations " two parcels of land " were bought of Mr. Millard and Mr. Green, and when the houses were cleared away an open space was made at the back of the Infirmary, which was after- wards converted into a pleasant garden, useful for many purposes. In 1818 a gallery was made round the Operation Room for the use of students and other spectators. The steps of various operations were sometimes explained to the pupils, but there was very little real clinical teaching except in the form of lectures. Bristol was in those days not only a place of business houses and shops, but also a place of residence for most of the well-to-do merchants and professional men, who had not migrated yet in large numbers to Clifton and the neighbouring village of Redland, which were separated from the city by green fields and lanes. The Physicians and Surgeons were within easy call in case of emergency ; and when William Hetling left Orchard Street and went to live at Clifton, it was thought by many of the Staff that difficulties might arise, and the question was hotly discussed. It will be gathered from what I have said of Mr. Hetling that he was not easily moved by any criticism on his actions, and he refused to consider any representations from his colleagues on this question of his residence. The matter was referred to the Committee, and by that body to the General Board. The Trustees decided (May 1st, 1823) that " the interests of the 200 Fig 39. Fig. 40. SURROUNDINGS OF INFIRMARY, 1826 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Charity were not likely to suffer by the removal of Mr. Hetling to Clifton." It is still the rule that Infirmary Surgeons shall not reside more than two miles from the Institution, a regulation which was of real importance before the days of telephones and motors, when a messenger had to go round to several houses in case of consultations, and there was always a certain amount of delay. It may be here stated that from the foundation of the Bristol Infirmary it has been a point of honour with the Surgical Staff to leave any business or patient, however important, to obey an urgent summons to the " House." This, and punctuality at operations, have always been two wholesome traditions which have been scrupulously kept so far, to the great saving of suffering and preservation of life. It need hardly be said that no questions have ever been asked as to a patient's moral character before admission, and it has sometimes happened that troublesome individuals have given offence and behaved badly in the wards. This point seems to have much exercised the mind of Mr. J. Hall, of Mary-le-Port Street, an annual subscriber, who was rather famous in the early part of the nineteenth century for the number of people whom he recommended as patients, amounting in one year to one hundred and seventy-five. This gentleman actually made a proposal " that all women of dubious character should wear a yellow cap " in the wards ! The historian who records this quotes Lady Mary Wortley Montague's remark to Pope, " Most women have no character at all," and wonders how many yellow caps would be required if the suggestion came into force ! At this time, before Dickens ridiculed in the person of " Mrs Gamp " the failings of the old-fashioned nurse, medical men were beginning to ask the question whether the stamp of the hospital nurse could be improved. The Infirmary Staff were evidently not satisfied on this point, and on November 28th, 1827, Dr. Carrick, the senior Physician, wrote on behalf of the Faculty a long letter to the Committee, making sugges- tions as to the improvement of the quality of women employed as nurses. Alterations in their sleeping rooms, relegation of rough house work to servant maids, greater attention to cleanliness, etc., were recommended. The hygienic condition of the wards and methods of ventilation were also discussed, and the Committee, acting upon this letter, did what they could in the matter. A HISTORY OF THE The wards at this time, and for many years after, had no light at night but candles. Gas lighting, which came into use in one or two large manufactories, etc., at the beginning of the nineteenth century, was established in Bristol in 1817, but was not employed at the Infirmary for some years after this. I find, under date May 14th, 1828, that a letter was read " from Mr. R. Smith on behalf of himself and the other surgeons stating that the Gas light had gone out twice lately during operations." At the next Committee Meeting Mr. Luscombe attended " on behalf of the Oil Gas Company," and proposed certain alterations. This Oil Gas Company was started in 1824 in opposition to the Bristol Coal Gas Company. They amalgamated in i853. It was not until 1841 that gas was introduced into the Dispensary, etc., at the Infirmary. Water was pumped up to a large cistern at the top of the House. From a statement in the Committee Book in October, 1828, we find that 25,124 imperial gallons were pumped up weekly. The Innys Fund was frequently used at this time to relieve patients leaving the Infirmary, especially incurables, and those who had a long distance to travel, coach journeys being expensive things. For example, on June 18th, 1828, two such patients were given sums of money when they left, one, who had been a nurse, £4, and the other, a male patient, £2. Two important points in medical education were now agitating the minds of medical men and medical students. The old " Corporation of Surgeons," which was established in 1745, had been dissolved, and the Royal College of Surgeons was founded by George III. in 1800. It examined, granted diplomas, and instituted lectures. It had, moreover, a magnificent museum, made chiefly by John Hunter, and a large library. In the early years of the nineteenth century the annual expenses for this museum amounted to nearly £2,000. The Council, however, who managed the affairs of the College were not fairly representative of the profession, and its laws were exclusive and narrow. Everything, in fact, was in favour of the London student, and the provinces were ignored. The museum, for instance, was only open for four hours on two days in each week, and this only for four months in the year ; the library was closed to members altogether ; and large provincial hospitals were not recognised as places of instruction. 202 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY A meeting of members of the College was held at Reeves's Hotel, Bristol, on February 8th, 1827, and a petition drawn up expressing the feelings of the profession about these grievances. The Infirmary Surgeons, especially Henry Daniel, took an active part in organising this petition, which was entrusted to the members for Bristol, Richard Hart-Davis and Henry Bright, and brought before Parliament. Owing to this and other petitions from the provinces, the Charter of the College was altered, and the Bristol Infirmary was recognised as a place where students could learn their surgery ; but according to a by-law it was necessary for them to attend twice as long at provincial institutions as at London, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, or Aberdeen, so great was the glamour which then surrounded the Metropolitan schools, as indeed it does now. Another important point was the question of dissection, and the procuring of legitimate means for carrying this out. Hitherto the science of anatomy had been learnt by the student from books alone, or by surreptitious dissection on the bodies of those who had died in hospitals, whenever the authorities could be hood-winked, for any interference with the dead was sternly condemned. In March, 1795, Sir John Frederick brought a Bill into the House of Commons for making the removal of bodies from graves for anatomical purposes a felony. F. C. Bowles, in the same year, wrote an able pamphlet entitled, " Thoughts on the Practice of Carrying off Bodies from Church Yards, etc., for Dissection," 1 in which he vindicated " body-snatching " as a necessary evil. He says : " The safety of the public health should not be sacrificed to the weakness of our feelings ; " and he draws a comparison between the laws which regulated the teaching of anatomy on the Continent and in England. He and a friend actually stood at the doors of the House of Commons when this Bill was to be discussed, and distributed a copy of his pamphlet to each member as he went in. Dr. J. C. Letsom also had a man at the doors distributing a pamphlet to the same effect. The Bill was rejected. Bowles was at this time a poor man, and the expense he went to in the matter bears strong testimony to his scientific ardour. Occasionally an executed criminal could be obtained for anatomical purposes ; or " body-snatchers " could be employed — men of the type of that " honest tradesman," Jeremiah Cruncher, who took such an interest in funerals, " and made a short call upon his medical adviser — a distinguished surgeon — 1 Printed for J. Johnson, St. Paul's Churchyard. 203 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY on his way back." 1 The trading in bodies reached a dreadful climax in the murders by Burke, who was executed at Edinburgh in January, 1829. The difficulty of teaching anatomy under these circumstances led more than two hundred medical men and students of medicine in Bristol and its neighbourhood to petition Parlia- ment to remove this evil by legislation. They pointed out that a knowledge of the structure of the human body — which could only be obtained by dissection — was the basis of medicine and surgery ; that such a knowledge was required by all the examining boards ; and that medical students were punished for the want of that information which they could not acquire without a violation of the law. This petition, which was signed by nearly all the Infirmary Staff, was presented in 1828 to the House of Lords by the Duke of Beaufort, and to the House of Commons by the members for Bristol, Messrs. Hart-Davis and Henry Bright, and had, no doubt, great influence in bringing about the Anatomy Act of 1832. 2 By this Act the body of a deceased person might be dissected, subject to the assent of its lawful custodians (or in the absence of any objection on their part), and the anomaly of expecting medical men to know anatomy and at the same time preventing them from learning it was done away with. 3 So many Infirmary Physicians, Surgeons, and students took part in " body-snatching," that the next chapter will be devoted to the subject. 1 See The Tale of Two Cities. Dickens's description of the methods of the body-snatchers is true to life. 2 2 & 3 William IV., c. 75, August, 1832. 3 The first " subject " given to the students under the Act was on March 24th, 1833. 204 CHAPTER XVII BODY-SNATCHING IN BRISTOL — ABRAHAM LUDLOW AND " LONG JACK " — F. C. BOWLES AND HIS DEMONSTRATIONS — STORY OF THE NEGRO'S HEAD — WALLIS AND RILEY — ESTLIN, HARRISON, AND WALDO — LAURENCE STERNE — THE CASE OF JOHN HORWOOD — THE OLD NEWGATE PRISON — SPURZHEIM In this chapter an account of " body-snatching " in Bristol in the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries will be given. The information is obtained from old newspapers, notes left by Richard Smith, etc. Many of the details are gruesome, but there are two aspects of the picture, and it must be remembered that many of those implicated were actuated by a sincere desire to further the interests of their profession, and faced obloquy and danger with a great deal of pluck and fortitude. One of the earliest newspaper references to the practice is in The Bristol Oracle for July 2nd, 1743. It is as follows : " On Monday last an odd affair happened in the Parish of St. James's. A Coachman's wife, who died in the Infirmary, was buried from thence in the usual manner at the Prayer Hours, but the husband, who either could not or did not attend timely, according to his intentions to do her the last offices, coming to the Infirmary after the Ceremony was over, took it into his head that 'twas a sham funeral and that his wife was not actually buried, upon which he demanded the coffin to be uncovered and taken up for further satisfaction, which being done he was soon convinced that his suspicions were groundless." This episode shows the alarm which naturally existed in the minds of the poorer people that their deceased relatives might be dissected. The Infirmary Surgeons were at this time occasionally doing a little practical anatomy in the " dead- hole ; " and three years later, in 1746, John Page and James Ford gave a course of lectures at the Surgeons' Hall. (See Chapter xxviii., on " Medical Teaching in Bristol.") About the year 1760 Godfrey Lowe (elected Surgeon in 1775) commenced a series of Anatomical Lectures and Demonstrations, illustrated by dissections. " His subjects were sent to him from London by the Waggon — and one package being by accident left at a tradesman's, and being mistaken for Goods, was opened 205 A HISTORY OF THE by him, and made a great clamour at the time " — which one can very well believe ! A few years before this (1750) a notorious vagabond, generally known by the name of " Long Jack," destroyed himself by cutting his throat. There was an inquest, and a verdict of felo-de-se was brought in. In those days (and until the year 1823) suicides were buried at cross roads, and usually a stake was driven through their chests. In accordance with this custom " Long Jack " was buried " at the Cross Roads leading to Kingswood." Abraham Ludlow, a Bristol surgeon, together with his son, l and John Page, an apothecary (a relative of the surgeon of that name), decided to remove the body, and set out one night, accompanied by a serving man, " leading a horse with the resurrection implements." They succeeded in digging up the body, placed it in a sack, and fastened this on the horse's back. When they got back to Castle Gate, a however, it was so late that the main entrance was closed for the night, and nothing could go through without leave of the porter. They therefore attempted to get the horse and his burden through the side door, which was only intended for foot passengers, and in making the attempt " the body fell to the ground, and the porter, hearing a noise, came with his lantern and was not a little alarmed to see the legs of a man at the mouth of the sack. He was, however, persuaded to hold his tongue, and the cavalcade reached Mr. Ludlow's house in safety. The body was placed upon a table in the back parlour, and the parties retired to rest themselves after their labours." Unfortunately they forgot to lock the door, and when the servant maid came into the room in the morning, she was horrified to see the body of " Long Jack," whom she knew very well by sight, lying on the table with his throat cut. She ran, screaming, into the road. Some passers-by were alarmed by her cries before she could be pacified, and the news soon spread that there was a " body " in the house which had been " resurrected." The Ludlows thought it prudent to carry the body back again the next night, and bury it at the cross roads ; and it was fortunate for them that they did so, for the day after a number of men went to see if Jack's corpse was in its grave, vowing vengeance if they did not find it. A few strokes of the pick-axe relieved their doubts, and the Ludlows heard nothing more of the matter. The Infirmary authorities must have had a difficult task in 1 Abraham Ludlow, jun., elected Surgeon to the Infirmary in 1767. 2 The old Castle Gate was removed in 1766. 206 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY managing these affairs, siding with the natural outcry of the public, and at the same time protecting the Surgeons and pupils. We find, for example, that " on the 29th of March, 1769, a complaint was made against the whole body of students for removing a corpse from the coffin and substituting for burial a quantity of sand and wool." It is stated that when this was investigated, the young men " proved refractory," and were allowed " a week to consider of their conduct." There is no mention of this subsequently, so we may surmise that the culprits were repentant. There is, however, an order entered in the books " that the key of the dead-house be always in the custody of the Apothecary." The same difficulty frequently occurred at St. Peter's Hospital, that is, the medical men attached to the Hospital examined the bodies of those who died in the House, and probably used them sometimes for anatomical purposes. In 1770 we read of complaints being made against the Surgeons for opening the bodies of paupers, and this led to the passing of a rule " that no dead body should be opened in the Hospital without leave of the Governor or Deputy Governor." This was keenly resented by the Physicians and Surgeons connected with St. Peter's, who one and all refused attendance until this rule was rescinded, so much importance did they attach to post- mortem examinations. The rule was then altered to read : " No Surgeon of this Hospital shall open the body of any patient dying in this House without his first acquainting the Master with his design," the Master (or " Governor ") in such cases to consult the patient's friends, etc. Mr. Henry Cruger (afterwards Member of Parliament for Bristol) endeavoured to get this rule abolished, but failed. Finally, however, the regulation was made that the body of any patient who had died in the House might be opened by one of the Surgeons in the presence of a Physician or of another Surgeon. On January 27th, 1806, a complaint was made by letter to Mr. Edward Ash, the Treasurer of the Infirmary, that the bodies of those who died at the Institution were frequently mutilated, " the nurses through bribery leaving the coffins unclosed." Also of the removal of a corpse from the burial- ground " to Mr. Smith's Coach House in Park Row." Mr. Lawrence, apprentice to Mr. Richard Smith, and Mr. Hawkins, apprentice to the Apothecary, also the " Apothecary's shopman, alias Laboratory man," were implicated in this affair. Mr. Ash wrote to the Surgeons asking their opinion as to the 207 A HISTORY OF THE best way of preventing the occurrence of such causes for complaints. Richard Smith, on behalf of the Surgical Staff, sent a reply, deprecating any definite rule on the subject. He writes that " the Surgeons were fully satisfied with the propriety of restraint in that particular," etc. ; his letter was, in fact, admirably suited to such an occasion, when a man has to imitate Bunyan's " Mr. Facing-both-ways." Attempts, successful and otherwise, on the Infirmary burial- ground were not uncommon, and continued until the Anatomy Act came into force. Thus we find in the House Committee Book under date March 31st, 1824, that a Sub-Committee was appointed to draw up suggestions for making " the Burial Ground more secure against depradations." The Sub- Committee suggested " raising the South Wall," and extending the cheval de frise, etc., precautions which only whetted the ardour of the night robbers by adding a few not insuperable •difficulties. Mr. Henry Alford states x that on one occasion some students decided to take up the body of a patient from this ground. "' They met at night at the Burying-Ground, but could not agree to act together. Some altercation arose, which gave an alarm and put an end to the attempt to get the body ; but not to the hostile feelings of the two parties, which had to be appeased by some sort of pugilistic encounter some days after." On an old, stained, and much disfigured piece of paper, entitled " Infirmary Memoranda " (possibly written by Mr. Borlase), is the following entry, under date June 1st, 1780 : " Assisted by an Infirmary patient, dug up a child with a remarkably large Hydrocephalus from St. James's Churchyard." Francis Cheyne Bowles, whose insatiable thirst for knowledge of all kinds I have before mentioned, worked with the greatest zeal at anatomy. The following account by Richard Smith, jun., will be read with mixed feelings of admiration for the keen pursuit of knowledge under difficult circumstances, and condemnation for what appears like irreverence for the dead : " During all this time Mr. Bowles continued to give to the students at the Infirmary anatomical instruction gratuitously. We [for the writer was one] played the part of Resurrection Men and procured Subjects in succession. In doing this we more than once got ourselves into awkward scrapes, and one night Mr. Robert Lax 2 and the writer narrowly escaped being shot by 1 Bristol Medico-Chirnvgical Journal, September, 1890, p. 191. * A much-esteemed practitioner, who lived in Queen Square, and after- wards in Park Street, Bristol. He applied for the Surgeoncy at the Infirmary •on the death of F. C. Bowles. He died April 4th, 1832. 20S BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY some soldiers occupying a Hospital which commanded the Infirmary burial-ground in Johnny Ball Lane. " More than once, too, we substituted old sacks filled with Tubbish, and — horresco referens ! — these were buried in due form. ' Use makes mastery,' and we had reduced this to so regular a system that we practised it two years without suspicion. We procured a key of the dead-house, and provided ourselves with turn-screws, hammers, wrenching iron, nails, and everything likely to be wanted. The nurses and undertaker were allowed to take the ordinary course of laying out the subjects and securing the coffins. Funerals were generally ordered for five o'clock and whilst the family were at dinner we stole into the dead-house, removed anything we wanted, and then made all fast in the same order as before." As Bowles was at this time unconnected with the Infirmary, and was looked upon by the Surgeons with some jealousy, he had to be privately smuggled into the dead-house. In this miserable place, a mere underground " coal hole lighted by a foot square iron grating," these ardent anatomists spent hours of their days and nights learning the structure of the human "body. It is the fashion in some quarters to speak of the " old surgeons " of a hundred years ago as if their knowledge was empirical, and altogether unscientific. This is a great mistake. They not only had a practical knowledge of anatomy (as their dissections and drawings show) that many a modern surgeon might envy, but as rapidity and nerve were more essential in those days than now, they were generally remarkably clever with their hands. And they were enthusiasts ; anything like a good dissection or specimen was a source of keen pleasure to them. The following curious story is related by Richard Smith : — John Danvers, then a pupil at the Infirmary (about 1790) had, with Richard Smith's help, " removed the head of a negro from the dead-house, for a demonstration of the brain which Mr. F. C. Bowles had promised us. As we walked together towards his lodgings, turning the right corner at the end of High Street, his (Danvers') elbow struck the rails, and the head fell from under his arm, and escaped from a pocket-handkerchief in which it had been negligently wrapped. " It being very dark, we were unable to find it, and we were fearful of using a light, lest we should be joined in the search, and thus the matter be known. We therefore determined to leave the place under the presumption that it would not be possible for anyone to ascertain whence the head came. Under 209 14 A HISTORY OF THE repression we went to his rooms to quiet our alarms with a g ss ; : brandy and water, his usual catholicon. " It then, however, occurred to us that enquiry would be made at the Infirmary, and thus ' the murder would out.' We therefore returned to the spot, but the Watch being set. we i that we should be observed. At length we hit upon a plan, which was to walk slowly arm in arm in a straight line, as 7 i ssibk backwards and forwards until we should have rsed the whole space thereabout, pretending that we were merely walking and conversing for amusement. After more than an hour's trial, Danvers struck his foot against some impediment, and stooping down fortunately discovered the object of our search, which had rolled down a great part of the slope, and was a considerable distance from the spot where the accident happened." Some of the stories of this practice are very miserable, re and there with a curious leaven of intentional or unintentional humour. For example, on November 18th, 1S12, a child's body was stolen from Bedminster Churchyard. On June 4th, 18 13, the child's aunt was irtt I in the same grave, and the theft discovered. In a printed leaflet, sold at the time, is the foHowm rdinary statement : " The sexton opened s roundabout to see if peradventure the child had gone into any other ! " In October, 1S10, a body was " snatched " from St. Augustine's Churchyard. " On the same evening two men, ::. : whom had a sack on his back, were observed entering the door of a dissecting-room in Lower College Street, which is s ted ver the shop of a Green-grocer." The entrance to the shop and to the room above was by a common door. The woman who kept the shop told this piece of news to her neighbours, and a crowd soon collected, amongst which happened to be a man who had lately buried his wife in St. Augustine's Churchyard. He at once went to the burial- ground, and found the grave had been opened. He hastened back, got a ladder, and mounted to the dissecting-room window. He got in, and saw under one of the benches a sack containing the body of his wife. Several of the man's friends followed him, and effected an entrance, " and a sharp contest ensued, but ultimately the corpse was carried off by the right owner. The Physician was pursued from the scene of action by the mob, and narrowly escaped with his life." This " Physician " was supposed by some to be Mr. Thomas Earl, of 5 Lower College Street, but he wrote to the papers indignantly denying the charge. 210 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY A reward of fifty guineas was offered for the apprehension, of the criminals. h of Sl AUGUSTINE I 1 :E faFEMALE. preceding Morning-, ^vas TAKEJi LP aad LEX therefrom by :zx5:::c ;f - r . - - deleaved system of robber There —ere ..: r er s:zi e ■■.::- : ::.:5 Letters by : \\ \ reihsed '..-: ::zt.'. nee-- ::r f :„ L— .-..:. :. in the matter ::' -- ni.>e:r:n. ::.: ;.;:iph5 in the Fres.s — ere fuerrns _ ne : ::-.-.r.t-t:r. T .vh: sirr.ee. '- : ~sei: My Srincriither = .. :: : A HISTORY OF THE " that the body of every surgeon should from the moment of his entering the Profession become public property," and after his decease should be handed over for dissection ; that as this would only provide male bodies, his wife and children should come under the same law ! " The matter is also referred to in some doggerel verses in The Bristol Mirror Newsman's Address for 1819. On February 2nd, 1828, two grave robbers were caught in Brislington Churchyard by Mr. R. Gough and others. T hey do not seem to have made much resistance, seeing probably that it was useless. Their tools, according to the newspaper account, consisted of " a shovel, a sack and a powerful turn-screw upon a novel construction, a packing needle and a coil of rope." These two men were no other than Dr. Wallis, founder of a noted Anatomical School in Bristol, and Dr. Riley, also a great anatomist. Both subsequently became Physicians to the Infirmary. They were brought before Mr. Councillor Thomas Hassell, who fined them six pounds, which was immediately paid. " The parties then bowed very respectfully to the worthy magistrate, and wishing his worship a good day, left the house." There is reason to believe that Mr. Hassell did not consider their offence a very heinous one, for he proposed Dr. Wallis at his election to the post of Physician to the Infirmary on February 21st, 1828, less than three weeks after he had fined him. These two doctors were unfortunate in being caught ; but frequently the resurrection men had to beat a hasty retreat, leaving their apparatus, etc., behind them. On one occasion (October 21st, 1821) a body was stolen from Westbury Church- yard, and the culprits left a " green painted Gig " behind them. Whether this led to their apprehension does not appear. A somewhat more serious affair took place at Bedminster Churchyard on " Friday night about 12 o'clock," November 1st, 1822, when six persons were discovered by some constables attempting to remove a dead body. Five of these were captured after a severe tussle, in which " there were pistols snapped and rapiers drawn, bloody noses and broken heads." These unfortunate medicos were committed by Mr. Lewis, of Ashton, to the Somerset Quarter Sessions, held at Wells. Much legal argument was used, but in this, as in other similar cases, it was evidently felt that severe measures were out of the question. The Court took time to consider the punishment, " the defendants being bound over in sureties of £100 each to come up for judgment," and this apparently ended the matter. 212 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY The newspaper accounts of these affairs were frequently jocular. On this occasion the body-snatchers are referred to as " death-dealing rogues ; " and when Yates, one of the constables, hit one of the robbers in the face with the butt-end of a pistol, it is remarked that he did this " to dissect his nose ! " The grave-diggers made money out of both parties, they received bribes, helped sometimes in removing the body, and occasionally sided with the authorities. In the Committee Minute Book we find an entry under date November 27th, 1822: "The Grave Diggers attended and lodged a complaint against Mr. Mais, a pupil of Mr. Hetling's for trespass in the Burial Ground ; " and on December nth, 1822, " Mr. Mais was called in and reprimanded for his mis- conduct in offering money to a Grave Digger for filling up a grave in the Burial Ground " {i.e. filling it up after the coffin had been opened and the body taken). Imagination can fill in the details of this picture : the Committee sitting on benches in a room lit by only one burner of " oil gas " (they met in the evening then), interviewing the clay-soiled grave-diggers, and young Mais receiving a stately reprimand. The indignation caused by these robberies of the dead may easily be conceived. A certain John McDonald, for instance, writing to the Bristol Mirror (February 16th, 1832), states that his sister, who had been buried in St. Philip's Churchyard, was found " packed in a frail or basket," the attempted removal having been interrupted, and that his father's body had been stolen from its grave. Amongst the more noted of the Bristol medical resurrec- tionists of the early part of the nineteenth century, besides Drs. Wallis and Riley, may be mentioned Edward Richmond Estlin, x John Harrison, afterwards Surgeon to the Infirmary, and Edward Waldo. s A note in the old Infirmary Memoirs gives the record of these three gentlemen as follows : — Mr. Estlin took up 30 " subjects." Mr. Harrison ,, ,,20 Mr. Waldo 8 ,, „ 18 Mr. Augustin Pri chard says : " I have seen in the possession 1 Son of the Rev. J. B. Estlin, of Lewin's Mead. He was an extremely promising youth, who died of consumption at the early age of twenty-four. * Uncle of the present Dr. Waldo, of Clifton. He was a pupil of Nat. Smith, and afterwards Man-Midwife to the Bristol Dispensary. a In the Surgeons' Miscellaneous Book, April 3rd, 1852, Mr. Waldo is thanked " for the handsome present of a skeleton for the use of the Consulta- tion Room." 213 A HISTORY OF THE of one of these former teachers of anatomy a huge labelled bunch of large keys by which he could have access to any Churchyard in Bristol or its immediate neighbourhood." * It occasionally happened that well-known men were dug up and dissected. The lovers of Tristram Shandy will be shocked to learn that the body of Laurence Sterne met with this fate. The story is thus related by Professor Macalister : — 2 " Near the end of the Lent Term of Lectures in 1768, the Professor (Charles Collignon) invited two friends to see an interesting dissection which he had prepared to illustrate his lecture for March 26th. The body was one which had been procured by a resurrectionist, who had brought it from London on the previous day. " The friends accompanied him to the room, and during the dissection one of them uncovered the face of the dead man, and recognised it as that of Laurence Sterne, whom he had known in his lifetime." Sterne had been buried at St. George's Burial-place at Tyburn. The story appears to be authentic. A case of extraordinary callousness in the handling of a dead body is told by the late Sir George Paget, of Cambridge. A farmer in Essex shot a burglar who was trying to enter his house. Not knowing what to do with the corpse, and thinking it might be of use for dissection, he packed it in a box and forwarded it to Sir George Paget, with a note to the effect that " he was sending him a man he had shot ! I am indebted to Dr. VV. A. Smith, who knew the farmer referred to, for this story. The only way of obtaining " subjects " for dissection which was permitted by law was that of applying for the bodies of executed criminals. It throws a lurid light on the criminal law of that time to read the Calendar of those who were in Bristol Gaol " for Felony or other Criminal matters " on April 7th, 1821. From this list I copy the names of those marked with the sentence of death, as follows : — Henry Stephens Setting fire to a dwelling house Death. Mary Bowden, for counterfeiting a Promissory note for £10 Death. 1 Early History of the Bristol Medical School, by Augustin Prichard F.R.C.S. 2 The History of the Study of Anatomy at Cambridge, a lecture delivered January 29th, 1891, by A. Macalister, M.D., F.R.S., etc. Cambridge University Press. 214 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY John Williams, for stealing one bay Gelding . . Death. Walter Heness (aged 15) and Sarah Thorn (widow, aged 38) for burglary (value of stolen goods 20 shillings) 14 years penal servitude and death respectively. Elizabeth Bissex (set. 16) and Susannah Robins (set. 28) for stealing Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Henry Hawker (set. 18) for burglary John Flemen for stealing a black mare . . Mary Williams for stealing a cloak, &c. John Horwood (set. 18) for murder James Wade for stealing a mare It will be seen ihat of the eleven capital sentences eight were for stealing. * Several were reprieved. A few months before Sir Michael Foster commenced his philanthropic work in connection with the Bristol Infirmary, he threatened a man called Vernham with " death by pressure," because he refused to plead to an indictment for burglary. Under the fear of this torture he consented to plead, and he and a thief named Harding were hung in the Gallows Field on St. Michael's Hill. They were both alive when cut down. Harding recovered and was put in an almshouse. a Murders had increased in the middle years of the eighteenth •century to such a degree that it was decreed by Parliament to add " some further terror and peculiar mark of infamy " to the punishment of death by hanging ; and a law was passed that after Easter, 1752, the bodies of criminals executed for murder should be handed over to surgeons for dissection, " and a receipt given." 3 Such a " receipt," for the body of an unfortunate lad who was convicted of the murder of a girl named Eliza Balsum in 1821, is preserved in the Infirmary Museum ; this and the accompanying order are as follows : — " John Horwood, convicted of the wilful murder of Eliza Balsum. Let him be hanged by the neck until he shall be dead on Friday the 13th April instant, and let his body be delivered to Mr. Richard Smith, of the City of Bristol, Surgeon, to be dissected and anatomized." " Received this 13th day of April, 182 1, from Thomas Hassell and Robert Jenkins Esquires, Sheriffs of the said City 1 In 1 810 the Archbishop of Canterbury and six Bishops voted against a Bill for abolishing capital punishment in cases of stealing, without violence, goods of less value than five shillings. — See Tyburn Tree, its History and Annals, by Alfred Marks, p. 257. 2 Nicholl's History of Bristol. 3 25 George II., 1752. 2I 5 A HISTORY OF THE of Bristol and County of the same City, the body of the above named John Horwood, deceased, for the purposes mentioned in the above fiat or sentence. Richard Smith, Surgeon." The case of this man Horwood is so typical of the customs of the time that it is worth giving in some detail. It is peculiarly associated with the Bristol Royal Infirmary from the interest taken in it by Richard Smith, who attended the murdered woman at the House, gave evidence at Horwood's trial, obtained his body, dissected it, and finally had his skin tanned and bound a book with it. This book contains all the documents connected with the affair, including the " briefs " for and against, drawings of the culprit during his trial, and many other details. John Horwood, a country lad aged eighteen, had courted a girl in his own station in life named Eliza Balsum. She rejected his addresses, and in a fit of anger he flung a stone at her from a distance of forty yards and struck her on the head. l This occurred on January 26th, 1821. She fell, but apparently was not stunned, and managed to walk to her home, where her friends applied some ointment and a bread poultice to the wound. She went about the house and even did some work after this, but the injury did not get well, and on the last day of January she walked from Kingswood to the Infirmary, where she was admitted. She did well at first, but inflammatory symptoms supervened ; the Surgeons held a consultation, and she was trephined by Richard Smith, who found an abscess under the bones of the skull. She died on February 21st, 1821. Whilst she was at the Infirmary Horwood was brought before her in the presence of a magistrate, Alderman Haythorne, and Mr. Henry Day, the Magistrate's Clerk, in order that she might identify him. The prisoner was put into the Consultation Room to wait the magistrate's arrival. He appeared to be indifferent, and possibly to arouse him to a sense of shame, " someone present," according to Richard Smith, " unlocked the case then kept in that room and shewed to him the skeletons of Davis and Bobbett executed the 2nd of April, 1802, for murder." One could wish that the record of such a cruel deed were untrue, but one cannot think so. Horwood * was tried before the Recorder, Sir Robert Gifford, and condemned to death ; the point of strongest defence, 1 It was stated at the trial that he could " throw stones with unerring certainty at great distances." 2 See Fig. 42 for a drawing of Horwood made during his trial. 216 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY namely that the abscess on the brain might very well have been caused by the unclean dressings at first put on the wound, and not directly by the blow, was made very little use of. He was visited by many people in jail, and was resigned and hopeful It was the custom in those days for condemned prisoners to write some farewell verses, generally with the help of a friend. Horwood wrote some doggerel rhymes, in which he says that his companions had climbed the tall trees near the prison and called out to him to be of courage, and that this had cheered him. The culprit was allowed to make his own death signal by dropping a handkerchief. Poor Horwood remained for twenty minutes with the rope adjusted, apparently in prayer. He then asked an official if he thought he would have much pam in dying, then prayed for a few minutes more, and dropped the fatal handkerchief. In the account of the execution given in the Bristol Mirror for April 14th, 1821, is the following curious passage: A number of foolish women with their children ascended to the top of the lodge, after the culprit was turned off, for the purpose of having their disorders cured by touching the dead hands." The friends of Horwood, especially his parents, tried hard to obtain remission of that part of the sentence condemning him to be dissected, and letters were written to Richard Smith and the Surgeons by the solicitor for the prisoner, but this request was refused. Perhaps the reader would, for once, look at the scene preceding the execution with the eyes of a good witness. Richard Smith writes :— " On the morning of the execution I was invited to breakfast with one of the Sheriffs, Robert Jenkins, Esq., who resided at the end house of Redcliff Parade. " Upon the arrival of Mr. William Ody Hare, the Under Sheriff, we went to the jail and were shewn into the parlour of Mr. Humphries. 1 There were about fifteen persons there, chiefly well dressed females. " Shortly after Horwood came in, attended by half a dozen constables— he bowed awkwardly, seemed to be suffering great mental agony— looked round and said ' pray for me, do pray for me 1 ' This produced a sort of stifled shriek of horror amongst the assemblage. They knelt down one after another and presently one female began to pray aloud, and by her manner 1 " I found Governor Humphries a very obliging gentleman, albeit some- what blunt in his manner."-The Bristolian for Saturday, November 29th, 1828. Account of a stay in the jail by a Debtor. 217 A HISTORY OF THE and easy flow of words I had no doubt that she had been accustomed to address an audience extemporaneously. Horwood remained standing, but listening with great attention, and evidently accompanying the speaker mentally, but he was perfectly silent. This lasted about ten minutes, when the female, who seemed to be rather above the ordinary class — but not a gentlewoman — ended and rose. Horwood then walked round the room and shook hands with all who presented themselves. I was not amongst the number, for obvious reasons, — in fact, I stood behind a person lest he might recognise me, and that my having given evidence against him, and even my errand might flash across his mind. He now wrung his hands bitterly, seemed in great distress, and exclaimed, ' O Lord ! O Lord ! ' The officers then stepped forward and bound him and he speedily left the room. " The Rev. Mr. Day then walked before him reading the burial service. Almost everyone was greatly affected ; many shed tears, and I believe that I did not escape the contagion. The funeral service of the Church of England is at all [times] affecting, and under these circumstances its effect is irresistible to those who have any feeling. I certainly felt at the moment an indescribable sensation of depression and lowness of spirits. " I now went up to the opposite leads which look down close upon the scaffold where the culprit- was just arrived, but there was a great bustle and the impression was that there had been some resistance or attempt at escape. But we soon learned the cause. The fact was that the head of the executioner failed him and he slipped away and hid himself as soon as he observed the near approach of the criminal. After some search he was found behind a door and brought upon the scaffold. " Horwood behaved very well. He appeared to be absorbed in prayer ; the rope was now adjusted and the people began to leave the platform ; and my courage — if courage it is to be called — failed me. I perceived that the fatal moment was approaching and I was unable to look any longer at the criminal. I drew back almost involuntarily — turned my face from the scaffold. In a few seconds I walked towards the stairs and bent my steps down them, and then towards the Humphries's parlour, where I found a few of the females whom I had left there as also Mr. Sheriff Jenkins. " In about ten minutes Mr. Ody Hare came in, bowed to the Sheriff and notified to him officially that the criminal had suffered the sentence of the law. " Soon after this Mr. Humphries came in and advised me to 218 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY quit the jail at once, intimating that it would be impossible to do anything in regard to the body that evening, or perhaps even the following day — at all events not before it. " We had good reason afterwards to know that this was prudent advice, for it turned out that Horwood's friends, aided by a large body of colliers and stone-quarryers, had laid a plan for rescuing the body by rushing suddenly upon the escort ; whilst some were fighting, others would have carried it to a boat ready for the conveyance, and it would have been rowed up to Hanham, and recovery out of all possibility. The men lay in wait all the evening and night, and being not aware of the removal came for the same purpose the next night. " On the Saturday, being the day after the execution, I asked a coachman whom I knew ' if he had any objection to go with me to the jail to fetch a parcel ? ' He answered, ' Oh no Sir ! I know what you mean ! ' I stepped into the nd. [numbered ?] coach and we drove to the jail. We were let into the court. The body was in a room under the ' Drop,' and perfectly naked. I gathered up the ropes and cap. Mr. Humphries then sent for some men and ordered' them to put the body into the coach, but they one and all most peremptorily refused to go near it. Finding that his authority went for nothing, I betook myself to an argument that was irresistible — I showed two of the fellows a half-crown and assured them it should be theirs when Horwood was in the coach. One of them said to the other, ' Come, Tom, what dost say ? Come lay hold of him ! ' This was done. I wrapped around the upper part of the body an old Irish cloak that it might not be seen through the windows, and it was pushed into a corner. " I was upon the point of closing the door when David Morgan, one of the Sheriff's Yeomen, said ' Sir, would you like me to accompany you ? ' This opened my eyes to the awkward predicament in which I should find myself, if by any chance the contents of the coach should be discovered during the transit. I therefore gladly accepted his offer. " All being ready, and no one allowed to leave the prison but ourselves, the doors were opened and we drove off with as much speed as our cattle would allow. We passed the New Bridge, through Prince's Street, went up Marsh Street, crossed St. Stephen's Street, went into Christmas Street, and through Lewin's Mead to Earl Street where there was situated the lower door of the Infirmary. We met with not the slightest interrup- tion. Upon our arrival I jumped out and calling to some persons belonging to the Infirmary, the body was borne out of the vehicle. At this instant passed a soldier and a woman, both 219 A HISTORY OF THE of whom appeared astonished, but passed on. I discharged the coach, and the whole affair was fortunately accomplished. The body was placed upon a trestle in the dead-house." It will be noticed that Richard Smith was put to all this trouble by giving a receipt for the body before he had received it. Otherwise the prison authorities would have had, according to the death sentence, to deliver it to be " anatomised." On the next day, Sunday, Mr. Swayne, the Apothecary, took a plaster model of the head. " On the Monday the body was taken to the Operation Room and placed upon the table. About eighty persons were present, none being refused who made application. I then delivered a lecture, adapted to a mixed audience, upon the general structure of the human body and its physiology, pointing out the great and infinite wisdom and power which they exemplified," &c. He lectured to large audiences on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The body was then taken to the dissecting room adjoining the dead-house. " At the same time the skin was undergoing the process of tanning in an adjoining tub — I received the materials and instructions for the process from the Sheriffs, both Tanners. The skin was also dressed at Bedminster, previously to being sent to Essex for the purpose of forming the covering of this book." (See Fig. 43.) It will be noticed that the body was actually lectured on in the Operation Room six days after death, a fact the mere narration of which is enough to make a modern surgeon's " blood run cold." Before the Operation Room was built the bodies of executed criminals were brought into the Committee Room and there lectured on. Poor Horwood was the first to be hanged at the " New Jail," on the bank of the " New River." The crush of spectators was so great that notices were put up warning people of this, to prevent them from being crowded into the water and drowned. The old Newgate Prison was evacuated on August 25th, 1820. The condition of this old prison, with its " well," or court, surrounded on all sides by noisome, unventilated cells, and the horrible chamber rightly called " the Pit," can hardly be realised by the modern reader. It is to the credit of the Infirmary Physicians, Moncrieffe, Long Fox, sen., Garrick and Stock, that they did their best to point out to the Sheriff of Bristol the disgraceful condition of this Hell-on-earth. They wrote a letter on March 31st, 1813, after inspecting the prison, 220 PHRENOLOGICAL CHART OF HORWOOD S HEAD. Fig. 44 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY and described the complete absence of ventilation, the damp, foul air, the dreadful prevalence of contagious diseases, and the overcrowding. At the time of their visit there were seventeen felons confined in a vaulted room (" the Pit ") eight feet high and fourteen feet in length and breadth, underground, and with hardly a ray of light in it. In case of illness there was no hospital accommodation for them, and the Physicians express their wonder that in this and other cells death did not occur from actual suffocation. It was seven years, however, after the receipt of this letter that the place was emptied and closed. In the early years of the nineteenth century Spurzheim's " phrenological " theories and diagnosis of character by the shape of the head were much talked about. Mrs. Mary Ann Schimmelpenninck drew up what was called a "phrenological wheel" from examination of Horwood's skull (see Fig. 44), and Spurzheim himself, who was then living at 22 College Green, reported on it^ Neither of them found the " bump of murder " developed ; the chief mental characteristics, according to their interpretations, were " combativeness," " self-esteem," and " hope." Some years after the murder, on February 19th, 1827, Dr. Spurzheim and others dined at Richard Smith's. When the ladies had left the table, Dick Smith produced the skull and asked Spurzheim's opinion of it, without giving any clue to its identity. Directly he saw it he exclaimed, "'Oh ! brutal, brutal, manifestly brutal ; he had all the animal propensities." It is now, of course, known that this system of phrenology is quite unreliable. The cast of Horwood's head taken after death is suggestive of anything but brutality, and there is, indeed, no reason to think that he was below the average in moral qualities. 221 CHAPTER XVIII SOCIAL LIFE IN BRISTOL IN THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES — COCK - FIGHTING AND BULL-BAITING — DINNERS — MUSIC — THE BLEECKS — TAVERN LIFE — THE DOLPHIN DINNERS — THE DISPUTATION SOCIETY — GAISFORD — MEDICAL STUDENTS' SOCIETIES — THE BEAR'S CUB CLUB — THE CATCH CLUB — THE HALF-PINT CLUB — THE NAGG'S HEAD CLUB — PETER WELLS — THE WHITE LION CLUB — DUELS — RICHARD VINING PERRY — HIS MARRIAGE WITH CLEMENTINA CLARKE AT GRETNA GREEN — TRIAL FOR ABDUCTION Many of the Physicians and Surgeons connected with the Bristol Royal Infirmary, both in its early days and later, have been men of good family and of considerable social attainments. Scattered through the Richard Smith MSS. are many references to clubs, dinners, balls, etc., together with invitations to shooting parties, beefsteak suppers, theatricals, musical entertainments, and other indications of a time when the lighter pleasures of existence were fully enjoyed ; of a time when Bristol City possessed, like her neighbour Bath, a " Master of the Ceremonies." In this chapter I have put together these scattered notes, not only because they illustrate the lives of Infirmary worthies, but also because they throw an interesting light upon the manners and customs of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries. Of the older kinds of sport, such as cock-fighting and bull- baiting, I can find very little. We have seen (p. 96) that Rowand, one of the Apothecaries, lost his place at the Infirmary through a little monetary transaction in connection with a cock-fight, and there is evidence that he kept some fighting birds in the Dispensary. Dean Creswick, who preached the sermon at the formal opening of the Infirmary, was fond of this recreation. After he had taken up his residence at Wells, of which he was appointed Dean, he is said to have " ordered a cock-pit to be constructed so that he and his friends could witness the sport from his dining room, the window of which was enlarged for the purpose." This picture of the tall and stately Dean sitting with his guests at the " enlarged window," whilst the cocks BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY did battle for their amusement, brings the old days vividly before us. We do not, in the Infirmary records, come across any actual bull-baiting, but we get a glimpse of the practice through another divine, the Rev. Thomas Johnes, who was appointed Chaplain to the Institution in 1772. (See p. 37.) This gentleman was a member of the " Bear's Cub Club " (to be referred to presently), and on the night that Richard Smith, jun., joined this Club Mr. Johnes opened the usual discussion by main- taining the thesis " that the practice of bull-baiting was not only legal, but exceedingly correct and useful to Society." He argued that to stop this sport would be " injurious to the courage of the common people and an infringement of their rights." On May 24th, 1802, a Bill to abolish bull-baiting was thrown out in the House of Commons, chiefly owing to a speech of Mr. Windham's. It was not made illegal until 1835. Dinners, private and public, must have taken up a large portion of professional men's time in the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries. Private dinners were of a less formal type than now. The invitations were generally sent out a day or two before the event, sometimes on the same day, and usually took the form of a short letter, written in the first person, stating briefly the nature of the affair, such as the name of someone who was expected, whom the guest might like to meet, or the fact that there would be music or glees afterwards. Sometimes the food is mentioned, such as a present of game the host had received, or even a barrel of oysters. 1 The good custom, still happily prevalent, of a social dinner as a means of bringing men together for transacting business, was followed in those days. Thus, in the early years of the nineteenth century, the Faculty held quarterly meetings at the Montague Tavern, Kingsdown. They dined together at five o'clock, and settled their Infirmary affairs over the wine and punch afterwards. The time of dining in the eighteenth century in Bristol appears to have been usually three o'clock. In the nineteenth century it became later, five o'clock or five-thirty. Tea followed in the drawing-room. 2 1 " One evening when I was sitting with him Frank delivered this message : ' Sir, Dr. Taylor sends his compliments to you, and begs you will dine with him to-morrow, he has got a hare.' ' My compliments,' said Johnson, ' and I '11 dine with him, hare or rabbit.' " — Boswell's Life of Johnson. 2 " I dine at the reasonable hour of four, enjoy as I used to do the whole- some indulgence of a nap after dinner, drink tea at six, sup at half-past nine, spend an hour over a sober folio and a glass of black currant rum with warm water and sugar, and then to bed."— From a letter from Robert Southey to G. C. Bedford, dated February 23rd, 1824. 223 A HISTORY OF THE The process of dining was a leisurely affair ; a friendly dinner before a medical meeting or lecture would now be called for, perhaps, an hour and a half or two hours before the event. But in 1832 we find one of the Infirmary Surgeons, William Hetling, inviting Richard Smith to dine at five o'clock with a Mr. Costello, who had to read a paper on Lithotrity at eight o'clock. In his letter of invitation great stress is laid on punctuality, as the time was so limited. There is amongst Richard Smith's Infirmary Memoirs an invitation to dine at five o'clock with a couple married that morning. After dinner it was common to have some music, or curiosities were shown. Occasionally some interesting or celebrated individual was the attraction. William Mortimer, who applied four times unsuccessfully for the post of Surgeon to the Infirmary, invited Richard Smith on one occasion to dine with Madame Catalani at five-thirty. Our friend Dick Smith was great at all such functions. He had a good voice, and was always ready to take part in a song or glee. One of his musical companions was Alfred Bleeck, who practised in Redcliff Parade and Unity Street, and applied for surgical vacancies at the Infirmary in 1825 and 1836. In a letter about a proposed " musical evening " in March, 1833, he writes to him : "I give you a list of the Glees you are down for on Thursday, in case you would like to look them over :■ — ■ ' In Peace Love tunes.' ' Beauties have you seen.' ' Hast thou left thy blue course.' ' The Curfew.' ' Where the bee sucks.' ' Fill high the Grape's exulting.' ' Cold is Cadwallo's tongue.' " In another letter (undated, but probably about 1826) he invites Richard Smith " to a glass of punch," to meet Jefferies and Goldwyer. Through the kindness of Miss Margaret Bleeck, grand- daughter of the above Alfred Bleeck, I am enabled to give the following fragment of genealogy, which may be of interest to some Bristolians : — 224 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY O II ii 1/5 _: — w Id CI Q J o « S?n < < E? •J a 3 Id uw Q w 1 6 z < Id S a <; ■ H in < 2 — Id a! X < ►J w H If] « < ll- — 3 < a O _ K o 6 * t—> 2 u w E id m « - 10 < « c^ E £, < a 13 Q H -^ OS « < < 5 OS < II II Id O a PS ^ H O c Id •3 o pa O o < bo N — Q S id s J w 11 — ■J < -a 8 2 1* tc -J u O < 3 Q o I! j Id — a < W Q Id « O — 0. 15 225 A HISTORY OF THE " Punch " was sometimes drunk after dinner, but more usually after suppers, which were often partaken of very late at night. Speaking of the period between 1780 and 1800, Richard Smith says : "A beef -steak supper at a Tavern, a bowl of punch and a song, were then all the rage. The favourite songs were ' Poor Jack,' ' Bonny Bet,' and the songs of Incledon, then at his zenith, attached to the Bristol Stage, and a frequent visitor at my father's house." Much of the social life of Bristol in the eighteenth century was carried on in taverns, many of which were famous either for turtle soup, well cooked and well served dinners, punch or beer. Besides those already mentioned in this history (" The Bush," " Nagg's Head," " Rummer," " Montague," etc.), the " Cock " in Corn Street (kept in 1749 by Roger Watts), the "Albion" in Prince's Street, the "Artichoke," the " Ship," in the Cathay, and the " Talbot," were noted places of resort. The " Ship" was frequented by musicians, artists and interesting Bohemians, who led a jovial, rollicking life. Amongst these characters were Rymsdyke, the painter, who dressed " in large flap waistcoat, immense cuffs to his coat sleeves, with breeches just to the knee, and slit before, with knee buttons," Michael Edkins, player and scene painter at the theatre, Jem Sewell, afterwards landlord of the Talbot Tavern in Redcliff Street, Joe Gillard the rope-maker, " Thumb " Allen, and others. These good fellows used to meet at the " Ship," then under the care of " Landlord Wyat," and drink the beer for which that inn was famous. Shortly before the Victorian Era public breakfasts appear to have been fashionable. From an account of such an one held at the " New Horticultural Rooms," the date of which we identify as 1833 (from the fact that " Messrs. Lean and Maye the two Sheriffs " are mentioned as being present), we read that the company arrived at one o'clock. "The dejeune being ended, champagne and other wines were liberally circulated," and the ladies then retired, " their healths having been drunk with three times three." The gentlemen soon joined them and dancing began. " The Mayor 1 led off Lady Stuart in a quadrille, which, with gallopedes, seemed to be the reigning favourites. Both ladies and gentlemen were in the highest spirits. . . . The music was excellent, and the ' brisk awakening viol ' kept the ' light fantastic toe ' in continual action until nearly six o'clock in the evening." Members of the Infirmary Staff were present. 1 The Mayor in 1833 was Mr. Charles Ludlow Walker. 226 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Presidents of the Infirmary, Resident Apothecaries and members of the Honorary Medical Staff have frequently been in the Chair at Colston Dinners, especially at the Dolphin. In fact, Francis Woodward (Physician, 1757-69) was one of the principal founders of the Dolphin Society, and presided at the first meeting at the Cock Tavern in Corn Street (Roger Watts was then landlord) on November 2nd, 1749. He was President also the following year. Dr. Moncrieffe (Physician, 1775-1816) was President in 1800, and this honourable office has been filled by no less than seven Infirmary Surgeons, viz. Richard Smith, sen., in 1786, Godfrey Lowe in 1798, Morgan Yeatman in 1804, Richard Lowe in 1820, Richard Smith, jun., in 1822, Thomas Green in 1853, and F. Richardson Cross in 1912. Let us look in at the Dolphin Dinner in 1822, when the younger Dick Smith was President. * It was held at the " White Lion," and " served by Mr. Niblett." " About ten o'clock the sober citizens had pretty well retired, when the ' choice spirits ' rallied round their President, who spiritedly kept up the life of the evening, and it was only by- " ' The gayly circling glass They could see how minutes pass ; And by the hollow flask were told How the waning night grew old.' The votaries of Apollo were in fine voice, as they generally are after a little sacrifice to Bacchus, and set the ' table in a roar ' with a continuous fire of excellent songs, and amongst these sons of ' merry Momus ' the President, dethroned, having laid aside his honours, and ' mingled with Society,' shone in the galaxy of good humour as a star of no minor magnitude." a Richard Smith was an excellent host, and made everything " go " merrily, especially towards the end of the evening. We find him in his glory at a dinner held in connection with the Bristol Branch of the Provincial Medical Association in June, 1840. The newspaper report says : " At half past five the Society found its way to the Royal Western Hotel, where Mr. Leigh had provided a splendid as well as substantial dinner. . . At half past nine his Worship (the Mayor, Mr. Phippen) and many gentlemen retired and Mr. Prichard [Dr. James Cowles Prichard, Physician 1816-43] left the Chair, when the vacant honour of the evening fell upon Mr. Richard Smith. This gentleman speedily ' gathered his chicken under his wings,' 1 Three successive generations of Richard Smiths were Presidents of the Dolphin, in 1766, 1786, and 1S22. 2 From the Bristol Mirror of November 16th, 1822. 227 A HISTORY OF THE and we understand that they ' chirp' d ' it merrily until the clock struck twelve, when the company broke up, having spent a most delightful day." We frequently hear complaints of the length of the toast list, but at the Dolphin Dinner of 1839, there were seventeen formal toasts, after which nine others were briefly proposed by the Chairman. Most of the speeches were followed by glees, some of which were ludicrously inappropriate, others were quite to the point. For instance, after " The Church and Queen " was given came the glee entitled " With a jolly full bottle," after the toast of " The Mayor of Bristol " was sung " Great Bacchus," after " The President " " While fools their time in strife employ," after the health of " The High Sheriff " (Mr. Vaughan) " Would you know my Celia's charms ? " was given, after " The Bishop and Clergy " " Winds gently whisper," after the " Protestant Ascendancy " " Winds whistle cold," etc. One of the most curiously-worded toasts I have come across was proposed at the Anchor Dinner in 1816. It was as follows : " The Princess Charlotte, and may she know how to prize the sweets of liberty by an early confinement." In November, 1835, Dr. Lyon (Physician, 1843-57) was President of the St. Andrew's Festival. " St. Andrew's day was celebrated on Tuesday last at the Montague, where, in addition to the cock-a-leaky brose, haggis, and sheeps' tails a I'Ecosse, Marshall had provided, in good English fashion, an excellent dinner." The custom of divine service and a sermon preceding a public charity dinner is still common, but in old days there was sometimes a very short interval between the two. At the old Infirmary dinners (see Chapter iii.) there was usually enough time between the service at St. James's and the convivial meeting at the "Nagg's Head" to allow those who took part in the proceedings to go home and get ready for the banquet ; but when the " Gentlemen Natives " of the ancient Gloucestershire Society held their annual festival in the eighteenth century they went to church at one o'clock and dined at three. At balls and dances a substantial supper, with plenty of wine, was partaken of. At Mr. and Miss Goldney's ball at the Mansion House in 1827, according to the newspapers, " the champagne corks fled briskly until between two and three o'clock," and " the tables all groaned with the weight of the feast." Henry Daniel (Surgeon, 1810-36) was one of the stewards at the Annual Clifton Fancy Dress Ball in January, 1836. We 228 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY are told that after supper on this occasion " dancing was resumed with increased zest, and kept up with great gaiety until four o'clock ; after which some choice spirits whose energies ' never tire,' began to ' chase the bottle in its round, and had not given up the pursuit ere " * Rosy finger 'd morn had strewn the earth With orient pearl and dew.' " l Henry Daniel was fond of such social functions ; he was in 1817 Master of the Ancient Society of St. Stephen's Ringers, * and was a member of " The Social Villagers," who met annually for convivial purposes at some London tavern. This curious Society was founded by Sheridan Knowles. Many of the Infirmary Staff frequented clubs for discussion in the old days. One of the first of these of which I can find record is mentioned in a cutting from an old Bristol newspaper for November 16th, 1786. Richard Smith calls the paper Pine's Thursday Paper. 3 The extract runs as follows : " As it is the wish of many Gentlemen that a Society of the above nature should be established in this City, it is requested that those Gentlemen who are fond of a reciprocal communication of Sentiments do meet at Mr. Smith's at ' The Feathers ' in Wine Street on Wednesday the 22nd of November in order to consider certain rules and regulations upon an extensive and liberal plan for the well governing and regulating of the said intended Society. The company of Mr. X. who humourously wrote some time since in one of the public papers is particularly requested." This Society held its third meeting at Coopers' Hall on December 1st, 1786. The question discussed was : " Whether a knave or a fool is likely to make the best husband ? " On the fourth night the subject was : " Whether the male or female be most susceptible to love ? " and on the fifth : " Whether the accomplishments of the mind or the person are the greatest recommendation to the ladies in husbands ? " The members also held what they called " a weekly elucidation " at the " Great George " in Narrow Wine Street ; this " began by a moral discourse and ended in giving out a question." About a month after its formation all notices in the papers apparently cease. 1 The flowery language and the " mixed " quotation are characteristic of the journalism of the period. 2 An excellent epitome of the early history of this Society may be found in the Bristol Mirror for December 7th, 1822. 3 I have not been able to verify the source of this quotation. At the date referred to there were in Bristol Pine's Bristol Gazette, and Grabham and Pine's Bristol Chronicle and Universal Mercantile Register. 229 A HISTORY OF THE When Messrs. Bowles and Smith hired the Red Lodge for their anatomical lectures in 1797 (p. 367), some gentlemen in Bristol, especially a Mr. Gaisford (who was at this time a pupil of Mr. Noble at the Infirmary), were anxious to form a Debating Society, and the room in which the Surgeons lectured was offered them free of charge. Some forty people (students at the Infirmary, attorneys, junior medical practitioners and others) met here and founded " The Disputation Society." Richard Smith says that " ' Coleridge and Southey, Lamb and Lloyd & Co.,' as they were termed in the Anti- Jacobin, have all spoken at these assemblies." Many of the members were strongly imbued with the principles of the French Revolutionists, and were notorious Jacobins. They were, in fact, considered so dangerous that the Bristol magistrates were reported to have sent spies to the meetings, and this rumour gave a temporary popularity to the Club. The meetings were afterwards held in a room in College Green and in " Barry's Reading Room " in High Street. Richard Smith, jun., became a member, and gives the following further particulars of the Club. One night someone who wished to bring ridicule on the debates hired a porter to stand at the door and hand to the members leaflets on which was printed, " By particular desire the question of this evening will be : ' Which is most proper to oil a wig with honey or mustard ? ' " This gave rise to great indignation, but answered its purpose of making the affairs ridiculous ; the Club was fated to die, in fact, of ridicule. Gaisford, although stated to be " in ordinary matters a dolt and a laughing stock of his fellow students," was not only a " born orator," but had a great fund of historical knowledge always ready for use. " One evening, after speaking for an hour, he sat down and a general murmur of applause went through the Society, and a clapping of hands ensued. A stranger who was present rose and said, ' That gentleman ought to be made a Member of Parliament for the City, and shall have my vote if he will offer himself.' ' He deserves to be chaired already for that speech ! ' said another. ' Why not carry him home in triumph at once ? ' said a third, and this idea spread so immediately that the meeting broke up, and the majority, joining in the joke, placed him, nolens volens in the President's chair, a very superb one, and hoisting him on their shoulders, actually carried him home in it ! " This riotous proceeding was not tolerated by the authorities, who were already prejudiced against the Club, and means were taken to prevent further meetings. 230 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY In 1839 a " Bristol Medical Students' Literary Society " was founded. Its members met Tuesday evenings at seven o'clock at the Medical School in the Old Park. Papers on topics of professional or general interest were read. Mr. E. T. Wait was the Hon. Secretary. In a letter written by Dr. William Bird Herapath to my father, dated " Bristol, August 22, 1838," there are references to a Social and Scientific Club which met at " Wills's." Mr. G. McDonald was Secretary. It is mentioned in this letter that Parsons (the late Dr. Parsons who practised for many years in Bristol) was on the list for " three lectures on Botany." Possibly this Club was the forerunner of the one referred to above. It was, however, more in the social life of the time than in literary or scientific debates that Dick Smith took the keenest interest. He belonged to any Society where he could meet his fellows, hear a good story or song, or partake of a friendly dinner or supper, and he luckily left a great many scattered notes, which I have found invaluable in writing the following account of some of the Bristol clubs which played such a large part in the social life of the city. THE BEAR'S CUB CLUB, The records of this Club previous to the year 1794 were in possession of the Rev. Thomas Johnes, who was for many years Chaplain to the Infirmary ; he apparently either kept or lost the Minute Book, the entries in which went back at least as far as 1780. Otherwise Mr. Johnes made an excellent Treasurer, being especially clever at extracting subscriptions from members. According to Richard Smith, " he entirely relaxed " when at the Club, and was " jocose, free and good humoured. He took his glass of punch, and never, as Lady Macbeth has it, ' marr'd all with his starting.' In fact, he was always amongst the last to leave the room." At each meeting a member introduced some subject for discussion. Dr. Wallis (Physician to the Infirmary 1828 to 1855), who was elected by the Club January 8th, 1819, intro- duced the question : " Which are the most grateful to the human mind, the pleasures of hope or the pleasures of memory ?" This may be taken as a fairly typical specimen of the subjects discussed. The following list of members, with Richard Smith's comments, may interest some of my readers : — 231 A HISTORY OF THE Dr. Broughton, Physician to the Infirmary 1780-86. Rev. W. Milton, " a good scholar and excellent mechanician. He invented a ' safety carriage.' " John Garnet, " who invented ' the anti-friction or multiplying wheels.' " Rev. Samuel Seyer, " the Bristol Historian." Richard Bright, " merchant, of Queen's Square." Charles Harford (probably Charles Gray Harford of Frenchay, son of John Scandrett Harford, born 1788, died 1856), " a contented bachelor, cheerful and argumentative." Joseph Smith, " about 1800 Master of the Ceremonies for Bristol. Father of Mr. Brooke Smith." John Payne Berfew, " Apothecary in High Street. Elegant Classical Scholar." John Maddox. Lawbridge Bright, " merchant, Great George Street." Alderman Merlott. Elected about 1783. Mr. Seyer told Richard Smith that he was " one of the best bears in the Society." He was remarkably eloquent and well informed. " As soon as he rose to speak he placed himself behind his chair, and this was always the signal for the most minute attention." He was famous too for an aldermanic appetite. Mr. Seyer told this anecdote of him : " One night he made so brilliant an oration and ate after it such a famous supper, that a member said to him, ' I wish I could speak as well and had as good an appetite as you, Mr. Alderman ! ' 'So you may do one and have the other if you will follow my example.' ' How, Mr. Alderman ? ' ' How ? Why, instead of dining take a long walk into the country, and meditate upon the question.' This," said Mr. Seyer, " I knew to be his constant practice." (This would indicate that the members of the Club had supper at their meetings, probably after the discussion.) William Broderip, " Apothecary. Partner to Mr. Joseph Shapland. ' Billy,' said Mr. Seyer, ' was but a poorish stick.' " John Hill, " father of the Hills." Rev. Thomas Broughton, " brother of the Physician." Onesiphorus Power, " a relation of the Tyndalls at the Fort. Commonly called ' Don Power.' " Mark Davis. " Davis and Protheroe, merchants. He is now, 1831, residing at his fine estate and princely mansion near Sherborne in Dorsetshire." Jere Osborne. " Osborne and Seager, attornies. Father of the present partner (1831) of Richard Brickdale Ward, attornies." Dr. Shipton. " Elected in 1787, now (1831) the Rector of Portishead." 232 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Thomas Partridge, " Surgeon. Came by marriage into possession of Cotham House." Dr. Robert Lovell (Physician to the Infirmary 1795-1810). Dr. F. Randolph, Prebendary of the Cathedral and Rector of Banwell. Dr. Andrew Carrick (Physician to the Infirmary 1810-34). Francis Cheyne Bowles (Surgeon to the Infirmary 1806-07) • Rev. Robert Forster, " Prebendary to Cathedral." Rev. Sir Abraham Elton, Bart., of Clevedon. The following gives an idea of the subjects of debate at the Bear's Cub Club : — January 24th, 1796. " Is the state of literature in this country on the decline ? " February 7th, 1797. " Does the Government form the manners or the manners the Government ? " December 7th, 1798. " Hath any good ever arisen from what is called Auricular confession ? " March 3rd, 1802. " Is the active or speculative life the most useful to mankind ? " December 27th, 1805. " Have the poor who are incapable of supporting themselves, from whatever cause, a claim founded in justice to the support of the community to which they belong ? " April 7th, 1820. " Is life the result of organisation or is it a principle superadded to it ? " Mr. Goodere opened this debate. January 26th, 1822. " Was it good policy in Aristides to reject the proposal of Themistocles to destroy the Spartan fleet then in their power, and thus at one blow establish the superiority of his country over their Lacedemonian rivals ? " Dr. Henry Goldwyer, a pupil of Richard Smith, and after- wards Surgeon to the Eye Dispensary, was " Chief Wrangler " on this occasion. (He was elected to the Club in 182 1.) His thesis (the title of which I have copied above as it is written in Richard Smith's MSS.) indicates the learned discussions the members sometimes took part in. It is recorded that " Mr. Goldwyer's opening was such as gave great pleasure to the company and ensured an animated debate." The Club appears to have languished toward the year 1823, but was revived as the " New Bears' Club " or " Bears' Debating Club." Under this title it had the following members in February, 1824 : Hetling, Seyer, Roolsey, Gold, Shadwell, Gapper, Ward, Elwyn, Bright, Eden and J. C. Prichard. It gradually assumed a more scientific and literary and rather less social character, and in 1833 it was called " The Park Street 233 A HISTORY OF THE Club." There is an old memorandum of the members in January of this year, which I copy verbatim : — " The Park Street Club — formerly Bears Debating Club — Dr. J. C. Prichard. Samuel Roolsey, Chemist. 1 John King, Surgeon, The Mall. W. P. King, Merchant, Redcliff Parade. Aaron Hartnell, Hony. Secretary, Schoolmaster. Louis E. De Ridder, 5 Victoria Place, Teacher French. Edward De Ridder. Thomas Exley, Mathematician. Frederick Norton, Schoolmaster. Samuel Worsley — blind — Rev. John Eden. William Coates, Surgeon, Mall. John Naish Sanders. Edgar, z Sword Bearer. And one more, name unknown." THE CATCH CLUB. This Club was founded about the year 1774. The members assembled Friday evenings at the Bush Tavern (see Fig. 45), then kept by John Weeks ; 3 afterwards at St. Alban's Tavern, and then at the Thatch'd House Tavern, St. James's. When Richard Smith, sen. (Surgeon to the Infirmary 1774-91), joined it in 1785 the principal members were : — " The Rev. J. Wilkins, Rector of St. Michael's. The Rev. Richard Haynes, of Siston, Gloucestershire. 1 I have copied the comments after the names as they stand. 8 John Fry Edgar ; he declined the Mayoralty in 1805, died 1850. 3 Jack Weeks, who was formerly a post-boy, was a notorious character in •those days, an excellent type of an old-fashioned tavern landlord. He was celebrated for the good fare he provided, especially for his punch and turtle soup. In July, 1776, he advertised " Turtle ordinaries every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday during the turtle season" at 5s. a head. In 1800 (according to the Pall Mall Magazine for December, 191 1) his Christmas bill of fare included 149 snipe, and a cold baron of beef weighing some 350 lbs. was ready for customers. It is stated that on one Christmas Day he sold 3,000 glasses of punch before dinner. He organised " the original Bristol Diligence and Flying Post Chaise," which was advertised to reach London in sixteen hours ; and when competition sprang up he actually gave his passengers a dinner, with wine, into the bargain. It has been asserted that this Jack Weeks was the landlord of " The Bush " when the immortal Pickwick stayed at that tavern. My readers will remember the " jolly looking old personage " who was drinking a bowl of bishop with the " one-eyed bagman." This, however, was .after 1827, when Weeks probably was no longer there. 234 BUSH TAVERN. Fig. 45. WHITE LION HOTEL, BROAD STREET. Fig. 47 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY — Andrewes, Esq., at Hill House, near Mangotsfield. 1 Colonel Andrewes his son, of the Somerset Militia. Rice Wasbrough, the elder, who died in April, 1802. He was Organist to the Cathedral. Robert Broderip, music master, who collected a book of Glees for the Society. The Rev. Dr. Barry, of the Hotwells. The Rev. Charles Lee of the Grammar School. William Rucster, Attorney, died December, 1830. Francis Gold, Apothecary, who died in 1830, aged 86. John Prideaux, silk mercer, who died in 1839, aged 86, with whom I sung the duet of ' Could a man be secure ' in 1838 at his house in Shirehampton. 8 Thomas Hellicar, Merchant in Queen Square (p. 361). Edward Chiun, Attorney, from the Moat, near Newent, Glo." Richard Smith, jun., joined the Club in 1796, and has left a memorandum that of all those who were members at that date (about 1828) " Rice Wasbrough, Brazier, Narrow Wine Street, brother to John Wasbrough, was the only one yet alive," except himself. After his name in one of the lists of members there is added in his own handwriting, " Whom God long preserve, July, 1828." A piano was in the room, " to which the members sang glees before supper, and afterwards spent the night merrily together . . . harmony reigned in every sense of the word." One of the earliest members, Robert Broderip, the organist, compiled a " Collection of Duets, Motas, Canons, Catches and Glees " for the use of the Club. Other collections were printed by Thomas Warren, the title-page of one of which I have reproduced. 3 (See Fig. 46.) Another of the first members, John Prideaux, was in the habit of inviting some of his old friends to dinner every year, to recall early memories. The last of these gatherings was at his house at Shirehampton on July nth, 1838. All the guests were elderly, amongst them being Miss Palmer of Park Row, aged eighty-three, Dr. Thomas Griffiths, 4 and Mr. Peter 1 Probably John Andrewes (or Andrews), second Treasurer of the Infirmary. (See p. 47.) The above list is copied from the fly-leaf of a book of songs published for the Catch Club, now in the possession of Miss Bleeck. The list is written by Richard Smith, jun. * See p. 236. The reader will understand that it is Richard Smith who is speaking. 3 I am indebted to the kindness of Miss Bleeck for permission to copy this. 4 Dr. Thomas Griffiths, formerly Apothecary to the Infirmary, died in May, 1838. R. Smith must, therefore, be incorrect in stating that he was present at this dinner, or has given the wrong date. 235 A HISTORY OF THE Dowding, aged eighty-one. After dinner Mr. Prideaux, aged eighty-six, said to Richard Smith (who was the " young 'un " of the party, being only sixty-five) , " Come young Master Dickey, let you and me try what hand we can make at a duet ! We used once to touch off ' Could a man be secure ' some forty years ago ! " " And," says Richard Smith, " we actually sent upstairs for poor Bob Broderip's book, and sang it ! " Fig. 46. ATCHES, (j^N^NS and GLEE'S ^ ~~t>?> twee,, Jousis, Yiw and ■> lojfil'* " j It, « j£.V* ■ - - »:°it\ T7~ "< f^' ' MfUJ* ■* ( o A BILL OF THOMAS HFLLIER, BARBER-SURGEON. Fig. si. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Infirmary an enormous urinary calculus which was successfully removed by him. He died on September 20th, 1759, aged seventy-four, and is buried in Christ Church, where a tablet with a pompous Latin inscription is erected to his memory. He lived in Corn Street. 1 (For portrait see Fig. 50.) The fifth Samuel Pye 2 was elected Surgeon to St. Peter's Hospital in 1759 ; and his son, the sixth of the name, died in 1808, leaving a son, James Pye, who practised at Lawrence Hill. It will be seen, therefore, that there. were seven successive generations of this family in practice in Bristol. Another barber-surgeon who was on the staff of St. Peter's Hospital was Thomas Hellier ; he was elected in 1743 and died in 1753. There are several of his bills in existence, and from these we gather that he shaved families regularly, and sent in his accounts usually every two or three years. I have re- produced a photograph of one of these, in which one item is the " shaving of Madm's Head " for two and a half years at ten shillings a year. (See Fig. 51.) He had a son, also called Thomas, who " served his time at the Mint" (St. Peter's), and practised in St. Thomas Street and afterwards in the Cathay. He died in 1776. The apothecaries, who sold drugs and groceries, etc., and were at first completely under the supervision of the College of Physicians, became a powerful body in the eighteenth century, and did most of the ordinary practice. In spite of the satire levelled at their heads by Pope, Garth, Arbuthnot and others, they throve and multiplied. The greater part of the population employed the apothecary because he was considered cheaper than the physician, and because he not only gave advice but supplied the drugs and blisters, etc., for which he felt justified in charging a good price. In Bristol the apothecaries were in a very flourishing condition in the eighteenth century, and could afford to dis- regard the contempt of the physicians, many of whom, however, were gradually learning that it was the best policy to be polite to them. Joseph Shapland, who was elected Apothecary to the 1 In the seventeenth century there were, according to Dr. George Parker, some seventy or eighty barber-surgeons in Bristol. In a list of voters prepared for the Parliamentary contest in Bristol in 1754- there are twenty-nine apothecaries, nineteen surgeons and eleven barber-surgeons, besides one apothecary in Bedminster and one in Clifton. William Goldwyer (see p. 257) states that in 1750 there were thirty-seven practitioners of medicine in Bristol, including barber-surgeons. 2 From Felix Farley's Journal, June 10th, 1758 : " Tuesday was married at St. James's Church Mr. Samuel Pye, Surgeon of this City and nephew of Mr. Pye Surgeon of St. Michael's Hill to Miss Piguenet, a lady with a fortune of ^3,000." 249 A HISTORY OF THE Infirmary in 1746, set up in practice in Queen Square on his resignation in 1752. He soon became very busy, and in 1775 took William Broderip into partnership. Their business was so good that Broderip's coachman told Richard Smith that his master had sometimes " stopped at sixty houses in the course of a day." His book-keeper declared that in the early part of the nineteenth century Broderip was making £4,500 a year. Before this time Shapland and William Dyer were most in vogue. " Physicians," writes Richard Smith, " were then only called in when the sick person was in extremis ; in fact, as they then complained, ' they came only to administer musk and close the eyes of the patient.' ' The bottle was charged for thus : " The draught 1/6. The musk therein 10/6." The profit on the draught was about ten shillings. " I can myself remember," continues Richard Smith, " when it (musk) might "be smelled in the street as you passed the house of a dying patient, as very few were allowed to depart without taking it, who could afford to pay for it." Shapland was so busy in the influenza epidemic of 1783, that when he had found out the kind of mixture which seemed most efficacious, he used to make up a firkin at a time (about 7^ gallons). In fact, the amount of medicines consumed in those days is almost incredible. Patients with ordinary maladies not unfrequently paid the apothecary a guinea a day for their drugs, and scores of packets containing " the draught," " the julep," and " the powders as before," were " never untied, and cupboards were loaded with hundreds of bottles, empty and full." Mr. Charles Bleeck (see Chapter xviii.) used in his practice two hundredweight of Epsom salts a year, which would provide some twenty-eight thousand doses as it is now employed. In many cases the barber-surgeon and the apothecary differed very little in their kind of work, but the latter made so much from the sale of drugs that he could afford to leave the shaving and hair-cutting alone. In the last half of the eighteenth century, when drug-taking was at its height, there were many apothecaries in large towns who made four or five thousand a year. In the year 1793 there were in Bristol thirty-five apothecaries and twenty surgeons. Nearly all the surgeons were general practitioners who dispensed their own medicines ; some styled themselves on their door-plates " Surgeon," some " Surgeon and Apothecary." Amongst the Staff of the Infirmary at this date Mr. Godfrey 250 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Lowe and Mr. Noble confined themselves pretty strictly to surgery; Mr. Yeatman practised as an apothecary; and Mr. Allard, who was always anxious to be known as a surgeon only nevertheless dispensed his own medicines, the bills being made out in the name of his "young man" or apprentice, who, however, got none of the money. Richard Smith, jun., commenced practice at 17 College Street and had on the front door only " Smith, Surgeon," but on the back door in Lamb Street, "Smith, Surgeon and Apothecary." When he removed to College Green m 1803 he dropped the word "Apothecary," but continued to act as a "General Practitioner." He inherited a patient from Mr. Allard, who took six or seven bottles of physic » a day (including a draught during the night if he happened to be awake) . He remained on Richard Smith's books for three years, during which time he was worth £250 to his medical attendant. There was a heavy duty on glass at this time, and the great thing was to get back the bottle. This was sometimes arranged by speaking to the patient, but this plan was evidently con- sidered rather infra dig., and it was more usual for the boy or young man who left the bottles of medicine to make a private arrangement with the servants of the house, who obtained the bottles as a perquisite. Another plan was to bargain with the women who then got their living by selling and buying bottles. They went round crying, " Toticanes bottles to sell," and were usually on a good understanding with the apothecaries, and charged only a small percentage for the recovery of their bottles and gallipots. Robert Jones Allard, who was on the Surgical Staff of the Infirmary from 1791 to 1810 (see p. 185), brought an action for recovery of fees against a Mr. Sowerby, at the Bristol Assizes, on September 5 th, 1810. Mr. Jekyll, speaking for the defendant said: " I had the curiosity . . . to ascertain the quantity of medicine sent in by this diligent apothecary. . . . Gentlemen, you would hardly credit it, if I did not declare it to you upon my honour, as a fact, that in the course of these three or four months there were sent to the defendant's house to be token by this boy, no less than 469 draughts, besides mixtures," etc. The great bulk of these potions would now be considered mere " placebos," decoctions of elm-bark, almond emulsion and such-like figuring largely in the books. The powders were chiefly rhubarb and prepared chalk, with a little antimony. Four shillings was the usual charge for a packet of twelve of 1 These bottles seldom contained more than three or four doses. 25 1 A HISTORY OF THE these. If any essential oil, such as oil of cinnamon, was included several shillings were added to the bill. For a three years' supply of medicines a Mr. Archer, who was living in the family of Richard Smith, sen., paid £350. Many people in those days were regularly " let blood " every spring and fall, and this was an important item in the income of apothecaries and barber-surgeons. The apothecary Broderip usually made no charge for attendance in the city, but was in the habit of writing at the bottom of his bill for medicines " attendance what you please." Some gave nothing extra, but in one instance when the account was for thirty pounds the patient paid eighty. He charged five shillings for visits to Stapleton, Brislington, or Redland. There is a record of one of his patients in Portland Square consuming twelve draughts daily, for which he paid eighteen shillings. The apothecaries' assistants were hard worked, especially during the winter months, and were often unable to go off duty before midnight. Broderip's " takings " at such busy times averaged some twelve pounds a day. The Greenlys, of Herefordshire, thought so much of his medicines, that they took to Weymouth every year from his " shop " two hundred " tonic draughts " and one thousand pills of different kinds. There were no pill-making machines in those days ; the mass was rolled out into a long, worm-like piece and divided into the requisite number of fragments, each of which was made into a pill. No wonder that one of Broderip's assistants declared " he was sick to death with rolling them." When an operating surgeon or physician was called in the apothecary continued to attend. Mr. Greenly, above mentioned, had the misfortune to have his hand shattered by the bursting of a gun. Godfrey Lowe, Infirmary Surgeon, was summoned to the case, and had to amputate the hand. He complained to Richard Smith that " although he, of course, had in reality all the responsibility, Mr. Broderip's bill was more than double his fee ! " Richard Smith, jun., was at this time (1793) one of Broderip's apprentices, and narrates that one day during Mr. Greenly's convalescence, " Mr. Lowe said, ' Well, I suppose we must go on with the Bark!' 'Yes,' answered Mr. B., 'it won't hurt him.' ' Hurt him,' rejoined Mr. Lowe, winking his eye, ' No, nor you either, will it, Billy ? ' " This busy apothecary also did a great deal of inoculation for small-pox, for which he charged from three to five guineas. In 252 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY fact, the complaint was that " Broderip took off the cream and left the surgeon the skimmed milk ! " He took all cases without inquiry, and in consequence had a considerable number of bad debts. For instance, in 1796 he booked £5,993, of which £1,959 was never recovered. There is no doubt, both from the evidence of his assistants and from extracts from his books made during his lifetime, that at his most prosperous period he cleared four or five thousand a year. It is not to be wondered at that he soon began to show the usual signs of wealth. He kept a good carriage, had the best of furniture, and maintained a private museum. He also purchased a country house, where his family lived a great part of the year. This house was situated on "the brow of the hill leading down to Westbury, on the left-hand side after you have passed Durdham Down and Cote House." It was, it is true, popularly known as " Gallipot Hall," but as Richard Smith says, " it was not the less splendid and elegant on that account." Fortune, indeed, seemed to smile upon him, but there were evil days in store. He began to prolong his sitting after dinner, and this meant an increasing application to the bottle. He was a " two bottle man," not an uncommon thing in those days, but alcohol appears to have made him moody, touchy, and averse to business. Dr. Beddoes sneered at him in his pamphlet on Phthisis as " a fashionable Achilles of an apothecary." Moncrieffe snubbed him. The physicians did not consider the apothecary a person to consult with. One day when Moncrieffe had been called in, one of the patient's friends asked if he " would like to see Mr. Broderip, who had been in attendance." He answered, " Hey ? What, the apothecary ? No ! show me the patient ! What the devil have I to do with the apothecary ? " Drs. Craufuird and Fox also refused to meet him. In fact, the reign of Broderip was coming to an end, and with it the entire kingdom of apothecaries. About the year 1805 the physicians began to tell their patients that the apothecary was quite unnecessary, that they could get prescriptions compounded elsewhere at half the price, and that it was time to make a stand against this enormous system of drugging. Those who tried the experiment found the physicians much cheaper and better, and the day of the apothecary was over. He had displaced the barber- surgeon, and was now, in his turn, to be supplanted by the physician and the dispensing druggist. The dispensing druggist, who was now coming to the front, had existed in Bristol for some years, but in a suppressed and languishing condition. At first these men were half druggists . 2 53 A HISTORY OF THE and half apothecaries ; frequently they " prescribed across the counter," as so many chemists do nowadays, to the detriment of the patient, who does not generally consider a correct diagnosis so important as a bottle of medicine. As long ago as 1760 a certain James Grace advertised in the Bristol papers that he had fitted up his shop " opposite the Pump, in Peter Street," with drugs and medicines, and " that Country People and others afflicted with any Sort of Disease, by sending the State of their several Complaints will be supplied with such Medicines as may speedily cure them." This man actually applied for the Surgeoncy at the Infirmary in 1754. Many of the druggists sold oils and paints in addition to drugs, and advertised extensively, some of them claiming that they could cure anything. A certain Dr. Perrin, who lived at 17 Denmark Street, advertised on January 12th, 1765, that he " certainly cures Cancerous Complaints, Scurvy, Rheumatisms, Dropsy, Gravel, etc. . . . He recovers the Blind to their Sight," etc. In 1784 one Edward Tucker had a " Medicinal Dispensary " in Union Street, and according to Dr. E. Long Fox, sen., Tucker's brother had a large establishment of the same kind at 11 Clare Street. The Till Adams, husband and wife, did a great deal of ordinary dispensing. John Till Adams, who figured in the Borlase and Ludlow incident (p. 98), lived in Broad Street ; according to the Bristol Gazette of September 6th, 1780, he obtained the degree of M.D. at Aberdeen. When he died he left his drugs and " valuable recipes " to his wife, who carried on the business with great success, and obtained a reputation for the cure of certain diseases. In 1795 the most notable dispenser in the city was a Mr. Jackson, who lived at 23 Wine Street. He was one of the first in Bristol to open a fine shop, with large glass jars in the window. He made his fortune, and left his business in the hands of Joseph Talbot, who also did very well. At some of these shops a kind of general dispensary was instituted ; some medical man attended for an hour or two daily, and was supposed to see people gratis. There was, no doubt, an arrangement between him and the druggist, so that he got a share of the money taken for the sale of the drugs he ordered. The public thought then (as many of them do now) that a little knowledge of drugs qualified a man to give medical advice, and began more and more to consult these dispensing druggists ; the physicians encouraged them, and advised their patients to 254 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY get rid of the family apothecary, and as a consequence the latter class of practitioners did less and less every year. Poor Broderip's career may be taken as typical of that of many other apothecaries at this date. In 1815 he gave up his carriage, disposed of his fine collection of pictures, and curtailed his establishment generally. Soon after he left his country house and went to live at 41 Richmond Terrace, where he and his family kept much within doors, and seldom visited the friends they had known in better days. Broderip still kept up a small practice amongst some of his old patients, but never "held up his head" again. " If you chanced to pass him in the street," says Richard Smith, " he hurried by you under a confused salute, and it was pitiful in the extreme to all those who had known him and partaken of his hospitality when fortune smiled upon him." He died about the year 1824. Thomas Baynton, who was an applicant for the Surgeoncy at the Infirmary on the resignation of James Norman in 1783,. was for many years a successful practitioner in Bristol ; he made a considerable fortune, and, unlike Broderip, succeeded in keeping it. His father, who was usually styled " Dr. Baynton," practised in Gloucester Lane, and had many patients, especially amongst the poor. Thomas was born on October 5th, 1761, and after a rather insufficient general education he was apprenticed at the age of fourteen to Thomas Elmes, who was Apothecary at the Infirmary from 1775 to 1777. According to Thomas Godwyn, his fellow-apprentice, Baynton was such a " tyrant that there was no enduring him," and fought with Godwyn so savagely that the friends of the latter had to take him away. He began practice about the year 1782 in Bridge Street, where he hired a bedroom and sitting-room for seventeen shillings a week. On May 27th, 1784, he married Miss Anne Swayne, youngest daughter of Mr. Joseph Swayne, of Hereford.. (See p. 175.) He lived after this in Brunswick Square and in Berkeley Square, and then at Duncan House, Clifton, the residence of Sir William Draper, famous for the part he took in the capture of Manilla. In his early days Baynton was very poor, and his fees were small. One of his apprentices, James Dew, told Richard Smith " that the pump-handle was troubled more at meals than the beer-cock "—a sign in those times of great penury or stinginess. He persevered, however, and fortune favoured him. A well-known butcher in Bull Paunch Lane was wounded in the shoulder by a cleaver during a brawl. Baynton was called in, and the grateful butcher so talked about the way he had been cured, that the young apothecary (he was only twenty-one) 255 A HISTORY OF THE began rapidly to " get on." At this time " he constantly appeared in dirty leather breeches and boots, with his clothes and hat in keeping, so that he seemed to have just quitted his horse after a hard ride into the country." According to Richard Smith it was a trick of junior practitioners in those days to " put on the look of having no time for anything but business." How little men have altered since then ! Baynton was an able accoucheur, and his practice in this way no doubt greatly increased his clientele, so that during his prosperous days he booked between two and three thousand per annum. He owed his success, however, to other causes, especially to his manner, his personal appearance, his conversational powers, and his real skill and ability. He wrote a book in 1797 on Ulcer of the Legs, 1 a complaint which was then even more common than it is now. He advocated the plan, which was recommended long before by Wiseman and others, of carefully strapping the leg with adhesive plaster, and thus supporting and protecting the inflamed and ulcerated surface. This is probably still the most effectual treatment for these cases, and has helped to make the reputation of more than one surgeon since Baynton's time. He used to assert that generally " he could command them to get well — in most he could persuade them by degrees, and in some very obstinate ones he was obliged to use coaxing — but none dared to disobey ultimately ! " His success made him think rather too highly of himself, and he talked at the " Medical Book Society " of little but his wonderful cures. He appears to have been a rather slow and indecisive operator, talking all the time to the patient and the assistants. He had, says Richard Smith, " in the greatest possible perfection the art of ' talking over ' patients — he usually began by alarming them — ' he did not know what to say exactly — he feared there was great reason to apprehend the worst — it was almost too late to undertake the case — but it was one of those cases to which he had turned his particular attention — he had seen a great many — had several now under his care — and if anyone could cure it, he was happy to say he was the man.' He knew also the value of ' my good friend,' and ' my dear madam,' even with the lowest classes, and turned all to advantage." In appearance he was a handsome, well-made man, of a ruddy and fair complexion, and had a pleasing and gentlemanly address, perhaps erring on the side of " bowing a little too 1 Descriptive Account of a New Method of Treating Old Ulcers of the Legs. By Thomas Baynton, Surgeon, Bristol. Printed by N. Biggs, Bristol. He also published in 1813 a work on the Treatment of Diseases of the Spine by Rest. 256 r //r l >&./,/» Dl'KE of GLOC ESTER. c „,r,< /,//u 3u*tituti on / / //»■ ,„,< </ '//// Jd 'E,s . SILHOUETTE OF W. H. GOLDWYER. Fig. 52. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY much," and " acting the agreeable." He was, however,, generally considered " captivating." Partly by his practice and partly by a lucky find of coal upon some land he had bought, he died worth over twenty-three thousand pounds, a great part of which was dissipated by legal difficulties connected with his will, which he made himself. It was very complicated, and extended to the enormous length of one hundred and thirty-two folios ! On the evening of August 29th, 1820, Richard Smith was fetched from the theatre to see Baynton, who was very ill ; he died (apparently of uraemic poisoning) the next day. His friends had sent messages to nearly every medical man in Clifton, and Richard Smith says " the room was quite full of us." 1 Another Bristol practitioner very eminent in his day deserves notice here, namely William Henry Goldwyer. He was born on February 10th, 1763, in Broad Street, in the house adjoining the church. His family is a good illustration of the fact, common in the eighteenth century, and still sometimes noticeable, of many members in successive generations following the profession of medicine. This has been exemplified in Bristol in the case of the Pyes, the Foxes, and the Prichards, amongst others. In the following table (S.) indicates surgeon and (P.) Physician : — William Goldwyer (S.) ! I I I William (S.) George (S.) Edward (S.) William (S.) William (S. William (S.) George (P.) Henry (S.) John (S.), George (S.) William Henry (S.) 1 1 r~~ 1 Henry (S.) John (P.) William (S.) It will be seen that in five generations there were fifteen medical men. William Henry Goldwyer was educated at the Bristol Grammar School, and was apprenticed in 1779, when sixteen years of age, to Williams, an apothecary in Bridge Street. In 1782 he became a pupil of James Norman at the Infirmary, and a few years later " walked the hospitals " in London and 1 I have given the above account of Baynton not only because he is an excellent type of the practitioner of the period, but because the details, all of which are obtained from Richard Smith's notes, show what a born " Boswell " the latter was. 257 A HISTORY OF THE Paris. He married Miss Harriet Grimstead in 1793, and had twelve children. He was a fair classical scholar, knew French, and was well read in literature. He was also a great collector of curiosities, amongst which was a painting of McGregor, the hero of Sir Walter Scott's Rob Roy. When this novel appeared Scott was still " the great unknown writer," but many people were pretty certain that he was the author of the famous books which had excited so much attention. Goldwyer, in this belief, sent the picture to Sir Walter, who wrote back a polite letter of acknowledgment, and said " that he accepted the present, but that he had no claim to such a compliment as the author of Rob Roy." Goldwyer's chief claim upon Bristolians is the part he took in founding the Bristol Eye Hospital. With great energy he enlisted the sympathies of many eminent citizens in the scheme, and on the 9th of June, 1810, an address was issued, with the signature of Mr. Charles Ridout (who then had a flourishing linen establishment in Mary-le-Port Street), concerning the new venture. On the 18th a meeting was held at the Guildhall ; the Duke of Gloucester was nomi- nated Patron, Samuel Cave the Treasurer, and Goldwyer the Surgeon-Oculist. Mr. J. M. Tandy was Secretary. The Hospital was an immediate success, and was supported by nearly all the well-known citizens. By the end of its third year more than two thousand patients had been seen. Goldwyer's services were so generally appreciated that the Freedom of the City was presented to him in 1816. In personal appearance he was short and thick-set, with prominent, globular eyes ; he was round-shouldered, and walked with a decided stoop. (See Fig. 52.) " He was fond," says Richard Smith, " of a social party round the fire. I think that I see him now (' in my mind's eye, Horatio ') in the little back parlour at his house in Bridge Street — filling his pipe out of the old leaden tobacco box with the negro-headed cover, and then " ' Puffing sorrow away With a drop of good stingo A-moistening his clay ; ' and many a time in passing his door after Lodge 1 he would catch two or three of us with, ' Well, what do you say to a whiff ? Come, turn in ! ' " This " little back parlour " must have been an interesting place ; on the chimney-piece were vases from Herculaneum, on 1 He was a noted Freemason, and served as Provincial Grand Master from 1808 to 1820. 258 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY the walls were scarce and curious engravings, and the tables and shelves were littered with black-letter editions, peculiar skulls, etc., and antique weapons. In this cosy retreat these good fellows spent many an evening, smoking, talking, and drinking " stingo," with an occasional bowl of punch. Goldwyer was a good all-round surgeon, and a skilful operator on cataracts. He had " Surgeon and Oculist " on his door-plate, but towards the end of his life removed the word " Oculist," under the impression that the public thought him too exclusively an eye specialist. He was very much beloved, and his death, which occurred on March 7th, 1820, was considered such a calamity by his friends, that Richard Smith was awakened by the ringing of his night bell to be told of the sad event by Francis Grigg, haberdasher, who was moved to " a flood of tears." He was a good example of the higher class surgeon in general practice of his day, an excellent accoucheur, and " well up " in all branches of his profession ; always ready to help his younger brethren and to give others the benefit of his wide knowledge. Samuel Simmons Salmon, the son of a currier, was born on February 8th, 1768, in the Old Market, near West Street, in a house on which the motto " detur digniori " was printed. He was educated at the Bristol Grammar School, and at the age of fifteen was indentured " to Richard Smith and Augusta his wife " (who were then, in 1783, living in Charlotte Street, Queen Square), as " a good and faithful apprentice," at a premium of two hundred and fifty guineas, for seven years. He kept a " Physick Garden " 1 at Lawford's Gate, and initiated an elaborate plan for a sea-bathing establishment, which he intended should be connected with the Infirmary. Although he was an able man, none of his schemes succeeded, and ill-luck followed him. At the age of fifty-five he became a pensioner of Sion College (in 1823), which brought him in eight pounds a year. William Barrett, famous as an historian of Bristol, was born in Wiltshire in 1733. He came as a boy to this city to learn his profession of apothecary, and was one of the numerous pupils of "Old Rosewell." (See p. 247.) He was one of the unsuccessful candidates who competed for the post of Surgeon to the Infirmary on the resignation of James Ford in 1759- He practised, chiefly asa" man-midwife " (as it was then called), in a house on St. Augustine's Back, from about 1759 to 1786. In this house (a drawing of which, made by Henry Smith, 1 A Dr. Baylis also kept a Physick Garden just above Jacob's Wells. 259 A HISTORY OF THE Attorney, 1 is here reproduced, see Fig. 53) " Tom Skone," who had the keenly-fought contest for the Surgeoncy with Abraham Ludlow in 1767, served his time as apprentice to Barrett. It was afterwards occupied by a Mr. Glascodine, and the parlour was used as a surgery by S. S. Salmon from 1794 to 1806. According to Richard Smith, Barrett usually wore " a waistcoat with large flap pockets ; his coat had large open sleeves; his breeches just reached the knee, and were slit in front and small buttoned." He sported two lamps at his door, not an uncommon thing in those days ; kept a good table ; and was always fond of antiquarian pursuits, occasionally forgetting his patients when " church hunting." It is well known that Chatterton applied to Barrett for a certificate of his fitness to go to Africa as a surgeon, and when this was refused, he wrote a scurrilous poem, called " The Exhibition, a Personal Satire," quite unfit for reproduction, in which Barrett is ridiculed. The idea of the piece is that a culprit is being tried for an absurd but indecent offence, and various Bristol medical men are described as sitting in judgment upon him. Barrett makes a speech, at the close of which " A murmur of applause Dropt from each carcase-butcher's rotten jaws." These two lines are a good example of the whole production. " Chatterton's pen," says Richard Smith, " was always dipped in gall when he wrote anything relating to his native place." Many of the surgeons and apothecaries of the eighteenth century got through an enormous amount of work, especially those who had large midwifery practices. Danvers Ward, * who contested several Infirmary elections, told Dr. J. E. Stock and Richard Smith that in one year he " put to bed two hundred and forty-six women, of which number twenty were confined in the space of one week ! " There have always been many irregular practitioners who have never " truckled to the pedantry of a diploma," skirmishing on the outskirts of the profession, and making money by the gullibility of the public. Bristol has had its full share of these, as we learn from advertisements in old newspapers, etc. My readers may remember Mrs. Stephens's nostrum, 1 Brother of Richard Smith, jun. 2 Ward was made a member of the Corporation of Surgeons in 1782, he and Joseph Metford being the only two in Bristol who then possessed that qualification. 260 V Iff if w X o . d •s in U M < g H p O TOE-NAILS OF OLD WOMAN WHO PASSED AS A WITCH. Fig 54. "IKONS" IN WHICH BODY WAS HUNG ON GIBBET FORMERLY NEAR KTNGROAD. Fig. 35. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY consisting of burnt snails and chamomile flowers, for the secret of which the Government actually paid £5> 000 - ( See P- 56.) The " wise woman," who was supposed to " know a thing or two," was in considerable request in the early part of the eighteenth century, and was sometimes " called in " when more orthodox practitioners failed. Thus in 1702 the Guardians of St. Peter's Hospital agreed with a Mrs. Sarah Cave " for the cure of eleven boys with scurfy heads at 5s. each." These women were often accredited with supernatural powers. An old crone who went about the streets of Bristol telling fortunes, and generally supposed to be a witch, came into the Infirmary as an in-patient. She had allowed her toe-nails to grow to an enormous length, and Richard Smith, under whose care she was, had a drawing made of these deformities, which is here reproduced. The sketch was probably made by Robert Dyer. 1 (See Fig. 54.) A Mr. Farland, who dubbed himself " Surgeon," advertised in the Bristol papers in August, 1793, that he might " be consulted every Day in the Week from Ten in the Morning till Two in the Afternoon, at Mr. Nicholson's, No. 8, next Door to the Royal Oak, King Street, Bristol. His advice is only One Shilling." He modestly claims that " by the Blessing of God " he could cure " Broken Bodies " (ruptures), Cancer, Hardness of Hearing, " all sorts of Fits," the King's Evil, and many other diseases " turned out of the Hospitals as incurable." It was not the fashion then to " hide your light under a bushel," and some practitioners were not content with a modest brass plate. Dr. Knowlton, for example, who lived " at Wallis's the pastry-cook's in Clare Street," had " an immense board all across the house with letters a foot long ' J. D. Knowlton, Physician and Man-midwife.' " In Sam. Farley's Bristol Newspaper for November 20th, 1731, is the following : — " Upon the demise of Mr. John Webb, late Surgeon in Corn Street the Medicine prepared and sold by him call'd The Liquor of Life, or The True Purging Cordial, so well noted for the service it has done the Publick, is now to be had of Mr. John Dolman, Surgeon, at his House on St. Michael's Hill, near the Griffin, at the usual Price." Thomas Godwyn, who was a surgical pupil at the Infirmary 1 Robert Dyer, a much esteemed pupil of Richard Smith, was born in King Square, Bristol, in 1790. His father, Dr. Robert Dyer, practised in Unity Street, and his grandfather, William Dyer, kept an apothecary's shop on the old Bristol Bridge. Robert Dyer, jun., became a member of the Corporation of Surgeons in September, 181 4. He went abroad. Many of his drawings of pathological subjects are still in existence. 261 A HISTORY OF THE in 1783, and afterwards practised at Bristol and Trowbridge, married the daughter of " Dr. Ryan, patentee of the Essence of Coltsfoot." Godwyn furnished this drug to the vendors after Ryan's decease. The sale of the nostrum is said to have brought him in three hundred a year. He went to live at Hallen, near Henbury, where he died on June 28th, 1832. After his death his widow sold the preparation to Newberry, in St. Paul's Churchyard, who paid her fifty pounds a year for it. Eye specialists of a bold and pushing type were not wanting in the eighteenth century. Let the present unobtrusive ophthalmic surgeon take note of the following, dated July, 1762 : — " The Chevalier John Taylor, Opthalmiater, (Oculist, by Patent) Pontifical, Imperial and Royal etc. Author of 45 Works written by himself in different Languages . will be at the White-Lion in Broad Street, Bristol, the 28th Inst. July in the Order of his present Circuit." This John Taylor, who also calls himself " Doctor of Physick and Oculist to the King," visited Bristol in August, 1742, and gave a lecture at the " White Lion " on " the make and beauty of the Eye." In the Bristol Oracle for September 14th, 1742, it is stated that he cured many people, and that " Mr. Crosby of St. Michael's Hill is recovered the sight of both eyes by the assistance of Dr. Taylor." Some of these advertising quacks received good fees, but as a rule they made little except from the sale of nostrums. An idea of the barber-surgeons' charges may be gathered from the bill referred to on page 249, and the apothecaries, as stated, made their money almost entirely by the sale of their drugs. The physicians at the period I am referring to commonly charged half a guinea or a guinea a visit, and the better-known surgeons five shillings, sometimes less, sometimes more. The Medical and Chirurgical Association (which was founded at a quarterly meeting of the Faculty of the Infirmary, held at the Montague Tavern, on December 8th, 1818) decided that the senior members of the profession, both physicians and surgeons, " should consider themselves on a par with regard to charges," whether on the Staff or not. The original members of this Society also decided that a guinea should be charged for visits to Bedminster and Redland, two guineas to Shirehampton and Henbury, etc., and that " less than a guinea ought not to be charged for a visit in the night." Although the average apothecary was not a highly-educated man, yet he generally had a good smattering of general know- ledge, and knew enough Latin to decipher prescriptions and 262 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY even to impress his patients by an occasional quotation from Virgil or Ovid. The surgeons' apprentices were nearly all tolerably well educated. In the early part of the nineteenth century there were few such illiterate medical students as Dickens's "Bob Sawyer" or Thackeray's "Sam Huckster." Richard Smith kept a record of the schooling of many of the Infirmary students of his time, and we gather from his notes that the average apprentice who was indentured at the House probably knew at least as much of the Classics as the medical student of to-day. To take one example, typical of hundreds of others : A. H. Ashley, indentured to Mr. Daniel 1831. Passed Apothecaries' Hall 1837. Educated at Mr. Knight's at Wraxall, where he " read Virgil, Horace, and Livy ; also Xenophon, Homer and Euripides." Sallust and Cicero are frequently mentioned ; the average student's " reading " in classical literature was, therefore, extensive if not accurate. Bleeding has often been mentioned in these pages ; it was usually carried out by opening a vein in the arm, but blood was taken from patients in other ways, especially by leeches and by " cupping." As we have seen, a special room was set apart at the Infirmary for " leeching." " Cupping " was of two kinds, " dry " and " wet." Dry cupping was merely the application to the skin of a glass " cup," the air in which was exhausted by heat or suction. By this means the fluid parts of the blood were slowly drawn into the tissues, and a swelling was formed under the instrument. The apparatus for wet cupping was a metal box with numerous slits on the surface applied to the skin ; on touching a spring a series of sharp lancets suddenly projected through these slits. The flow of blood was encouraged by the application of the Dry Cup. The barber-surgeons and apothecaries, who believed in " depletion," did a great deal of cupping ; the patients at the Infirmary received this treatment at the hands of the Resident Apothecary or apprentices. In May, 1828, a certain Robert Stock wrote to Richard Smith that he was about to " form an establishment " in Bristol as a " Professional Cupper." He made his headquarters at 22 Orchard Street, and advertised himself as " Cupper to his Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, and His Grace the Duke of Wellington." He also undertook the cure of corns " by an entire eradication." This advertisement, which is dated April, 1829, is the last I can find of the now lost art of cupping. Many of the prescriptions in use at the Infirmary and 263 A HISTORY OF THE elsewhere in the eighteenth century were very extraordinary concoctions. Goat's blood, dried in the sun or by a slow fire, bees shut up in a clean vessel and dried at a slow heat, and powdered toads were used. The latter were prepared (according to the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia of 1744) as follows : " Take live toads, dip them in oil of soot — then let them be burned in a pot at a moderate heat and pulverize them." Dr. E. Long Fox, sen., told Richard Smith that when he came to Bristol, about the year 1786, " it was the practice with Farr and most of the regular physicians to wrap up the legs of patients in hot bullock's lights (lungs) and apply a pigeon split and hot to the soles of their feet." 1 The eyes of crabs were also extensively used ; they were supposed to " take away all acidities, break the stone, dissolve the tartareous coagulations and congealed blood." * Ointments were in great demand in those times ; the Infirmary apprentices were supposed to have pieces of lint, ready spread with various unguents ; some of these were kept in the wards, others were sometimes carried about by the surgeon's pupils. There is an entry in the Committee Book for November 12th, 1828, " 1 cwt. of Bees wax of Mr. Peter Maze," for making ointments. Most of these greasy applications were abolished by the advent of antiseptic surgery. In 1753 the French surgeon Brossart advocated the use of " Agaric " (so called, according to Mr. Edward Knight, because the fungus was first brought from Agaria in Sarmatia 3 ) as a means of checking haemorrhage. James Ford (Surgeon to the Infirmary 1743-59) wrote a letter to the Royal Society, which was read at a meeting on April 10th, 1755, in which he says : " In 1753 I had brought to me from Paris some pieces of the Agaric of the Oak, which I have frequently used with success in haemorrhage." His colleague, William Thornhill, used it as a styptic in amputations of an arm and a leg, and considered it effectual. Ford came to the conclusion that it owed its properties to its texture, and experimented with a somewhat similar fungus, then called the fungus vinosus, because it grew in wine vaults. He says : " I used a piece of the same in the following experiment. After having amputated the leg above the ankle I applied my finger to the great artery and then 1 See Pepys's Diary for October 19th, 1663 : " It seems she (the Queen) was so ill as to be shaved and pidgeons put to her feet, and to have the extreme unction given her by the priests who were so long about it that the doctors were angry." 2 London Pharmacopoeia, 1656. See Fernie's Animal Simples, p. no. 3 British Medical Journal for March 1st, 1913, p. 437. 264 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY unscrewed the tourniquet to discover the small arteries which assistants covered in like manner." He then tightened the tourniquet, sponged the parts very dry, and applied Agaric to the bleeding points which he and his assistants had located. He then slowly unscrewed the tourniquet, and after an hour's oozing bleeding entirely ceased. Castelman, Norman and Townsend did not think much of this substance, and various pamphlets by Henry Parker, George Neale and others were written on the subject, the correspondence giving rise to some little acrimony in Bristol. In 1756 Richard Smith and Godfrey Lowe made some careful trials, and came to the conclusion that Agaric possessed no special styptic properties. There are some leaves from an old book, much stained with age, marked " e libris Thorn. Page, c-bre ye 7, 1708," pasted into Richard Smith's Infirmary Memoirs. These leaves contain notes and prescriptions collected by Thomas Page, one of the first Infirmary Surgeons, when he was a young man. From them I extract the following quaint recipes :— " For cure of ye Ricketts. " First blood them in ye Ears. Then Rub ye place with a handsome lock of black wool and lay ye Wooll on ye Ears till night, then take ye Wooll and open it and lay to ye Child's Sides for 4 or 5 Dayes." Another entry is as follows : — " To Give Eass in ye Gout. "Take a Good fat Gooss and stuff ye Belly full of fatt Eals and Rost him Dry. Save all ye Dripping." There are no further directions, but it is presumed that the patient is to eat the goose thus prepared. 265 CHAPTER XX ATTEMPTED MURDER OF DR. LOGAN — MURDER OF CAPTAIN GOODERE — DEMONSTRATIONS ON BODIES OF MURDERERS IN BOARD ROOM — " THE REDLAND MURDER " — MRS. BURDOCK AND MRS. SMITH — WILLIAM HERAPATH — GENERAL ELECTIONS — CARICATURE — BRISTOL RIOTS — HENRY DANIEL'S EVIDENCE Several important murders have become connected with the annals of the Bristol Royal Infirmary. Dr. Logan, one of the first batch of Physicians elected on May 20th, 1737, died from the effects of poison given him by one of his servants some years previously. He had in his employ a lad named William Nicholas, who was, it appears, dissatisfied with his wages. He confessed that " as he sat opposite to Mrs. Logan at Meeting " one Sunday, it entered his head that he would poison the family. He obtained a quantity of arsenic, and " watching his opportunity, in the absence of his fellow servant, threw it into the chocolate and served it up for their breakfast." Dr. and Mrs. Logan became violently ill, the culprit was apprehended, and committed to Newgate by Alderman Elton. Mrs. Logan lingered a few months and then died, Dr. Logan survived, with shattered health, for ten years. Nicholas was tried at the Guildhall, " at the Assizes of Oyer and Terminer, on Wednesday, April 6th, 1748, was found guilty of murder and was executed at St. Michael's Hill Gallows on April 22nd." The Oracle County Advertiser for Saturday, April 23rd, 1748, gives the following account of his execution : — " Yesterday the Under Sheriff, attended by the Constables of the City, went to Newgate, demanding the body of William Nicholas, under Sentence of Death, the same was delivered to them in order for Execution, which was performed about One o'clock at St. Michael's Hill. He was attended by the Rev. Mr. Gulliford, and at the Place behaved very Penitent, desiring all young Persons to take Warning by him, declaring at the same Time, that what he did was not with Intent to commit murder. He ty'd his Handkerchief over his face and ask'd the Hangman for his Cap, which he had just before put in his Waistcoat 266 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Pocket. After he was cut down, his Body was delivered to his Friends in order for Interment." Three other persons received sentence of death at the same assizes : John Betterley, a dragoon, for murder of a tobacco- cutter • James Tool, for " stealing 35 Ells and a half of Linnen Check 'out of the Shop of Mr. William Hill in High Street ; " and Eleanor Connor, for picking a farmer's pocket of nine pounds eleven shillings. All three were reprieved, Eleanor Connor only a few hours before the time fixed for the execution. At the same assizes Sir Michael Foster ordered a woman to be "burnt in the hand," and a man to be " whipp'd publickly." The Horwood murder, in which Richard Smith took so active an interest, has been narrated in Chapter xvii. Another case which he has recorded at some length is the murder of Sir Dinely Goodere by his brother, Captain Samuel Goodere, commander of the Ruby man-of-war, in January, 1740 (old style). . The two brothers were passionate and eccentric, and had apparently always quarrelled with each other. Captain Goodere's ship, the Ruby, was lying at the time in the Kingroad, at the mouth of the Avon. He was angry with his brother about some family affair, and on January 18th, 1740,. persuaded one of his own men and three seamen from a privateer, then anchored near the Ruby, to wait for Sir Dinely and seize him as he came from the house of Mr. Jarritt Smith in College Green (" the second house from St. Augustine's Churchyard"). This was carried out in broad daylight. The prisoner's cries were drowned by the shouts of the men, who told the onlookers they were taking away a madman, and the unfortunate Sir Dinely was forced into a boat and taken on board the Ruby. Early the next morning he was strangled by two men named Matthew Mahony and Charles White, both made half tipsy by Captain Goodere, who himself kept watch at the door of the cabin whilst the deed was perpetrated. Sir Michael Foster, then Recorder of Bristol, had a contro- versy with the Admiralty as to whether the crime was committed in his jurisdiction, He proved that this was so, and the three murderers, Goodere, Mahony, and White, were sentenced to death. They were hanged on the St. Michael's Hill gallows on April 15th, 1841. The captain, although by far the most guilty of the three, was driven to the place of execution in a mourning coach, attended by "Parson Penrose." The other two, together with a wretched woman convicted of killing her 267 A HISTORY OF THE bastard child, went in an open cart, with halters round their necks. " After the execution the body of the fratricide was brought by the Under-Sheriff, followed by an immense crowd, to the Infirmary, where a receipt was given for it by Messrs. Thornhill and Page, who were in waiting for it. The subject was then placed on a Tressle, x and Mr. Thornhill, taking a scalpel, made a crucial incision. In this state it was exposed to the populace until evening, when it was delivered to the friends." * Mahony's body was taken to the " Swatch," or " Swash," at the mouth of the River Avon, and " hung in chains." The order for this was sent by the Mayor to the Chamberlain (Mr. Christopher Willoughby) , and ran as follows : — " Mr. Chamberlain, " You are to give orders to the City workmen to erect a Gibbet to hang in chains the body of one of the murderers of Sir Dinely Goodere, Bart., on the highest part of the Swatch, on the Eastward side of the River, leading to Kings Road. " Henry Coombe, Mayor," etc. The " irons " in which the body was hung are now in the Infirmary Museum. (See Fig. 55.) The " confessions " of murderers in the eighteenth century were nearly always written for them, and are not to be trusted as evidence of contrition. If old records can be trusted, the repentance was often a very superficial affair. Captain Goodere and his two associates spent a great part of their last days in drinking. White is reported to have said, after the minister had been talking to him, " Come, prayers are dry, bring us a quart of ale." The last night the captain drank wine and went to bed as usual, and the morning of the execution breakfasted " as hearty as ever." 3 In the Infirmary Museum there are the skeletons of two women who were hanged on Monday, April 12th, 1802, on the gallows on St. Michael's Hill. Maria Davis, aged twenty, had left her infant to perish on Brandon Hill, and was aided in this crime by Charlotte Bobbett, aged twenty-three. After a brief stay in jail, they were taken in a cart to the scaffold, being " nearly overcome with fainting fits." The brief newspaper account is more touching than any 1 Apparently in the Board Room. 2 Seyer's History of Bristol ; the account is confirmed by Mr. Godfrey Lowe. 3 Seyer's History of Bristol. See also The Bristol Memorialist, No. i, January, 1816, and Richard Smith's MSS. at the Bristol Central Library. 268 a « hi p c/: w > rf -• : .^.. ^ • : ^ : •V. > ,.-■.'. LETTER CONFERRING THE TITLE "ROYAL ON THE INFIRMARY. Fig. 65. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY money to a young man, the heir of the Earldom of Wicklow, and had received as security a post-obit deed for £25,000, which he (Lloyd) had immediately transferred to his wife. The affair got into Chancery, and the Court ordered Mrs. Lloyd to pay the Infirmary £2,500, and this was ultimately done by yearly instalments of £500 during the years 1855-9 inclusive. This business made a great stir at the time, and gave, as may be imagined, much work to lawyers. In 1851 the adverse balance was increased to £4,334, the expenditure being over £3,000 more than the receipts from dividends and annual subscriptions. In March, 1852, the Committee sent out an urgent appeal for help, which was so far successful that a number of donations and a collection of £744 made at places of worship, together with some timely legacies, reduced the debt to the Treasurer to a little over £2,000. The number of annual subscribers, however, was only increased by twenty. 1 The Trustees in general appear to have taken little interest in these difficulties, and at the Quarterly Board Meetings on September 17th and December 17th, 1852, when important financial matters might have been discussed, there was actually no " quorum." Partly in consequence of this apathy, and perhaps because of the high price of provisions and the ominous state of foreign affairs, the next year, 1853, was financially bad, and the debt was increased to £3,734. In the following March war was declared with Russia, and April 26th was set apart as a solemn Fast Day. Provisions became so dear that although the amount of meat and flour consumed at the Infirmary was less in 1854 than in the year before, the money paid for these two articles was actually £400 more. In fact, expenses were steadily increasing, and the income was not nearly sufficient. Meetings were held, and a Sub- Committee was appointed to investigate the great increase in the annual cost of diet. The report of this Sub-Committee is interesting, because it clearly shows that the old-fashioned plan of treating many medical cases by semi-starvation and bleeding, etc., was disappearing, and a more generous diet, with plenty of meat and vegetables, strong beef tea, and occasionally wine or spirits, was gradually gaining ground. ^ Dr. Budd, who was years in advance of his time in so many points of practice, is especially mentioned in this report as 1 In 1852 0.6 per cent, of the total number of inhabitants of Bristol subscribed annually to the Infirmary. 323 A HISTORY OF THE " ordering a very much larger proportion of Extraordinaries " x than his colleagues, and a table that was drawn up, making comparisons between the diet ordered by different members of the Staff, gave rise to much protest. Such investigations, however, could lead to little real improvement in the financial position, and it became obvious that some energetic action must be taken to free the Institution from debt. On April 4th a Sub-Committee, was appointed " to consider the proper course to be adopted," and it was decided to ask the Mayor to call a public meeting and lay the position of affairs and the needs of the Charity before the citizens. The Bishop of Bristol and other important people were invited to help. The Mayor, Mr. John George Shaw, took up the matter with great energy, and a largely attended meeting was held at the Guildhall on Monday, August 7th, 1854, at one o'clock. The Mayor made an excellent and judicious speech, full of that reliance on the good feelings and benevolence of the audience which in the history of the Infirmary has often been successful in raising funds. He referred to the collection of £10,000 made in 1797, when the then Mayor, James Harvey, inaugurated an appeal to wipe out a large debt on the Institution, and expressed the utmost confidence in a similar result — a confidence which was fully justified, for before the meeting was over £3,000 had been promised. A pleasant little episode at this memorable meeting was the announcement by the Mayor " that Mr. Harford's head gardener had given a donation of two guineas, and the butler one guinea, both entirely unsolicited " — a statement that of course " brought down the house ! " An influential Committee was then and there appointed to canvass the city, and in a few months nearly £9,000 was collected, the debt was wiped out, and £3,000 was in hand for investment. This was the third occasion on which a large sum had been collected by a similar appeal, the other two being in 1797 and 1805. (See pp. 151 and 154.) It is sad to think that the prime mover in this benevolent effort, John George Shaw, twice Mayor of Bristol, and on more than one occasion a staunch friend to the Infirmary, spent his last days in poverty and obscurity. He died of malignant disease, in a room over a chemist's shop in Whiteladies Road, on October 28th, 1876, aged seventy-one. He was attended during his last illness by a gentleman 1 Extraordinaries included fowl, fish, eggs, broth, strong beef tea, wines and spirits. 324 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY who is now one of the Hon. Consulting Physicians to the Infirmary. In spite of this collection, the Institution was again in debt in 1855. I n f act > at this time the annual income from ordinary sources was about £4,500, and the expenditure £7,500, so that unless £3,000 came annually from special donations or legacies, there was bound to be a large deficit. The following year, 1856, over £2,000 fell in from this last source, and things were again fairly satisfactory. We have seen (p. 34) that occasionally difficulties had occurred in connection with the religious instruction of the patients. Every facility had always been given for anyone who wished to have a minister of his or her denomination to attend ; but great tact and management was required, and these matters were generally left as much as possible in the hands of the Chaplain. On March 10th, 1852, the Lady Visitors sent in their report for the year, and expressed a wish to distribute small tracts, which they promised should not be " of a controversial nature," amongst the inmates. This was allowed on the condition that the tracts should be previously submitted to the Chaplain. These directions were not always adhered to, and in 1857 some of the Lady Visitors had to be told that it formed " no part of their duty to convey religious instruction to the inmates of the Infirmary." The want of judgment in giving spiritual advice, etc., to patients who are dangerously ill or expecting a serious operation is sometimes inconceivable. It is not infrequent to find leaflets of a most disquieting nature given to such, tracts of the " Out of the Frying-pan into the Fire " species ; on the other hand, it is only just that a tribute should be paid to many of those who have officiated in the wards, and to some of the sisters and nurses. To give one instance out of many. A poor girl who was shortly to die, and knew it, begged that when the time came she might hold the hand of the ward sister. The patient was conscious to the last ; the sister sat quietly and cheerfully by her side and held her hand. What she said to her I do not know, but the child (she was only eighteen) said that she was quite happy, and with the support of her friend passed away, declaring " she did not mind a bit." This is surely better than frightening patients by " propositions in Divinity." It will be convenient to mention here some of the changes which occurred in the Chaplaincy in the latter part of the nineteenth century. 325 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Mr. W. H. Sage, 1 who had been appointed " as in all respects a fit and proper person to fill the office of Chaplain " on October 7th, 1856, resigned on January 24th, i860, and on April 24th the Rev. John Mackie was appointed. He held office for sixteen years, during which his kind and cheerful manners endeared him to the patients and officials. He resigned on May 23rd, 1876, and on August 8th of that year the Rev. Oswald Harrison was appointed. He only held the post for five months, and was becoming very popular, when serious illness obliged him to resign on January 9th, 1877. He was replaced on February 13th by the Rev. Oliver Sumner, who resigned on August 27th, 1878, but continued his duties at the Infirmary until his successor, the Rev. Octavius Maunsell Grindon 2 was elected on December 10th of that year. Mr. Grindon resigned on August 25th, 1885, on his nomination to a benefice, and on November 24th, 1885, the Rev. Fairfax Goodall was appointed Chaplain. (See p. 410.) 1 Page 300. * See photograph of Infirmary group, Fig. 72. 326 CHAPTER XXV (1857— 1868) ERECTION OF CHAPEL AND MUSEUM — CONVALESCENT ROOM — THE PHARMACOPCEIA — DIET — THE FACULTY ON " CHOPS " — THE LIFT — ELECTION OF RESIDENTS — HOSPITAL SUNDAY CLEARING OFF THE DEBT — THE DISPENSER — CALLS TO CONSULTATIONS — THE TELEGRAPH — JOHN BATTERSBY-HARFORD — THE LADY WITH THE VOTES — HILL'S WARDS — THE NURSES, THEIR DIET AND SLEEPING ACCOMMODATION — W. G. GRACE In the autumn of 1857 the project of building a Chapel for Divine Service came before the Trustees, and the Treasurer, Mr. J. S. Harford, not only took a leading part in promoting the scheme, but subscribed handsomely to the special fund which was raised for the purpose. The Faculty suggested that it would be desirable to erect at the same time a Museum to contain the excellent pathological specimens given to the Institution by Richard Smith and others. Hitherto these preparations had been lodged in a large room on the ground floor of the west wing. Nathaniel Crisp, whilst House Surgeon, had taken great pains in the arrangement of the specimens in this room, which was open to the Subscribers to the Infirmary every Tuesday between 10 a.m. and noon. Richard Smith left £400 in Consolidated Bank Annuities, the interest of which was to be devoted to the up-keep of his Museum. Dr. Budd drew up a list of suggestions on behalf of his colleagues, and the Staff subscribed fifty pounds towards the new buildings. Plans were brought before the Trustees on February 16th, 1858, and were unanimously approved. It was estimated that the cost would be about two thousand pounds. The Chapel and Museum were the chief objects, but it was proposed to make a Lecture Theatre and a Convalescent Day Room for patients. Mr. Fripp, the architect, soon got his plans ready, and the work was begun ; everyone was anxious to help, and Mr. William Miles earned the gratitude of the Committee by giving a large portion of the stone used. The Chapel, which was ready for Divine Service in i860, was 327 A HISTORY OF THE built over the Museum, so that the old rhyme might be applied quite literally to the situation : — " The Spirit above was the Spirit Divine, But the spirit below was the spirit of wine." The old Museum was converted into a Convalescent Room for men, and continued as such until 1865. It was furnished with a table, chairs, newspapers, and a few magazines, and was appreciated by the patients, but it was found that the convalescents wanted a great deal of looking after, and the space was wanted for other purposes ; the plan was never, in fact, a success. On the completion of the new buildings in i860 the Faculty arranged a public ceremony for the formal opening of the new Museum, to which the House Committee, medical men of the neighbourhood, students, and friends were invited. Dr. Budd, the senior Physician, gave an excellent address on this occasion. » He pointed out that the Bristol Infirmary had at that time the best collection of calculi in England (with the exception of the College of Surgeons and the Norwich Infirmary), and paid a handsome tribute to Mr. Crisp's catalogue. He mentioned some of the historical specimens on the shelves, such as the stone from the kidney of the well-known preacher, Robert Hall ; the thigh bone of a French prisoner who was the first in England to undergo amputation at the hip ; the skeletons of the two unfortunate women whose bodies were publicly dissected in the Board Room in 1802, and other gruesome curiosities. He also stated that the Faculty, with the consent of the Committee, intended the room to be used as a place where portraits of past medical officers might be hung, as a microscope room, and for the photography of pathological specimens. Dr. Budd always maintained the dignity and even sacredness of medical work, and declared that he and his colleagues " thought that the Museum of that Institution — though neither Bishop nor Priest be needed to perform the rite — should have its day of consecration." The Museum was in charge of the Honorary Staff, but most of the work in it was done by the " residents." When the appointment of honorary assistant medical officers was mooted in 1858, Dr. Budd proposed that the Assistant Physician should be Curator of the Museum and the Assistant Surgeon " General Superintendent of the Dead House " — a title of such horrid 1 Reported in the Bristol Times and in Felix Farley's Bristol Journal for October 6th, i860. 328 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY import, that one cannot but think that the doctor was indulging in some dry humour at the expense of his surgical colleagues ! From very early days it had been the custom to keep a list of formulas of the most frequently-used prescriptions for the sake of the Apothecary and Staff. This was compiled by the Physicians and Surgeons, and was at first called " Formula Medici." * Two copies of it were ordered to be kept in the " Shop " or Dispensary. From time to time these recipes of recognised value were added to, and they were ultimately printed in a useful little book called The Pharmacopoeia of the Bristol Infirmary. The directions were (until recently) written in Latin, and the correct composition of these often occasioned curious little discussions at Faculty meetings. For example, on November ioth, 1857, Dr. Edward Long Fox (then recently made Physician to the Institution, and fresh from Oxford) proposed that the word " utendum " should be expunged, and Mr. Augustin Prichard proposed " that the Imperative mood should be substituted for the Gerund whenever practicable." I have consulted two- eminent classical scholars, who tell me that they see no reason for either of these changes. When Dr. Budd made the sensible suggestion that all the directions should be written in English he met with no support. Various complaints had been made of the large amount of " Extras," especially fowl and fish, which had been ordered for patients, and the Faculty were requested to look into the matter. They did so, and Dr. Brittan presented their report at a Committee Meeting on February 17th, 1859. They found that the pint of milk given to each patient daily was often left ; otherwise that the diet was rather too poor. Some of the suggestions made are of interest ; for instance, it was stated that the soup served with the " Milk Diet " was " found to consist of a weak and greasy mutton broth, with vegetables." The Faculty's recipe for a good soup to replace this was as follows : " All the bones from the previous day's dinner to be crushed and placed in a coarse canvas bag," and to this was to be added (presumably for each patient) " 2 oz. of Fresh Beef, 1 oz. Scraps of Mutton (cut fine), 2 oz. Vegetables, 2 pints of water — Simmer to one pint — cool — skim." Their idea of a bread pudding is : "4 oz. Bread, Crust and Crumb softened with Boiling Water and beaten to a Pulp, 1 oz. sugar, 1 drop Oil of Lemons, 1 pint Milk — Bake." This question of diet has given rise to many anxious discussions. For instance, in 1861 it was thought by the 1 Rule XXXVIII. in the 1779 code. 3 2 9 A HISTORY OF THE Committee that there was considerable waste going on in butcher's meat, and a Sub-Committee reported on the matter. In one month more than fifty-six hundredweight of meat was consumed, with an average of 229 patients, which works out at nearly a pound a day each, and a large number of the patients ate no meat at all. The resident officials at this time were sixteen in number ; the porter, servants and boys dined at three o'clock, the " family " (that is, the Matron, House Surgeon, Assistant House Surgeon, and resident pupils, etc.) at five o'clock. These sixteen people consumed, according to the books, one hundred and ninety-six pounds of meat a week, or one pound and three-quarters a day each ! This was considered, quite reasonably, " a large amount." The report further states : " The Sub-Committee also found great misunderstanding to prevail on the subject of mutton chops. The rule in the kitchen was to interpret a mutton chop to mean 1 lb. of raw meat. Upon asking the opinion of the Faculty, this was not found to be their meaning when ordering a chop — their intention was to give a patient unable to eat the full diet something rather more delicate and less in quantity. Upon carefully experimenting we found that 5 oz. of Loin of Mutton would always give such a diet as the Faculty require." The kitchen fire at this time consumed a ton and a half of coal per week. Vaccination had been carried out for many years in all the large towns in England, but occasional epidemics of small-pox broke out, and the want of medical supervision frequently led to a rapid spread of the disease. Thus in 1858 there was an outbreak, and several cases occurred in the Infirmary. In March of this year one of the wards (No. 9) was cleared of surgical patients and given up to small-pox cases, and in the following month it was decided to utilise the brew-house for this purpose. This year (1858) a " Lift " was erected at a cost of £460. It was a small one, and used almost entirely for carrying up coals, dinners, etc., to the wards. Occasionally a boy went up with it. The question of substituting a large lift, with hydraulic power, was mooted in 1869, but it was decided to repair the old one, " special regard being made to the statement in Mr. Stothert's report that he declines to warrant it safe for lifting human beings." Patients were carried to the wards in a chair with poles by the porter and a boy. There is an entry in the " Surgeons' 33o BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Miscellaneous Book " in 1852 that " Mr. Harrison presented a basket which he had received from Mr. Syme for the purpose of carrying patients from the Wards to the Operating Theatie." It was not until 1866 that a canvas " stretcher " was introduced, something like that used in the army. Up to the year 1869 all the medical officers, honorary and salaried, were elected by a General Board of the Trustees, after advertisement in the local papers. As the resident posts were filled almost entirely by former pupils at the Infirmary, the opinion of the Faculty had naturally great weight in the selection ; the Physicians and Surgeons were often consulted, and their recommendations influenced the appointment. A feeling gradually gained ground that these important posts should not be restricted to local candidates, and on February 7th, i860, a Sub-Committee was appointed to consider how these vacancies might be more widely known. It was decided to advertise them for the future in the weekly medical journals, and the Trustees were earnestly requested not to promise their votes until the Faculty and Committee had examined and reported on the applicants' testimonials. Thomas Joseph Cookson Powell, who succeeded Nathaniel Crisp as House Surgeon on October 7th, 1858 (he had been Assistant House Surgeon from 1856 to 1858) died, much regretted, at the age of twenty-seven, on February 26th, i860. It was agreed that this resolution to more widely advertise the vacancy should not apply to the election of a House Surgeon in Powell's place, which was fixed for March 12th (when Mr. Geoffrey Viel Cooper, who had acted as Assistant Surgeon since October 7th, 1858, was elected), but should be put in force at the forthcoming election of Assistant Surgeon to the post vacated by Cooper. This latter post (of Assistant Surgeon) was therefore advertised in the medical journals, and seven candidates applied. The Faculty examined their applications, and reported " that Messrs. Board, Flicker, and White 1 be recommended to the Committee as having the best testimonials and being well qualified for the office of Assistant Surgeon." These new arrangements were much talked about, and, as is usual with departures from old-established routine, were much condemned. It was said that an attempt was being made to wrest the elective power from the Trustees and place it in the hands of the Committee and Faculty. 1 Edmund Comer Board (now Hon. Consulting Surgeon to the Infirmary) ; Louis M. Flicker, Crawley, Essex; George F. White, Royal Infirmary, Isle of Wight. 33 1 A HISTORY OF THE The supporters of the local candidate, Mr. Board, convened a public meeting at the Commercial Rooms on March i6th, with our friend Mr. J. G. Shaw in the chair. The reported introduction of some London candidates was hotly discussed, but on the appointed day, May 17th, i860, Mr. Board was elected without opposition, the other applicants having withdrawn. I have narrated this incident fully because it was no doubt the beginning of a movement which ultimately led to the election of resident medical officers by the Committee. The idea having germinated, was occasionally talked over, but was not officially mentioned until 1864, when it appears in the Annual Report of the Committee. It did not become law until new rules were drawn up in 1869, and confirmed in January, 1870. By Rule XII. of this code the Committee has the " power to appoint all paid Officers." Mr. Ebenezer Ludlow, who was elected Assistant House Surgeon on January 4th, 1865, at the Guildhall, was the last resident to be appointed by the general body of Trustees. 1 He was elected House Surgeon on January 22nd, 1870, vice Mr. Board, by the Committee, under the new regime. From time to time the Bristol Infirmary Committee had made urgent appeals to the clergy and ministers of the city to preach sermons and institute collections on behalf of the Charity ; in fact, the annual sermon which was instituted at the foundation of the Infirmary may be said to have been the first recognised annual collection-sermon of the kind in England. But the idea of setting apart one Sunday in the year for a simultaneous collection at several churches and chapels for a hospital appears to have originated in Birmingham in 1859. Soon after, in May, i860, the Committees of the Bristol Royal Infirmary and General Hospital exchanged views with each other on the subject, and it was decided on May 22nd, i860, that the combined Committees should co-operate " in the effort to obtain from the Clergy and Ministers of Bristol collections in their Churches and Chapels on the second Sunday in January in each year for the benefit of the two Institutions." This was the origin of " Hospital Sunday " in Bristol. The Rev. Thomas Hope and Mr. Protheroe were energetic in carrying out the scheme, which was so well responded to that it made an immediate and most welcome increase in the yearly incomes of 1 The actual selection, however, was in the hands of the Committee and Faculty, who chose him from twelve candidates, and their choice was not challenged. He was elected House Surgeon three days before the new rule was confirmed. 332 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY the Infirmary and Hospital, besides making the usefulness of these Institutions more widely known. The following year (1861) more than a thousand pounds were thus collected, of which the Infirmary received half. x The year i860 was notable in the annals of the Infirmary in many ways. Not only were the Chapel, Museum, and Convalescent Ward opened, and the whole House re-painted (at a cost of £350), but an important alteration was made in the Out-patient Department. Hitherto the Physicians and Surgeons had attended on two days a week only. Early in 1859 the Faculty urged the importance of a daily attendance, and after some opposition this was arranged, greatly to the advantage of the patients, who no longer had to wait — sometimes in great need of medical advice — for the appointed day. The experiment was also tried of allowing Out-patients to send for their medicine, etc., instead of waiting for it, but as this was soon altered, we may presume that the plan was not a success. The year was an expensive one, and in spite of an increase in annual subscriptions and over £2,000 in legacies the debt to the Treasurer had again increased to £5,626. To wipe this out a canvass of the city was instituted, which brought in £3,745. Each parish or district (for the surrounding country was included) was solicited by a Committee of workers. Clifton heads the list with £544, then comes St. James's with £195. The donations next year (1861) were numerous and satisfactory, and the income from all sources was £13,892, but the expenses were so great that there remained a small adverse balance. The cost per head of In-patients this year is stated in the report to be £2 12s. 6d., slightly less than at the Birmingham General Hospital and at the Sheffield Infirmary. Long before this, in May, 1816, William Swayne, Apothecary, had made application for the appointment of a Dispenser, as the work in the Shop was too heavy for the three apprentices. This was granted, and for some years a druggist or druggist's assistant was paid fifty guineas per annum for this work. * After a time the Apothecary and his apprentices managed without this additional help. At a Faculty Meeting on January 24th, 1859, Mr. Augustin Pilchard proposed that it was desirable " that a Dispenser be 1 The provinces were much ahead of London in this matter. See Burdett's Hospitals and Charities. 2 The appointment rested chiefly with the Apothecary, and the Dispenser -was allowed to have breakfast and dinner at the Infirmary. Apparently a certain William Cross was the first to hold this office. 333 A HISTORY OF THE appointed to relieve the Assistant House Surgeon of his duties in the Shop." The chief object was to give the Assistant House Surgeon time to help with the numerous Out-patients. The Committee agreed to this suggestion, and advertised the new post, and on August 16th, 1859, Joseph Monkman, who had acted as Dispenser at the York County Hospital, was appointed at a salary of £110 per annum, to be raised to £120 at the end of a year if the Committee was satisfied. The dispensing of the numerous and lengthy prescriptions of the Physicians kept the dispensary staff pretty busy in those days. Besides the Dispenser there was a senior, or " first assistant," a " second assistant," and two boys, whose salaries were as follows : — Mr. Monkman £ 120 P er annum. John Jones, first assistant . . £40 and £18 for board. Alfred Jones, second assistant £18 do. Frederick Jeffery, first boy . . £10 8s. do. Charles Broad, second boy . . £3 18s. do. In addition to the two Dispensary boys, there were, in 1861, three " messengers," two at an annual salary of £7 16s. and one at £3 18s. Their duties were to run errands, find the House Surgeon when he was wanted for casualties, etc., take notes to the Surgeons, attend to the lift, etc. It has been elsewhere stated that punctuality at operations and consultations has been one of the cherished traditions at the Infirmary, the patient taking precedence of all other engage- ments, however important. This humane rule, which has prevented an immense amount of distressing waiting, has hitherto been strenuously upheld. At this date (1861) each Surgeon took a week in rotation, during which all surgical cases requiring in-door treatment were admitted to his wards. When an operation was necessary, a messenger boy was sent to the Surgeon's house ; if he intended to operate, the boy went round to the other Surgeons, summoning them to a consultation. It was to ensure the Surgeon's speedy attendance that the rule was made that no one should " continue to hold office whilst he shall reside more than one mile and a half from the Infirmary." In the 1870 code the distance was increased to two miles. At first the messenger went on foot, but to save time he was afterwards sent in a cab. Motors and telephones have made these calls to urgent cases a much simpler matter. 334 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY To facilitate communication, an experiment was tried in 1863 of laying a long gutta-percha tube from the porter's lodge to the Dispensary ; this acted very well, and led to other " speaking tubes " being installed. There was still, however, a difficulty in sending messages to the wards. For example, a casualty might be admitted whilst the resident medical officers were going their " morning rounds." The porter or student for the week had to get some messenger to go and search for them, and this sometimes meant consider- able delay. Much thought was expended on this problem, and in January, 1868, some gentleman unknown offered, through Miss Edwards, to defray the expenses of fixing some form of telegraphic apparatus throughout the House. This was carried out under the supervision of Mr. Grafton, architect, at a cost of £250. It was an ingenious arrangement, and answered well for years. Many old Infirmary men will remember the " clocks" over the fireplaces in the wards. A large circle was painted on the wall, like the dial-plate of a clock, with a hand, which would swing round and point to the words " Casualty," " Dinner," etc., according to the nature of the summons, a small bell being struck at the same time. A loud, clanging bell near the entrance announced the arrival of a casualty or emergency. When medicine was wanted in a ward, the nurses either left the prescription in the porter's lodge or took it direct to the Dispensary. The latter plan was, however, strictly forbidden in 1868, as it was found in one or two instances that the conversational powers of the Shop assistants unduly delayed their return. On April 16th, 1866, John Scandrett Harford, who had served as President and Treasurer from 1844 to 1859, died peacefully in his eighty-first year. He was succeeded by his grandson, John Battersby-Harford, M.A., J. P., D.L., who was elected on March 15th, 1859. These two were perhaps the most accomplished and learned of all the distinguished men who have held this office. John Battersby-Harford was the son of Abraham Gray Harford-Battersby, and was born in 1819. He was educated at Harrow, and played in the School eleven against Eton at Lord's in 1836. He is described as being " strikingly handsome, with a classic profile and short aquiline nose," well proportioned, and tall. He married in 1850 a daughter of Baron Bunsen, and just before this he changed his name, by royal licence, from Harford- Battersby to Battersby-Harford. He died on February nth, 1875. 335 A HISTORY OF THE He was a man of varied tastes and pursuits, addicted to study and the belles-lettres, also to countryside amusements and sport. He had the reputation of being " an excellent shot, especially for woodcock." 1 The year 1866 was an important one in the history of the Infirmary in many ways. It was a good one financially, the total income amounting to over £11,000. Several important legacies fell in, notably one from the executors of Mr. Thomas Harris for £1,500, and two of £500 each from the late Treasurer, J. S. Harford, and from Mr. George Anstice, of Chipping Sodbury. On July 10th Mr. W. F. Morgan, one of the Consulting Surgeons, announced that a lady, who wished to remain anonymous, had given £1,000 to the Institution. This donation made her a life subscriber with thirty votes, and at all subsequent elections to honorary posts for many years this unknown donor was sought for with the greatest assiduity to obtain her promise of support. When the present writer was contesting the post of Assistant Surgeon in 1885, the information that the other candidate had obtained this lady's " proxies " came as a great blow to him and his Committee. Improvements were made in many directions. Three dirty and unsightly houses at the back of the garden (in Whitson Court) were purchased 2 and pulled down ; and this, together with the widening of Maudlin Street, made the surroundings of the Infirmary more healthy. A new carriage shed was also erected at the back entrance, for the Faculty drove up to the House in carriages in those days, and cut much more imposing figures than now, when they arrive on trams and bicycles ! A new and much better dead-house, with a post-mortem room adjoining, was erected this year near the Museum. On April 20th, 1866, Mr. T. E. Clark, one of the Surgeons, informed the Faculty that a gentleman was willing to pay between two and three thousand pounds for the erection of two new wards, to be added to the west wing of the Infirmary, and to be called after the donor's name. This generous offer came before the Committee on May 8th, and was thankfully accepted. It was soon known that this gentleman was Mr. T. W. Hill. Negotiations were at once opened with him ; a plan of Mr. Henry Crisp's (of the firm of Godwin and Crisp) was adopted, and the work was at once put in hand. 1 See Annals of the Harford Family. 2 Two of the houses were bought in February, 1867, the other one in May of that year. 336 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY These wards were built at the back of the west wing, and no pains were spared to make them light, well ventilated, and commodious. The lower one became No. 19 (men's) and the upper one No. 20 (children's). Each is fifty feet long and twenty-five feet wide. The walls were plastered with Parian cement, and the floors laid with polished oak. They are perhaps the best wards erected in the old building ; with the necessary furniture, etc., they cost £3,760, nearly the whole of which was paid by Mr. Hill. It was intended to have a public opening on Thursday, August 26th, 1868, but as the donor could not be present, the ceremony was a quiet one. The question of the efficiency of the nurses was again under serious consideration in 1866, and a Sub-Committee was formed, which furnished a report on the general internal economy of the House on December nth. This Sub-Committee held many consultations with Miss Laura E. Edwards, the Hon. Secretary of the Nurses' Training Institution, * and the outcome of these deliberations may be epitomised as follows : — (1) Board wages were to be entirely abolished, and all meals provided for nurses in the Infirmary. (2) Proper sleeping accommodation for the whole staff of nurses to be provided, in the House if possible. (3) The wards to be divided into four " groups," and four " Head Nurses " to be appointed, one for each group of wards. (4) A " ward nurse " to be in charge of each ward (under the supervision of the " Head Nurses "), two " additional " nurses provided for each " group," and eight " Infirmary Pupils " who were to work for three months in each " group," until they had completed a year's training. In addition, four " Institution Pupils " (from the Nurses' Training Institution) were to be added to the list. There were therefore to be forty nurses, the whole to be under the management of a " Lady Superintendent," " to be sole responsible Female Authority within the Infirmary." The House Surgeon was to have nothing to do with the appointment or dismissal of nurses. It was estimated that the cost of this new arrangement would be about £1,900 per annum (the old system cost about £1,800). On January 9th, 1867, Mrs. Lovell was appointed by the Committee to the new post of Lady Superintendent, with a 1 Inaugurated September 19th, 1862, for " the supply of trained Nurses of good character for the public on the usual terms and of gratuitous nursing for the sick poor." 337 22 A HISTORY OF THE salary of £jo a year, and it was decided to try the scheme and see how it worked. There were two great difficulties to be met, the meals in the building and the sleeping accommodation. I have mentioned that the room in the west wing formerly used as a museum had been in i860 converted into a Convalescent Ward for men. This had not proved a permanent success, and it was now (1866) decided to furnish it with a long table and chairs, and make it into a Nurses' Dining-room. It would accommodate half the nurses, and they had their meals here in two batches at the following hours : — Breakfast at 7 and 7.30. Dinner at n and 11.30. Supper at 8 and 8.30. The Housekeeper provided each nurse with half a pound of butter a week ; this she kept in her ward, and took with her to her meals. At breakfast time a twelve-ounce loaf of bread was given to each, to last for the day. The nurse was to take what she required of this loaf into the ward for her tea, which she could have whenever she found it convenient. For this meal she was allowed three ounces of tea and half a pound of loaf sugar a fortnight. Tea for breakfast was, however, provided. In 1890 the allowance of tea was increased from two to four ounces weekly, and in 1893 fish and bacon were added to the breakfast, in addition to eggs. In 1895 butter was placed on the table in small pats, and there was no restriction as to the amount used. For dinner they had (in 1866) meat and potatoes every day, soup twice a week, and a second vegetable or milk pudding twice or thrice a week. For supper, cold meat and bread and cheese were provided, with half a pint of beer for each (both for dinner and supper) . 1 Hitherto the Infirmary had consisted of a three-storied building (from the front), with low garrets over the central portion and wings, in one of which (that over the west wing) Richard Smith found the old records in 1791. (See Introduction.) After much debate it was decided to build a new story with large and well-fitted dormitories for the nurses, in place of the small, ill-ventilated garrets where most of them slept before, and which were, as the report says, " quite unfit to be occupied by respectable women." During these alterations, which were completed the following 1 In May, 1896, the title of " Sister " was given to nurses in charge of wards. This was much opposed at the time, on the grounds that the epithet " savoured of Popery." 338 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY year (1867) at a cost of about £3,000, the skylight of the operation theatre was threatened ; but the Surgeons protested, and the roof of the room was raised, a fact which accounts for the unusual height of the excellent operating room in the old building. Whilst the new dormitories were being got ready the nurses had to be boarded out, and this, combined with the many anxieties connected with the working of the new arrangements, threw an immense amount of responsibility on the Lady Superintendent, Mrs. Lovell, whose health became so impaired, that in August, 1867, her tenure of office had to terminate, and Miss Worthington was appointed " Lady Superintendent and Matron " on October 17th. On the resignation of Miss Worthington — also from ill- health — in November, 1868, the title of "Lady Superintendent" was abolished, and the new system was much modified, as it was found that it had proved no better than the old. On December 8th, 1868, Miss Sarah Bird, who had been Matron at the Sheffield Infirmary, was appointed Matron. x This year it was decided that no one should be taken as a nurse under the age of twenty-one, a most important regulation, for the hard work and responsible duties incident to nursing put too great a strain on women below this age. It may here be recorded that on October 27th, 1868, William Gilbert Grace, the great cricketer, entered as a pupil of Mr. Tibbits at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. He was then in his twenty-first year, and was already one of the most famous men in England. He became an " Assistant Pupil " on December 13th, 1870, and a Physician's pupil (under Dr. Brittan) on January 23rd, 1872. His brother, Fred Grace, became a pupil of Dr. Brittan at the same date. " W. G. " presided at the Annual Medical Dinner in 1893. 1 She resigned in 1885, after seventeen years' faithful service. In December, 1901, it was found that she was in reduced circumstances, and a collection was made for her, to which members of the Committee and Faculty subscribed. 339 CHAPTER XXVI OUTWARD APPEARANCE — " HATS ON " — DRESSERS' GOWNS — THE NEW TYPE — WILLIAM BUDD — FREDERICK BRITTAN — ALEXANDER EAIRBROTHER — EDWARD LONG FOX — JOHN BEDDOE — AUGUSTIN PRICHARD — R. M. BERNARD — H. A. HORE — CROSBY LEONARD — T. E. CLARK — R. W. TIBBITS — ROBERT PHIPPEN — RULES OF 187O — ASSISTANT MEDICAL OFFICERS — E. LUDLOW — E. C. BOARD — CONVALESCENT HOMES — RESIDENT APPRENTICES— R. SHINGLETON SMITH — H. M. CHUTE — DEBT — INSANITARY CONDITION — TEMPORARY REMOVAL TO COLSTON STREET — PERSONAL REMINISCENCES — RE-OPENING OF INFIRMARY Before the King's visit in 1912, when the outside of the building was scraped and re-painted, people often remarked on the sombre appearance of the old Infirmary. But before the year 1867 it was more gloomy still, for, to use the words of Mr. Latimer, " for some inscrutable reason the whole of the Infirmary buildings were painted black ; " and when Prince Puckler Muskan visited the city in 1828, he compared the place to an " enormous mausoleum." x On November 12th, 1867, Mr. Henry Palmer, one of the Vice-Presidents, told the Committee that he was desirous of seeing the external appearance improved, and made of a " more cheerful colour." He offered to pay £200 for this purpose, and the walls were rough cast and coloured (apparently a light grey) . The habits and costumes of the Staff altered, of course, with the times. In the eighteenth century, for instance, one or two of the Physicians and Surgeons were in the habit of hanging up their hats when they went round the wards, but the majority kept their heads covered, and wore their swords or rapiers whilst they were at their work. When the tall " top " hat came into fashion in the early part of the nineteenth century, it gradually became recognised as an almost necessary part of a medical man's outfit, and the custom at the Infirmary was for the Visiting Staff — and even the Residents — to wear their hats in the wards. Qualified men who " went round " with the Physicians and Surgeons also invariably wore the " topper ; " unqualified men were supposed to go round bareheaded, and it thus became an 1 Latimer's Annals of Bristol, Nineteenth Century, p. 28. 34° BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY outward and visible sign that a man had " passed the College " if he appeared in the wards with his hat on. Directly a student had obtained the M.R.C.S. he took the first opportunity of claiming his privilege, and appeared some Saturday morning, when there were usually plenty of people to see and envy him, in the full splendour of a silk hat. So tenacious were some of this custom, that Mr. Board, when House Surgeon, never went from one room of the Institution to another without putting on his hat. Dr. Beddoe, who was elected in 1862, was the first to break through this absurd custom ; for many years he was the only member of the medical staff who went into the wards bare- headed. Mr. Richardson Cross, who was elected Assistant Surgeon in 1878, almost from the first saw his Infirmary patients with his hat off, and his example was very slowly followed by others. The Surgeon usually kept on his ordinary coat for minor operations. When undertaking a major operation he exchanged this for an old black cloth coat kept for the purpose. A row of these dirty garments might be seen hanging up in the consulta- tion room ready for use ; they must have been so full of germs that it is a wonder septic troubles were not even commoner than they were. During the early years of the nineteenth century the dressers were supposed to wear long gowns made of some plain, washable material. Apparently this costume did not at all satisfy them, for they wrote a letter to the Surgeons on the subject. This curious document is still in existence ; it is unfortunately undated, but from the signatures it must have been written between 1812 and 1817. They profess " a rooted dislike to the gown now used, which is certainly no better than a butcher's frock," and suggest, as a suitable costume, " the cap and gown of the University student, with some modification," designating the gowns they were supposed to wear as " unbecoming and indecorous." What the immediate result of this letter was I cannot ascertain, but the student's gown was afterwards altered, according to the taste of the surgeon to whom the dresser belonged ; it had deep and capacious pockets, in which a " dressing case " of instruments, some lint, and a " roll of spread ointment and plasters " * were carried. When I was a dresser in 1877 we were allowed some latitude in the choice of a gown, but the prevailing pattern was a long 1 See Mr. A. W. Prichard's " Reminiscences of the Bristol Royal Infirmary," in the Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Journal for September, 1900. 341 A HISTORY OF THE flannel garment, not unlike a neat, closely-fitting " dressing- gown," frequently of some Scotch plaid, with deep side pockets, and usually with a waist-band. These gowns did not easily show stains, and were not too often cleaned ; they were, in fact, particularly unfitted for surgical purposes. Some of the dressers actually carried the instruments in their waist -bands when assisting at operations, and many of my colleagues will remember the burly student H V (who was above the usual age, and wore a thick beard), who presented a terrific aspect in the operation room, with saws, forceps and knives stuck into his belt, looking very much like a comic bandit. Long after Lister's gospel of surgical cleanliness was adopted some of the older Surgeons clung fondly to the ancient methods, and as late as 1895 I have seen a former member of the Infirmary Staff, when operating in private, stick the needles he was to use for sewing up the wound in the bed curtains, " to be handy," as he expressed it. It is needless to say that the wound did not heal by " first intentions." Medical and surgical practice began to undergo a great change in the middle of the nineteenth century. Pathology was becoming a definite science, owing chiefly to the work of Virchow and Billroth in Germany, Claude Bernard in France, and Paget and Jenner in England. The researches of Louis Pasteur were also beginning to be recognised in this country. Luckily there was a man ready who could interpret the spirit of the time, and introduce the new scientific knowledge at the Infirmary. On Dr. Riley's resignation William Budd was elected in his place, on October 28th, 1847. Various references will be found in these pages to this great physician. He was at this time thirty-six years of age, and had been in practice for about six years. He brought a splendid intellect and intense love of his calling to his work amongst his patients, and his connection with the Institution added great happiness to his life. So keen was he, that " as he walked down, for he had not then attained the dignity of a carriage, as soon as he got within sight of the Infirmary, like a boy within view of his bathing-place or cricket-field, he could hardly restrain himself from setting off to run, in his anxiety to see how his cases were getting on." * (For portrait see Fig. 66.) Dr. George Wallis (see Chapters xvii. and xxviii.) resigned in January, 1855, and on February 15th Dr. Frederick Brittan was elected Physician after a smart canvass. (See Appendix A.) He 1 See Obituary Notice of Dr. Budd in the Bristol Infirmary Reports (1878-79), by Augustin Prichard. 34 2 FIVE MEMBERS OF MEDICAL READING SOCIETY, .1854. '1, Dr. J. G. Swayne ; 2, Charles Smerdon ; 3, W, F. Morgan; 4, William Goodeve ; 5, Dr. Fairbrother. Fig. 68. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY became very popular, both at the Infirmary and in private practice, his cheerful presence and many social qualities making him a great favourite. He was a fluent and eloquent speaker, taking a great interest in all sorts of professional work, whether pathological or clinical. He resigned in October, 1873, and died on February 15th, 1890, the thirty-fifth anniversary of his election on the Infirmary Staff. (For portrait see Fig. 67.) On June 5th, 1856, Dr. Alexander Fairbrother, x who had served as Physician at the General Hospital from 1838 to 1853, was elected on the Infirmary Staff on Dr. J. F. Bernard's retirement. He was forty-six years of age at the time of his election, and held office for twenty years. He resigned on June 27th, 1876, and had therefore altogether thirty-five years' experience of hospital work. He spent a great deal of his time at the Infirmary, and liked nothing better than a chat or gossip in the wards or corridors, either about his cases or any local event. He was often seen at the Commercial Rooms, which he frequented, I am told, from his love of picking up the latest news. He had a peculiarity which many of the students of those days noticed ; he would never enter a ward (or indeed any room) without using the tail of his coat as a covering to his hand when turning the handle of the door. What his reason for this was I do not know, but suppose he did it that he might not con- taminate his hand. He died on May 13th, 1889, aged seventy- nine, and left £1,000 to endow a bed in Ward III. (female) and £500 for the endowment of a cot in the Children's Ward. Dr. Lyon resigned in August, 1857, and Dr. Edward Long Fox (grandson of the Dr. Edward Long Fox who was on the Medical Staff from 1786 to 1816) was elected Physician on September 3rd, 1857. He was only twenty-five years of age at the time of his election, and entered upon his long and useful career at the Infirmary with great enthusiasm. (See Appendix B.) Dr. John Beddoe succeeded Dr. Budd as Physician to the Institution on March 20th, 1862, and resigned in October, 1873. He was born at Bewdley on September 21st, 1826, and was, when he began his Infirmary work, already distinguished not only as a physician but as an anthropologist. His book on the Races of Britain (1885) placed him in the foremost ranks of scientific men. It is unnecessary here to give any biography of so well-known a man. His kind and gentle manners, and his great skill and intellectual endowment, made his career as a 1 See group of Medical Reading Society for Dr. Fairbrother's portrait » o 8 d 3 cn Q < z o « ri H H-l S*. T3 T3 pll H rt d ►J « w < +j tA rt H < rt V a % M w O o C — ►J o f o < < ►J 2 >> < &H < < 0^ Pm 2 •< .1 -Bi — w — CL(_ _a,_ — J" — >< w II •o c/> o '— ■ i— > 2; z w rt .5 X o 1 — 1 o 1—1 2 -O S o c8 W rt rt s ►J o 6 O be rt 01 c a; -4-> .-*-• o W w ~ ■** < in in w >, a o be (H o en +-> in U id 1 ' v t^. 2 z < < X H < s H s CO S < u ja 1 W en Id -t-> ~r 5 O DO o 3 Z >< >< j c -t-> 1— 1 « -< S S ** bO fcd rt § e> & M O fee d o rd ® o 4 O i—i C/5 346 u BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Dr. Thomas Edward Clark was elected Surgeon on September 15th, 1864, vice Thomas Green, and resigned on September 23rd, 1873, when he was appointed Physician to the Bristol General Hospital. He took Holy Orders in 1885, and became Vicar of St. Peter's, Clifton. He died on December 24th, 1897, aged sixty-two. (For portrait see Fig. 70.) H. A. Hore's successor, Robert William Tibbits, was elected Surgeon on April 28th, 1868. He was twenty-six years old at the time of his appointment, and during his short but active career at the Infirmary he initiated and carried out many important reforms, which will be referred to later. He was, in fact, an enthusiastic reformer, and made a deep impression on professional life in Bristol. (See pp. 360 and 361, also Appendix A. For portrait see Fig. 71.) On the resignation of John Battersby-Harford, Robert Phippen was elected President and Treasurer on April 27th, 1869. Mr. J. B. Harford had, in the words of the Annual Report, " discharged the duties most kindly and efficiently for ten years, following in the steps of his uncle, John Scandrett Harford, Esq., who occupied the same position to the satisfaction of all connected with the Infirmary for fifteen years." Mr. Phippen, who was born at his father's house in Bedminster in 1801, had been Vice-President for no less than twenty-three years, and had taken a most active part in the affairs of the Infirmary. His election as President gave general satisfaction, but he did not long enjoy the honour conferred on him. A few months after his election, on July 5th, he went to dinner at the Mayor's house to meet the Committee of the Grateful Society. He arrived a few minutes after the company had sat down to dinner, and he had probably hurried, a fact which may have been the immediate cause of his death. After taking a mouthful or two of soup he turned pale and faint. He recovered sufficiently to be placed on a sofa and wheeled into the drawing-room, but in spite of the attentions of Dr. Lyon and Mr. Ormerod of Westbury, he died about an hour after he entered the house. It was found on examination that he had ruptured the great artery leading from the heart — an unusual occurrence. He was Mayor of Bristol in 1840-41, one of the Charity Trustees, and an active and benevolent citizen, putting his wealth to good uses. He was a great lover of botany. He was succeeded at the Infirmary by the Rev. James 347 A HISTORY OF THE Heyworth, who was elected President and Treasurer on July 27th, 1869. Although the 1843 code of rules had been modified in 1852, there had been no reprint of them since the former date. During the year 1869 the whole of the regulations were revised, and the new code was confirmed on January 25th, 1870. At this time the honorary medical officers were appointed for twenty years, at the expiration of which time they had to retire. This was felt by many to be a bad arrangement, for a Surgeon elected on the Staff at say forty-five years of age might, towards the end of his tenure of office, be unfit for the physical exertion and quickness of eye and muscle constantly required. x An attempt was made to alter this, but un- successfully. It was not until December 28th, 1877, that the present regulation was adopted, viz. : "That no person elected to the Office of Physician shall hold the same beyond the age of 60 years, nor to that of Surgeon beyond the age of 55 years." As far back as 1858 Dr. Budd proposed at a Faculty Meeting (on June 12th) that an Assistant Physician and an Assistant Surgeon should be appointed to attend to the increasing number of Out-patients ; and ten years later, in 1868, the question was again discussed by the Faculty. The resident medical officers at this time regularly helped in the crowded out-patient rooms, together with the students who were doing " dressing," but a great deal of waiting and delay was unavoidable. Soon after the new rules were printed in 1870 the question of assistant medical officers again came to the fore, and at length, on December 13th of this year, it was decided to appoint an Assistant Physician and an Assistant Surgeon, whose duties should " be confined solely to the Out-patient Department." On January 28th, 1871, Dr. Ebenezer Ludlow and Mr. Edmund Comer Board were duly elected by the Trustees under the respective titles of " Assistant Physician and Assistant Surgeon to the Out-patients." It was also decided that the Surgeon for the Week should not only appoint a resident dresser for that week, but also " an efficient Assistant Pupil to attend to the Out-patient Department during the fourth week folio wing." Many members of the full Staff continued to see Out- patients ; indeed, the new officers were at first looked upon as merely additional " helps," but as time went on the out-patient work was more and more relegated to the Assistant Physicians and Surgeons. 1 The group of Infirmary Surgeons shown in Fig. 62 is interesting in connection with the above. 34« BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Patients who left the Infirmary in a weak condition were at this time often sent to Convalescent Sanatoria at Shirehampton or Weston-super-Mare, or to Lady Ducie's Home at Cromhall. On August 22nd, 1871, the Committee received a letter from the representatives of " the Bristol Fever Hospital of 1864-5," stating that the sum of £1,100 had been paid by them to the Committee of the West of England Sanatorium at Weston-super- Mare, on the condition that the Committees of the Infirmary and General Hospital should be entitled to nominate a certain number of patients for annual admission to the Sanatorium. The number of beds for Infirmary patients was fixed at eighteen. In 1870 the House Surgeon was allowed to take three resident apprentices, who were elected by the Committee. Each of these paid the Infirmary £255 for five years' apprentice- ship, and the House Surgeon £60. They were taken on trial for two months before they were accepted, and they had such unusually good opportunities of learning their profession that there was no lack of applicants. Alterations in the medical curriculum gradually made this arrangement difficult, and House Surgeon's apprentices were abolished on March 3rd, 1880. On January 24th, 1871, Dr. Robert Shingleton Smith was elected House Surgeon in place of Dr. Ludlow, who was on January 28th elected the first Assistant Physician. Dr. Shingleton Smith had served as Assistant House Surgeon from March 1st, 1870, and was succeeded in that post by Henry Macready Chute, who was elected November 22nd, 1870. Mr. Chute became House Surgeon on November 25th, 1873, and resigned in 1877. He was a brother of Mr. James Macready Chute, so long and honourably connected with the Prince's Theatre, and was educated at the Bristol Medical School, which he entered in 1866. He made an excellent House Surgeon — quick, decisive, self-reliant, and well able to maintain discipline. He afterwards went to Cape Colony. The expenses of building and alterations, together with the growing needs of the Institution, had so depleted its finances that more than £5,000 was owing to the Treasurer at the end of 1870. A canvass was instituted, which brought in a hundred fresh subscribers in 1871, besides many donations, but there were very few legacies, and extensive repairs were required in the bathrooms and in the flues of the House, so that the deficit had increased to £8,000. by the end of the year. This state of affairs was improved in 1872 by a considerable increase in the Annual Subscriptions, and by important legacies, especially one of £5,000 left by the late President, Robert 349 A HISTORY OF THE Phippen. The total income was brought to £14,790, and the debt to the Treasurer was diminished by over £4,000. For the first time since its foundation the Infirmary had this year (1872) to pay rates and taxes. During the next two or three years attempts were made to get exemption, and Parliament was petitioned, but in vain. Amongst the useful gifts received at this time may be mentioned one hundred and four cupboards for patients to use as receptacles for their food, etc. (in 1871), and " one hundred and sixty excellent Counterpanes for the Patients' Beds," from Mr. Robert Hassell (in 1873). The Infirmary had hitherto obtained its water from a well on the premises. The water was pumped up to a large cistern on the roof by a steam engine which was installed in the base- ment. The vibrations of this engine could be distinctly perceived in the Committee Room, and were sometimes a source of annoyance. The Faculty suspected some contamination of the well and cistern as far back as 1855, but did not then take any definite action in the matter. Certain kinds of illness in the wards caused the question to be again discussed in 1874, and on May 19th of that year Mr. Harrison (then Consulting Surgeon) wrote to the Faculty asking them to obtain an analysis of the water. The intricate arrangement of internal drains was also thought to be dangerous, and a resolution was sent to the Committee requesting a report on the whole subject of drainage and water supply. The Committee sent samples of the water to the City Analyst, Mr. W. W. Stoddart, who found evidence of contamination with sewage. 1 It is curious that Dr. Fairbrother alone of all the Faculty disagreed with all their recommendations, but would give no reason for so doing. A resolution was therefore sent to the Committee by the other members of the Medical Staff, requesting that in future Dr. Fairbrother's statements should be accepted " upon his own personal responsibility only, and as in no way representing those of his colleagues." Although this resolution could only result in the Committee proceeding " with the business of the day," the Faculty were justified in sending it, for the line of independent action taken by Dr. Fairbrother from time to time in the history of the Infirmary led to so much confusion and misunderstanding that it was rightly condemned. A " Sanitary Sub-Committee " was appointed, and Mr. 1 In spite of this report, the Infirmary water continued to have a reputation for some occult curative powers ; people used to apply for it, and Mr. Trenerry, the Secretary, sent bottles of it to many applicants. The well was situated not far from the old dead-house ! 350 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Salter, of London, the eminent architect and civil engineer, was commissioned to examine and report on the condition of the House. He found many faults, chiefly connected with the fact that the drains were built of stone, and as time went on the slabs had become separated and leakage of sewage had occurred. He strongly advised a complete re-arrangement of the drains, the use of Company's water, new floors, fresh ventilation, and many other alterations. The Committee adopted the report of the Sub-Committee, and presented it to the Trustees at a special Board held on July 13th, 1875. It was agreed that these improvements were urgentlyneeded, and such was indeed the case. Septicaemia, erysipelas, and every disease which could be caused or fostered by foul air and insanitary conditions were rampant, especially in the surgical wards, so that operations were looked upon as fraught with great danger to the patients' lives. The results of wounds — whether accidental or made by the surgeon's knife — were frequently terrible ; weeks and months of fever, sloughing, pyaemia, and abscesses — in fact, all the horrors of surgical uncleanliness were common. Mr. R. W. Tibbits was extremely active in endeavouring to combat these evils. He worked with characteristic energy and contempt of conventional customs and ideas to bring about a more healthy state of affairs, and the Infirmary owed much to his persistence and enthusiasm. It was realised that these extensive alterations would cost a great deal, and it was decided to sell out sufficient 3 per cent. Consols to raise the sum of £15,000. Mr. Salter was appointed architect, and Messrs. Baker & Sons contracted for the work. It was obvious that all the patients must be cleared out during these alterations, and some empty houses (Nos. 1 to 7) in Colston Street were taken for six months at a rental of £270, and fitted up as a temporary infirmary ; water was laid on, earth closets made for the patients, a large kitchen range hired, and wards and residents' rooms furnished. The number of Out-patients was necessarily curtailed, only casualties and emergen cies were seen, and the number of beds was limited, but in a very short time everything was working quite smoothly. It was thought that the renovation of the Infirmary would be finished in six months, but as a matter of fact patients were not admitted again until September, 1876, so that the work was carried on in the temporary premises in Colston Street for twelve months. It was on October 1st, 1875, that I became a " dresser " 35i A HISTORY OF THE under Mr. Crosby Leonard. The custom in those days was for a pupil to attend under one of the Surgeons directly he joined the Medical School, and to take " out dressing " at the end of a year. We generally " dressed " for eighteen months or two years, during which time we came into residence for a week at a time in rotation. In consequence of this long period of practical work, during which we had a great deal of responsibility thrown on our shoulders, we usually acquired a knowledge of casualty work (cuts, burns, fractures, dislocations, etc.), which was more than once noticed by the examiners at the College of Surgeons. After our " dressing " we became clinical clerks to one of the Physicians. I came "in for the week " for the first time on December 20th, at the new premises in Colston Street. Every morning I went round the wards with Mr. Chute, the House Surgeon, attended to my chief's patients, and answered the frequent summons of a loud, clanging bell, which meant that a casualty or emergency had come in. My first casualty was a drunken man with a cut head, and under the directions of " old Mother Widcombe," 1 the casualty room nurse, whose advice the younger students always implicitly followed, I stitched up the wound without any sign of pain on the part of the patient, who was too far gone in drink to feel such a trifle as having his scalp sewn up. As my " week " did not end until Monday, December 27th, I was " in " on Christmas Day, and was hospitably and kindly entertained by Dr. J. E. Shaw, then Assistant House Surgeon, who invited me to dinner in his room. It may interest medical students, who do not now (1914) do any hospital work until they have gone up for their second " Conjoint " examination, to learn that whilst I was " dressing " at the Infirmary I attended lectures at the Medical School, went in for my " Primary " examination in London, and was a pupil at the Eye Dispensary in Orchard Street. I also found time to play in all the School football matches (the Medicals had a strong Rugby team in those days), 2 and did a fair amount of 1 Mrs. Widcombe continued at the Infirmary until the summer of 1887, being by that time too old for her work. On her departure she received a present of money from the Infirmary, and went to live with some relatives. 2 My readers may recognise the names of some well-known players in the Clifton and Medical teams which played on November nth, 1876. Clifton won, the Medicals played one short. Clifton. — J. D. Miller (Captain), J. C. Gilmore (back), W. O. Moberly. J. G. Thomson (half-backs), W. Fairbanks (three-quarter back), P. Allen, M. Curtis, C. Chamberlain, A. H. Dvmond, A. Francis, E. Grubb, G. D. Oswell, C. G. Parnell, H. W. Peck, E. Phillips (forwards). Medical School. — A. W. S. Young (Captain), T. Pullen (half-back), G. Munro Smith, J. P. Bush (backs), C. Henderson, H. Smith, Guy, F. Peck, H. Visger, R. Doyne, Dester, Logan, Bradshaw, Imlay (forwards). 352 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY boxing, most of which pastime was carried on sub rosa in the dining-room at the Infirmary. The formal re-opening of the Infirmary took place on October 3rd, 1876. Divine Service was celebrated in the Chapel at eleven o'clock, and an address was given by the Lord Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. A special meeting of Trustees was afterwards held in the Board Room, when speeches were made by the Bishop, Dr. Fox and others, and the President, the Rev. James Heyworth, gave an account of the alterations and declared the Institution opened. The building was thrown open to the public from one to five o'clock in the afternoon, and (according to the Minute Book) " many thousands of persons visited it." Besides the extensive alterations in drainage, closets and so forth, a new dead-house and post-mortem room were built, the wards and passages were repainted, new floors of polished wood were laid down, and a commodious " cottage " was erected at the end of the garden, at a cost of £683, for cases which might be detrimental to other patients if kept in the wards. The result of this thorough and much-needed cleansing, and the installation of a pure water supply, etc., was at once apparent in the improved results of treatment, especially in the surgical wards, and pyaemia and kindred diseases were almost extinguished. This was not, however, entirely due to the improved hygienic conditions. Another factor which revolutionised surgery was beginning to work, namely the introduction of Listerism, the history of which at the Bristol Infirmary we must now briefly narrate. 353 23 CHAPTER XXVII ANTISEPTICS — PASTEUR AND BUDD — LISTER AT THE INFIRMARY — CHANGES IN THE STAFF — FINANCES IN 1875 AND 1876 — OUT- PATIENTS AND HOSPITAL ABUSE — APPOINTMENT OF HOUSE PHYSICIAN — DEATH OF CROSBY LEONARD AND TIBBITS — JOHN HELLICAR — REV. JAMES HEYWORTH — SIR CHARLES CAVE — DEATH OF WILLIAM BUDD — J. C. WAYET — MEMORIAL TABLETS IN THE CHAPEL The existence of infinitely small organisms had been suspected since the time of Aristotle, but although the possibility of their connection with disease had been vaguely suggested, it was not until the nineteenth century that scientists had seriously considered the question. Three eminent men in Germany and France (Schultze in 1836, Schwann in 1837, an d Latour in 1838) really laid the foundation of a " germ theory of disease," but their speculations produced little inpression. Pasteur definitely proved the connection of microbes with putrefaction, and showed that the latter could not occur if the former were carefully excluded. He carried his researches into the diseases of animals, and must be looked upon as the real pioneer in this important field of work. In 1863 Dr. Budd, then Consulting Physician to the Infirmary, gave a memorable address before the British Medical Association, in which he maintained that many contagious diseases were due to minute living organisms, and proved his thesis by some accurate investigations of a widespread epidemic amongst sheep. He was one of the first to apply Pasteur's discoveries to a definite disease in England. It was two years after Budd's address that Lister first put these theories into practice in the treatment of surgical injuries, using German creosote as a germicide and antiseptic in a case of compound fracture ; and in 1868 he made his first experiment in tying a large blood vessel (the carotid artery of a calf) with catgut, which he thought was free from germs, and might therefore be safely left on the artery, the wound being closed. l The animal recovered perfectly. 1 The old plan of tying a vessel was to use thread, and leave the ends hanging out of the wound ; the ligature was, after a few days, " sloughed off," cutting its way through the vessel. To hasten separation a bullet or other light weight was sometimes hung on the thread. 354- BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY These wonderful results, however, percolated so slowly- through the general surgical mind, that in the early seventies the old plans were generally still followed. Amputations were expected to slough ; hempen ligatures were used for tying vessels, and unprepared horsehair was kept for sewing up wounds. A large leash of black horsehair was hung up under the gallery of the operation room at the Infirmary, ready for use. 1 The new teaching spread slowly, the provinces taking it up first and London following. When it took root in Bristol it was carried out vigorously and with great success, only one or two of the Infirmary Surgeons holding out, from sheer conservatism, against it. In those early days of antiseptics the part to be operated on was enveloped in a thick mist of dilute carbolic vapour, generated in two or three sprays, which were kept boiling by spirit lamps ; the dressings were large and somewhat costly, and the ritual was complicated. 2 On May 3rd, 1880, Lister accepted an invitation from the Faculty of the Medical School to distribute the annual prizes to the successful students, and the opportunity was seized of asking him to give a demonstration of his methods at the Infirmary. He readily agreed to this, and the Museum was got ready for the function. Lister was at this time fifty-three years of age, and was recognised by the younger generation of medical men all over the civilised world as the prophet of the most important surgical gospel ever preached. He was tall, dignified, and with a remarkably sweet and gentle expression. 3 The demonstration was arranged as follows. A woman in one of Mr. A. W. Prichard's wards had an abscess in her neck which required incision, and she agreed willingly to let the great man operate upon her. As many of us as the room would hold, including prominent citizens and a great many of the medical men of Bristol, crowded into the Museum. In the centre sat the patient, her neck swathed in the thick gauze dressings then used. She appeared very pleased with the proceedings, and showed no sign of pain when Lister, after a few words of explanation, opened the abscess under the usual cloud of carbolic spray. 1 See A. W. Prichard, in Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Journal for September 1900. 2 On one occasion a steam spray blew up in a most alarming manner ; luckily no one was seriously hurt. 3 " The mouth very firm but very mobile, and often relaxing into a peculiarly charming smile." — Dr. Roxburgh, in the Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Journal, vol. xxx. 355 A HISTORY OF THE When this was over, Dr. Brittan, who was then one of the Consulting Physicians to the Infirmary, came forward and made a short speech. He then took Lister by the hand, and said " he could only feebly imagine the feelings of the man who had by his noble talents and noble work diminished more than perhaps anyone else who had ever lived the sufferings of thousands and millions of men and women." Lister and, I imagine, most of those in the room were deeply affected by the scene. The Faculty had decided to entertain Professor Lister at lunch, and a Sub-Committee consisting of Dr. Shaw, Mr. Richardson Cross and Mr. Greig Smith obtained permission from the Committee to have this meal in the Board Room, the only occasion, I believe, in which a public lunch has been held in that room. The affair went off very well, Lister's health was drunk and there were more speeches. I had the privilege of being present as a newly-qualified Infirmary student, but I remember little about it except that it was a trifle dull. I sat next to the late Samuel Henry Swayne, and recollect that he told me a pun made on the spur of the moment by Nathaniel Smith. Some custard had been upset over his shoulder by a careless waiter, and he at once said, " This is cuss'd hard ! " It is astonishing that, with the results of Lister's treatment of wounds before their eyes, so many eminent surgeons refused for several years to adopt it, and even fought against it most vigorously. It is worth noticing that the surgeon who most opposed its introduction into the Infirmary was the last to give up the use of the " spray " after he had become a convert. Other applications of the " germ theory of disease " took a long time to take root in England. For example, although Cohnheim had conclusively proved in 1880 that the matter from phthisical lungs produced tubercle when injected into guinea-pigs, this plain evidence was ignored by many. In the Bristol M edico-Chirurgical Journal for July, 1883, appeared two interesting papers, one entitled " Clinical Evidence against the Contagiousness of Phthisis," by Dr. Markham Skerritt, Physician at the General Hospital, and the other called " The Proofs of the Existence of a Phthisical Contagion," by Dr. Shingleton Smith, Physician to the Infirmary. It is to the credit of the Infirmary Staff that they took, in fact, a very active part in spreading the new doctrine, both by practice and precept. 356 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY During the ten years from 1870 to 1880 the following changes took place in the Staff (see also Appendix A) : — Dr. Ludlow resigned the post of Assistant Physician in 1872, owing to ill-health, and Dr. Spencer was elected in his place ; the following year the latter was made Physician in the vacancy caused by Dr. Brittan's resignation, and at the same date Dr. Shingleton Smith replaced Dr. Beddoe as Physician. Dr. Waldo, who was elected (also in 1873) as Assistant Physician, became Physician in 1876, and Dr. Shaw, who was elected Assistant Physician in Dr. Waldo's place, became Physician on Dr. Fox's resignation in 1877. Amongst the Surgeons the changes were still more rapid. Mr. Board, elected Assistant Surgeon in January, 1871, became Surgeon in September of the same year in Mr. Bernard's place. Mr. Dowson, who took Mr. Board's place as Assistant Surgeon, came on the full Staff in 1873 when Mr. T. E. Clark resigned. In 1878 Mr. Crosby Leonard and Mr. Tibbits died. Mr. A. W. Prichard was elected in place of the former, and Mr. Richardson Cross, who was elected Assistant Surgeon in September, 1878, took Mr. Tibbits' place as full Surgeon. Dr. Steele resigned at the end of 1878, and Mr. Greig Smith was appointed in his stead in January, 1879. Mr. Harsant was elected Assistant Surgeon in 1879 vice Mr - Cross. It so happened, therefore, that Mr. Board, who was House Surgeon in 1870, was Senior Surgeon in December, 1878. Most luckily the year 1875, during which the renovation of the Infirmary was begun, was remarkable for the amount of legacies and donations, including a £3,000 donation from Mr. Selwood Riddle, a £3,000 legacy from Mr. T. W. Hill, and a £5,000 legacy from Lady Haberfield. The collections in places of worship were also above the average, so that the total income of 1875 amounted to £20,547 16s. 7d. Nearly £6,000 of this was paid for the rent and fittings of the temporary Infirmary, in sanitary improvements, and in the erection of the new mortuary and post-mortem room. The ordinary expenses were considerably lessened owing to the decreased number of patients. The following year, 1876, was also noticeable financially, for the balance sheet showed the largest expenditure and the largest apparent receipts in the history of the Infirmary. The expenditure included over £10,000 for sanitary repairs and alterations and extra expenses connected with the Colston Street premises. The income was £23,500, but this included the proceeds of the sale of over £10,000 3 per cent. Consols. 357 A HISTORY OF THE There was a legacy of £4,500 from the executors of the late Mr. T. W. Hill. The expenditure in the following year (1877), which included the final payments (£4,596 13s.) for the alterations, amounted to over £17,000. The income, luckily, included legacies to the amount of £21,778 3s. 5d., but of this £20,000, part of a legacy from Mr. T. W. Hill of £23,000 for the support of the wards named after him was, in accordance with the will, invested. By this investment the annual income of the Infirmary was increased by nearly £900. At the end of the year 1877 the balance due to the Treasurer was £7,110. Another important legacy from the late Mr. James Powell of £18,000 fell due in 1878, and one from Miss Theresa Deane of £1,000 ; and in 1879 the sum of £5,457 was paid to the Institution by the executors of Mrs. Price. By these timely additions the Infirmary was able to more than make up the amount of invested capital sold to defray the great expense of the alterations of 1875 and 1876. On August 10th, 1876, Mr. A. W. Prichard was elected Assistant Surgeon at the Guildhall. This was the last time that a medical officer was elected at a public building other than the Infirmary. On September nth, 1877, Dr. Shaw was elected Physician, in the place of Dr. E. Long Fox, in the Board Room, and since then all Infirmary elections have taken place in this room. The vacancy caused in the assistant staff by this election of Dr. Shaw was not filled until September, 1883, when Dr. Prowse was appointed Assistant Physician. It is difficult to understand why so important a post was allowed to remain vacant so long. A meeting was called for October 9th, 1877, but there were no applicants. There appears to have been no particular desire to fill it either on the part of the Faculty or Committee. The question of Out-patients was much discussed at this time. It was suggested that a small fee should be charged for attendance, but this was negatived as " contrary to the spirit and usages of this Institution and the Motto under which it has usefully existed for 140 years." It was pointed out that the working men of Bristol (by the penny-a-week contributions collected at various large firms) subscribed between eight and nine hundred pounds a year, and that this constituted a kind of " Provident Dispensary " arrangement, and gave to some of these employes, who were quite well enough off to pay a medical man, a claim to attend at the Infirmary whenever they liked. 358 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY A Sub-Committee, appointed on October 16th, 1877, to consider the question, made two suggestions : (1) That a Resident House Physician should be appointed, at a salary of £100 a year, whose duty should be to attend medical and surgical Out-patients when necessary ; and (2) to limit the abuse of the Out-patient Department by people who could well afford to pay for advice, the names of all those attending from January 1st to March 31st, 1878, should be forwarded to the Secretary of the Charity Organization Society, with a request that the circumstances of all these patients should be investigated. The Society undertook this task, and made the necessary inquiries into " the circumstances of 500 patients (taken indiscriminately), and as it did not appear that any great abuse of the Charity existed, the Committee did not deem it prudent to pursue the inquiry further, at all events for the present." 1 This did not by any means, however, settle the vexed question of " Out-patient abuse." The creation of the new post of House Physician necessitated other changes in the Resident Staff, and another new office, that of Medical Superintendent, was established. On June 25th, 1878, James Greig Smith, who had been House Surgeon since August, 1877, was m ade the first Medical Superintendent, and Dr. James Scott, who had been Assistant House Surgeon since October, 1877, was appointed the first House Physician. The post of Assistant House Surgeon was abolished, and the three Residents were therefore : — 1. The Medical Superintendent, who was in charge of the whole of the medical and surgical departments in the absence of the Honorary Staff. Greig Smith held this office for six months, and on his appointment as Surgeon in January, 1879, John Henry Macintyre took his place. 2. House Surgeon. 3. House Physician. In the summer of 1883 another re-arrangement of resident posts was made, that of Medical Superintendent was abolished, and the senior of the other two medical officers (House Surgeon and House Physician) was to " exercise general supervision over the House," under the title of Senior Resident Officer. In addition a third was appointed as Assistant Resident Officer and Pathologist, who had control of the Pathological Depart- ment, " performing either personally or by authorised deputy all post-mortem examinations," etc. He was also expected to 1 Annual Infirmary Report, 1878. 359 A HISTORY OF THE attend at n a.m. to classify the Out-patient notes, to act as Emergency and Casualty Officer, and to administer anaesthetics when required. When this post was advertised there were sixteen applicants. Mr. John Dacre, of the Leeds General Infirmary, was appointed on November 6th, 1883. During the decade from 1870 to 1880 death was busy amongst the Medical Staff and Committee. Crosby Leonard l resigned owing to failing health in August, 1878. His colleagues urgently requested him to retain his post, " even if he could not carry out the duties of the office," * but he felt that his career at the Infirmary was over, and refused their kind solicitations. He died quietly and painlessly at his house in Whiteladies Road on Monday, October 13th, 1879, a g e< i fifty-one. His death caused a widespread feeling of sorrow and loss, not only at the Infirmary and amongst his patients, but in the city generally. He was of a rather florid complexion, with pro- minent, well-shaped nose, blue eyes, and kind and placid but firm expression. He was tall, inclined to be stout, well dressed, with a genial manner which always inspired confidence. He was regular in his attendance at the Infirmary, where his sound judgment and unruffled temper made him very popular amongst his colleagues and with his patients. As an intimate friend of his has written, " He was particularly deficient in the art of quarrelling." 3 On Thursday, November 22nd, 1878, one of the most energetic Surgeons ever connected with the Infirmary, R. \V. Tibbits, * passed away, at the height of his mental and bodily powers, in his thirty-seventh year. His ten years of office at the Institution were full of active reforms, especially in his endeavours to bring in antiseptic surgery and to do away with all forms of surgical uncleanliness. He was one of the chief movers in the sanitary alterations and improvements in the House in 1875-6. He was quick in his movements, " bustling," rapid in speech and action, regardless of conventionalities, 1 See pp. 344-6. 2 Surgeon's Miscellaneous Book. In a small pocket-book in which Crosby Leonard scribbled a few scattered memoranda, chiefly with reference to the dates on which his horses were shod, is the entry under Tuesday, August 13th, 1878 : "Resigned as Surgeon to the Infirmy." 3 Augustin Prichard. * See p. 347. 360 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY impatient of stupidity and of contradiction — a reforming spirit. He was dark haired, ruddy, and wore a monocle. He and Crosby Leonard were good operators, but of very different type. Leonard was careful, methodical, unflurried, not in a hurry to operate ; Tibbits was quick, impatient, showy, certainly fond of operating, and was known amongst the students by the name of the " slasher," which always seemed to me to express his methods very well. Unlike his colleague Leonard, he by no means disliked a good quarrel, and entered into a dispute with alacrity and obvious enjoyment. The difference between the two men was apparent in their writings. Crosby Leonard took voluminous notes of his cases, but seldom published. Tibbits published his ideas not only in medical journals but often in the daily papers. Both were excellent clinical teachers. Leonard shone as a lecturer, Tibbits as a demonstrator at the bedside and in the post-mortem room. Both were students at the Bristol Medical School. Crosby Leonard left the sum of £300 to the Infirmary, the interest of which was to be awarded annually to an Infirmary student of the third year of study who should give the best report of ten surgical cases. It was thought that Tibbits' name could be best commemorated by founding an annual prize for Infirmary students, " for the greatest proficiency in practical surgery." The sum of £315 was collected by public subscription for the purpose. This was called the " Tibbits Memorial Prize." Mr. John Hellicar, a valuable member of Committee, died on June 4th, 1877, aged sixty-nine. He had for many years taken a keen interest in the welfare of the Infirmary, and is referred to in the Annual Report thus : "It is not too much to say that no member of the Committee was better acquainted with all the details of the arrangements of the Institution." He was the son of Thomas Hellicar, who, together with his brother Joseph, was an active member of Mr. Bowles's Election Committee in 1806. His grandfather, Ames Hellicar, actually travelled from the extreme end of Cornwall to Bristol on purpose to vote for Bowles. (See Appendix A.) John Hellicar was Master of the Merchant Venturers in 1840, and Treasurer of that Society from 1873 to 1875. The following fragment of pedigree shows some of the 361 A HISTORY OF THE relationships of this family, which are of interest in a history of the Bristol Royal Infirmary :— o I j3 s "u 43 -A .2 (J a -a CO E oo < - V-c o -fS N « 00 o — J5 . H T3 -as w « o The Rev. James Heyworth, who had served on the Com- mittee since 1857, and was elected President and Treasurer on Mr. Phippen's death in 1869, died on Monday, December 22nd, 1879, aged seventy-two. His health had been failing for some 362 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY months, and he had gone abroad in the hope of recovering it. He died at Cannes. He graduated at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1830, and was ordained by the Bishop of Cork in 1833. He took a prominent part in the establishment of Clifton College (he was Chairman of the Council for some years) and the Bristol Fine Arts Academy. Perhaps his most fitting panegyric may be found in the resolution passed by the Infirmary Committee : " They gratefully remember that he filled the Presidential Chair for ten years with an ability and kindness combined with an earnest regard for the welfare of the Charity which won him the esteem of all connected with the Infirmary." Mr. Charles Daniel Cave was elected President and Treasurer on March 23rd, 1880, in Mr. Heyworth's place. Sir Charles Cave, who is the son of Mr. Daniel Cave (President from 1829 to 1844), was born in 1832, and graduated at Exeter College, Oxford. He married a daughter of the celebrated Dr. John Addington Symonds in 1859. He was created a Baronet in 1896. His great business capacity and the keen interest he took in the Infirmary made his tenure of office of great service to the Institution. He resigned on May 5th, 1904. (See p. 407.) Within a few days of the death of the President, Dr. William Budd, x then senior Consulting Physician to the Infirmary, died near Clevedon, on January 9th, 1880, in his sixty-ninth year. He resigned his post of Physician in February, 1862, after fifteen years' service. His magnificent mental endowments had suffered eclipse for many years before his death. William Budd's contributions to medical science gave him a world-wide reputation ; he investigated the pathology of cholera, diphtheria, rickets and many other diseases, throwing light on every subject he handled. But perhaps his most valuable work was his book on Typhoid Fever, published in 1873. He was the first to clearly show that this complaint is contagious, and that the contagious material is cast off by the bowels. Those who have read the scattered references to him in these pages will realise that he was one of those geniuses who live in advance of their time. His views on contagion, on the supreme importance of pathology, on research, his suggestions as to the uses of photography, on the concentration of scientific workers, on the absurdities of our dog-Latin in prescriptions, 1 See p. 342. 363 A HISTORY OF THE and on the relegation of Out-patients to special officers, may be mentioned as examples of his foresight. 1 Mr. William Trenerry, who had been Secretary to the Infirmary since 1849, died on October 14th, 1884. * He had, therefore, been in office for thirty-live years, and had proved himself a most punctual, careful, and honourable servant to the Institution. His family, through no fault of his, were left in indigent circumstances, and a fund was raised for them, of which Mr. Paul Bush was Treasurer. A good portrait of Mr. Trenerry may be seen in the group of Infirmary officials shown in Fig. 72. A sad event which took place at the Infirmary in 1877 may be recorded here. John Cecil Wayet, son of the Rev. F. W. Wayet, Vicar of St. Stephen's, a promising medical student of twenty years of age, died whilst acting as Dresser for the Week on February 26th, 1877. He had suffered from severe toothache, and had taken a dose of laudanum to relieve the pain. He was found by the night nurse in an unconscious condition, and in spite of the efforts of Mr. Chute the House Surgeon and Mr. Greig Smith the Assistant House Surgeon, with the aid of Mr. Tibbits, who was promptly sent for, he died in a few hours. The unexpected and sudden death of a young man so full of life and cheerful activity as " Jack " Wayet cast a gloom upon the House. The Staff and his fellow-students erected a marble tablet to his memory in the Chapel. The visitor to this little Chapel will notice several memorial tablets, and a stained glass window put there to commemorate some of the nurses who have died at their posts. One of these tablets, placed on the wall by the Committee, is in memory of Charlotte Charles, for thirty years a nurse at the Institution. She died in the performance of her duties on January nth, 1870, aged seventy. Another tablet was erected by members of the Medical Staff, nurses, and friends to the memory of Elizabeth Hunt, " for 14 years the devoted Charge Nurse of No. 6 Ward." She died on May 19th, 1889. The Staff, nurses, and friends also erected a tablet to the memory of Eleanor Agnetta Foort, who " counted not her life 1 See Bristol Royal Infirmary Reports, 187S-9, also British Medical Journal, January 24th, 1880. 8 See also p. 299. 364 C) o ' — ' u u u - E <; *j <\ -- o -r- 25 rfl O — K c X. E b — O >^ . BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY dear unto herself." She died of illness contracted whilst on duty on April 20th, 1894, aged twenty-five. The stained glass window commemorates Sister Rosetta Hill and Nurses Edith Annie Pascoe, Alice Stebbings, Mary Elizabeth Bird, Agnes Mabel Hawkins, Kate Amelia Mundy, Ellen Bertha Wilkins, and Agnes Jenkins. Another brass tablet should also be mentioned. It was put up by his friends and fellow-students of the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Medical School to the memory of Surgeon George Dix Bradshaw, A. M.S., who died at Korti in the Soudan, March 13th, 1885, aged twenty-six. He was formerly Resident House pupil at the Infirmary, and one of the most lovable of friends, true to the high ideals he always set before him. On December 19th, 1884, Lieut. -Colonel Charles Senhouse Graham, late of the Royal Artillery, was elected Secretary and House Governor in William Trenerry's place. He worked with great enthusiasm for three years, when his health broke down, and he resigned on December 13th, 1887. He died on June 20th, 1896. 365 CHAPTER XXVIII MEDICAL TEACHING IN BRISTOL IN THE EIGHTEENTH AND EARLY PART OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY — LECTURES BY FORD AND PAGE — GODFREY LOWE, BOWLES, AND SMITH — BEDDOES — HIS UNPUNCTUALITY — THOMAS POLE — WILLIAM HETLING'S LECTURES AND THE FACULTY — PRICHARD AND STOCK — ROLFE — WALLIS — THOMAS SHUTE'S THEATRE — DINNERS AT THE " MONTAGUE " — FRANCIS GOLD — HIS ADVENTURES IN FRANCE — " SCHOOL OF ANATOMY AND MEDICINE " — " BRISTOL MEDICAL AND SURGICAL SCHOOL " — FOUNDATION OF THE BRISTOL MEDICAL SCHOOL Since the foundation of the Bristol Infirmary, many of the more enlightened members of the Committee and Staff have recognised the intimate connection between the healing of the sick and the education of medical students at such an Institution. Drs. Carrick and James Cowles Prichard and others had prophetic visions of Bristol as a great educational centre with a University connected with the Infirmary. Before briefly narrating how their ideals were ultimately realised, we must break the thread of our narrative and give a short history of the part taken by the Infirmary Staff in medical teaching in Bristol and the antecedents and origin of the Medical School. The first recorded lectures given by members of the Infirmary Staff were those delivered in the Surgeons' Hall, Bristol, by John Page and James Ford in the year 1746. These were anatomical, and occasionally some dissections were shown, which were obtained from the Infirmary dead-house, or even from the burial - ground. The course began on Friday, November 7th, 1746, at six o'clock in the evening. John Page published an anatomical " Compendium " in 1741, containing tables of the muscles, etc., written in Latin (and very well printed by S. and F. Farley), in the form of headings for lectures. On the cover of this pamphlet he styles himself " JohanPage, Chirur. et Prael. Anat. Bristol," so that it is probable that he had given lectures before this date. Godfrey Lowe, who was apprenticed to Jerome Norman in 1756, and afterwards studied in the Borough Hospitals, gave a series of lectures on his return to Bristol, and continued to deliver them regularly for several years. 366 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY In August, 1785, a Dr. Miller gave lectures on anatomy " in Terrell Street, Magdalen Lane," according to a notice in an old newspaper, but I can find no further mention of them. Francis Cheyne Bowles gave lectures and demonstrations, before his election as Surgeon, which were eagerly attended by Infirmary students. He began these probably in 1793 or 1794. They were not recognised by the authorities, and had no publicity, but there is evidence that they were very good. (See p. 186, also Chapter xvii.) In November, 1797, Dr. Beddoes, of " Pneumatic Institute " fame, called upon Bowles and proposed that they two should give a course of anatomical lectures. In those days, when anatomy was considered by the public to be a forbidden and mysterious subject, there was a great interest taken in it, and people eagerly attended scientific lectures, especially those connected with medical subjects. Some gentlemen had approached Beddoes, with a request that he would endeavour to get some competent surgeon to undertake a course of public lectures on anatomy, and had given him £50 to defray any expenses which might not be covered by the receipts. These gentlemen were the Bishop of Sodor and Man, Lord Lansdown, Lord Stanhope, Thomas Coutts the banker, Benjamin Hobhouse, ' James Watts, jun., and Thomas Wedgwood. * Bowles felt some diffidence, especially as he had not a large number of specimens, and asked Richard Smith to join him in the undertaking. After some difficulty in arranging matters the latter agreed to the proposal, and took up the scheme with his usual energy. A large, convenient room in the Red Lodge (which was then vacant) was got ready, and the following notice was sent to the papers : — "ANATOMY. " Messrs. Bowles and Smith will begin their Anatomical Lectures at the Red Lodge, Stoney Hill, on Friday, the 17th of November, at 7 in the evening. The Course will be adapted to Scientific persons in general, as well as Medical Gentlemen. " The first Lecture will be open to all who choose to attend." Dr. Beddoes had promised to send an introductory lecture to be read by Bowles, and had also undertaken to give four lectures on Phthisis Pulmonalis at the end of the course ; this latter promise, however, he failed to fulfil. 1 Member of Parliament, afterwards made a Baronet ; President of the Anchor Society in 181 1. 2 Then residing at Cote House, Durdham Down. 367 A HISTORY OF THE The public responded is a satisfactory manner, and there was every chance of at least a pecuniary success. Dr. Beddoes, however, gave the lecturers a great deal of trouble. He appears to have treated such obligations to the public in much the same way that his friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge did. Daily entreaties to compose his lecture produced nothing but vague promises, and on the morning of the momentous day his introductory lecture was only partly done, and was written " in such a scrawl as to be utterly illegible." The story may be best told in Richard Smith's words : — " After dinner Mr. Bowles posted to Clifton and found the doctor writing away against time, with his watch at his elbow. He first looked up — beckoned to the intruder not to interrupt him, but to take a chair — to have said a word would only have been to make bad worse. The clock had struck seven ! There sat poor Bowles, stewing, but as mute as a fish. In the interim Mr. Smith had set all in order in the Lecture Room ; the audience poured in, and the benches were presently full. Half an hour elapsed — no Mr. Bowles ! Message after message was dispatched but there were no tidings of him ! It was now eight o'clock, and the knocking of sticks on the floor indicated the impatience of the audience. " Mr. Smith's feelings may easily be imagined ; he felt himself obliged to come forward, and with the most profound bow and in agitation, to state to the company the cause of the delay. Scarcely had he finished when his long looked for partner made his appearance ; breathless, and in a profuse sweat, having run all the way from Clifton ! As soon as he could recover himself, Mr. Bowles thus addressed the audience : ' Gentlemen, this is no fault of mine ; Dr. Beddoes desires me to make his apologies to you ; I am very sorry that it has so happened. I have not received the manuscript above a quarter of an hour, and have not yet perused a word of it. The Doctor has indeed read it over to me, so I will endeavour to do the same to you, but I know not how I shall get through it. I will, however, do it as well as I can, and I beg your indulgence.' " He began, but what with interlineations, and going back ' to page this ' and ' page that,' ' here bring in note this ' and ' here bring in note that,' such a jumble of discordant paragraphs can scarcely be imagined ! After wading about three parts through Mr. Bowles closed the paper in despair, and said that ' he really was extremely mortified and ashamed, but that he hoped the audience would pardon him, as he had done his best, but found it impossible to make out any decent decyphering of Doctor Beddoes' hand-writing.' — A mixture of applause and 36S BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY dissatisfaction followed, and the two Lecturers turned the key on their benches heartily chagrined and sickened at the slovenly commencement of their undertaking ! " The next day they represented to the Doctor that some- thing in the way of apology to the audience from him, personally, seemed necessary, on which he sent them the following notice, to be posted in the Room : — " ' Dr. Beddoes is sorry that he kept the Gentlemen attending these lectures waiting, and that the haste in which his Introduction was composed prevented Mr. Bowles from reading it intelligibly — that, however, is of no consequence, as Dr. B. intends to print it, and it may be had in a few days at Messrs. Biggs & Cottle — price 3 shillings.' " This hasty composition, struck off at white heat, was, however, so well written, that Dr. Stock, in his Life of Beddoes, says that it " deserves to be ranked amongst the most valuable of his Publications." In spite of this unfortunate beginning, the efforts of the two young lecturers were crowned with success ; the enterprise became popular, and they received a general request to give another series suitable for a mixed audience of men and women. To this they agreed, and advertised that a second course would be given, to " include The Senses and the general Structure of the Frame, in which will be comprehended some hints on the Management of Children." The first lecture was fixed for Monday, January 1st, 1798, at twelve o'clock, and they were given three times a week ; the fee for the course was one guinea. This second course was also so well attended, that after paying all expenses the two enterprising young surgeons found that each had made a hundred guineas ! Elated with the result of their labours, Smith and Bowles decided on a bold step. They determined, in conjunction with Beddoes, to build a theatre for lecturing purposes, " with every convenience and accommodation for Anatomy and Chemistry in particular." Proposals were published, and the scheme so suited the public taste, that £800 was actually promised in a few days. Negotiations were opened for a piece of ground on the east side of Berkeley Square, but some legal difficulty as to the height of the building, says Richard Smith, " damped our projects and prevented their being immediately carried into effect and so the matter evaporated ! " They were not to be baulked, however, and determined to give a course the next winter. The Red Lodge was now let, but they obtained the use of a long room " in the Prebendary, 369 24 A HISTORY OF THE No. io, within two doors of the Arch going into the Lower Green as it was then called." Here they began their second winter course in December, 1798. According to the printed syllabus the lectures were given " three evenings in the week," and there were to be " at least twenty-six." In his written notes, however, Richard Smith says they were given in the " mornings and evenings." The subscription was two guineas, and after all expenses were paid they made about fifty guineas each. The encouragement they received made them still more anxious to found a permanent School of Anatomy, and they again looked about for a suitable building. No. 14 College Green was then in the occupation of a Mr. Walker, who had built there a large dancing room. It was thought that this, " together with two Stables adjoining," would make an excellent lecture theatre, and application was made to the Dean and Chapter, the lease of these premises having nearly run out. To the surprise of the two lecturers, however, they received an absolute refusal, without any reason being assigned. The secret soon leaked out. At that time party spirit ran so high in Bristol that, as Richard Smith puts it, "it was sufficient to be seen with one [party] to be hated and thwarted by the other," and it was known that they had been connected with " that Jacobin x Beddoes." It appears also that although Bowles was a Churchman and his brother Edward was a Minor Canon at the Cathedral, yet his family were Moravians, " another mortal cause of enmity." These difficulties, and the rapidly-increasing professional work of the two (especially of Bowles, who was becoming very busy), made them less keen on the lecturing project, and after some fruitless attempts to obtain a room in 1799 and 1800, the plan was abandoned. Bowles was an accomplished draughtsman, and the diagrams which he made to illustrate his lectures are excellent. One of these is here reproduced, as a specimen of his work. (See Fig- 73-) As Richard Smith was equally clever in preparing specimens, there is little wonder that their lectures were popular. Amongst those who attended the lectures of Smith and Bowles was Thomas Shute, afterwards (1812) elected Surgeon to the Infirmary. He gave anatomical lectures in a theatre in 1 Probably this is a mistake for " Jacobite," but Beddoes may have merited both titles. The Jacobins of Paris ceased to exist as a club in 1794. 37° DIAGRAM DRAWN BY 1 C BOWLES. Fig 73 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Lower College Street. These will be referred to later. (See P- 374-) In 1802 or 1803 Dr. Thomas Pole, a member of the Society of Friends, gave scientific lectures to mixed audiences at his house in St. James's Square, Bristol. These discourses covered a wide range of subjects ; indeed, the learned Quaker might almost be said to have constituted himself (like Diogenes Teufelsdrockh) " Professor of Things in General." He included in his course, which he entitled " The (Economy of Nature," Surgery, Botany, Chemistry, Physics, the use of the Globes, Midwifery, Optics and Astronomy ! His fees were four guineas for the whole course, or two shillings and sixpence for single lectures. * He lectured in London before this (in 1799), on the " Theory and Practice of Midwifery," and was " Man-Midwife Extraordinary to the Obstetric Charity." He died suddenly, while preparing for bed, at the age of seventy-six. He married a Miss Elizabeth Barrett. His daughter Rachel married Nehemiah Duck, and a daughter of this marriage became the wife of Mr. Thomas Wedmore, formerly of Druids Stoke. Mr. E. T. Wedmore, great-grandson of Dr. Pole, has written a short account of his life. On March 9th, 1814, William Hetling (Surgeon, 1807-37) wrote to the Treasurer (William Fripp), asking permission to give a course of lectures on the " Principles and Practice of Surgery " in the Admission Room, or other suitable place, at the Infirmary. He proposed lecturing twice a week to the students, and to any " Scientific Gentlemen who might wish to attend." This request was granted, arrangements were made, and several gentlemen, including some members of the Committee, entered their names as desirous of attending. An advertisement was also sent to the papers. It appears, however, that William Hetling, who on this and other occasions acted in an independent manner (see p. 190), had not conferred with his colleagues, and his action was resented by many members of the Staff. Consequently, on March 30th, an application was made by Richard Smith, Richard Lowe, and Henry Daniel, three of the Surgeons, for permission to give similar courses of lectures. That their motive was not entirely the diffusion of knowledge may be readily guessed, and this indeed is admitted in a letter to the Bristol Mirror, signed " A Trustee," and unmistakably written by " Dick " Smith, in which the proposed lectures are 1 James Cowles Prichard was one of his pupils. (See p. 468.) 37* A HISTORY OF THE thus referred to : " Wishing to give this usefulness and honour a still wider scope, or unwilling to suffer a professional eclipse — chuse which motive you please, unless you are willing to combine them both," etc. The Committee's reply to this application was a suggestion that Smith, Lowe, and Daniel should join with Hetling in giving a conjoint course, or should deliver theirs after he had finished. As soon as Hetling was told of this reply, he wrote to Richard Smith proposing a meeting to arrange for a combined course, and received for answer a letter stating that " their arrangements were of such a nature as not to allow of a coalition with advantage to either party." Hetling communicated this answer to the Committee on April 13th, and considered himself at liberty to continue his arrangements. Richard Smith then again wrote to the Committee, expressing the feelings of his colleagues against a united course of lectures, and the objections to postponement, as several people were anxious to attend ; also pointing out that the two sets of lectures might easily run concurrently. The Committee did not directly answer this, but passed a resolution giving permission to Messrs. Smith, Lowe, and Daniel to give their lectures after Hetling's. Of course, the matter got into the papers, the correspondents writing under the thin disguise of a nom de guerre. Finally Hetling wrote to the Committee that as his primary object was to lecture to Infirmary students, and only one had sent in his name, he had decided to abandon the idea. The Committee at once offered the room to Richard Smith and his colleagues, but there is no record that they availed themselves of this offer, and we may infer that their object was to stop Hetling rather than to lecture themselves ! On September 28th, 1816, Dr. J. Cowles Prichard, who had been elected Physician the previous February, and Dr. John Edmonds Stock (elected in 1811) wrote to the Committee that they wished to give a course of lectures on the " Institutes and Practice of Medicine," to be illustrated by cases in the wards of the Infirmary, and asked permission to use a room. 1 This letter contains the following sentence : " We are the more disposed to prefer this request, because it is an object of ambition to both to attempt to lay the foundation of a Medical 1 Dr. Prichard had previously given a course of lectures on Physiology, Pathology and the Practice of Physic, which began on March 8th, 1814, at his house in College Green, " in which at that time there were no shops, and a vine ran up the front of the house as far as the drawing-room windows." — The Early History of the Bristol Medical School, by Augustin Prichard. 37 2 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY School in an Institution which, we think, furnishes so many valuable opportunities for professional improvement." This scheme was approved by the other Physicians, and the Com- mittee readily agreed. The fee for the course (about sixty lectures) was three guineas, and those who attended were taken by one of the lecturers round the wards with the pupils. It may be remarked that the syllabus shows that the history of medicine received particular attention, and that an amount of learning and investigation was shown which indicates the great intellectual powers of one at least of the lecturers. Mr. W. D. Rolfe, one of the founders of the Bristol Lying-in Institution for poor women, gave lectures in 1816 on " The Principles and Practice of Midwifery, illustrated by an ingenious machine and apparatus contrived for the purpose." 1 In the spring of 1819 he gave a lecture (probably more than one) at his house in St. Augustine's Place, on " The History of Midwifery." Dr. George Wallis (elected Physician to the Infirmary in 1828) gave a course of eleven lectures on " Comparative Anatomy " at the Bristol Institute in 1825. These were free to members of the Institute ; they were well reported in the daily papers. The temporary feud between William Hetling and his surgical colleagues in 1814 (see pp. 371-2) passed away, and did not prevent the latter from recognising his great ability as a lecturer. With the full approval of the Staff, he published a scheme in 1831 for some winter courses of lectures on " The Principles, Practice and Operations of Surgery." The fees were "for a single course three guineas, for a second course two guineas — Perpetual, five guineas." These lectures were commenced on Wednesday, February 2nd, 1831, at half-past two o'clock, in the Infirmary Museum, and were recognised by the College of Surgeons for the instruction of students. Hetling gave three of these Infirmary courses, of about sixty lectures each, all of them fairly well attended, not only by pupils at the Institution, but by practitioners and others. 2 At his first lecture fifty-one persons were present, including Dr. Carrick, and Messrs. R. Lowe, H. Daniel and Nathaniel Smith. Richard Smith was ill at the time, or we may be sure he would have been present. The lecture was fully reported in the press. Hetling paid a 1 According to Augustin Prichard. 2 W. Hetling was the first lecturer on Surgery at the Bristol Medical School. 373 A HISTORY OF THE high compliment to the first Richard Smith on the Surgical Staff, and to his private museum. " This highly gifted individual," he said, "naturally attracted the attention of myself and the rest of the pupils of that day towards him, and on one distinguished occasion he most kindly and considerately invited me to his house to meet the present Sir Everard Home, who came to Bristol to view his museum. At that period I perfectly recollect, after going over every individual specimen, which occupied several hours, that gentleman's declaration — that it was the most unique, skilful and extensive museum he had inspected as the production of one individual, excepting of course the unrivalled Hunterian Collection." The old Museum at the Infirmary can no longer be considered perfect for present teaching purposes (although the additions of recent years have immensely increased its usefulness in this respect) , yet all connected with the Institution should be proud of such praise as the above from an impartial judge. After this date (1831) the formation of the Bristol Medical School began to engage the attention of the Infirmary Staff and of other prominent scientific men in the city. We have seen that there was in the early years of the nineteenth century a great demand for medical lectures. The difficulty of conducting such lectures, especially when human anatomy was one of the chief subjects, led to various attempts to establish anatomical theatres, schools for anatomy and surgery, and so forth, such as already existed in large numbers in London. Moreover, the growing importance in the public mind of a proper training for medical students, and the passing of the Anatomy Act in 1832, paved the way for the formation of such institutions, whose origin in Bristol we must now briefly consider. Thomas Shute (elected Surgeon to the Infirmary in July, 1812) was one of those who attended the lectures of Smith and Bowles in 1798 and 1799. (See p. 370.) He afterwards became a House pupil to Mr. Headington, of Broad Street, London, for three years, during which time he attended lectures by that gentleman and Mr. Frampton at the London Hospital. He came to Bristol, and began practice in 1805. The next year he determined to establish a school for anatomy, and tried at first to obtain a room for the purpose " opposite the East end of the Cathedral," which had belonged to the Literary and Philosophical Society, and afterwards to Dr. Kentish, who used it for " Vapour Baths." Lower College Green and the purlieus of the Cathedral were favourite sites for anatomical rooms. Gold, Wallis, and Shute 374 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY all had their establishments in the neighbourhood. The sacred edifice itself was invaded by these unholy things. In one of the pictures in Skelton's Antiquities a skeleton is seen at an upper window immediately over the cloisters. It was probably in this room, used for dissecting bodies, etc., by Gold and others, that Mrs. Robinson, who afterwards captivated George the Fourth when she was playing in the part of " Perdita," was born. According to the late Robert Hall Warren, the present Cathedral pulpit stands very nearly on this spot. Three such diverse uses for a locality remind one of Austin Dobson's lines in Angel Court : — " Nay ! the Eternities are there, Death at the doorway stands to smite, Life in its garrets leaps to light, And Love has climbed that crumbling stair ! " Shute failed in these first negotiations, but built a room on " some void ground near the old Riding School at the lower end of Lower College Street, at the back of his father's Stables." This was altered and enlarged from time to time, and at length became " a very elegant and commodious theatre." He was a good dissector, and spent nearly all his time in making preparations for his lectures. On October 17th, 1806, he put an advertisement in the papers, addressed " to the Medical Students of Bristol," informing them that he hoped his theatre would be completed in a few weeks. After so much trouble and expense he must have looked forward with anxiety to his first lecture, which was given on February 9th, 1807. He was disappointed to find that only seven people joined, but Richard Smith states that he gave both this and his subsequent lectures " in precisely the same manner as if the room had been full." This first course lasted three months ; it was chiefly on the bones and muscles, and may be considered as an introduction to his second course, which included " The Principles and Operations of Surgery," and commenced on Thursday, October 1st, 1807. He lectured at eight o'clock in the morning. The fee for the opening series was two guineas, and for each subsequent course five guineas, with an additional charge of three guineas for the use of the dissecting room. He had his " subjects," x each of which cost him six guineas, " regularly by the Waggon " from London ; he used three in each course. Great credit is due to Shute for the energy and determination 1 I need hardly remind my readers that bodies used for dissection are known to medical men and students as " subjects." 375 A HISTORY OF THE with which he carried out all these difficult and not very- remunerative arrangements ; he may be said to have laid the foundation in Bristol of regular anatomical instruction. It should be remembered that he lectured to medical students only, although he once, in June, 1808, gave three public lectures on the Ear. One is glad to find, from entries in his class book, that his enterprise prospered. For his second course he had eight students, and five more at work in the dissecting room ; the next year he had altogether sixteen, and the numbers went up to eighteen in 1812 and nineteen in 1813. His largest class apparently was in 1814, when he had twenty-four. The advertisements for his lectures are headed " Anatomical Theatre, Bristol," or " Anatomical Theatre, Lower College Street, Bristol." Thomas Shute, whose somewhat melancholy career has been described (see pp. 192-4), was a tall, loosely-made man, with a sallow complexion and a nose slightly disfigured by an accident. He is described as a good lecturer, " never at a loss for words," fluent and correct. He very seldom used any notes, and — possibly for this reason— his physiology lectures were wanting in arrangement. His pupils looked up to him with esteem and admiration, and after his first course they showed their appreciation by inviting him to a dinner. This became an annual custom with them, and in 1813 they formed themselves into a society, and made the dinners more public by advertising them in the daily papers. They usually dined at the Montague Tavern at five o'clock, and had two Presidents (chosen from Shute's present or past students), a Secretary, and a Committee consisting of " the Lecturer and six resident Practitioners." Amongst the Presidents I find the names of George Wallis, Walter Cleve, George McDonald, John Charlton Yeatman, Thomas Pendrill, James Howell, G. N. Robinson, W. H. Lassalle, etc. In 1815 there is a minute in their book that Dr. Pole (p. 371) gave to the Society fifteen models and casts of distorted pelves, calculi, etc., which were deposited in Shute's museum. In 1813 a formidable rival appeared in the person of Francis Gold, who established a school for teaching anatomy " near the Cloisters " of the Cathedral. (See p. 375.) Gold was the son of an apothecary practising in College Green, whose Christian name was also Francis ; he was twice an applicant for the post of Surgeon to the Infirmary (in 1812 and 1816). In 1801 he went to Egypt as an army surgeon, and resigned his commission after the Peace of Amiens in 1802. He travelled homewards through 37 6 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Italy and Switzerland. War was soon afterwards declared with France, and Gold had the ill-luck to arrive in Paris the very evening before the decree was issued for detaining the English in that city. He was made prisoner and kept there for some years. The celebrated Dr. Edward Jenner interested himself in the matter, and wrote a letter to the authorities in Paris, begging for Gold's release, and an order to that effect was given by Napoleon Bonaparte, who is reported to have said " he could refuse nothing to so great a man." Unfortunately, this order for his release, " after much inquiry, was found thrown aside in the Office through the negligence of a Subaltern Agent of the French Government," and Gold was not, apparently, liberated until the year 1812. Soon after his return he fitted up two rooms "ina house near the College, looking into the Cloisters," and began his anatomical lectures and demonstrations. His terms were three guineas for the course of lectures, and three guineas for the use of the dissecting room. In the advertisement it is stated that he lectured every morning except Sundays and Thursdays from eight to nine o'clock. Each student was to find his own " subject," a regulation which no doubt led to " body-snatching." These classes were kept up with success until 1819, when Gold gave up the profession and went to London. There is evidence that he was clever with his hands, not only as a dissector but as an artist, and he occasionally exhibited his pictures. He translated two or three French scientific works into English, notably Bichat's Physiological Researches on Life and Death. 1 At Shute's death, Dr. George Wallis, one of his first pupils, took over the management of the " Theatre of Anatomy." He began his first course on January 4th, 1817, and was assisted by Mr. George McDonald. Wallis was, as we have seen, a noted " Resurrectionist," and had received a good all-round medical training under Headington and Frampton in London, and Rutherford, Gregory and Munro in Edinburgh. He was elected Physician to the Bristol Infirmary in 1828, at the celebrated " Saints and Sinners " contest. (See Appendix A.) 1 In Felix Farley's Journal for September 2nd, 1826, is a translation of one of Horace's Odes (Ode xxix., Liber i.), adapted to Francis Gold by the Rev. John Eagles. We gather from this that Gold was contemplating some extensive travels abroad. According to Richard Smith, Gold died in 1830, aged eighty-six. He was. a member of" the " Catch Club." (See p. 235.) 377 A HISTORY OF THE This " Theatre of Anatomy," founded by Thomas Shute in 1807, and continued by Wallis in 1817, was the first institution in Bristol which could be called a medical school. Wallis carried on the enterprise for many years, assisted by George McDonald, and in 1828 by Henry Riley, with Lassalle (who was practising as an apothecary in College Green) as Secretary. Private lectures were still given, but they gradually ceased as the *' Schools " became more vigorous. We find, for instance, from an advertisement, that Mr. Goodeve gave anatomical lectures in College Green, but he afterwards threw in his lot with Wallis. Wallis's " Theatre of Anatomy " gradually became extended in its scope, and there was a fairly complete medical curriculum, including courses on Surgery and Midwifery by D. Da vies, M.D., Anatomy and Physiology by G. Wallis, M.D., Materia Medica by Paris Dick, M.D., and Chemistry by Edward Halse, F.L.S. At this period the advertisements of " Schools of Anatomy," " Theatres of Anatomy," etc., become rather confusing. For instance, in 1826 Henry Clark put a notice in the papers that his " Theatre of Anatomy " would be " opened immediately," and in 1830 we find a " School of Anatomy and Medicine " flourishing in Limekiln Lane, where Wallis, Riley and Halse were lecturing on Anatomy, Pathology, Chemistry, and Materia Medica. This establishment was afterwards removed to Lamb Street, Park Square. As it is distinctly stated that this " School of Anatomy and Medicine " was founded in 1807, we may, I think, conclude that it was a development of Shute's original " Theatre of Anatomy," which began its career in that year. Henry Clark's " Theatre of Anatomy " soon became popular, and its title was changed to the more imposing one of " Bristol Medical and Surgical School." It may be said, therefore, that in the year 1830 there were two recognised Medical Schools in Bristol, viz. the " School of Anatomy and Medicine " in Limekiln Lane, where Wallis, Riley and Halse were lecturing, and the " Bristol Medical and Surgical School," which was conducted by Henry Clark, William Herapath, Adam Chadwick, John Brathwaite Taylor, and Nathaniel Smith. The former was recognised by the Court of Examiners of the Apothecaries' Hall, the latter by this Court and by the examiners at the Royal College of Surgeons. This meant that students attending either school could go up for their examination at " the Hall " with only a few days' residence in London, and those attending the Medical and 378 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Surgical School could apply for the diploma of the College of Surgeons after " no more than six months' residence in the Metropolis." This Medical and Surgical School was certainly in existence as late as 1840, and was for some years concurrent with the Bristol Medical School, which we shall refer to directly. Luckily there is in existence a letter of Henry Clark's dated November 28th, 1833, giving an account of the school which he founded. From this we gather that it began in the autumn of 1826. " At that time," he writes ," the anatomical depart- ment was at a very low ebb, indeed I think I had no more than ■seven or eight pupils who entered to my list, though I had my full proportion of the number of pupils then in attendance on Anatomical Lectures." Amongst his first pupils were " Mr. Thornton Coathupe of Nailsea and Mr. John Colthurst, a pupil of Mr. Dicks." In 1827 he enlarged his lecture theatre, made some improvements in his dissecting room, and began his course in the autumn of that year with eleven pupils. The following year, 1828, he was joined by William Herapath, who gave a course of lectures on Chemistry, the first on this subject delivered in Bristol, which were recognised by the Apothecaries' Hall. His anatomical class this year consisted of twenty-four pupils. In the summer of 1829 he entirely rebuilt his anatomical theatre, further enlarged his dissecting room, and obtained the co-operation (in addition to that of William Herapath) of Chadwick, Nat. Smith, Taylor, and Roolsey. The numbers attending his classes steadily kept up. " In the autumn of 1833," he writes, " it was thought advisable to unite the two Anatomical Classes together by obtaining the co-operation of Dr. Riley, a gentleman who had lectured on Anatomy and Medicine for several years with very great success [at the " School of Anatomy and Medicine "]. This junction it was conceived would give greater energy to our efforts for the establishment of a more complete Medical School. The union was effected and other gentlemen associated themselves with the School, so as to make it complete in all its departments. Two Classes have already commenced their Sessional duties, viz. the Anatomy and the Chemical ; to the former has [sic] 49 pupils and to the latter between 30 and 40." This letter of Henry Clark's, from which the above quotations are made, was written on November 28th, 1833. The amalgamation he speaks of is, of course, "The Bristol Medical School," at which, he says, " two Classes have already commenced their Sessional duties." This would give the date of opening of the School as 1833. Now the late Augustin 379 A HISTORY OF THE Prichard says that the " Complete School " was opened " in the Old Park in 1832." He knew so much of the medical history of Bristol, and was so accurate a man, that his statement has great weight ; but we not only have the date given above by Henry Clark, but in the Bristol Gazette for October 24th, 1833, there is an account of a lecture given at the Infirmary by William Hetling, " in reference to a Complete Medical School in this City," and in the same paper there is the following : " The Bristol Medical School, Monday, October 14th, 1833. This Institution was opened this morning by Dr. Carrick, who delivered the preliminary address." In this address, which is about medical education and the advantages to be gained by a School of Medicine in Bristol, are the words : " This is the first time that an adequate number of respectable and talented individuals have united for the purpose of giving instruction in every department of medical science — the first time that anything has appeared which could have any title to the character of a Medical School." Moreover, in William Hetling's introductory lecture at the School, delivered on December 17th, 1834, is the state- ment, " This is only the second Session of our Medical School." We may therefore conclude that the Bristol Medical School was opened on October 14th, 1833, not in 1832 as usually supposed, and that it was an amalgamation of the " Bristol Medical and Surgical School " and the " School of Anatomy and Medicine." There are, however, two puzzling questions : Why is the date on the Seal of the School mdcccxxviii. ? and how comes it that these two forerunners of our Medical School did not cease their separate existences at the date of amalgamation, for they are advertised under their old names in Bristol papers of 1836 ? It is difficult, if we accept Henry Clark's statement, to answer this last question, but possibly some students had taken out " perpetual tickets " at these schools, and this made it necessary to continue them nominally for a few years. As to the first difficulty, the date on the Seal, it is probably, I think, due to the fact that in the year 1828 Henry Clark's establishment was first recognised by the Examining Board of the Apothecaries' Society, and is for this reason considered the most direct ancestor of the Medical School. Before concluding this chapter, it may be worth recording that Dr. Carrick in his address, referred to above, concludes by saying : " And this leads me to offer a few words on the 380 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY subject of attaching a Medical School to the Bristol College. To me it appeared most desirable that a School of Medicine should form an integral part of the College," etc. We have in these words the nucleus of an idea which many years later, in 1876, brought about the affiliation of the Medical School to the newly-formed University College of Bristol, and the incorporation of the two Institutions on November 16th, 1892. 381 CHAPTER XXIX FOUNDATION OF BRISTOL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE — THOMAS COOMBER — TEACHING AT THE MEDICAL SCHOOL — " FITZ " — PROPOSED INFIRMARY SCHOOL — OUT-PATIENTS — DAVID EDWARD BERNARD — ELECTION OF GREIG SMITH AS ASSISTANT HOUSE SURGEON — EDWARD LONG FOX — INFIRMARY REPORTS — RISE OF THE SPECIAL DEPARTMENTS — NURSES' HOME — COLLECTION OF l88l — LEGACIES — RENOVATION OF HOUSE IN 1887 — HARLEY BUSHELL — ENTRANCE SCHOLARSHIPS — TEACHING OF MORBID ANATOMY — DENTAL DEPARTMENT — DEAN OF FACULTY — W. H. SPENCER — C. H. DOWSON — APPOINTMENT OF ADDITIONAL ASSISTANT SURGEON In the autumn of 1872 the lecturers at the Bristol Medical School, dissatisfied with the inadequate accommodation in the Old Park, where the School had been doing useful work since 1833, decided to make an appeal to the public to obtain funds for a new building. In January, 1873, a preliminary circular was issued for this purpose ; but at a meeting held on February 3rd, 1873, Mr. Thomas Coomber, Lecturer on Chemistry, suggested that an attempt should be made to establish a School of Science for Bristol, of which the Medical School should be a part. The idea was warmly taken up by the Faculty of the School ; meetings were held, notably a largely- attended public meeting at the Victoria Rooms on June nth, 1874, presided over by the Mayor, at which Professor Jowett, Dr. Temple, and others strongly advocated the plan. A general appeal for subscriptions was organised, and Thomas Coomber's idea resulted in the proposal to found University College, Bristol. On July 24th, 1876, a memorandum of agreement was drawn up between the School and the proposed University College, whereby the former was to be affiliated to the latter. The idea started by Dr. Carrick, Dr. Cowles Prichard, and other members of the Infirmary Faculty many years before became, therefore, an established fact on the foundation of the University College in Tyndall's Park in 1877. It should be remembered that this institution, so important in the history of education in the West of England, was the outcome of a hope expressed by Infirmary Physicians, which received its final impetus from Thomas Coomber in 1873. 382 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY For two or three years before this affiliation Bristol students had been doing badly at their examinations in anatomy and physiology, and it was obvious that they had not had sufficient teaching in these subjects. This was not only calculated to lower the prestige of the School, but the supply of efficient "dressers" was curtailed, and it was not easy to carry on the surgical work at the Infirmary in a satisfactory manner ; for in those days, when there were fewer resident officers, more of the routine work of the wards was entrusted to the students than now. The Infirmary Staff thought that the best remedy for this was a close connection between the University College and the School, and Drs. Shingleton Smith and Spencer, with Messrs. Tibbits, Leonard, Steele and others, were anxious that the School should be actually incorporated with University College, not merely affiliated ; but, in spite of their efforts, this desirable event did not take place until November 16th, 1892. This delay was owing to opposition on the part of members of the School Faculty ; strong resolutions were sent from the Infirmary, and were answered by " the order of the day." A special meeting of the School Faculty was at length called for June 15th, 1877, when Mr. Tibbits proposed a resolution in favour of complete incorporation. Twelve members of the Faculty were present ; the four Infirmary lecturers voted in favour of amalgamation, the eight others who were present voted against it. There can be no doubt at all that the teaching at the School at this time required supervision. There were no paid demonstrators or medical tutors, and students in the dissecting room were left to their own devices, " Fitz," the old porter, reigning supreme over all arrangements as to " bodies," etc. 1 Many of the lecturers had no control over the students, and lectures were often a scene of noise, practical jokes and disorder. At the Chemistry and Materia Medica Lectures especially newspapers were read, even songs were sung, and there was in fact carmagnole complete. The Infirmary section of the lecturers wished the whole management to be vested in the University College, which arrangement could only be brought about by complete " incorporation," and this was steadily opposed, especially by 1 The presiding genius at the School in those days was an old Irishman named William Fitzpatrick. His official capacity was that of porter, but he usurped charge over everything, including the lecturers and students. He took the liberties of an indulged, eccentric servant, and talked as if he had the management of the establishment. When I obtained one of the prizes at the School, he called and told my family that " he and the lecturers thought I deserved it," and when Mr. A. W. Prichard was awarded the second year's prize, he actually wrote to him : " Dear Prichard, I here you have again took the 2nd years prize. Yours Fitz " ! 383 A HISTORY OF THE the Hospital lecturers. There was, in fact, underlying the real wish for reform, a great deal of friction and irritation between the two medical charities. The General Hospital had been enlarged in the year 1863, and was then recognised by the examining bodies as a place where students could do their clinical work. At this date the lecturers at the School were chiefly Infirmary men, and a resolu- tion was passed by which the lectureships were equalized between the Infirmary and Hospital. In 1869 this rule was rescinded, and from that date to 1877 the Hospital had always a fairly large majority at Faculty meetings. The Infirmary lecturers at the School, unable to obtain the thorough investigation of the teaching arrangements which they thought necessary, and struck by the want of elementary medical knowledge possessed by the students, and the continued large percentage of rejections at the examinations in Anatomy and Physiology, etc., determined to ask the Council of the College of Surgeons to interfere and investigate. They were inclined still more to this strong measure by the report that a deputation of Hospital lecturers had already waited upon the Council. They invited the Hospital members of the School Faculty to join them in their petition to the College of Surgeons This request was refused, and the petition was sent up to London by the Infirmary members only. The result was a series of inquiries made by the Council of the College of Surgeons, and the request for a full report from the School Secretary. It will be seen that there was sufficient material here for a very pretty quarrel. Feeling ran high for some time, and it was actually decided at a meeting of the Infirmary Faculty, held at Mr. Crosby Leonard's house on June 29th, 1878, " that Dr. Spencer and Mr. Tibbits prepare a scheme as to how 1 an Infirmary School could be started, in reference to the premises obtainable, the lecturers willing to lecture and the way in which the funds for supporting such a school could be raised." This scheme was at once put in hand. Dr. Spencer and Mr. Tibbits interviewed the President and Secretary of the Royal College of Surgeons, a promise of recognition subject to certain conditions was obtained, and it was decided to start the new Infirmary School by the following October. The members of the Infirmary on the School Staff were of course to resign their lectureships at the School. This energetic action produced at length a plan which, 1 Some of the resolutions quoted from Minute Books are badly worded ; they were often no doubt made in a hurry, with more consideration for the sense than the method of expression. 3S4 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY although incorporation was not argeed to, satisfied the Infirmary members. The main feature of this plan was the appointment of a Governing Body, composed of nineteen members elected by the Infirmary and Hospital, representing the Committees and Faculties of those institutions, and the lecturers of the School ; the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Treasurer of the Council of University College to be ex-officio members. This scheme, subject to some alteration in details, was agreed to at a meeting of the Infirmary Faculty held at Dr. Spencer's house on July 27th, 1878. At this meeting Mr. Crosby Leonard was in the Chair, and Mr. Tibbits, who had taken a leading part in all these negotia- tions, and whose " blood was up," desired " to have it placed upon the Minutes that he did not speak or vote upon the question." Two months and a day after this he had the attack of paralysis which ushered in his last illness (see p. 360) , and took him away at a time when his energy and power of organisation were most wanted. 1 The various changes in the Staff that occurred about this time (during the seventies and eighties) are fully recorded in Appendix A. The relegation of the Out-patients to the charge of Assistant Physicians and Surgeons in 1871 proved a great advantage to the Institution ; the patients had more time given to them, and the students began to look upon this department as a valuable means of acquiring medical and surgical knowledge. As more teaching was expected of the assistant officers, and as the Physicians and Surgeons gradually gave up attending to Out- patients, the work naturally became very heavy. Mr. David Edward Bernard, 2 who was elected Assistant Surgeon in 1873, and held the post for three years, tells me : " I resigned because the work was impossible. Before the post of Assistant Surgeon was created it was the custom of the Surgeons, of whom there were five, to give two days a week each to seeing their respective Out-patients. After an Assistant Surgeon was appointed they discontinued doing this, and the whole of the ten days' work fell to the Assistant Surgeon. 1 Red brick buildings were erected for the Medical Faculty of University- College in Tyndall's Park, and lectures commenced there on October ist, 1879. Part of these premises is still used for the Anatomical Department of Bristol University. The University College buildings were occupied the following year (1880). The " new " medical wing of University College was formally opened by Sir Andrew Clark, Bart., on November 16th, 1S92. 2 Mr. Bernard was the third member of the family on the Honorary Staff of the Infirmary. He entered the Medical School in 1863, and was elected Assistant Surgeon ten years later. He is the son of the Rev. Samuel Edward Bernard (1800- 1884), who was first cousin to Ralph Montague Bernard {Surgeon, 1854-71) and to James Fogo Bernard (Physician, 1843-56). 25 A HISTORY OF THE I found it quite impossible to do anything like justice to either the patients or myself, and therefore I resigned." The strain of seeing daily so many Out-patients was very great, but it was not until December 26th, 1888, that it was decided to increase the number of Assistant Surgeons to two, and in 1893 (March 28 th) the number of Assistant Physicians was also increased to two. An election to one of the resident posts, which greatly influenced the prestige of the Infirmary, may here be mentioned. Dr. Shaw was elected Assistant Physician on July 28th, 1876. He resigned his post of Assistant House Surgeon on May 9th,, and a Sub-Committee was formed on May 23rd to consider the applications for the resident post which would now be vacant. This Sub-Committee consisted of seven members of the House Committee, and the ex-officio representatives of the Faculty on the Committee, Dr. Spencer and Mr. Board. There were several applicants, amongst others Mr. F. C. Palmer, who had won golden opinions from the Staff during the four years that he had been Resident House pupil at the Infirmary. So keenly did the Faculty feel in the matter that a letter was sent by them to the Committee on June 23rd, 1876, setting forth the excellent character and abilities of Mr. Palmer,. and recommending him in the strongest terms for the vacant post. This letter was signed by all the Physicians and Surgeons, and by two of the Hon. Consultants, Dr. Brittan and Mr. Augustin Prichard. The Sub-Committee gave in their report on June 27th. Four names were chosen as best qualified for the appointment, viz. Dr. J. Greig Smith of Aberdeen, Mr. F. C. Palmer, Mr. Arthur B. Wade of St. Mary's Hospital, London, and Mr. F. M. Hawkins of St. George's Hospital ; Mr. Palmer, as stated, being selected for special recommendation. The Committee, never- theless, " after due deliberation," appointed Mr. Greig Smith. This little episode of the appointment of a stranger, contrary to the expressed opinion of the Faculty in favour of a local man, illustrates one of the difficulties of hospital administration. Medicine and surgery are such technical and specialised sciences, that it may be truly said that it is almost impossible for anyone but a qualified medical man to gauge the fitness of another medical man for any important post, yet in this instance who can doubt that the Committee made the wisest choice ? Mr. Palmer was known to be a particularly well-qualified surgeon, courteous, gentlemanly and considerate ; Greig Smith was judged by his testimonials, without absolute knowledge. Yet, as events turned out, one of the greatest surgical geniuses 386 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY was chosen, and all who have realised what Greig Smith did for the profession and for the Infirmary must be grateful to the Committee for their selection. The following year Dr. Edward Long Fox terminated his career at the Infirmary, greatly to the regret of all connected with the Institution. He resigned his post of Physician in accordance with the " twenty years " rule on August 14th, 1877. Dr. Fox was one of the few who could, without chance of ridicule, bring religion into his daily teaching ; and his last clinical lecture, given in the Museum to a number of students, concluded with an eloquent exhortation, full of pious advice, the tones of which must be vividly impressed on the memories of those who were present. (See the Fox biographies, Appendix B.) On April 26th, 1879, the Faculty decided to publish a volume of reports, to contain an epitome of recent work done at the Infirmary. The Committee undertook to defray the expense, Dr. Spencer and Greig Smith were appointed editors, and Mr. J. W. Arrowsmith did the printing and publishing. The book was ready in 1880, and contained a great deal of interesting matter, notably some original work by Greig Smith, and useful tabulated lists of cases, etc., also some well-written obituary memoirs. A special feature was the excellent litho- graphic plates of microscopic sections, some of the best of the kind ever produced. It was intended that this should be the first of a series of annual or biennial reports ; but the publication of the second volume was delayed, and in July, 1883, the first number of the Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Journal was issued, under the editorship of Greig Smith, and this has continued since then to be the published organ of the medical profession in Bristol and the neighbourhood. On January 7th, 1879, three elections took place on the Staff. Mr. F. Richardson Cross, who had been Assistant Surgeon since September, 1878, succeeded Mr. Tibbits as Surgeon ; Mr. Greig Smith was elected in Dr. Steele's vacancy ; and Mr. W. H. Harsant, who had since September, 1874, been House Surgeon at the General Hospital, was made Assistant Surgeon in Mr. Cross's place. At this time the formation of Bristol University College and the affiliation of the Medical School to it had given a stimulus to medical education in Bristol, and the Faculty of the Infirmary did what they could to increase the efficiency of clinical teaching in the wards. Hitherto there had been practically no instruction in special subjects at the Infirmary, 387 A HISTORY OF THE and soon after their appointment as Surgeons to the Institution, Greig Smith, Cross and Harsant brought this subject before the Faculty. The matter was discussed at a Faculty meeting on June 21st, 1879, when a resolution was carried unanimously : " That it is desirable to create departments for the purpose of Clinical teaching at this Infirmary," and a Sub-Committee consisting of Dr. E. Long Fox, Dr. Spencer, and Mr. Board was appointed to report on the subject to the Faculty. This report, brought forward on July 5th, 1879, deprecated any special beds being set apart for departmental work, but suggested that, without asking the Committee to formally authorise the scheme, the Faculty should arrange amongst themselves as follows : — Mr. Arthur Prichard and Mr. Richardson Cross to give special instruction in Diseases of the Eye. Mr. Greig Smith to give instruction in the wards and out- patient rooms on Diseases of Women. The Physicians to give demonstrations on Diseases of the Skin. Mr. Harsant to take Diseases of the Throat and Ear, and the Resident Medical Officers to instruct the students in Dentistry. The three men who were chiefly instrumental in bringing about this arrangement (which was carried out very success- fully) were anxious from the first to form recognised special departments ; but at this date (1879) specialists were few, and the idea of setting apart wards, or even a few beds, for diseases of the eyes or throat, etc., met with strenuous opposition. Every Infirmary Surgeon in those days performed, when necessary, all the known operations of surgery, and it was not realised until some years later how important division of labour was in so large a field. Recognised departments, with a specialist at the head of each, were not established at the Infirmary until 1885. In October of that year Mr. Richardson Cross was elected Ophthalmic Surgeon, to take which post he resigned the Surgeoncy. It was decided that twelve beds should be given to this department, and there was much discussion as to where room for a suitable ward could be found. The nurses at this time slept in dormitories on the top floor of the Infirmary. In 1886 a large building called Camden House, in Terrell Street, was bought with money derived from a legacy left to the Institution in 1885 by Mr. Edward Phillips. This house was properly furnished and equipped, and was opened in September, 1886, as a Home for the Nursing Staff, about half of whom it accommodated. 388 « £ 53 175 ^ r: 05 53 3 tn O 0) « 5 ~ <* a > < < Si 3 53 — m * 53 if «d D ~ ~ g g G •5 ^ en G - o 3 9 ^ ° JPQ 'ft - - D > — CO O w • u .« u — DC • < ^. S (D c rt W ~ Z rt CO r W 2 <« tin 31 - O n2 ni rt -c DC r a s rt CO CO BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY and in 1900-1 the Institution received £4,219 from a legacy of Mr. Worsley. In March, 1903, Mr. B. de Quincey gave £1,000 for the endowment of a Child's Cot in memory of Mary Frances de Quincey, and in December, 1904, £2,000 for the endowment of a bed came from Miss Camilla Kirby. This money had been left to the Infirmary in the will of Miss M. A. Kirby, to be paid on the death of her sister, but Miss Camilla Kirby waived her life interest in the sum. Many legacies and gifts have come from grateful patients, a few of which may be here mentioned. On December 10th, 190 1, the Secretary notified a legacy of twenty pounds from George Jenkins, a farm labourer. This formed a large proportion of his worldly goods, and shows in a marked manner his thankfulness to the Institution where he had been tended and nursed. On December 22nd, 1903, a communication was received from the Vicar of Fishponds, to the effect that a woman living in that place, seventy years of age, was anxious that the sum of £50 (nearly all she possessed) should be given to the Infirmary, provided she should receive a small interest on the money during the remainder of her life. She firmly refused to receive more than 2 per cent. On the same date the Matron reported that " Lady Howard had sent her all the money her deceased little boy (who had been nursed by one of the Bristol Royal Infirmary nurses) possessed, viz. £12, for the benefit of the Children's Ward, as she felt sure such would have been his wish." In October, 1904, Miss Elizabeth Binsin, lately an In-patient, left £142 to the Infirmary, in gratitude for the kindness and skill she had received in the wards. Such gifts as the above are very encouraging, and lighten the labour of all those who work for the patients more than is sometimes thought. Amongst other sources of income may be noted : In 1899 £105 was sent by Mr. Chute, Lessee of the Prince's Theatre, being part proceeds of the Bristol Theatrical and Music Hall Sports ; in 1893 £790 was received from the Fine Arts Exhibition. In 1897 the Mayor's Hospital Sunday Fund was started on behalf of the four principal medical charities of Bristol, the Infirmary's proportion being 43^ per cent, of the collection, and in 1898 they received the sum of £436, being the first payment. In spite, however, of these donations, legacies, and other furtherances, the annual income fell short of the expenditure 4i5 A HISTORY OF THE year after year, and at the end of 1900 more than £7,000 was due to the Treasurer. This debt increased rapidly, so that by Christmas, 1903, more than £15,000 was owing. Sir Charles Cave, who had resigned in the autumn of 1902, but had consented to continue in office until his successor should be appointed, * wrote to the Chairman of Committee in February, 1904, pointing out very forcibly this serious state of affairs, and recommending either that five or six wards should be at once closed, and sufficient capital sold to pay off the debt, or that the Chief Magistrate of Bristol should be asked to convene a meeting and inform the inhabitants of the city that unless the sum of £30,000 could be raised it would be impossible to carry out the work of the Infirmary efficiently. The latter course was decided on, and a Committee was appointed to organise a special appeal. When, at this critical time, Mr. George White was elected President and Treasurer (on May 5th, 1904), there was a debt on the Institution of £15,552. He had, further, to face the facts that the annual subscrip- tions were quite inadequate, that the work in the wards and Out-patient Department was steadily increasing, and that in many respects the House was old-fashioned in its construction, and was, especially on the surgical side, by no means up to date. How the new President, backed up by the Committee, grappled with these difficulties, must now be briefly narrated as a fitting conclusion to this history. Very soon after he took the reins of office into his hands the Committee had the pleasure of congratulating Sir George on the honour of a Baronetcy which the King had conferred upon him, and these congratulations came with equal heartiness from the Honorary Staff, the Residents and the nurses. One of the first and most striking results of the fresh life and energy which followed the election of the new President was the rapid increase in that most essential of all forms of income to such a Charity, viz. that received from Annual Subscribers. When he came into office there were 1,272 of these, whereas at the close of the year 1913 there were no less than 3,771, bringing in a yearly income of £7,272. 2 As a means of raising money, and advertising the needs of the Institution, it was decided that a Carnival, organised on a large scale, should be held at the Zoological Gardens at Clifton. An Executive Committee was formed, of which Mr. Visger 1 See p. 407. 2 The number of In-patients treated at the Infirmary in 1913 was 5,500 ; ten years before this it was 3,480. The average number of beds occupied in 1904 was 213, in 1913 it was 297. 416 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Miller was Chairman (p. 407), and extensive arrangements were made, including an Art Union Drawing for £1,000 worth of pictures, presented by Mr. Samuel White, special motor trips, entertainments by well-known comedians (such as Wilkie Bard and Miss Louie Freear), acrobats, coon-singers, grotesque artists, and a hundred other popular amusements. The Carnival was held from June 26th to July 1st (inclusive), 1905. The weather was bright and sunny with the exception of showers on the last two days, and the whole affair was so successful that the profits amounted to £4,023 ; Mr. Samuel White added to this £4,015, making a total of £8,038, and Sir George White gave the necessary surplus to wipe off the debt of £i5.552 (that is £7,514). When this satisfactory result was declared at the next Committee Meeting on July nth, 1905, and it was at length known that the long-standing incubus of debt was removed, a vote of thanks, expressing great depth of gratitude, was voted to the President and his brother, and it was unanimously agreed that one of the wards should in future be called the " Samuel White Ward." The clearing away of the debt was, however, only a part of the task before the President and Committee. It was realised that much alteration was necessary, as stated before, to meet the requirements of a modern scientifically constructed hospital, and it was decided to issue an urgent appeal to the citizens of Bristol for a £50,000 fund. An auspicious beginning was made at once, for at the above Committee Meeting, on July nth, a telegram was received from Sir George White, who was at Newquay, to the effect that Mr. Philip Henry Vaughan had announced his intention of subscribing £5,000 to this fund. This generous gift, added to the sum realised at the Carnival, made a total of £20,000, raised in the short space of two weeks. The next thing was the organisation of a large public meeting, at which a statement of the financial needs of the Infirmary might be made, with a strong appeal for help. The history of the past has shown that such appeals have always been successful. The meeting took place at the Merchants' Hall on Thursday, January 4th, 1906. His Grace the Duke of Beaufort was in the Chair. Amongst the speakers (besides the Duke of Beaufort) were Sir George White, Bt., the Lord Mayor of Bristol, the Right Hon. Lewis Fry, Sir Charles Cave, Bt., the Sheriff, and the Presidents of the General Hospital and Children's Hospital. In addition to the £5,000 given by Mr. P. H. Vaughan, the 4 X 7 27 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY following promised £1,000 each, viz. : Sir W. H. Wills, Bt., Sir Frederick Wills, Bt., M.P., Lady Smyth, Sir J. Clifton Robinson, Messrs. Francis J. Fry, J. Storrs Fry, H. O. Wills, and a donor who contributed under the pseudonym of "Caspar." The Honorary Staff gave £500. At the close of the meeting Sir George White announced, amidst great enthusiasm, that the total promised so far amounted to no less than £38,132 2s. At a meeting of the Committee held on January 23rd, 1906, nineteen days after the public meeting, it was stated by the Treasurer that £3,000 more had been subscribed, bringing the total to £41,132. In March a general canvass of the city was arranged, and before the year was out (on November 27th, 1906) Sir George White announced that his brother, Mr. Samuel White, desired to contribute what balance was necessary to complete the £50,000 fund ; the donor wished this gift to be in memory of his mother, Mrs. Eliza White, who had recently died. In the very hearty vote of thanks which followed, it was unanimously resolved to ask Mr. Samuel White to " select one of the women's wards which should be named the ' Eliza White Ward ' in memory of his late lamented mother." The fund was therefore completed in less than eleven months after the meeting on January 4th. Many appeals have been made to the Bristol public on behalf of their oldest Medical Charity, the most memorable being the collections in 1797, 1854, and 1881, each of which realised some £10,000. The one in 1906, which owed its phenomenal success chiefly to the energy and liberality of a few men, exceeded all previous efforts. There is no doubt that the chief credit of this must be given to Sir George White, and with the above brief outline of this instance of public-spirited generosity and skilful organisation this history must close. Of the erection of the magnificent new Surgical Wing, which was opened by Their Majesties King George and Queen Mary on June 28th, 1912, and of the many extensions of the last few years, the present writer must be silent. He leaves all this to be recorded by some future historian, with the firm conviction that Bristolians will support the recent additions to their great Medical Charity with as much pride and zeal as they have bestowed during the last hundred and seventy-eight years on the older portions of the time-honoured Bristol Royal Infirmary. 418 APPENDIX A INFIRMARY ELECTIONS It is proposed in this section to give an account of the elections of the Honorary Medical Officers at the Infirmary. The details have been obtained from Bristol newspapers, Richard Smith's MS., and from the Minute Books of the Board and Committee. I have briefly described one or two of the first elections of other than those of the Medical Staff as illustrating the old methods of procedure. At the first General Meeting of Subscribers to the Infirmary, held at the Guildhall on December 23rd, 1736, with Dean Creswick in the Chair, it was decided that the management of the Institution should be in the hands of Trustees, and that " all Persons sub- scribing two Guineas per annum shall be Trustees so long as they continue payment," and that all contributing " twenty guineas at one payment shall be Trustees during life." At the first " Board of Trustees," held on January 7th, 1736-7, when the Dean was again in the Chair, it was agreed " That all Gentlemen now Present be of the Committee, and all other Trustees who come to have Votes." The principle was therefore established that the Trustees were the elective body, and for many years all the officials were elected by them. For the dispatch of business it was decided to hold weekly Committee Meetings of Trustees, and these could recommend or nominate candidates. For instance, at a Weekly Committee held at Mrs. Barry's Coffee House on March 18th, 1736-7, it was " thought proper to recommend Mrs. Fancourt, Widdow of the late Lyon Fancourt as a Person throughly Qualified " for the post of Matron, and at a Committee held on March 25th, 1737, it was " agreed that Mr. Nathaniel Rumsey be recommended to the General Board as a proper Person to serve the Society as an Apothecary to the Infirmary." These two, the Matron and the Apothecary, were the first officials nominated. The first election was that of John Elbridge (or Ellbridge) as Treasurer. This took place at "a General Meeting of the Gentlemen Subscribers at the Surgeons' Hall, Dean Creswick in the Chair," on February 4th, 1736-7. The choice appears to have been unanimous. The entry in the Minute Book runs : " Mr. John Ellbridge, being present accepted of the Office of Treasurer." The first Medical Officers were elected at a General Meeting of Subscribers at the Surgeons' Hall on May 20th, 1737. It was decided that the Honorary Medical Staff should consist of four Physicians and two Surgeons, and it was further agreed that they should retire during the voting. 419 A HISTORY OF THE The result of the ballot was as follows : — Dr. John Bonython . . . . 36 votes. Dr. William Logan 32 Dr. Hardwicke 1 — Dr. Middleton J — Two Surgeons were then appointed, viz. : — Mr. William Thornhill . . . . 36 votes. Mr. Thomas Page 30 ,, " The question being moved that an Apothecary be appointed for the Infirmary Mr. Rumsey was chose by 27 Votes." Mr. Morgan Smith acted as Secretary during the first year, but how or when he was elected does not appear. At the Monthly Meeting of Trustees held on June 3rd, 1737, Dr. Middleton declined to serve as Physician, and Dr. Etwall was elected in his stead. At a General Meeting of Subscribers held at the Surgeons' Hall on October 7th, 1737, Mrs. Ann Hughes was elected Matron at a salary of fifteen pounds a year. There were other candidates, but there is no record of how the votes were taken. Subsequently the election of Matron took place at the Guildhall, and was a keenly- contested event, often the cause of much heat and jealousy. The first Treasurer, John Elbridge, died on February 22nd, 1738-9, and on March 2nd John Andrews was appointed in his place. The entry in the Minute Book reads : " Agreed that Mr. John Andrews be treasurer to this Society and that Mr. Josh. Beck, Mr. Abel Grant and Mr. Chas. Scandrett, be desired to acquaint him of it." After the first election of Honorary Medical Officers, there was no vacancy until the death of Thomas Page on May 5th, 1741, and on June 5th of that year John Page, his son, was elected Surgeon at a Quarterly Meeting of Subscribers. The election was by ballot, and there were three other candidates, viz. John Deverell, Abraham Ludlow, and James Ford. There is no record of the voting. (This Abraham Ludlow must not be confounded with his son, Abraham Ludlow, jun., who was elected Surgeon in 1767.) On June 3rd, 1743, it was decided at a General Meeting of Subscribers, " it is the opinion of this Board that it will be for the Interest of the Society, to increase the number of Surgeons on opening the New Ward — by adding one only. Agreed that the Society proceed to the choice of a Surgeon Monday Se'night and that the Apothry send out General Summons accordingly." Ten days later, on June 13th, 1743, James Ford was unanimously chosen Surgeon, "Mr. Wathen 2 having declined." There was therefore no ballot on this occasion, and it will be seen that only ten days' notice of the vacancy was given to would-be candidates. 1 Number of votes not decipherable. 2 " A Practitioner of good reputation at the Hotwells, where he died a few years afterwards." — R.S. 420 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Dr. Etwall, one of the first four Physicians appointed, resigned in 1743, but no attempt was made to fill up the vacancy until a Quarterly Meeting of Subscribers on December 1st, 1747. Dr. Hardwicke died on September 1st of this year, and it was proposed at the meeting " that it would be for the Interest of this Society to add two more Physicians to the present number." We now get a glimpse at the method of voting. " The question was put whether the motion made by Dr. Bonython for two Physicians to be chosen at another meeting be now put or not. Those that were for it divided to the right hand of the Chair, and those against it to the left. It was carried in the affirmative. The motion being then put it was likewise carried in the affirmative." The question was much discussed by the general public, many people being anxious to avoid a contested election. A correspondent to the Bristol Oracle for November 28th, 1747, in a letter addressed " to the Gentlemen of the Infirmary," wrote that in his opinion there were three ways out of the difficulty : (1) to leave matters alone, and let the remaining two Physicians continue to do all the work ; (2) that two new Physicians should be chosen, " as to the Seniority of Standing in the City ; " or (3) " let every Physician (which I think at present are eight) be a Physician to the Infirmary if he thinks fit." The election, which took place on December 15th, 1747, at the " Taylors' Hall, Mr. Alderman Coombe in the Chair," was interest- ing chiefly because the important question arose : Ought two to be elected together from amongst the candidates, or should one be chosen first and then a second one .by a separate vote ? There were three applicants, Francis Randolph, Archibald Drummond, and William Cadogan, all well known and of acknowledged ability. The plan was for the voters to write the name of the candidate for whom they wished to vote (or the two candidates, as the case might be) on a slip of paper and place it in a hat. One hundred and eighty Trustees were present. It was at first decided that each should write down the name of two candidates. Dr. Randolph was thought to be the favourite, as the interests of Drs. Drummond and Cadogan clashed, and it was predicted that Randolph would " walk over the course " and the only struggle would be for second place. However, Mr. Jeremiah Burroughs, one of the Trustees, proposed that " as two Physicians were to be chosen out of the Candidates they should proceed to the Choice of one Physician first, and then out of the remaining Candidates chuse one more." This was agreed to, and " they then proceeded to the choice of one Physician by Ballot, and upon casting up the Votes the numbers were For Dr. Drummond 98 votes. ,, Dr. Randolph 75 ,, Cadogan 7 „ 421 A HISTORY OF THE They then proceeded to the Choice of a Second Physician by Ballot and upon casting up the Votes the numbers were For Dr. Cadogan 87 votes. „ Dr. Randolph 84 Whereupon Dr. Drummond and Dr. Cadogan were declared duly Elected." There is very little doubt that if the candidates had not been voted for separately Randolph and Drummond would have been elected, and that Mr. Burroughs' astuteness procured the return of the two applicants he favoured. In this and the early elections the candidates withdrew during the counting of the votes, and the result was announced to them by a small deputation. After William Thornhill had been Surgeon to the Institution for some fifteen years he became very irregular in his attendance, and was more than once spoken to by the Visitors. This, and the affair of taking a fee for his services to an Infirmary patient (see p. 70) caused him, on the advice of his friends, to give notice in October, 1754, that he intended to resign in the following June. This soon became known, and an energetic canvass at once began for the expected vacancy. The candidates were John Castelman, Jerome Norman, John Townsend, Thomas Hellier, James Grace, and William Barrett, the Bristol historian. " The ferment," says Richard Smith, " continued for two months and from the spilling of ink the candidates and their friends came to the spilling of blood, until at last the nuisance became so intolerable that the subscribers proceeded to an election and absolutely forced him (Thornhill) from his seat in November, 1 1754- " The Weekly Committee at this time consisted of any Trustees who chose to attend. The most constant members were some of the Physicians and Surgeons and a few other Trustees, and the Honorary Staff usually formed the majority, and had therefore a great deal of power, frequently advising delay, etc., in filling up vacancies. On this occasion Drs. Bonython, Logan, and Drummond, and the Surgeons Page and Ford, together with three or four others, formed a party, and at first tried to prevent any election ; but finding public opinion too strong for them, they decided to support either Castelman or Townsend, both of whom had been educated at the Infirmary ; they opposed Jerome Norman, who had not been a pupil at the House. This party, which fought strenuously for its objects, was the subject of many freely-expressed opinions in the daily papers and became known as the little Committee, the word " little " being always printed in very small type. One of the most scurrilous and personal of " newspaper wars " waged for weeks ; there were twenty-seven letters and addresses in the local press in one month, besides a pamphlet in which many of 1 This should be December. 422 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY these were published together. The Infirmary was called " Elbridge's Butchery," and the Surgeons " Elbridge's Butchers." They were accused of " filling the Streets with wooden legs ; " it was said that " the number of mutilated objects gave reason to believe that there had been sometimes too hasty an application of the knife," and that it " was like dragging a Bear to the Stake to persuade a poor object to embrace the Benefit of the Charity," etc. In fact, the usual accusations and innuendoes against medical charities, many of which have survived to the present day, were scattered broadcast. A meeting of Subscribers was held on December 3rd, 1754, at which Mr. Buckler Weeks presided. The account in the Minute Book gives no record of one of the chief points of discussion, viz. how many Surgeons should be elected. But in the introduction to a pamphlet called " The Infirmary Contest," published in January, 1755, it is reported that at this meeting " upon the question whether one or more Surgeons should be chosen a very large majority of the Gentlemen present divided for the greater number ; whereupon all order and Decency were violated, the scene became tumultuous, and the Gentleman in the Chair thought proper to withdraw without determining any Thing." Another General Meeting was called for December 20th, 1754, at the " Merchant Taylors Hall, Abraham Isaac Elton Esq. in the Chair." The notes on this meeting in the Minute Book are very brief, but from the above-mentioned pamphlet and from Richard Smith's MS. it appears that it was first decided to ascertain, by vote, the opinion of the Trustees present on the number of Surgeons who should be elected. The result was : — No Surgeon at all 1 vote. One Surgeon 12 votes. Two Surgeons 60 Three ,, 139 Four ,, 2 ,, A second ballot was then taken for the selection of three Surgeons, and the votes were : — Mr. Castelman 157 votes. Norman 145 Townsend 145 Hellier 62 Barrett 59 Grace 28 The first three on the list were declared duly elected, " which," says the writer of this old pamphlet, " put a Period to the Business." But it by no means put an end to the ill-feelings engendered by the contest, which took many months to simmer down. There were now six Surgeons at the Infirmary and only four Physicians, and as the Medical — or " Physical " — patients 423 A HISTORY OF THE were about equal in number to the Surgical, the position was peculiar. Amongst the side-issues which arose in this election was the question : Who wrote the numerous anonymous letters in the papers ? One rather virulent one, attacking the officers of the House, was attributed to William Barrett, who was " hustled " by members of the Faculty and their " myrmidons " whenever opportunity offered, " because he refused to take his oath that he had not written it." This triple election was the first of many Infirmary contests in which feeling ran very high, and nearly the whole city watched with almost as keen an interest as at a Parliamentary Election. The two chief points of contention were the caprices of a small Committee, and the advantages of candidates having received their medical education at the Infirmary. In subsequent elections religious and political opinions were the main points of dispute, as will be seen later. It may be noted that the candidates did not print their applica- tions in the papers. Castelman, it is true, publicly thanked the subscribers for their support, but I can find no other published notice. Thornhill still clung to his post, and actually went round the wards, after the election, and attempted to see his patients. Moreover, Page and Ford affected to consider the new Surgeons as interlopers, and these, in their turn, made it as unpleasant as possible for their seniors, so that there was no little confusion. Frequent meetings, however, and the lapse of time, made them ultimately very good friends. Dr. William Cadogan resigned his post as Physician on March 3rd, 1752. No attempts were made to fill up the vacancy, and for more than five years after this there were only three Physicians, viz. Bonython, Drummond, and Logan, another instance of irregularity due to the management of a small " open " Committee, of which several interested men were ex-officio members. Dr. Logan died on December 14th, 1757, and two days after the Committee met and issued notices for a Board Meeting " to elect one or more Physicians " on December 23rd, when Dr. Francis Woodward and Dr. Edward Lyne were unanimously elected. It will be noted that from the death of one Physician to the election of his successor there was an interval of only nine days. On June 5th, 1759, James Ford's resignation came before the Quarterly Meeting of Subscribers. There were no Consulting Surgeons in those days but James Ford was not only thanked for his services, but the hope was expressed that " he will still give us his assistance and advice upon any Emergency." A week later, on June 12th, at a meeting of Subscribers at the 424 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Guildhall, Mr. Jarritt Smith, M.P., 1 in the Chair, John Ford was- elected Surgeon in his brother's place. This was the first Infirmary election held at the Guildhall. John Ford had a large majority of votes over the two other competitors, William Barrett and Abraham Ludlow. On November 13th, 1761, Dr. John Bonython, the first Physician elected on the Staff, and one of the original founders, died in his sixty-seventh year, after serving the Institution faithfully for twenty-four years. It had been distinctly laid down at a Quarterly Board on September 4th, 1759, that " the number of Physicians and Surgeons belonging to the House shall not exceed four each." At Dr. Bonython's death a canvass began between Drs. Plomer, Gordon, and Mackenzie, and the fight between the two first seemed likely to be keen and acrimonious. 2 Various letters appeared in the papers, one of them deeply lamenting that "at a time when Universal Peace and Harmony prevail throughout the City," a contested election at the Infirmary should ruffle the public mind, and urging that two physicians should be elected. The advocates of this plan made two attempts to rescind the rule of September 4th, one on December 1st, 1761, and another on December 8th, but failed in their purpose, and Dr. James Plomer was elected on the latter date by a majority of nineteen votes over Dr. Gordon. " Before the Ballot began Dr. Mackenzie the other Candidate was pleased to decline in a genteel Address to the Society." Dr. Plomer was forty-seven years old at the time of his appoint- ment, and did not resign until 1798, when he was eighty-four. On October 25th, 1765, Dr. Lyne wrote a letter to the Committee resigning his appointment, but in spite of the rule that there should be four Physicians on the Staff, Drs. Drummond, Woodward, and Plomer quietly reported to the Committee on November 4th that they were " willing and do agree to take the Physical care of the business belonging to the House upon them- selves," and this decision, was ratified at a Quarterly Board on December 6th, 1765. Dr. Samuel Farr, a young man of great promise, had returned from his studies abroad, and set up in Bristol in 1764. Like most other able and ambitious practitioners, he had his eye upon an Infirmary appointment, and felt much annoyed that no attempt was made to fill up Dr. Lyne's place. He and his friends started an agitation on the subject, and letters appeared in the papers 1 Created a Baronet in 1763. 8 From Felix Farley's Bristol Journal for Saturday, November 14th, 1761 : — " Notwithstanding the premature Application some Physicians have been pleas'd to make to succeed the late Dr. Bonython at the Bristol Infirmary, it is requested that the Subscribers to that Charity do not engage their Votes ; as a Gentleman of regular Education, and unquestionable Abilities, we hear, intends to offer his Services." We may gather from this, that as Dr. Bonython died on the 13th, a canvass had begun (as was only too common in such cases) before he was actually dead. 425 A HISTORY OF THE demanding, on behalf of the Subscribers and of the public generally, an explanation of this omission ; the Committee, especially the members of the Staff upon it, being accused of " having ridden and juggled the Society until their tyrrany was intolerable." One correspondent asked : " Does the Infirmary want a Physician, or does a Physician want the Infirmary ? " The answer given to this is a good specimen of the language used on such occasions : " A short address to the Author of a short Query in your last. Are you by Nature void of Common Sense or do you only wear the outward mark of a Fool ; some people judge the former to be true or you might have known that a Physician wants the Infirmary and the Infirmary absolutely wants a Physician ! " At length, after a long controversy, a letter was sent to the Committee signed by the Treasurer, Abraham Richard Hawkesworth, John Milton, and members of the Staff, requesting Mr. Bridges, the Apothecary, to summon a General Board on January 6th, 1767, to consider " whether there shall be another Pftysician added to the Infirmary." This meeting was held at the Merchant Tailors' Hall, Sir Abraham Elton being in the Chair. A ballot was taken, and it was resolved by no votes to 93 that another Physician should be elected. This narrow majority shows the power of the " small " party in the Committee. The election was called for January 13th, 1767, at the Merchant Tailors' Hall, and Lord Botetourt was in the Chair. There were three candidates, Dr. Farr, Dr. Corryn, and Dr. John England. Dr. Farr was elected. This, however, did not finish the matter. A motion was proposed by " Mr. Collector " (i.e. Mr. Daniel Henson, Collector of Customs) " to prevent any Discord and disturbances in future and to conciliate all differences at present that the Rule concerning the number of Physicians and Surgeons made at a Quarterly Meeting the 4th September, 1759, and confirmed at the next Quarterly meeting be repealed. That for the future the stated number of Physicians and Surgeons belonging to the Bristol Infirmary shall not be more nor less than five each Profession . . . and this rule shall be neither repealed nor altered but by another General Board called together for that purpose," etc. This was unanimously agreed to ; how it was kept will soon appear. The above alteration necessitated the addition of a fifth Physician, and the meeting dealt with the matter at once by electing Dr. John England. Dr. England was, I believe, the first candidate for a vacancy on the Infirmary Staff who advertised in the newspapers that he offered himself for the post. His modest and well-written applica- tion appeared on December 26th, 1766. Dr. Corryn was much annoyed at the election of Dr. England, thinking, perhaps rightly, that as this was a new post it should have been advertised before being filled. 426 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY In accordance with the new rule that the number of the Honorary Medical Staff, on each side of the House, should be strictly limited to five, another Surgeon had to be appointed, and a meeting was called at the Merchant Tailors' Hall for January 20th, 1767, for this purpose ; for Mr. Jerome Norman died on April 29th, 1763, and no steps had been taken as yet to fill the vacancy. Sir Abraham Elton presided at this memorable meeting, and had an experience which has surely seldom fallen to the lot of any chairman. The two candidates were Abraham Ludlow and Thomas Skone. They both belonged to respectable professional families, and had received part of their education in Bristol. Neither was especially favoured by the Faculty, the members of which seem to have taken little part in the contest. But the canvass had been very energetic, and public feeling ran high. We are told that " scores had promised both in order to be rid of importunity," and that Joseph Shapland (afterwards Apothecary to the Infirmary) " boasted upon the Exchange that he had given three of his patients doses of Physic on the day of the election to prevent them from voting for Mr. Ludlow." 1 The election was fixed for eleven o'clock in the morning, and the room at the Merchant Tailors' Hall was soon filled. Two hundred and ninety-three votes were recorded, but according to Richard Smith, " several of Skone's friends said they had voted twice." The votes were written on slips of paper, and put into two hats, a hat for each candidate ; there were no " tellers," and the counting had to be done by the Chairman. It was expected that the contest would be a close one, and everyone waited in great excitement for the result of the ballot. Sir Abraham Elton announced that the votes were : for Mr. Skone, 147, for Mr. Ludlow, 146 ; but, " Gentlemen," he added, " I am by no means certain that I am correct." The friends of Ludlow shouted " A scrutiny ! a scrutiny ! Tell the votes again," whilst the rest huzza'd and shouted " Victory ! Victory ! " When the noise had subsided the Chairman proposed that the papers should be reckoned again, and this was at length agreed to. After another careful count, he gave out that he now made it : Mr. Ludlow, 147, Mr. Skone, 146 ! J 1 This announcement led to a scene of tumult, and it looked very much as if there was going to be a free fight with canes and sticks. Sir Abraham with great difficulty persuaded the meeting to allow a fresh count to be made by two persons, one of whom was to be appointed by the friends of each candidate. This was scarcely agreed to when " a young friend of Mr. Skone's made an attempt to toss a vote privately into his hat, which being perceived on the 1 According to J. P. Noble, afterwards Surgeon to the Infirmary, at this time an apprentice of Mr. Ludlow. 427 A HISTORY OF THE other side, his example was imitated and in a second or two more papers were thrown into the other (hat)." This produced fresh altercation, and in the dispute both hats were upset, the names were scattered upon the floor, and it became utterly impossible to declare which was the successful candidate. Some called for a fresh election, some for a postponement, and a third party clamoured for the election of both. " The company, however, had by this time been worn out by the dreadful uproar, which instead of abating, increased," and it was at length decided that the best way out of the difficulty was to elect both candidates, in spite of the solemnly-enacted rule, made only the week before, that there should not be " more nor less than five Surgeons." As a matter of fact this had not been confirmed, and it was agreed to " withdraw the Confirmation of the Rule made at the last General Meeting." This solution appears to have been decided on unanimously. There were now six Surgeons ; but when Thomas Skone resigned a few years later (on June 4th, 1770) in a letter to John Page, the latter read the contents to the Surgeons, " quietly put the letter into his pocket," and no steps were taken to fill the vacancy. Dr. England died of typhus a few weeks after his election, and on March 3rd, 1767, Dr. Thomas Rigge was appointed Physician in his place. There was, apparently, no other candidate. Dr. Drummond sent in his resignation on October 29th, 1771, and Dr. John Wright was elected Physician on November 4th. This was also an unopposed election. We have seen how the rule that there should be five Physicians and five Surgeons, passed on January 13th, 1767, was kept on the surgical side of the House. It was soon broken on the medical side, without any excuse ; for on the resignation of Dr. Woodward on December 5th, 1769, 1 no steps were taken to fill the vacancy, and the number of Physicians was therefore reduced to four, viz. Drs. Drummond, Plomer, Farr, and Rigge. This was in 1769, and the names of the Medical Staff appear thus in the Annual Report of that year. But in the 1770 Report there are five Physicians in the list, including Dr. Drummond and his successor, Dr. Wright ! Probably this was a judicious manipulation to keep up the appearance of the rule, as people had been making awkward inquiries. In the Weekly Committee Book is an entry under date August 18th, 1772, " Dr. Paull has offer'd his Service as a Physician to this Society," and a summons was issued for a meeting at the Guildhall on September 5th, for the election of a Physician. There were two candidates, Dr. Robert Robertson and Dr. John Paull. The usual notices were sent to the papers, also the following : " The Subscribers to the Bristol Infirmary are desired not to engage their votes until the day of Election when a 1 His letter of resignation is dated November 29th. It came before the Board on December 5th. 428 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Gentleman of great merit in his profession will be proposed a Candidate for that important trust." This was probably sent by the Committee, and refers to Dr. Paull, who was elected by a substantial majority. Abraham Ludlow resigned on December 6th, 1774, and the Subscribers were summoned to the Guildhall on December 15th, at eleven o'clock, to appoint his successor. There were six candidates, viz. Godfrey Lowe, Richard Smith, sen., Thomas Davies, J. Rawlins, James Norman, and Robert Dukinfield. This was a hotly-contested election, but there was little doubt from the first as to the result. Richard Smith was a popular " Society " man, and his friends had been very energetic in obtaining promises of votes, the work of canvassing being then carried on chiefly by the candidate's supporters ; he himself did very little personal application. Richard Smith, moreover, was Surgeon to St. Peter's, and this post was so commonly looked upon as a stepping-stone to Infirmary appointments, that the two Charities were sometimes called the Lower and Upper Houses. Perhaps the most interesting feature of this election was the part taken by ladies. The account given by Richard Smith, jun., is as follows : " The Subscribers amounted to 580, of whom 70 were females. No one had ever heard or even dreamed of such a thing as a Lady's giving a vote for a Surgeon to the Infirmary, but nevertheless a Miss Elton suggested the Scheme and Mr. Smith very readily adopted the plan, a considerable number of ladies were, with great secrecy, collected at the White Lion, ready to vote if needful, and by way of trying the question, Miss Elton insisted on giving her vote. The adverse party were entirely surprised and endeavoured by urging the want of precedent to disqualify the suffrage. Miss Elton, however, contended that the law was too clear to be shaken ; it was ' that every person paying two guineas per annum shall become a Trustee and that all Trustees have votes.' After much altercation the vote was accepted and the lady retired in triumph to marshall her amazons. It appearing however that there was no real doubt respecting the issue, Mr. Smith went to thank the ladies for their kind intentions, but declined giving them trouble merely to swell a majority." The votes polled were : — Richard Smith 211 votes. Thomas Davies 81 J. Rawlins 47 ,, The reader may be interested to know who this Miss Elton was, and from a communication made to Richard Smith, jun., by Mr. Joseph Metford, we learn that she was a maiden lady of good family living in considerable style in Orchard Street. She was 429 A HISTORY OF THE descended from the Eltons of Stapleton, was stout in person, was an admirer of the Stage, and considered a patroness of Genius. She was particularly interested in Miss Young, afterwards more celebrated as Mrs. Pope, and when this actress performed at Bristol, according to Metford, " she constantly upon coming on the stage advanced to the Stage Box and made a most profound and ceremonious courtesy to Miss Elton, and having so done, next paid her respects to the Audience." i Richard Smith, with his untiring zeal for collecting curiosities, obtained from the Theatre an old leaf from the Box Book, with the bookings for Monday, August 23rd, 1773, when Miss Young took her " benefit " in Lady Jane Grey. Miss Elton's name is marked as occupying the Stage Box. (See Fig. 79.) Richard Smith, sen., sent a letter to Felix Farley's Journal for December 17th, 1774, two days after his election, thanking the Subscribers " for the distinguished (tho' unmerited) mark " of their favour. Dr. William Moncrieffe was unanimously elected Physician on July 18th, 1775, on the resignation of Dr. Paull. Dr. Knowlton, the other candidate, did not go to the poll. Neither appears to have put any notices in the papers. On August 15th, 1775, Godfrey Lowe was unanimously elected Surgeon in the place of John Ford. Robert Dukinfield was again a candidate, also James Norman ; and votes were solicited by James Noble for John Padmore Noble, who was absent from Bristol. The three retired before the election. When J. P. Noble found that he had little chance in the contest he wrote a letter, rather unfortunately worded, stating that " he resigned in favour of Mr. Lowe," also that he had been " indulged with every means of compleating his education as a Surgeon." These harmless sentences drew upon him the ridicule of "A Subscriber," who wrote a long letter to the newspapers, explaining that no one could resign before he was elected, and that he " never heard of anyone being the better for being indulged," etc. I mention this as an example of the trouble people took at these contests to be as disagreeable as possible to the opponents of their candidate. Godfrey Lowe, who was a man of ready wit, by which, as he used to say, he could " throw a man upon his back," narrated the following anecdote of this election. During his canvass he called upon a grocer who subscribed to the Infirmary, to ask for his vote, " and making his bow, as is usual on these occasions, said, ' Sir, I have taken the liberty of troubling you, to request that you would ' " At this moment he saw by the stern brow of the 1 The playbills also announce that on this occasion the farce High Life below Stairs was played, and Miss Young took the part of " Kitty," " with a song and Mock Minuet in character for that night only." A few days later (on August 30th) Miss Young played in " The Historical Play called Timon of Athens (altered from Shakespeare and Shad well)." 430 -'/ . M - \- , v > ^ i ^ SSHSmimm^ihi ^ v < o <& H nc H w H o BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY grocer that he was going to give him a refusal, and promptly ended his sentence, " Weigh me out a pennyworth of plums! " John Page resigned the Surgeoncy, which he had held for thirty-six years, in April, 1777. At a Board Meeting on May 6th a resolution was proposed by Dr. Ludlow, seconded by Alderman Smith, and carried unanimously, " that the thanks of this Board be given to Mr. John Page, Surgeon, for the great Services which he has rendered this House during a series of near Forty years, and that in consideration thereof he be desired to attend as Surgeon Extraordinary." This is the first instance of any such honour being conferred, and put Page into a curious position with his colleagues, which has been referred to on page 65. There were five candidates for the vacancy, James Norman, Robert Dukinfield (his third application), James Shute, Morgan Yeatman, and John Padmore Noble. In this election politics were predominant. The " running " was chiefly between Norman and Noble, the former supported by the Tories, the latter by the Whigs, and a great deal of rancour was shown on both sides. One newspaper correspondent went so far as to say that a former promise of a vote should not be necessarily considered binding, as it was better to disappoint one person than " injure hundreds." The anonymous writer who had found fault with Noble's English (p. 430), returned to the charge, and, according to Richard Smith, this so angered Noble, that when the subject was mentioned thirty years afterwards, he exclaimed, " Rot him ! I remember him, and I'da good mind at the time to have given him a good licking, a lying, canting rascal ! " The result of the polling, which took place on May 6th, 1777, was the election of John Padmore Noble by 211 votes, James Norman obtaining 148 ; majority sixty-three. Dr. Rigge resigned on March 3rd, 1778, and a notice appeared on March 12th summoning a General Board for the 17th, for the election of a Physician. There was apparently only one candidate, Dr. Benjamin Collyns (or Collins), who had taken out a diploma at Glasgow, and was at the time actually a pupil at the Infirmary. According to the Minute Book he was " unanimously chosen ; " but many of the Trustees were angry that a mere student, who had given no proofs of any special ability or fitness, should be elected to so important a post. Poor young Collins himself suffered by it, for he was at the time considerably in debt, and the notoriety of being made Physician to the Infirmary pointed him out to his creditors. The bailiffs kept such a close watch upon him, that he could not leave his residence without fear of capture, and was obliged to confine his visits to the wards to Sundays, when he could not be legally apprehended for debt. He was in such straits, that four months 43i A HISTORY OF THE after his election " he embarked privately on board a vessel lying in Kingroad and sailed for the West Indies." No notice was taken of his departure, except that his name was omitted from the list of Physicians, the number of whom was thus reduced finally to four. Dr. Collyns died a few years afterwards at Barbadoes, where he had acquired a good practice. John Castelman resigned on July 28th, 1779, and three candidates appeared in the field, Morgan Yeatman (who soon withdrew), Joseph Metford (who was recommended to the Trustees by the retiring Surgeon, Castelman, "as in every respect well qualified to succeed him "), and James Norman (who had already applied on two previous occasions for the Surgeoncy). This election, which was fixed for August 9th, 1779, at the Guildhall, under the Presidency of Mr. James Hill, was fought out chiefly on political grounds ; for although it was sometimes spoken of as Church versus Dissent (Norman being Church of England and Metford a Quaker), these theological differences were dwarfed by the more important question of political creed. At that time " the man was nothing," says Richard Smith, " the colour of the cockade in his hat was all." Yeatman had not so many adherents as Norman, and as both were Tories, it was feared that Metford might slip in between them if the blue votes were divided ; Yeatman consequently withdrew. James Norman's most energetic supporters were Mr. Camplin, 1 then known by the name of " Fire Office Jack " (father of Alderman Thomas Camplin), and James Jones, the " Commissary " who figures in the election caricature described on page 272. Camplin, who was, like Metford, a Taunton man, declared that " it was not against his friend Metford, but against a Dissenter that he acted." There was some talk of George Goldwyer contesting this vacancy. The following story is told by Richard Smith : — " Mr. Ballard, a surgeon at Portishead, called upon Mr. Nicholas Glass, meaning to ride into Bristol to vote for Mr. George Goldwyer, but meeting upon the road a Trustee, who informed them that Mr. Goldwyer was not a candidate, they were about to turn back, when hearing that the struggle lay between a Churchman and a Quaker, Mr. Ballard insisted upon it that they should vote, to keep out a Dissenter ! When they arrived at the Hall, the President, who was a decided supporter of Mr. Metford, was making the last call of ' Any more Votes ? ' The three new comers were throv/n in for Mr. Norman, and after another pause the ballot was declared to be closed. The words were scarcely passed Mr. Joseph Harford's lips, 2 when Messrs. G. Ash, Page, and a friend were upon the steps of the Hall. Mr. Metford exclaimed, ' Here are three of my voters ! ' while his adversaries cried out, ' Too late ! too late ! ' 1 His daughter married Dr. Gray, afterwards Bishop cf Bristol. 2 According to the Minute Book, Mr. James Hill was in the Chair on this occasion. Mr. Joseph Harford was Treasurer of the Infirmary. 432 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY and after some little discussion it was agreed that the poll was actually closed, and thus the election was ' lost by the Dissenter and won by the Churchman,' and it was so considered and spoken of, with little or no reference to any personal feeling towards the candidates." James Norman was elected by the narrow majority of three votes. Richard Smith and Godfrey Lowe supported Norman confessedly " entirely upon blue principles." When Dr. Farr resigned in April, 1780, only one application appeared in the papers, and this was inserted by the Rev. Mr. Broughton on behalf of his brother, Dr. Arthur Broughton, who was then absent. There appears to have been no canvassing for -votes. Dr. Broughton was elected on May 4th, 1780. Mr. Townsend's resignation and farewell dinner on November 14th, 1781, have been described on page j8. Three candidates applied for the vacant post, George Goldwyer, who withdrew before the poll, Morgan Yeatman, and Joseph Metford. It is to be noted that Yeatman's notice in the papers is dated November 14th, the day of Townsend's handing in his resignation to the Committee. This and the evidence of Richard Smith show that he had timely warning, and probably his electioneering plans were already matured. The voting at the Guildhall (November 27th, 1781) was : — Morgan Yeatman 211 votes. Joseph Metford 150 Majority 61 An incident occurred at this election which shows the vindictive means sometimes used to injure a candidate. The editor of the Bristol Gazette, Mr. Pine, had handbills printed stating that Morgan Yeatman had sent him " an impertinent message ; " these were distributed at the door of the Guildhall to the Trustees as they went in. No previous attempt had been made to verify the truth of this, which was denied " in toto " by Yeatman, and probably originated in the spitefulness of the servant who carried a message from him to the Gazette office. In March, 1783, James Norman went to live at Bath, and resigned the Surgeoncy at the Bristol Infirmary. After a short contest with G. Goldwyer, T. Baynton, and Danvers Ward, Joseph Metford was elected on April 1st, 1783. He had canvassed for the post of Surgeon on three previous occasions, in 1777, 1779, and 1781. When Dr. Arthur Broughton went to Jamaica for his health in December, 1783, his colleagues at the Infirmary promised to do his work in the wards, and there was an understanding that the post should be kept open for him. But he did not return, and on March 28th, 1786, the Trustees decided to appoint a Physician in 433 28 A HISTORY OF THE his place, on the understanding that if he returned within twelve months from this date the gentleman appointed should at once resign in his favour ; if he did not return and resume work before the expiration of the year, the candidate elected as his locum tenens should be definitely appointed Physician to the Infirmary. Dr. Samuel Cave, a well-educated man, with excellent credentials from the Infirmary authorities for his conduct as Apothecary's apprentice, was considered to be almost certain of election. He had timely notice of the proposed filling of the vacancy, and began to make his arrangements. The death of Mr. Till Adams, a busy practitioner of the apothecary type, and a member of the Society of Friends, had induced Dr. Edward Long Fox to come to Bristol early in the year, and set up practice. A quiet but energetic canvass began between these two young men, and on the announcement of the vacancy the fight went on openly and vigorously. Mr. William Fry of Redchff Street, distiller and wine merchant, and Mr. Thomas Cave headed one party, and Messrs. Harford, Battersby, and Butler were the chief of Dr. Fox's supporters. This election therefore came to be nicknamed " The Distillers v. the Quakers." Dr. Robert Cooper also applied in the papers, but he was too late in the field, and retired before the poll. The general plan of campaign at these elections was for each candidate to form a Committee of his supporters, which organised the method of canvassing the Subscribers. The city was usually divided into districts, and the names and addresses of the Trustees living in each division were entrusted to two or more of the candidate's friends, who canvassed personally or by letter all Subscribers who lived in the allotted area. The candidates themselves also spent much of their time in personal calls, and if the arrangements were made in a business-like manner, it was possible to tell in a few days' time how the voting was likely to go. A contested election would frequently cost an applicant from £50 to £150 or more in printing, cab fares, stamps, and sundries. In the Fox and Cave contest both candidates worked very hard, every vote being of importance, and it appears from their letters and notices in the papers that both were confident of success. It is narrated that Dr. Cave called upon Joseph Metford to ask him for his vote one day when Dr. Fox's Committee were actually met together in Metford's parlour ; and when this was explained to him, Dr. Cave, as he went through the hall, exclaimed, " I '11 get it, in spite of you and your friends, for I am already sure of it ! " Dr. Fox, who overheard this, said that " if his antagonist were so certain their labours were useless ! " " Pish ! Pish ! " replied an old Quaker, " that young man's security will ruin him ! Go on I Thee go on ! There is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip." 434 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY The polling took place at the Guildhall on April 3rd, 1786, when the Rev. Dr. Camplin was in the Chair. The result was : — Dr. E. L. Fox 157 votes. Dr. Cave 137 Majority 20 Dr. Broughton never returned from Jamaica, and Dr. Fox's appointment became absolute. Richard Smith, sen., died on June 21st, 1791, and the vacancy was filled on July 7th. The candidates were, Robert Jones Allard, Dan vers Ward, John Newman, David Da vies, and Lewis J. Jardine. The last three retired, and Allard was elected by 230 votes to Ward's 96, majority 134. Dr. Wright died on December 23rd, 1794. It was known some time before that his illness was likely to prove fatal, and the canvass began some days before his death, applications appearing in the papers on the 18th and 19th of December. Drs. Lovell, Carrick, Stephen, and Craufuird competed, but the last two retired, and Robert Lovell was elected on January 7th, 1795, by a majority of 185 votes (Lovell 292, Carrick 107). Joseph Metford resigned on June 8th, 1796, and Richard Smith, jun., was unanimously elected Surgeon on June 23rd. Dr. James Plomer resigned on April 4th, 1798. He was at the time eighty-four years of age, and had been Physician to the Infirmary for more than thirty-six years. There were three candidates : Dr. John New, who states in his application that he had " served a regular apprenticeship of seven years to the Infirmary," * Dr. John Heathfield Hicks, a much older man, who had been Physician to the Gloucestershire County Hospital for fourteen years, and Dr. Andrew Carrick, who had been in practice for ten years in Bristol ; he soon retired, and the contest lay between Hicks and New. One of the spiteful acts which often defaced these elections occurred on April 16th, when a handbill was extensively circulated, worded as follows : — " Bristol Infirmary Election. " The Subscribers who have spirit enough not to be swayed by private interest, and have really the welfare of the Charity at heart, would do well to inquire into the conduct of one of the Candidates during his regular apprenticeship at the House ; and they will then be better able to judge what claims he has to their favors. " Tuesday, April 16, 1798." This of course was intended for New, and Hicks's Committee hastened to declare publicly that they " utterly disclaimed and 1 He was elected Apothecary's apprentice on March 2nd, 1784. 435 A HISTORY OF THE condemned the above publication," which indeed appears to have had no sufficient foundation. The election was at the Guildhall on April 18th, 1798, with Mr. Edward Brice 1 in the Chair. Dr. New had many friends and connections in the city, and was elected by a majority of 161 (New 377, Hicks 216). Dr. New resigned on October 28th, 1802, and Dr. Walter Kennedy Craufuird, who had twice before applied for the post of Physician, at once began to canvass for the vacancy. He had at this time been in practice some nine years, and was warmly supported by various officers at the Customs House in Queen Square, where his uncle had formerly been " Patent Searcher." His friends were so energetic on his behalf that Dr. Carrick, who intended to compete, did not even advertise his application in the papers. This was nicknamed " The Custom House Election." Dr. Craufuird did very little canvassing himself, partly because he was out of health, and partly because he was confident of success. In fact " he was made one of the Physicians to the Infirmary," says Richard Smith " whilst he was quietly sitting in his arm-chair." He was elected November 18th, 1802. Godfrey Lowe, who had been Surgeon to the Charity for thirty-one years, died on April 8th, 1806. Nine candidates were canvassing at least a month before his death, but only three of them came to the poll, viz. William Hetling, Richard Lowe, and Francis Cheyne Bowles. The election was held at the Guildhall on April 24th, 1806, the Mayor, Mr. Daniel Wait, jun., being in the Chair, and was decided by ladies' votes. There was a dispute whether such votes could be taken, but the precedent of Richard Smith's election (p. 429) was quoted, and the claim was allowed. Accordingly " a deputation waited upon each lady, as her carriage arrived at the door of the Hall, to receive their tickets." The men's votes were taken first, and Hetling then had a majority, but after the female votes had been taken (it is stated that about thirty-five voted), the numbers were : — - Bowles 237 votes. Hetling 235 „ Lowe 166 One of the newspapers, commenting on this, concludes with the reflection : "In all future elections, therefore, we presume especial good care will be taken to plough with the heifer." % It will be noticed that there was a majority of two only. It was thought that the contest would be a close one, and Mr. Ames 1 Mayor of Bristol 1782-3. i witl 436 2 The ladies' votes were procured with all secrecy by Bowles's Committee the day before the election. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Hellicar actually came up from Land's End on purpose to register his vote. Mr. Wintour Harris drove in from the country at his horses' " utmost speed," and arrived at the door of the Hall " at the instant when the Chairman had proclaimed, ' The third and last time of asking — is there any other voter not polled ? ' " His and Hellicar's votes therefore turned the election. Although this was a particularly keen contest, it is pleasant to be able to record that there was no ill-feeling amongst the candidates, and the letters sent to the papers by Hetling and Lowe, in which they speak in high terms of their successful rival, are in the very best taste, and honourable to all concerned. Francis Cheyne Bowles died on May 15th, 1807, and on June 2nd William Hetling was elected in his place by a large majority. Two other candidates came to the poll, Richard Lowe and Nathaniel Smith. On this, as on other occasions, the canvass began before the vacancy was declared, and on May 13th, 1807, the Committee issued a notice in the papers expressing strong disapproval of such premature action ; but this reprimand (to use Richard Smith's words) " had all the effect which all persons acquainted with electioneering might have easily anticipated — that is to say, none at all." Morgan Yeatman resigned the Surgeoncy, which he had held for twenty-six years, on June 24th, 1807. There were five can- didates for the vacancy, but Richard Lowe, who had applied twice before (in 1806 and 1807), had an easy victory. The numbers were: — R. Lowe 346 votes. H. Daniel 121 N. Smith 88 „ R. Edgell 60 „ J- King 36 „ According to the papers, " about 120 votes were received at the door, from ladies and invalids ; of the former 48 gave their suffrages to the successful candidate." Dr. Robert Lovell resigned on August 29th, 1810, and on September 20th Dr. Andrew Carrick was appointed Physician. There were seven candidates, but from the first the contest lay between Drs. Carrick, Stock, and J. C. Prichard. The voting at this election was on religious and political grounds, Dr. Carrick having the support of the Church and Tories, Dr. Stock that of the Dissenters and Whigs. The polling was remarkable as the largest, so far, at any Infirmary election, the numbers being : — Dr. Carrick 448 votes. Dr. Stock 216 Dr. Prichard 81 745 437 A HISTORY OF THE Although political and religious differences swayed these elections, it must not be supposed that the personal attributes of the competitors counted for nothing. The character of the applicant, especially his reputation for kindness to patients, etc., was often insisted on ; such expressions as " a tender disposition," and " a feeling heart " were frequently used ; and whatever the faults of the old system were (and they were many), there is little doubt that men of good manners and breeding, and of real or apparent gentleness, had a better chance than others whose only claims were ability and good professional testimonials. Robert Jones Allard resigned in September, 1810, and on the 27th of that month Henry Daniel was elected Surgeon. This was the fourth time he had canvassed for a similar post, viz. in 1806, and twice in 1807. He exemplifies the fact that under the old regulations persistence in applying was generally ultimately crowned with success. No less than eleven candidates appeared on this occasion, but only three came to the poll, when the numbers were : — Henry Daniel 336 votes. Thomas Shute 224 Nathaniel Smith 100 Apropos of this election, the following poem appeared in the Bristol Mirror : — " Infirmary — to wit : Shoals of Candidates ! heigho ! What myriads of bows Will be made for a Seat in a certain great house ! By the mass, all this booing would make it appear " A snug sinecure place of a thousand a year,' Yet for aught I can find I must frankly avow, They '11 get little except a most deuce of a Row ! " 1 Dr. Craufuird resigned on March 13th, 1811, and on March 28th Dr. John Edmonds Stock was elected Physician. He was opposed by Dr. Thomas Webb Dyer (Apothecary to the Infirmary 1789- 1810), and by Dr. J. C. Prichard. The latter retired, and there was a brisk contest between the other two candidates, resulting in a victory for Dr. Stock by a majority of 28 votes (Stock polled 384 and Dyer 356). John Padmore Noble died on June 22nd, 1812, and Thomas Shute, jun., was appointed Surgeon on July 9th. He had applied three times before for the Surgeoncy, in 1807 on the death of F. C. Bowles and on the resignation of Morgan Yeatman, and on R. J. Allard's resignation in 1810. 1 The feud between the Committee and Faculty about the exclusion of the latter from the meetings of the former was then at its height. 438 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY There were eleven candidates, four of whom went to the poll, with the following result : — Thomas Shute 404 votes. Nathaniel Smith 293 John Bishop Estlin 97 John King 9 „ This election was fought less on party lines and more on personal qualifications than many others. The experience Shute had gained in previous contests stood him in good stead. Dr. Moncrieffe died on February 13th, 1816, after holding the post of Physician to the Infirmary for forty-one years, and on the next day Dr. E. Long Fox, sen., resigned. On February 29th Dr. James Cowles Prichard, who had applied twice before, and Dr. Henry Hawes Fox, son of Dr. E. L. Fox, were duly elected. Three candidates went to the poll, with the following result : — Dr. Fox 968 votes. Dr. Prichard 670 Dr. Dyer 515 „ The election was carried on with great spirit, and various humorous skits enlivened the newspapers, containing references to " young Foxes breaking covert," etc. The large number of votes will be noticed. Hitherto at these elections the total recorded number was the actual number of Trustees who voted. When there were two vacancies, the Trustees still had only one voting paper each, and could therefore only vote once, except in the Drummond and Cadogan election in 1747, when the votes were taken first for one vacancy and then for the other. In 1754, when there were three vacancies to be filled, according to Richard Smith, each Trustee could only have voted for one man. At this 1816 election, however, it is probable that each Trustee had the power of voting for two names. The Committee formulated some rules, and when the Subscribers met at the Guildhall on February 29th the Treasurer read these to the meeting, and they were adopted. They may be epitomised as follows : — 1. That two friends of the respective candidates be appointed to stand at the door of the Guildhall to receive votes from Ladies, Medical Gentlemen 1 and Invalids ; the names of these Subscribers to be written on a ticket and entered in a list. 2. That in the Hall the votes of the Corporation and of the Society of Merchant Venturers be taken first ; after this the list of Subscribers to be called over in alphabetical order. 3. To avoid delay, a Committee of six (consisting of a friend of each candidate and members of the House Committee) should 1 Doctors were included in the list because they frequently could not stay long enough to register their votes in the ordinary way. 439 A HISTORY OF THE attend in St. George's Chapel to receive votes from country Subscribers, the votes to be written on tickets. 4. Subscribers who are in arrear may qualify as voters by paying their subscriptions there and then. When each of the candidates had been duly proposed and seconded, the list of Subscribers was called over by the Chairman, each Subscriber registering his vote when called. The votes were then taken into the parlour and counted by a representative Sub-Committee. At this particular election the Rev. John Rowe called over the votes taken in St. George's Chapel, and the votes taken at the door were counted by the collectors. The general list was then called over by the Chairman a second time, and the total added up " in open Court." When elected on the Honorary Medical Staff, a man was supposed to relinquish any other post which would interfere with his work at the Infirmary. In the Board Minute Book for February 29th, 1816, is the entry : — " Dr. Fox and Dr. Prichard in their several Addresses of Thanks to the General Board, pledged themselves to retain the situation to which they had been elected no longer than while they were capable in respect of health and free from pre-occupation to fulfill its duties." Thomas Shute died on September 2nd, 1816. There were fourteen candidates for the vacancy, but Nathaniel Smith, although only twenty-four years of age, had competed no less than five times before, and was therefore quite an fait at Infirmary electioneering. He had his lists of Trustees, etc., in order, and friends in every parish provided with street lists and application cards, ready to start the instant Shute's death was announced. The consequence was that half the city had been canvassed before some of the candidates heard of the vacancy. This prompt action kept the other thirteen from coming to the poll, and Nathaniel Smith was elected Surgeon without opposition on September 19th, 1816. Amongst the many candidates at this time was Richard Edgell, * who had twice before applied for surgical vacancies. He was an experienced man, engaged in a large practice, and had served with distinction in the army. Some of the Trustees thought that the system of applying for votes by a pre-arranged Committee, especially when the canvass began before the vacancy actually occurred, might preclude the election of a man who was better fitted for the post than the successful candidate. Expression was given to this opinion by Edgell's father-in-law, Councillor Edmund Griffiths, who wrote a very sensible letter to 1 There is a letter in the Richard Smith MS. from the great surgeon Guthrie, from which it appears that Edgell had petitioned to have the title of M.R.C.S. bestowed upon him. Guthrie states that an examination would be necessary, which would have " reference to Surgery rather than to Minute Anatomy." Apparently Edgell did not take any further steps in the matter. 440 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY the Bristol Mirror on the subject. This letter was sent to Richard Smith, who was then connected with the Mirror, with a note : " I send this in time that your Devils may not be hurried." Dr. J. E. Stock resigned on January 30th, 1828, and two strong candidates, Dr. John Howell and Dr. George Wallis applied. Three others, Drs. Dick, Bompas, and Green were in the field, but did not come to the poll. This election was at first called " Clifton v. Bristol," from the fact that Howell lived at York Crescent and Wallis at Park Street, but it was afterwards nicknamed " Saints v. Sinners," and was fought out on religious grounds. Richard Smith speaks of Dr. Howell's supporters as " the Evangelical or pious people," and adds, " All those who were not straight-laced joined the ranks of Dr. Wallis." It was known that the fight would be severe, and both combatants appeared confident, each of them expressing their sanguine hopes of success in letters to the papers. In looking over the Canvassing Committees of the two, I find that Dr. Wallis was actively supported by Joseph Metford (Surgeon to the Infirmary 1783-96), James Lean the banker, John Rich the tanner (" one of the most bustling, regular and indefatigable of the whole bunch "), Dr. Riley (afterwards Physician to the Infirmary), John Taylor of the Mirror, the Daniels, William Wright, wine merchant, etc. ; whilst Dr. Howell was equally well backed up by Alderman James George, Alderman William Fripp, the Rev. John Bridges, Richard Brickdale Ward, attorney, the Kingstons of Leigh (" the females of the family being very active "), Robert Bush the cooper (" omnipotent amongst his friends ' the Blues ' "), J. M. Gulch, printer of Felix Farley's Journal, Thomas. John Manchee of the Mercury, the Brights of Ham Green, and people connected with the Clifton Dispensary. Many ladies worked for Howell, and " were indefatigable in writing letters for him ; several were at his house from breakfast to midnight, and amongst the most zealous was Anna Maria, daughter of Matthew Brickdale, M.P. for the city in 1870." x Dr. Wallis was a graduate of Edinburgh University, and was entitled by examination to the M.D. of Cambridge, but although he had written for his diploma, the degree had not been actually conferred on him. In a letter which he sent to the papers on January 31st, 1828, he unwisely stated that he had " graduated at both the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh," and this slip brought upon him the accusation of deception, which was made by the opposite party. Unfortunately the contest became more and more personal, and at length the scandal-mongers accused Wallis of frequently driving with a lady in his brougham. His explanation that she was a patient in whom he was interested did not undo the mischief caused by the report, for " if you throw mud enough, some of it is 1 He was M.P. for Bristol 1768-74 and 1780-90. — Beaven's Bristol Lists. 44 1 A HISTORY OF THE •sure to stick," and some went so far as to wonder " what might happen in the female wards if he were elected " — "so scandalous is scandal ! " William Edkins, the artist, declared that no less than eight people had called on him to beg him to withdraw his promise to vote for Wallis on account of " the fib and the lady." Miss Hannah More and a coterie at Barley Wood did all they could in favour of Dr. Howell and against Dr. Wallis, and influenced, amongst others, the Addingtons of Langford Court, who were patients of Richard Smith, and had hitherto always followed his advice in these Infirmary contests. They had acquiesced in his suggestion that they should support Dr. Wallis ; but " on the morning of the election," writes Richard Smith, " whilst I was at breakfast a livery servant on horse-back stopped at my door with a Letter, and when I opened it, it was to say that he (Mr. Addington) had been so pressed to vote for Dr. Howell, and not to serve so immoral a man as Dr. Wallis, that altho' he did it with great Teluctance yet he must desire that neither his own vote nr that of his brothers 1 should be given to the latter." This letter implies that voting by " proxy " was then allowable, but this method did not come in until some years later. The -explanation is that the Addingtons had paid their subscriptions through Richard Smith, and the person who paid had the vote. As the day fixed for the polling drew near, every device was used to screw out an extra vote, or choke off those promised to the opposite party. For instance, a well-known banker, who had canvassed a tradesman to vote for his candidate, and had been refused, hinted that he must ask for the tradesman's balance, which was overdrawn at the bank. Whether this threat succeeded we are not told. On February 14th, a week before the election, Dr. Wallis had the following letter sent him : — Hoel's praise demands the Song." — Gray. " Squib. " How doth the little busy Bee Employ each shining hour And gather Honey all the day From every opening flower. " So sing the Saints at evening Tea When giving me advice, I go therefore from door to door, I am not over nice. 1 This is copied correctly from R. Smith's MS. In the list of subscribers to the Infirmary in 1828 the names of H. U. Addington and H. J. Addington appear as annual subscribers of two guineas each, " per Mr. Rich. Smith." 442 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY " And, as it opens, in I rush, No matter whom I meet, There 's nothing like a little push, Tho' kicked into the street. " I tell my tale to all I see Or Father, Wife or Son, 'Tis only ' Pray do vote for me ! ' And then my tale is done. " Come then, let naughty men alone And let me gain your voice For that will make the wicked groan And all the Saints rejoice ! " It is narrated that Dr. E. Long Fox, sen., had voted as a professional man at the door, but afterwards, hearing his name called as an ordinary subscriber, he stepped forward and dropped a vote into the hat. When asked whether he had not already registered his vote, he replied " he really didn't recollect it, but he believed he had." This was, of course, mere absence of mind. An interesting question arose about the " Pers," that is those who had paid in money for Subscribers. These " Pers " had the right to vote irrespective of the wishes of the actual contributors ; it was only by courtesy that the latter were asked whom they wished to support. Some of the " Pers " had nine or ten votes, and Dr. Howell's Committee urged that " a sort of order, or power of Attorney " might be used to compel them to vote as the Subscribers wished. Many of the " Pers " intended to vote for Dr. Wallis, when the Subscribers for whom they acted wished to support Dr. Howell. It was decided that the " Pers " could use their discretion ; had -they been coerced Dr. Howell would have got in. To show what a bustle the city was in on these occasions, it may be mentioned that nine persons, the greater part of the staff of Parsons and Hurle's Linen Warehouse in High Street, left their work on the day of the election, and were " incessantly engaged all the polling time in bringing up voters." The Chair was taken at eleven o'clock in the morning, and the result was not given out until seven or eight o'clock in the evening. To those who wish to hear the din and tumult of an old-time Infirmary election, Richard Smith's account x of the final stages is worth reading : — " At a quarter past 6 in the Evening, of 400 Votes Dr. Howell 73 ahead. A person called out ' I '11 bet a £100 to £10 that Howell wins.' All was silent and we looked at each other with astonish- men t — the run went on — the same voice said ' Lombard Street to a China orange for Howell — who will offer any odds ? ' We had 1 As he heard it from his friends, for he was not present in the final stages -of the polling. 443 A HISTORY OF THE calculated that about 740 persons would vote, and we were so close in our calculation that it fell short only 23 ! It was evident that we had grossly miscalculated our strength. ... No one upon the Committee had ever dreamed upon the result which now appeared certain. . . . The luck, however, seemed to be turning and at 7 o'clock Dr. Howell's majority was reduced to 20, but the hats were nearly exhausted. The Votes then ran neck and neck — Walks, Howell, Howell, Walks, but a few minutes Walks bad a run, and wken only ten voting papers were left, tkey were at a tie ! — tke breatkless interest may be imagined — wken 7 were left Howell was one akead — tke Mayor took out another — Walks even ! Anotker, Walks One akead, kis friends clapped tkeir kands violently, tke Mayor paused and cried ' Silence, Gentlemen, Silence ! ' Anotker was drawn, Walks. Tke noise arose again — tke Mayor begged silence for a few moments only. Walks was now 3 akead and tkere were only two votes left, he must tkerefore kave kad a majority of one — they, too, were taken out and shewn, for notking could be beard, Walks, Walks ! ! ! His friends tken could be restrained no longer, tkey skouted Walks for ever, wkilst tke Pupils in tke Gallery waived tkeir kats and gave tkree Cheers. This is always infectious and the old folks in tke Hall reiterated tke tkree Ckeers and skook kands witk eack otker as for a great Victory ackieved." Out of doors tke excitement was equally great. Rickard Smitk left tke room when the voting appeared to be going against his old pupil Walks, partly to get fresk air, and partly because ke did not wisk to see tke enemy triumpk. He went witk otkers to tke Commercial Rooms, and anxiously awaited tke result. Wken at lengtk Mr. Gwyer came witk a beaming face and shouted " Walks has got it ! " the newspapers were dropped, and "a general shout was set up ' Huzza for Walks and tke Sinners, down witk tke Saints ! ' " Tke election was on February 21st, 1828, the actual number of votes being : Walks 361, Howell 356. Wken tke result was known, Dr. Metford wrote to the successful candidate, who had gone through a most exciting and trying time :— " My dear Wallis, " My whole family sincerely congratulate you on the events of the da}', and I recommend you to take a blue pill to-nigkt and go to bed early." Dr. Henry Hawes Fox resigned on May I3tk, 1829. Tkere were five candidates for tke vacancy, Drs. Henry Riley, G. Lyon, Adam Ckadwick, G. G. Bompas, and Jokn Howell. Tke number of votes Dr. Howell kad received in kis contest witk Dr. Wallis the year before made his election certain, and the others retired. He was unanimously elected Physician on June 4th, 1829. 444 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Dr. Andrew Carrick resigned on August 6th, x 1834. He was made Honorary Consulting Physician to the Infirmary on his retirement, the first to have this honour bestowed on him. Dr. Henry Riley was unanimously elected in his place on August 28th. Drs. Dick, Lyons, and J. A. Symonds were candidates, but Dr. Riley (like Dr. Howell at his second application) had such advantages from his previous canvass, that he had no serious opposition. He was at the time Physician to St. Peter's Hospital and to the Clifton Dispensary, both of which posts he relinquished on his appointment to the Infirmary Staff. In November, 1832, there was a report that Henry Daniel was about to resign the Surgeoncy, and a spirited canvass at once began between William Martin, Thomas Green, William James Goodeve, G. T. Clark, H. Brigstock, and John Harrison. It is impossible to say how this rumour originated, but it was quite groundless, and he did not resign until July 6th, 1836. There were then ten applicants, but John Harrison's supporters were so numerous and powerful that the others gradually withdrew, and he was elected without opposition on July 21st, 1836. He was much helped in his canvass by Richard Smith, who invariably looked after the interests of his old pupils (of whom Harrison was one) whenever he was able. Mr. Arthur Palmer, who proposed Harrison for election, referred to the presence of ladies, " who shed a lustre and a grace upon our meeting." William Hetling resigned on November 8th, 1837, an d William Francis Morgan was unanimously elected on November 23rd. There were eight other competitors, but Morgan's position, both as a former applicant and as an old Resident Officer (he was Apothecary from 1825 to 1833) rendered their canvass hopeless. Henry Clark was the only one who obtained many promises of support. Richard Smith, who had proposed Morgan as Apothecary twelve years before, undertook the same office for him on this occasion. Richard Smith, jun., died on January 24th, 1843, after holding the office of Surgeon for more than forty-six years, and Henry Clark was elected to fill the vacancy on February 23rd. There was another strong candidate, Thomas Green, who was then Lecturer on Surgery at the Medical School. Both applicants appeared confident. Green wrote to the Bristol Mirror (February 18th), " I have every reason to believe I shall be the successful candidate." And Clark wrote, " I am justified in entertaining the strongest confidence of success." The numbers were : — Henry Clark 521 votes. Thomas Green 283 Majority 238 1 His resignation came before the House Committee on this date ; it was not read to the General Board until August 21st. 445 A HISTORY OF THE Drs. J. C. Prichard and John Howell resigned on June 7th, 1843, and were made Consulting Physicians, and on June 29th Dr. Gilbert Lyon and Dr. James Fogo Bernard were elected to fill the vacancies. Dr. Alexander Fairbrother and Dr. C. R. Vachell were candidates. The latter did little or no canvassing. Nathaniel Smith resigned on August 7th, 1844. He had been Surgeon to the Infirmary for twenty-seven years, and senior Surgeon for twenty. There were several applicants for the vacancy, R. B. Ruddock, Charles Greig (who was then House Surgeon), George Rogers, of the Clifton Dispensary, Augustin Prichard, J. G. Swayne (Demonstrator of Anatomy at the Medical School), Charles Smith Bompas (Nathaniel Smith's nephew, late House Surgeon at the Bristol General Hospital), W. J. Dunsford, and Thomas Green. Green was elected Surgeon without opposition on August 29th, 1844. Dr. Riley resigned on October 13th, 1847, anc * Dr. William Budd was unanimously elected on October 28th. He was proposed by Mr. J. Sanders and seconded by Mr. Phippen. When he returned thanks to his supporters after his election, he paid " a deserved tribute to the great ability of his predecessor." Dr. Riley was precluded from being made Consulting Physician, as he had not held office for the required time (fourteen years). Richard Lowe died on February 9th, 1850, after nearly forty- three years' service as Surgeon to the Infirmary. Four strong candidates appeared for the vacancy, viz. Frederick Brittan, who retired from the contest on February 22nd, R. M. Bernard, Charles Greig, who published long testimonials in the papers, and Augustin Prichard, who had applied twice before. The canvassing was very energetic, and began — as was too often the case on such occasions — before Mr. Lowe's death. A correspondent to the Bristol Mirror on February 16th, 1850, strongly condemns this. He says : " It is with unutterable disgust that he has noticed this premature canvass, the candidates hovering like hungry vultures over their prey, waiting with im- patience till death should summon him." There was a full account of the election in the papers, from which we may select the following from the Bristol Mirror and General Advertiser for March 2nd, 1850 : " This being the eventful day the exertions of the hard-worked Committees were, if possible, redoubled. Refreshments were provided, flys were engaged, all was hurry and bustle. From ten in the morning till late in the evening, Broad Street was completely blockaded with flys, all were on the qui vive to aid their favourite candidate, and the Guildhall all day was regularly crammed with individuals who appeared to take a very lively interest in the proceedings." Mr. J. S. Harford 1 appeared on the scene about midday. 1 President and Treasurer 1844-59. 446 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY He came to register his vote, but was unable to preside, as he was suffering from sciatica. It was objected, however, that the President of the Infirmary could not vote unless he took the Chair on these occasions— a frivolous objection, but there was so much discussion about it that he decided not to vote. The result of the poll was : — Augustin Prichard 4 10 votes - Charles Greig 304 » : R. M. Bernard 276 W. F. Morgan resigned on April 18th, 1854, and on May 4th Ralph Montague Bernard was elected Surgeon. The other candidates were Charles Greig, Frederick Bnttan, H A Hore, J. S. Metford, John Bleeck (Surgeon to the Jail), Crosby Leonard, and William Bird Herapath. 1 J. B. Prowse and D. E. Hamilton advertised their intentions to compete for the next vacancy. All the applicants except Bernard retired before the day of election, although Brittan had promises of a great many votes. The Special Board met at the Guildhall on May 4th, and as there was only one candidate, the Mayor, Mr. J. G. Shaw, proposed that Mr. Bernard should be declared elected ; but Mr. Brittan objected that this was not the legal method, and accordingly, in obedience to the rule that " the ballot should be taken in four places," four hats were placed in different parts of the Hall, and a few votes were collected in each, the Mayor " first asking Mr. Brittan if he had an objection to a hat being considered a balloting-box ? " It is noteworthy that this was the first Infirmary election at which " Proxies " were used ; that is, printed forms authorising another subscriber to vote for you. At the same meeting W. F. Morgan was made a Consulting Surgeon. Dr. Wallis resigned on January 3rd, 1855. He was sixty- eight years of age, and had been Physician for twenty-seven years. He illustrates the importance of a retiring age, for it is evident that he had failed for some months to attend regularly in the wards he loved so well. For many years he took very little holiday, and the heavy work of seeing Out-patients, added to his other duties, was too much for his strength. His absence had been noticed by the Visitors, and he had explained matters to the Committee on December 23rd, 1854. There was a smart canvass for the vacancy between Dr. Frederick Brittan and Dr. Fairbrother, but shortly before the 1 W. B. Herapath was a Doctor of Medicine of London University, and had obtained Honours in Comparative Anatomy, Botany, Surgery, and Medicine, being nearly at the head of the list in all these subjects. 447 A HISTORY OF THE election on February 15th the latter withdrew, Dr. Brittan having secured promises for nine hundred votes, he was therefore elected without opposition. Dr. J. F. Bernard resigned on May 20th, 1856, and Dr. Alexander Fairbrother, whose position was secured by the promises of votes he had obtained at his previous canvasses in 1843 and 1855, was elected without opposition on June 5th. Dr. Gilbert Lyon and Henry Clark resigned on August 18th, 1857. Both had served on the Staff for fourteen years. Dr. Edward Long Fox, jun., and Dr. John Beddoe were the principle candidates for the vacancy caused by Dr. Lyon's resigna- tion, but Dr. Beddoe withdrew, and Dr. Fox was unanimously elected on September 3rd. Mr. Richard Poole King, who was Chairman of Dr. Fox's Committee, referred to the candidate's youth, and cited instances of members of the Staff who had been elected early in life, notably Richard Smith, jun., who became Surgeon to the Infirmary at the age of twenty-one. Dr. Fox was twenty-five years of age at this time ; he was a grandson of the Dr. Edward Long Fox who was elected Physician in 1786, and nephew of Dr. H. H. Fox, who was elected in 1816. (See Biographies, Appendix B.) Dr. H. E. Fripp would have competed, but was disqualified as he had no English degree, although he was a Licentiate of the College of Physicians of London and a Doctor of Medicine. The rules were soon after altered, and made to include Edinburgh and Dublin degrees as qualifying for the post. There was a keener canvass for the surgical vacancy (Henry Clark's), especially between H. A. Hore, Crosby Leonard, T. E. Clark, and J. S. Metford. Crosby Leonard had obtained a good many promises, having Mr. Charles Nash, a man very experienced in such matters, as Chairman of his Committee, but retired before the poll. Henry Augustus Hore was unanimously elected Surgeon on September 3rd, 1857. John Harrison resigned on December 20th, 1859, and three candidates, Crosby Leonard, T. E. Clark, and J. S. Metford, applied for the vacancy ; but Crosby Leonard (who was at this time Lecturer on Anatomy at the Medical School, and Surgeon to the Bridewell) began the contest with so many promises from his former applications in 1854 an d 1857 that the others retired, and he was unanimously elected Surgeon on January 5th, i860. Dr. Budd resigned on February 25th, 1862. He was at this time fifty-one years of age, and had a large consulting practice ; he was busy also writing a book on Typhoid Fever, and felt that he could not give sufficient time to the Infirmary. His letter to the Committee expresses so well the sorrow that every man must experience on severing himself from such an Institution, that it may be partly quoted. " It is impossible," he writes, " to have taken part so long in the service of such a noble Institution without BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY feeling a deep attachment to it, and a corresponding sense of regret in retiring from it." Dr. John Beddoe (who competed with Dr. Edward Long Fox in 1857) was elected Physician without opposition on March 20th, 1862. Thomas Green resigned on August 23rd, 1864. He was the first member of the Honorary Staff to come under the rule made in 1843, that Physicians and Surgeons should retire after twenty years' service (he was elected August 29th, 1844). Thomas Edward Clark, who had competed twice before for the Surgeoncy (in 1857 an d i n i860), was unanimously elected Surgeon on September 15th, 1864. He had obtained proxies for 1,020 votes. H. A. Hore, who had been connected with the Institution (as Assistant House Surgeon, House Surgeon, and Surgeon) for twenty-four years, resigned on April 14th, 1868. An energetic canvass at once began between Robert William Tibbits and Charles Steele. Both candidates had been educated at the Infirmary ; Tibbits was Demonstrator of Anatomy at the Medical School, Steele was Hon. Secretary of the local Branch of the British Medical Association. They published in the papers the names of their Committees, each filling a column of small print. A few days before the election, it was found by a comparison of the proxies that Tibbits had the majorit}/ of promises, and he was elected without opposition on April 28th, 1868. Augustin Prichard retired in accordance with the twenty years rule on February 22nd, 1870, and Charles Steele was elected unanimously on March nth. It was decided at a General Board on December 13th, 1870, that an Assistant Physician and an Assistant Surgeon should be added to the Staff ; and as these posts were almost certain steps to positions on the full Staff, the importance of Infirmary elections from this date centres on the appointment of these junior officers, the senior posts being recruited from their ranks almost as a matter of course. The first election to the newly-made posts was held at the Guildhall on January 28th, 1871, when Dr. Ebenezer Ludlow (who had been Assistant House Surgeon 1865-70 and House Surgeon 1870-1) was unanimously appointed Assistant Physician, and Edmund Comer Board (Assistant House Surgeon 1860-3 and House Surgeon 1863-70) was unanimously elected Assistant Surgeon. Ralph M. Bernard was killed by a fall from some cliffs on August 18th, 1871, and E. C. Board was elected Surgeon in his place on September 21st. On the same date Christopher Henry Dowson was elected Assistant Surgeon to the vacancy caused by E. C. Board's promotion to the full Staff. Dr. Ebenezer Ludlow resigned his post of Assistant Physician 449 29 A HISTORY OF THE on May 14th, 1872, on account of ill-health, and on May 30th Dr. William Henry Spencer was elected to the vacancy. Dr. T. E. Clark resigned the Surgeoncy on September 23rd, 1873, and was elected Physician to the General Hospital September 30th. On October 9th C. H. Dowson was elected Surgeon. The vacancy in the Assistant Staff was filled on the same date by the election of David Edward Bernard, nephew of Ralph Montague Bernard. Dr. Frederick Brittan resigned on October 14th, 1873, and Dr. Beddoe resigned on the 28th. The two vacancies were filled on November 20th, by the election of Dr. Spencer in Dr. Brittan's place, and Dr. Robert Shingleton Smith (who was Assistant House Surgeon 1870-1 and House Surgeon 1871-3) in Dr. Beddoe's. In accordance with the general rule, Dr. Brittan was made Consulting Physician ; Dr. Beddoe had not held office long enough to qualify him for this distinction. There were two candidates for the post of Assistant Physician rendered vacant by Dr. Spencer's promotion, viz. Dr. Henry Waldo and Dr. W. Johnstone Fyffe, and it was at once evident that there would be a closely-contested election. Dr. Fyffe came with excellent testimonials from the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Army Medical School, Netley, with which he had been connected for ten years ; he had married a Clifton lady, and had many influential friends in the neighbourhood. Dr. E. Long Fox, especially, was a staunch supporter of his claims, and his position at the Infirmary gave his advocacy great weight ; it was generally thought, in fact, that he was acting as the mouth- piece of the Faculty in supporting Dr. Fyffe. This opinion was strengthened by a circular, sent to all the Trustees by Dr. Fox, containing the words, " I have been myself so many years Physician at the Infirmary, that judging of its many wants, I feel that my friend Dr. Fyffe meets them all." This letter was com- mented on in the papers, and Mr. Mark Whit will, sen., Vice-Chair- man of Dr. Waldo's Election Committee, wrote to the Faculty, asking permission to contradict the report " current amongst the Subscribers " that Dr. Fox was officially representing the Staff in supporting Dr. Fyffe. Most of the Staff favoured Dr. Waldo as a local man, whose career at the Medical School 1 and Infirmary was known to them, and they at once gave authority to Mr. Whitwill to contradict the above rumour, and this statement, which showed that seven members of the Honorary Staff had promised their votes to Dr. Waldo, no doubt influenced the election. Another thing which prejudiced Dr. Fyffe's candidature was the unfortunate mistake made by many of his supporters of thinking that he was applying for the post of Physician instead of Assistant Physician. The public contradiction of this gave an opportunity for much unfriendly comment in the newspapers^ 1 He entered the Bristol Medical School in 1867. 45° BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Dr. Fyffe was fifty years old at the time, Dr. Waldo was twenty- eight ; this marked difference in age was used as an argument — for and against the fitness of the applicants — by each party. Both candidates had strong Committees, which worked vigorously, the Mayor, Mr. W. Hathway, being on Dr. Fyffe's. On the day fixed for the election, November 20th, 1873, a large number of Subscribers attended at the Guildhall. The Rev. James Heyworth, President and Treasurer, was in the Chair, and there was great excitement when Mr. Cartwright, representing Dr. Fyffe, claimed that the latter had 788 proxies. An animated discussion arose as to the method of counting, and it was at length decided that Mr. Livett should act as umpire ; that Mr. Paul should be scrutineer for Dr. Waldo, Mr. Lawrence for Dr. Fyffe, and that the meeting should be adjourned until November 25th, when the result would be announced. On November 25th Mr. Cartwright explained that a curious mistake had been made. A lady who had given a large donation to the Infirmary, and had, therefore, a great many votes, had promised them to Dr. Fyffe. She had now written to Dr. Waldo's Committee to say that she " only intended to vote for Dr. Fyffe as an annual sub- scriber," and had since sent a telegram that she " did not know what she was doing " when she promised the votes. The umpire had ruled that these votes could not be recorded in Dr. Fyffe's favour, and he (Dr. Fyffe) had therefore withdrawn. Mr. Cartwright, nevertheless, still claimed these votes for Dr. Fyffe, and demanded a fresh scrutiny ; but after much talk it was decided that as Dr. Fyffe had retired, there was only one candidate, and Dr. Waldo was duly elected on November 25th, 1873. This was a good example of the bitterness and ill-feeling engendered by this form of election. Both candidates acted in a perfectly upright and honourable manner ; Dr. Fox's advocacy of a personal and esteemed friend was natural and right, yet the heat of a contested election inflamed people's minds, and turned many friends into enemies. Dr. Fyffe became well known in Clifton, and much esteemed. He died on May 17th, 1901, aged seventy-eight. Dr. Fairbrother resigned in accordance with the twenty years rule on June 27th, 1876, and on July 28th Dr. Waldo was elected Physician in his place. The post of Assistant Physician vacated by Dr. Waldo was filled on the same date by the election* of Dr. John Edward Shaw, who had been Assistant House Surgeon from 1873 to 1876. D. E. Bernard resigned the Assistant Surgeoncy, which he had held for three years, on July 25th, 1876, and on August 10th Arthur William Prichard, son of Augustin Prichard, and grandson of Dr. J. Cowles Prichard, was elected in his place. This was the last Infirmary election which took place at the Guildhall ; the first held in this building was that of John Ford 45i A HISTORY OF THE on June 12th, 1759. The earlier elections were in the Surgeons' Hall or the Merchant Tailors' Hall. Richard Champion, sen., was elected Treasurer at the Rummer Tavern. From 1876 onwrds these functions took place in the Board Room of the Infirmary, and lost much of their public character. Dr. E. Long Fox resigned, after twenty years' service, on August 14th, 1877, and on September nth Dr. John Edward Shaw was appointed Physician. He was the first Honorary Medical Officer to be elected in the Board Room. The vacancy on the Assistant Staff was not filled until 1883. On December 28th, 1877. the " retiring rule " was altered ; instead of twenty years' service on the full Staff as the limit, it was decided that Physicians should retire at the age of sixty, and Surgeons at the age of fifty-five. This was not made absolute until the new code of rules was passed in 1890. Crosby Leonard resigned on August 13th, 1878, and A. W. Prichard was elected Surgeon in his place on August 27th. Francis Richardson Cross was elected Assistant Surgeon in A. W. Prichard's place on September 10th. R. W. Tibbits died on November 22nd, 1878, and Charles Steele, 1 then senior Surgeon, resigned on December 10th. On January 7th, 1879, F. R. Cross was appointed Surgeon in Tibbits's pace, and James Greig Smith (who had been on the Resident Staff since June, 1876, as Assistant House Surgeon, House Surgeon, and Medical Superintendent consecutively) was elected in Dr. Steele's place. William Henry Harsant (who had been House Surgeon at the General Hospital since September, 1874) was elected Assistant Surgeon on the same date, in F. R. Cross's stead As above stated, when Dr. Shaw was elected Physician on September nth, 1877, the post on the Assistant Staff which he vacated was not filled until 1883. During these six years the Physicians and Residents saw the medical Out-patients. In the summer of 1883 it was decided to appoint an Assistant Physician, and two candidates applied, Dr. Arthur Bancks Prowse and Dr. Barclay Josiah Baron. Dr. Baron had recently come to Clifton with high testimonials from Edinburgh. Dr. Prowse belongs to a well-known family of doctors. He is the son of William Prowse, M.R.C.S., and nephew of James Barrington Prowse, who in 1840 was an applicant for the post of Apothecary to the Infirmary. (See p. 312.) After the usual canvassing experiences, a friendly meeting of the candidates' supporters took place, and a scrutiny of promised votes showed such a preponderance in favour of Dr. Prowse, that Dr. Barclay Baron retired. Dr. Prowse was elected on September 25th, 1883. 1 He took the M.D. of Durham in 1880, and has since been widely known in Clifton and Bristol as " Dr. Steele." He entered the Bristol Medical School in 1856, and took the F.R.C.S. Eng. in 1869. 45 2 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY On May 22nd, 1885, the Faculty recommended the formal recognition of three special departments, the Ophthalmic, Obstetric, and Dental ; the Committee agreed, and the first of these posts was advertised. On October 26th, 1885, F. R. Cross was unanimously elected Ophthalmic Surgeon. W. H. Harsant, who had been Assistant Surgeon for nearly seven years, was elected Surgeon, without opposition, on November 10th, 1885. As stated above, it was known in May that there would be three vacancies in the autumn. About Mr. Cross's and Mr. Harsant's election there was no question, but there was no such certainty about filling the vacant post of Assistant Surgeon. Until an official statement was made it was impossible to conduct a public canvass, but it was equally impossible for the two prospective candidates to refrain from getting their " fighting gear " ready, and privately asking for promises of votes, " in case a vacancy should occur." As might be expected under such circumstances, difficulties arose. One candidate, finding that some friends on whom he relied for votes had been canvassed, issued a circular to the Subscribers, asking them to reserve their promises. This was answered by another circular from the other candidate, hinting that premature action had been taken, as there was then no vacancy. By the middle of June Election Committees had been formed, districts mapped out, and the Trustees were assailed by letters, testimonials, and personal calls ; in fact, the bickering, intriguing, and all the horrors of an old-fashioned Infirmary election were in full force. Complications arose from the fact that two or three dozen kind-hearted people not only promised their support to both candidates, but in some cases actually allowed their names to appear on both Committees ! Whatever might be said in favour of this mode of election, the work to the candidates themselves was expensive, difficult, and repulsive. To go round, day after day (generally in a " hansom "), begging the suffrages of hundreds of Subscribers, in all different stations in life, was a great tax upon one's time, temper, and amour-propre. There was bound also to be an amount of friction and annoyance, which might easily, unless great care were taken, make ill blood between friends. The two applicants were James Paul Bush and myself. The former had the advantage of having been connected with the Infirmary as House Physician, House Surgeon, and Senior Resident Medical Officer. I relied on my connection with the Teaching Staff of the Medical School. We had both been educated at Clifton College, and had local ties and influence. Towards the end of October, in order to avoid the further expense of a contested election, we agreed to place our lists of supporters in the hands of Dr. Prowse, who kindly undertook to 453 A HISTORY OF THE count the promised votes. He found that Mr. Bush had a majority. I accordingly retired, and everything ended amicably. James Paul Bush was duly elected Assistant Surgeon on November ioth, 1885. There was a third candidate, William John Penny, a distinguished pupil of Sir Joseph Lister at King's College Hospital. He withdrew after a short canvass. In June, 1886, he was appointed Assistant Surgeon to the General Hospital. The Obstetric Department was instituted in the summer of 1887, and it was understood that two candidates, Dr. Ernest Wedmore and Dr. Patrick Watson-Williams, were applying for the post of Obstetric Physician. The latter, as a distinguished Bristol student and Resident at the Infirmary (he was then House Physician), had great support from the Trustees. Dr. Wedmore had made a special study of midwifery and diseases of women at London and Vienna. Dr. Watson-Williams, who had other plans in view, withdrew from the contest, and on December 13th, 1887, Dr. Wedmore 1 was elected Obstetric Physician without opposition. The Dental Department was established in January, 1888, and on February 28th William Robert Ackland was elected Dental Surgeon. Dr. Spencer retired in March, 1888, after fifteen years' service as Physician and one as Assistant Physician. Dr. Prowse was elected Physician in his place on March 27th. The vacancy caused by Dr. Prowse's election on the full Staff was filled on May 8th by the appointment of Dr. Watson- Williams as Assistant Physician. On December 26th, 1888, it was decided to reduce the number of Surgeons from five to four, and to appoint another Assistant Surgeon, the rule not to come into force until after the next vacancy had been filled. Christopher Henry Dowson died on January 14th, 1889, and on February 12th J. Paul Bush was elected Surgeon in his place. On the same day G. Munro Smith was made Assistant Surgeon, without opposition. Two other candidates applied for the post, viz. Dr. James Swain, who was then Senior Resident Medical Officer, and John Dacre, who had held the post of Junior Resident Officer, House Physician, House Surgeon, and Senior Resident Medical Officer. These two gentlemen retired soon after making their formal applications, and there was practically no canvassing. On May 26th, 1891, Dr. Ernest Wedmore resigned the post of Obstetric Physician, which he had held for three and a half years. For some months before this his attendance at the Infirmary had been intermittent owing to ill-health, and this led to his resignation. 1 Dr. Wedmore was the son of Mr. Thomas Wedmore of Druid Stoke, and was connected on his father's and mother's sides with Bristol families. 454 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY On December 8th, 1891, Dr. Walter Carless Swayne was elected in Dr. Wedmore's place. Dr. Swayne is a great-nephew of William Swayne, who was Apothecary to the Infirmary from 1816 to 1824, and nephew of the late Dr. J. G. Swayne, who was Physician-Accoucheur to the General Hospital from 1854 to 1875. This election, it may be noted, was the last by the whole body of Trustees. After this date all appointments on the Honorary Medical Staff were made by a Committee of Election. E. C. Board resigned on May 10th, 1892. He entered the Bristol Medical School as a student in 1855 ; became a Resident House pupil at the Infirmary, and was elected Assistant House Surgeon on May 17th, i860, House Surgeon on November 19th, 1863, Assistant Surgeon on January 28th, 1871, and Surgeon on September 21st, 1871. He was appointed to all these Infirmary posts by the Trustees. The vacancy caused by Mr. Board's resignation was not filled, and the number of Surgeons was thus reduced to four. (See p. 454.) On January 26th, 1892, it was decided that in future every vacancy in the Honorary Medical and Surgical Staff should be filled by a Committee of Election, to consist of the President, Vice- Presidents, the Consulting Physicians and Surgeons, the Physicians and Surgeons (including the Obstetric Physician and Ophthalmic Surgeon), the members of the Committee of Management, together with twenty-one Governors, to be appointed annually at the General Board held in March of each year. x The time-honoured plan of election by the suffrages of the Trustees or Governors was thus abolished, not without a passing sigh of regret from some. It was a cumbersome, expensive method, and success under its rule depended more on the local interests, organising powers, and political and religious opinions of a candidate than on his professional equipment. On the other hand, although the majority of the Trustees could not judge the applicant's medical or surgical knowledge so well as a properly constituted Committee, there was, nevertheless, under the old regime greater importance attached to his social position, general character and reputation, and personality ; but the change has worked well, and was inevitable. The rule for increasing the number of Assistant Surgeons made in December, 1888 (see p. 454), came into operation on June 7th, 1892, when Dr. James Swain was elected to the new post by the Committee of Election, unopposed. Dr. Swain, who came from the Westminster Medical School and Hospital, was elected House Physician on March 22nd, 1886, and House Surgeon and Senior Resident Medical Officer on May 24th, 1887. 1 This was first proposed by Mr. Pellew on October 13th, 1891. It was then warmly opposed and withdrawn. The General Hospital had already adopted this plan. 455 A HISTORY OF THE On March 28th, 1893, it was decided to appoint an additional Assistant Physician, and two months later the post was advertised. Two candidates applied, viz. Dr. Francis Henry Edgeworth and Dr. Bertram Milford Heron Rogers. Dr. Edgeworth, the son of a well-known Bristol doctor, entered the Bristol Medical School in 1887. He studied also at Cambridge (where he was a Scholar of Gonville and Caius College), at the Sorbonne at Paris, and at the Universities of Tubingen and Gottingen, also at London and Dublin. He was made Honorary Pathologist at the Infirmary on July 8th, 1890. Dr. Rogers was educated at Westminster School and Exeter College, Oxford, where he graduated in the Natural Science School in Honours. He received his medical education at University College Hospital, London, where he took the Silver Medal in Medicine. Dr. Edgeworth was elected Assistant Physician on June 13th, 1893. A point of some importance arose at this election. The Staff of the Infirmary, in recognition of Dr. Edgeworth's work at the Institution, had given him a testimonial signed by all the members of the Faculty. Some of the Trustees protested against such testimonials from the whole Staff as certain to prejudice the chances of any other applicant. The force of this objection was allowed, and it was agreed that in future individual testimonials only should be given by members of the Staff to candidates for Infirmary posts. (It may be mentioned that Greig Smith composed the joint testimonial in favour of Dr. Edgeworth, and afterwards proposed that such testimonials should not be given.) James Greig Smith died on May 25th, 1897, and on June 17th George Munro Smith, who had been Assistant Surgeon since February, 1889, was elected Surgeon. On the same date Thomas Carwardine was elected Assistant Surgeon. Dr. H. Elwin Harris (Cambridge and St. Bartholomew's) was also a candidate. (Mr. Carwardine came to Bristol from University College and the Middlesex Hospitals, and was appointed House Surgeon and Senior Resident Officer at the Infirmary on May 14th, 1895-) F. Richardson Cross resigned the post of Ophthalmic Surgeon on July 10th, 1900, after twenty-two years' service on the Honorary Staff, and on September 25th Dr. Alexander Ogilvy was elected in his place. Dr. Ogilvy had made a special study of Diseases of the Eye at Dublin and London, also at the Universities of Vienna and Heidelberg, and at the Ophthalmic Hospitals of Utrecht, Leipsic, and Berlin. At the time of his election he had been for six years Surgeon to the Bristol Eye Hospital. Dr. Ogilvy died on June 10th, 1914, and Edward Hugh Edwards Stack was elected in his place on July 28th. 456 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY W. H. Harsant resigned in October, 1902, after twenty-three years' service on the Honorary Staff, and on October 28th Dr. James Swain, who had been Assistant Surgeon for ten years, was elected Surgeon. Harold Frederick Mole was on the same date elected Assistant Surgeon in Dr. Swain's place. Mr. Mole entered the Bristol Medical School in 1884. He was elected Junior House Physician at the Infirmary on February 24th, 1891, Junior House Surgeon on July 28th, 1891, House Physician on May 14th, 1895, and House Surgeon on June 17th, 1897. Dr. Charles Hayman, who had acted as Dental Assistant since March 25th, 1902, was appointed Assistant Dental Surgeon on April 26th, 1904. Dr. Shingleton Smith retired on January 10th, 1905, after serving on the Honorary Staff for nearly thirty-two years. As he held resident posts before this, he was connected with the Infirmary as Medical Officer for nearly thirty-five years. Dr. Watson- Williams, who had been Assistant Physician for the long period of seventeen years, was elected Physician in Dr. Smith's place on March 7th, 1905. There were two candidates for the post of Assistant Physician vacated by Dr. Watson- Williams, viz. Dr. Theodore Fisher and Dr. John Alexander Nixon. Dr. Fisher had been Honorary Pathologist to the Infirmary since 1895, and had spent much time and labour in cataloguing the Museum specimens, etc., and had occasionally seen medical Out- patients in the absence of the Assistant Physician. Dr. Nixon has been Plouse Physician since the autumn of 1902, and had before this acted as Ophthalmic House Surgeon and House Physician at St. Bartholomew's, and House Surgeon at the Metropolitan Hospital, London. Both candidates had great claims on the Institution, and both were strongly supported. Unfortunately some complications had been introduced by a letter written by Dr. Fisher, and the election was therefore postponed. In the meanwhile another candidate applied, Dr. John Roger Charles, who had held important resident posts at St. Thomas's, at Addenbroke's Hospital, Cambridge, and at the General Hospital, Birmingham, where he was also Casualty Assistant Physician. Dr. Fisher and Dr. Nixon retired, and Dr. Charles was elected Assistant Physician on June 20th, 1905. Dr. Waldo retired on January 23rd, 1906, after serving on the Honorary Staff for thirty-three years, and on February 14th Dr. Edgeworth, who had been Assistant Physician for nearly thirteen years, was elected Physician. On the same date Dr. Nixon was elected Assistant Physician. On January 23rd, 1906, A. W. Prichard, who had been on the Honorary Staff for nearly thirty years, resigned the Surgeoncy, 457 A HISTORY OF THE and Thomas Carwardine was elected Surgeon in his place. The vacancy caused in the Assistant Staff was filled on the same date by the appointment of Dr. Edward Hugh Edwards Stack as Assistant Surgeon. He resigned this office on February 25th, 1913, on his appointment as Surgeon, and on July 28th, 1914, succeeded Dr. Ogilvy as Ophthalmic Surgeon. Dr. Stack, who had previously held important Resident posts at St. Bartholomew's, was elected House Physician at the Infirmary on July 27th, 1897, House Surgeon on October 14th, 1902, and Surgical Registrar on January 2nd, 1906. Dr. P. Watson- Williams was unanimously elected Physician to the recently-established Throat and Nose Department on November 14th, 1906. Dr. Shaw resigned on September 14th, 1907, after being connected with the Infirmary (on the Honorary and Resident Staff) for thirty-four years. Thus at the end of the year 1907, owing to Dr. Shaw's resigna- tion and Dr. Watson- Williams's appointment to the Throat and Nose Department, there were only two Physicians on the Infirmary Staff, viz. Dr. Prowse and Dr. Edgeworth. The Faculty suggested that two more should be appointed to complete the regular number of four ; but at this time the re- arrangement of the Residents' duties and the question of beds for the Assistant Staff were being discussed, and the election was postponed, pending the consideration of these matters. It was agreed that as Dr. Nixon and Dr. Charles wished to continue their Out-patient work after election on the full Staff only one Assistant Physician should be appointed in their place. The election did not take place until July 28th, 1908, when Dr. Nixon and Dr. Charles were appointed Physicians vice Dr. Watson- Williams and Dr. Shaw, and on the same day Dr. John Matthew Fortescue-Brickdale was elected Assistant Physician. Dr. Fortescue-Brickdale, who had been Medical Registrar at the Infirmary since January 2nd, 1906, and had previously been Clinical Assistant, Assistant House Physician, and House Physician at Guy's Hospital, is a son of the Matthew Inglett Fortescue-Brickdale who claimed and was granted the right to recommend patients to the Infirmary in accordance with the conditions of a bequest made by John Brickdale in 1766. (See p. 289.) G. Munro Smith resigned on June 8th, 1909, after being connected with the Infirmary for twenty-three years (Demonstrator of Morbid Anatomy, January, 1886, Assistant Surgeon, February, 1889, and Surgeon, June, 1897), and H. F. Mole was elected Surgeon on July 27th, 1909. On September 28th of this year Mr. Mole relinquished his charge of ear patients, who were, after this date, included in the Throat and Nose Department. On July 27th, 1909, Charles Ferrier Walters, who had been -158 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Casualty Officer, Junior House Surgeon, Junior House Physician, Resident Obstetric Officer, and Honorary Assistant Anaesthetist, was elected Assistant Surgeon in Mr. Mole's place. On December 14th, 1909, Dr. Charles Hayman resigned the post of Assistant Dental Surgeon, and Dr. F. C. Nichols was elected in his place. On January 15th, 1913, J. Paul Bush resigned the Surgeoncy, having held office on the Honorary Staff for twenty-eight years. As he was a Resident for some time before this (he was elected House Physician on September 12th, 1882, and House Surgeon and Senior Resident Medical Officer on February 13th, 1883), he was connected with the Infirmary Staff altogether for thirty-one years. -^ On December 9th, 1913, Richard Clarke was elected Assistant Physician. " " 459 APPENDIX B BIOGRAPHIES In the following pages a short account will be given of some well-known people connected with the Infirmary, whose biographies could not well be inserted in the body of this history without interrupting the narrative. THE RICHARD SMITHS. RICHARD SMITH, SEN. In the early part of the eighteenth century Richard Smith, a native of Warminster, came to Bristol, and established himself as a brewer and maltster in this city, where he married Elizabeth Bradford, a shrewd and energetic woman. He was a man of elegant and refined manners, fond of books, and unfitted for his business, which was managed principally by his wife. " No two people," wrote their grandson, " could be much more unlike each other. He was sedate, slow of speech, mild and placid . . . while she was quick and irritable, and knew how to scold." They were not a well-matched couple, and the joke of the neighbours was that " Smith and his wife seemed to agree in only one point and that was the getting of children," of whom eleven were born to them. They lived at Counterslip, in a house with a freestone front, opposite the Baptist Chapel. Richard Smith was much respected ; he was a Tory in politics, and was President of the Dolphin Society in 1766. He died in 1777, leaving his son Richard his executor. His business was carried on for some years after his death by his daughters Elizabeth and Ann. Richard, the only one of his offspring with whom we have to deal, was born in the house at Counterslip on June 14th, 1748. At the age of nine he went to the Grammar School in Christmas Street, of which the Rev. Samuel Seyer * was head master. About the year 1758 he was sent to the Grammar School at Warminster, where the discipline appears to have been 1 Father of the Rev. Samuel Seyer who wrote the History of Bristol. 460 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY too severe for his taste ; for little Richard ran away " with a small bundle of clothes," and was found, several days afterwards, working with some masons who were building a house. This was known long afterwards amongst his friends as " the house that Dick built." He was then sent to Winchester College, under Dr. Barton, where, according to the Rev. George Wilkins (one of his school- fellows, afterwards Rector of St. Nicholas) the unmanageable Dick was very idle, and was " pretty regularly flogged." He was, in fact, high spirited and mischievous. The senior boys at the school used to frequent an ale-house, where they drank punch to the health of the Pretender ; they occasionally had fights with the townspeople, and even robbed orchards and farmyards. In all these freaks Dick Smith was a conspicuous figure. He had a good voice, and developed early in life a love for music. At a grand " visitation " to Winchester by the Chancellor and several noble- men he was selected to chant the " Benedic nobis, Domine," and the " Benedictus sit Deus in donis suis " (the former before and the latter after dinner), and it is reported that Lord Berkeley, who was present, was so pleased with his performance that he gave him a guinea. In 1762 he left school, and was indentured to John Townsend, Surgeon to the Infirmary, then practising in Broad Street. His indentures are dated September 9th, 1762. Young Dick (he was only fourteen at the time) covenants that " Goods he shall not inordinately waste, Taverns he shall not frequent, at Dice he shall not play. . . . Matrimony he shall not contract," etc. Townsend did his best to keep his apprentice in order, but had his difficulties. For instance, in the third year of his indentures Master Richard came home one night just at the point of eleven o'clock. His master had locked the door, and told him with a growl to "go about his business, that no one should come in after eleven." " Sir," said the apprentice, "the quarter-boys are now going, and Christ Church has not yet finished striking," to which Townsend answered, " My clock has struck, and that 's enough for me ! " Dick Smith wisely called the watchman, and " bid him take notice he was at the door before the Parish Clock had struck." The next morning the surgeon would neither receive the apprentice, nor return any portion of his fees, and seemed inclined to adhere to this. A lawsuit followed, in which the youngster pleaded for himself, and won a verdict. Afterwards, however, the two were perfectly good friends, for Townsend, although rough and surly, seldom bore malice. I Richard Smith then studied in London, at the Borough Hospital, and attended his midwifery cases there. Dr. Colin Mackenzie, whose lectures he attended, once stopped him when " he was going to a ' labour ' with a scarlet cloak and sword, as was then the mode with the students." The doctor took him to task, pointing out the ," L i m P ro P r i e ty of a man's going armed to 461 A HISTORY OF THE bring a being into the world, when such a weapon could only serve to send a person out of it ! " In 1768 he returned to Bristol, and began practice at his father's house at Counterslip, and on August nth of that year he was elected Surgeon to St. Peter's Hospital, when he was only twenty years old. Richard Smith was good looking, and his manners and conversa- tion were attractive. He was always popular with rich and poor, and he appears to have at once obtained a fair amount of professional work. His sister Elizabeth told her nephew that " when brother Dick came from London patients poured in upon him so fast, that his father gave him a sort of Cock-loft in the Brewery, which he fitted up as a Surgery ; and up there used to mount men and women, gentle and simple, such a cataband 1 that there was no end to them, and we were all heartily glad when he went to Queen Square." Early in 1771 he left Counterslip, and went to live in " the last house in Charlotte Street, at the corner of Queen Square, opposite the gable end of the Mansion House." There is a water-colour drawing of this house in the Memoirs of Richard Smith, jun., a copy of which is reproduced here. (See Fig. 80.) It is memorable as the residence of four Infirmary Surgeons in succession. " Tom Skone " lived there before Richard Smith ; the latter left it in December, 1785, when Godfrey Lowe took up his abode there, and after his death in April, 1806, his son Richard Lowe lived there until 1811. It was originally No. 6, but when the other corner house was made into two residences it became No. 7. The little wooden porch at the side of the house led into the sm-gery. On September 23rd, 1771, Richard Smith married Augusta, daughter of the Rev. Alexander Stopford Catcott, 2 master of the Free Grammar School, and on December 6th, 1774, he was elected Surgeon to the Infirmary. (See p. 429.) Although his practice was a fairly good one for so young a man, an accidental circumstance gave it a sudden impetus, and brought him rapidly into fame. The master of a large brewery in Redcliff Street dislocated his shoulder, and sent for Townsend, who tried in vain to reduce it, " assisted by a number of workmen." He had just told his patient that he was afraid he could not get the bone into place, when the brewer saw Richard Smith riding past the window, and, with the consent of Townsend, called him in. The muscles of the shoulder had no doubt become exhausted by the severe pulling they had received, and were no longer in 1 I cannot find this word " cataband " in any dictionary. 2 Augusta Catcott was a sister of George Symes Catcott, of Chatterton celebrity. Another brother was the Rev. Alexander Catcott, who wrote a " Treatise on the Deluge ; " he was Vicar of Temple Church, Bristol. 462 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY that state of tension which makes reduction so difficult ; for when Richard Smith was examining the arm to ascertain the position of the head of the bone, " in a few seconds, as it were by magic, the head slipped into the socket." The patient and the numerous on-lookers were delighted. " Old Johnny Townsend pouted his great lips, and said, ' Humph,' put on a bandage and departed." Richard Smith was the first to recognise that this was luck,, not skill, but his reputation was made. In 1777 he was fortunate enough to restore life to an apparently drowned boy, for which he received the Royal Humane Society's medal. This added to his fame, and for many years he made a large income, and would have died a rich man had it not been for his fondness for pleasure and society. In the year 1784 he made the acquaintance of Mr. John Archer, of Welford in Berkshire, a man of great wealth and of good manners and pleasant appearance, who followed the rather frivolous and dissipated career of a " blood " of those days. He took such a fancy to Richard Smith that he came to live in Bristol, and spent most of his time with his friend. Archer drove a coach and six, and lived in a convivial, extravagant style, which led his companion into many expenses. In December, 1785, the Smiths left Queen Square and took a house 1 in College Green, opposite St. Augustine's Church. The following year Richard Smith was President of the Dolphin Society, and during the remainder of his life he worked hard at business and pleasure. The early summer of 1791 was very hot, and one day towards the end of May he came home, after a long ride, in an exhausted condition, and had a sharp attack of fever. He made a partial recovery, but had a relapse, and died on June 21st, 1791. During his last illness he " set his house in order," and supported and helped by his loving and pious wife, he resigned himself with fortitude to meet the end. Richard Smith was tall, handsome, of a slight but athletic figure, with bright eyes and beautifully white teeth. He was kind hearted, generous with his money, fond of music and literature, an excellent companion ; not easily angered, but quick to resent minor troubles, such as a bad hand at cards, etc. He was impetuous, and always ready to fight when occasion arose. He appears to have been a good boxer, and frequently " took off his coat " and attempted to thrash any man whom he saw ill-treating a horse or other animal. Some of his school exercises are still in existence, and these show that he was a fair Latin scholar. He left two children, Henry, who became an attorney and married Anne Hyden Creedy, and Richard. 1 Formerly inhabited by Mr. Delprat. 4 6 3 A HISTORY OF THE RICHARD SMITH, J UN. Richard Smith, jun. (as he is usually styled in Infirmary records, although he was the third of that name), was born in Queen Square on June 28th, 1772. He was apprenticed to his father, but at the death of the latter in 1791 he was " turned over," as the phrase then was, to Godfrey Lowe, the senior Surgeon ; and it was when he was a student at the Institution that he made the happy discovery of the old documents to which, and to his notes, we are indebted for so much information about the early history of the Infirmary. (See Introduction.) He was elected Surgeon to the Charity on June 23rd, 1796, on the resignation of Joseph Metford ; in 1812 he became senior Surgeon, and from that time until his death on January 24th, 1843, x he identified himself very closely with the history of the Infirmary, attending all the Board and other meetings, and devoting much of his time to the wards and to the collection of " specimens ; " and it may interest some of my readers to learn that his own " milk " teeth were carefully collected as they were shed and fastened on a card. They are now one of the curiosities in the Infirmary Museum. - In 1802 he married Anne Eugenia, daughter of Henry Creswick, a descendant of an old Bristol family to which Dean Creswick — who was so active a promoter of the Bristol Infirmary, and preached the inaugural sermon on December 13th, 1737 — belonged. The house in which the Creswicks lived for many years descended to Richard Smith's wife, and was sold by him for the site on which the Commercial Rooms were built. The following year, 1803, he was appointed chief of the Medical Staff of the Bristol Volunteers, and in 1804 he became one of the proprietors of the Bristol Mirror. He was, like his father, a convivial, cheerful man, with a ruddy face, and a loud, strident laugh, which accompanied or followed his own gros mots or his friends' stories. His passion for collecting morbid specimens, and especially anything gruesome or uncanny, has been referred to before in these pages. He was an enthusiastic Freemason. He was initiated in the Royal Sussex Lodge of Hospitality in 1817 by his brothei Henry, and became Worshipful Master of the Lodge in 1820. On June 8th, 1830, he was installed Deputy Provincial Grand Master. In 1 841 a subscription was made to have his portrait painted by J. Bran white ; it was presented to him in October of that year, and is still hanging in the Lodge Room. (For portrait see Frontispiece.) 1 See pp. 30S-9 for an account of his death and funeral. 464 - 1^ ' ^ V N ' « — \ji _ 5*J ' • I "') T - \i T 4. ^ r - --i - . * -;^ s y- - '. -V j r- i s^ ■ .* - .1 •)3 s ^ }-H '- a r> ■ • r\ & « '*>'' ';/' V* *" u '>-" V*- ~V« V 'J/' «h **> vk BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY He left no issue. His brother Henry had three children, a son, Richard Catcott, who died in 1862, and two daughters, Augusta Anne, who married Mr. Goodwin Rooth, and Elizabeth Creedy, who married Mr. John Rooth. Richard Smith's social habits and his excellent qualifications as a host have been referred to more than once. When dining with a company of friends he was full of life and jollity, and sang his songs or told his stories with an exuberance of animal spirits. He was fond of quoting the saying, " Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit." He once gave some books to his friend Alfred Bleeck on the following conditions : — 1. That he " shall not part with them so long as he is able to bear a Bob in a Catch, glee or madrigal." 2. " That he shall at each ensuing birthday drink a bumper with his friends in silence ' to the pious memory of the donor ' — but after a lapse of two minutes exactly, the company shall strike up Smart's glee of ' With my jug in one hand and my pipe in the other.' " After his death a friend composed a " Round " to his memory (see Fig. 81), the words of which are : — " He is gone, a fine old fellow. For others' good his heart was mellow ; In life all men his friendship found, Let now his mem'ry circle round." In his latter years, according to Augustin Prichard, " Dick Smith drove about in a gig, wrapped in a rough camlet cloak, with a white dog running underneath." SIR MICHAEL FOSTER. " As Mansfield wise and as old Foster just." Churchill's Rosciad. Michael Foster shares with Elbridge, Bonython, Richard Champion, and Creswick the honour of being one of the chief promoters of the Bristol Infirmary. He gave up a great deal of time, from a very busy life, to the welfare of the Institution, and drew up the first code of rules, many of which, with slight alterations, are still in force. He was born at Marlborough on December 16th, 1689. His family were Protestant Dissenters, and his father and grandfather were both well-known attorneys. He was educated at the Free Grammar School of his native place, and at Oxford University, and was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1707. Although he attended with great assiduity at Westminster 465 30 A HISTORY OF THE Hall, his talents were not recognised in London, and he retired to Marlborough, when he soon attracted considerable notice by a pamphlet entitled " Letter of advice to Protestant Dissenters." In 1725 he married the daughter of James Lyde, of Stanton Wick, Somerset, and soon after this he came to Bristol, where he lived in St. James's Barton, and occupied chambers directly opposite the door of St. Werburgh's Church. It was not until 1735 that he made himself famous, by writing a spirited reply to Bishop Gibson's Codex Juris Ecclesiastici "Anglicani. In this well- written publication he criticises the Bishop's views as to the independence of the ecclesiastical and other law courts. The same year he was made Recorder of Bristol ; he became Serjeant-at-Law in 1736, and was appointed a Judge of the King's Bench in 1745, in which year he was knighted by George the Second. In 1758 he did good service by attacking the practices of the press gangs. At that time the Crimps had on several occasions seized respectable citizens in the open streets, and at the Royal Exchange, and sent them abroad as ordinary soldiers. This tyranny was to a very great extent suppressed by his vigorous efforts. This year also a question came prominently before the nation, viz. whether the public had a right of thoroughfare through some of the Royal grounds. The Princess Amelia had given orders to her keeper to close the gates of her residence, Richmond Park, on the populace. The right of the inhabitants to walk through the park was confirmed by Sir Michael's decision, which was considered at the time (when judges were more dependent than now on royal caprice) a national triumph. There is a story told that when the King inquired what would be the expense of erecting gates to exclude the populace, someone had the temerity to answer : " Perhaps it might cost your Majesty a crown or two." Sir Michael Foster was a just and good man, severe sometimes in his sentences on criminals, but on the whole kind hearted. He was of robust health, and seldom had a day's illness before the death of his wife. He appears never to have recovered from this loss, and died a few years after her, on November 7th, 1763. His last days were peaceful and full of pious resignation ; "he expatiated with his friends upon religious topics, and expressed great joy at the glorious prospect beyond the grave which Christianity opened to his view." He died in London, but his remains were buried at Stanton Drew in Somersetshire. (For portrait see Fig. 82.) I append a portion of a pedigree of his family, compiled by the Rev. John Ward, of Great Bedwyn Vicarage. 466 SIR MICHAEL FOSTER. Fig. 82. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY " II rt w H en O fa l-l OJ w ft _ w O u i &, < » M X -(J a < en O fa 2 2 +-> o "C en eu Q J Q O C S Q ^ E J g < 2 X O u B £ H Jl W l-H H ►J en II O fa II « en M W H M en — £ O fa < en W K -M H < N 2 fa £> S < Cfi 467 A HISTORY OF THE THE PRICHARDS. JAMES COWLES PRICHARD. James Cowles Prichard was born at Ross, in Herefordshire, on February nth, 1786. His father, Thomas Prichard, who belonged to the Society of Friends, came to Bristol and became a member of the firm of Harford, Partridge & Co., iron and tin plate merchants, in Small Street. He lived at a house in Somerset Street, and afterwards in Park Street. In 1793 James Cowles, then seven years of age, went to school at Mr. Richard Durban's in College Green ; his education after this was conducted at home, where he was taught by a Quaker gentleman named Barnes. His father returned to Ross in 1800, and there he employed a French doctor named Bonis to teach his son French and Latin ; then the Rev. Mr. Mills was his instructor, and Mr. J. B. Cross taught him some Greek. He appears to have had an early inclination towards medicine, which his father did not encourage, wishing him to follow his own business. He ultimately, however, consented, and sent the boy, then seventeen years of age, to be under the care of Dr. Pole, * " being most anxious " (according to Mr. J. B. Cross) " that his son should retain the primitive simplicity and orthodoxy of genuine Quakerism, which he feared the study of medicine would contaminate." Probably he only attended the course of lectures which Dr. Pole was then giving, and in 1803 he was sent to live with a Mr. Tothill of Staines, who was partner with Dr. Pope, subsequently well known as one of the physicians to George the Third. From September, 1804, to September, 1805, J. C. Prichard was attending St. Thomas's Hospital, London ; he then went to Edinburgh, where he was a medical student until 1808, when he took his degree of M.D. His thesis, which was much longer and more elaborate and learned than such compositions usually are, showed the direction in which his studies were already tending ; it was entitled " De Generis Humani Varietate," and at once stamped him as a man of extraordinary ability. In the autumn of 1808 he entered at Trinity College, Cambridge, and removed the following October to St. John's College, Oxford. After keeping a term or two, he went as a Gentleman Commoner to Trinity College, Oxford. He left the University without taking a degree, and came in 1810 to Bristol, where he at first resided in Berkeley Square. In February, 1811, he married Miss Estlin, and the same year 1 See p. 371. 468 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY was made Physician to St. Peter's Hospital. He also associated hims -If with Dr. King in a Dispensary in Castle Green. He changed his place of abode several times, from Berkeley Square to College Green, then to another house in Berkeley Square, and finally to the Red Lodge. He was elected Physician to the Infirmary at the same time as Dr. Henry Hawes Fox, on February 29th, 1816, and resigned in June, 1843. As might be expected, his work in the wards was marked by the learning, skill, and energy which characterised all he did. He belonged to the " depleting " school, and had nearly all his patients bled ; the words " V.S. ad Ixii." (to be bled to twelve ounces) constantly occurred amongst his and the other physicians' prescriptions in those days. For instance, there is an entry made on a scrap of paper dated June, 1817, that out of twenty-one persons admitted to the Infirmary on that day no less than twenty were bled. A doggerel rhyme, made by one of the patients, refers to this practice, and shows also how the inmates of the medical wards were impressed by the Infirmary Physicians. The lines run : — " Dr. Carrick he comes in So meek, so mild as anything, Saying, how are you to-day my child ? Your pains with patience you must bear, And we will seek for your cure. " Of all the Physicians in this place, Dr. Stock he is the best, His fame is spread by land and sea, For the good he has done in the Bristol Infirmary. " Dr. Fox he do come in, He has the presence of a King, His breath 's as sweet as any rose, He visits his patients and out he goes. " Dr. Pri chard do appear With his attendance and his care. He fills his patients full of sorrow, ' You must be bled to-day and cupped to-morrow.' " His patients were kindly treated and well looked after, but they had some reason for being " full of sorrow," for he not only bled and purged them freely, but he was fond of applying blisters, setons, and other strong counter-irritants. One " issue " was called after him ; it consisted of "An incision through the scalp from the vertex to the forehead, three or four inches in length, kept open, firstly by dry lint, and after suppuration was established, by peas." 1 Although Dr. Prichard's medical writings procured him a great 1 " The Bristol Infirmary in my Student Days, 1822-1828," by Henry Alford, F.R.C.S., in Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Journal for September, 1890. 469 A HISTORY OF THE reputation, his fame rests chiefly on his contributions to the science of Ethnology. His inaugural thesis, " De Generis Humani Varietate," was much enlarged, and appeared as an octavo volume with the title, Researches into the Physical History of Man, in 1831, and it was for this and for his subsequent researches in the same field that he deservedly received the Fellowship of the Royal Society, an Honorary M.D. of Oxford, and other honours. He was particularly well suited for such investigations, both because he had the power of patient application, making use of every hour of his spare time — and being an early riser, he often did a great deal of work before breakfast — and because he was an excellent linguist, and a man of wide and general knowledge. He took an active part in the foundation of the Bristol College, was President of the Medical Library, and was a prominent member of many scientific and social societies, etc., but the business of his life was his scientific work. Like another great Infirmary Physician, Dr. Budd, he was much in advance of his time, and the parts of his writings which his learned contemporaries most criticised would now be accepted as correct. So much has been done in the subject in which he was almost a pioneer, that few modern scientific men probably have read his books carefully, and many who have followed recent speculations as to the inheritance of acquired characteristics, will perhaps be surprised to know that in 1831 James Cowles Prichard came to the conclusion that " acquired peculiarities are never transmitted to the offspring." x Like other physicians of his time, he " magnified his office," and took a high standard in questions of medical etiquette. For instance, on January 13th, 1826, Dr. David Davies, a member of the College of Physicians of London, and a busy Bristol practitioner, asked Dr. Prichard to meet him in consultation, and this request was refused on the grounds that Dr. Davies was attending the case "as a Physician." It is difficult to understand the position he took in this affair — the whole correspondence, with criticisms, was published by Dr. Davies. At that time the physicians were doing their best to free themselves from the apothecaries, and apparently maintained that all strictly medical cases should be attended by them, in the interests of the patients, not by apothecaries, or even by general practitioners like Dr. Davies. In 1845 Dr. Prichard was appointed one of the Commissioners in Lunacy, and went to live at Woburn Place, Russell Square, London. He was on circuit as a commissioner, when he was 1 Some Account of the Life, Writings, and Character of the late James Cowles Prichard, M.D., F.R.S., by John Addington Symonds, M.D., 1849. Since writing the above it has been pointed out to me that Professor Paulton has commented on this " remarkable anticipation of modern views on evolution," and has also noticed that Dr. Prichard (probably in consequence of the criticisms of his friends), modified his opinions on the inheritance of acquired characteristics in subsequent editions of his book. 470 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY seized with an attack of illness on December 14th, 1848 ; he was taken to his home, where he died on December 23rd. x As to his personal appearance, his friend Dr. J. Addington Symonds said : " The countenance, to the most superficial observer, betokened deep thoughtfulness, with something of reserve and shyness, but blended with true kindliness." Professor Gibson, of Philadelphia, described him as " a short, compact, close-made man, with bluish-grey eyes, large and prominent features, and expression uncommonly mild, open and benevolent, so much so that almost anyone would naturally inquire who he was." 2 (For portrait see Fig. 83.) The late Henry Alford says of him : "He was a small, spare man, with quick, decided step ; sharp, somewhat curt,, in his speech, but kind and very attentive to the hospital patients. He generally wore a large, loose overcoat, with roomy side-pockets, large enough to hold a quarto or small folio case-book ; and he generally carried other books with him in the seat of his carriage. ... He took notes of the cases of his patients in the Infirmary in short, terse Latin sentences, in his case-book." 3 AUGUSTIN PRICHARD. Augustin Prichard, the second son of the above James Cowles Prichard, was born at 39 College Green, Bristol, on July 16th, 1818. He went, as a small boy, to a school kept by a Mr. F. Norton, at 33 Old Park ; and at the age of thirteen he was sent to the Bristol College, which had been founded to a great extent by the influence of Dr. J. C. Prichard, Dr. Andrew Carrick, Dr. Symonds, and Mr. J. C. Swayne. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to his uncle, Mr. J. B. Estlin, from whom he no doubt obtained his first impulse towards the study of Diseases of the Eye. In 1836 he became a Physician's pupil under his father at the Bristol Infirmary, and in 1838 a Surgical pupil under John Harrison. Next year he followed the custom of those days of attending one of the Borough Hospitals. He entered at St. Bartholomew's, " going up by the night coach and being deposited at the ' Swan with Two Necks,' Lad Lane, Cheapside, at seven o'clock in the morning." 4 After taking the M.R.C.S. and L.S.A., he went to Berlin, 1 His last illness " was of comparatively short duration. It was apparently occasioned by fatigue and exposure during the performance of his public duties." — Some Account of the Life, Writings, and Character of the late fames Cowles Prichard, M.D., F.R.S., by John Addington Symonds, M.D. He was attended by Dr. Tweedie, who called in Benjamin Travers and his son, William Lawrence, Dr. Latham, and Dr. Hodgkin. 2 Prichard and Symonds, by Hack Tuke. Churchill, 1891. 3 " The Bristol Infirmary in my Student Days," supra cit. 4 "A few Medical and Surgical Reminiscences," by Augustin Prichard. 471 A HISTORY OF THE " travelling via Rotterdam, up the Rhine and on to Heidelberg in company with a friend, and then, being before railway times, alone by coach (eilwagen) across the country through Cassel and Magdeburg." * At Berlin he took the degree of M.D. The examination, both written and viva voce, was conducted in Latin. His thesis was on the subject of " Iritis." He studied for a time at Vienna and Paris, and in October, 1842, he " put up his plate " in College Green, and soon afterwards at his father's house, the Red Lodge. For many years he lived at Chesterfield Place. In 1843 he was appointed Lecturer on Anatomy at the Medical School. In 1845 he married Miss Mary Ley. He took the F.R.C.S. in 1849, and on February 28th, 1850, he was elected Surgeon to the Infirmary. He resigned, after twenty years' service, in February, 1870. For many years he was Surgeon to the Bristol Eye Dispensary, where he attended with great regularity, and did an enormous amount of useful work amongst the poor. He was chosen to give the address in Surgery at the Annual Meeting of the British Medical Association at Swansea in 1853, and at the Bristol Meeting in 1863. He was one of the founders of the Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Society in 1874, and filled the Presidential Chair in the session of 1877-8. He died of intestinal obstruction on January 5th, 1898. Augustin Prichard was tall, well-made, sedate in his manners, with an expression which struck one as being stern. This im- pression was somewhat increased by a superficial acquaintance, for he was not talkative, except to his friends, and usually spoke in rather a brusque manner, using as few words as possible. Those, however, who had the privilege of penetrating this barrier of reserve, always found " personified in his life, duty, honour, skill, and a sweet homely kindliness based on the deepest foundations." 2 (For portrait see Fig. 84.) He was a good artist in water colours, and an excellent operator. Nothing could be finer than his manipulation of the knife in delicate operations such as cataract, and he had great power of controlling and giving confidence to the patient. He always knew his own mind, and carried out every detail of an operation with firmness and skill, never showing signs of indecision. It is worth record that in i860 he began to use Compound Tincture of Benzoin for wounds, and the success he obtained by this method was no doubt due to the fact that he was anticipating the antiseptic treatment. The following table will show some of the relationships of the family : — 1 '* A few Medical and Surgical Reminiscences," by Augustin Prichard. 2 E. Long Fox. 472 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY 0^ is >1 w V H-J "3 H > < HH S o || Tj w H rt J3 o o •c X ffi H be o £_s r- 0! O M Q Q w 3 .a o S H "O II — « -< a ^3 &0 S T3 w . ffl H W .« i w Ol So HJ 9 M O oo '-> M o t3 rt * o •3 « * d 5 w Ah ,d tn "2 S 6 5 M ° 473 A HISTORY OF THE THE FOXES. EDWARD LONG FOX, SEN. Edward Long Fox, sen., was born on April 26th, 1761, at Falmouth, where his father, Joseph Fox, a member of the Society of Friends, was in practice as a surgeon and apothecary. 1 He received his early education in his native town, first at a preparatory school, and then at a classical school conducted by a Presbyterian minister. He afterwards went to a school at Plymouth. At the age of eighteen he was apprenticed to his father, and in 1779 he entered the University of Edinburgh, where he was admitted a member of the Medical Society on November 27th of that year. In 1781 he returned to Falmouth, and assisted his father in general practice until the autumn of 1783, when he again went to Edinburgh, and graduated as a Doctor of Medicine on January 24th, 1784. His thesis for the degree was entitled " De voce humana." He practised in Plymouth until the spring of 1786, when the death of Dr. Till Adams, who had a large connection amongst the Quakers of Bristol, seemed to offer an opening there. He found, however, that Drs. Drummond, Moncrieffe, Broughton, Ludlow, and Rigge divided nearly all the medical practice of the city between them, and he was in doubt whether to stay or not, when it was announced that the post of Physician to the Infirmary, which had been kept open since 1783, owing to Dr. Broughton's long absence, was about to be declared vacant. He at once became a competitor, and an energetic canvass began between Dr. Fox and Dr. Cave. The contest became celebrated as the " battle between the Distillers and Quakers." (See p. 434.) Fox was successful, and was elected Physician to the Institution on April 3rd, 1786, when he was twenty-five years of age. The next year (on January 21st, 1787) he was admitted an extra Licentiate of the College of Physicians of London. [ 4 He lived for some time at 16 Castle Green, " in the house near the corner, facing the open street ; " in 1793 he removed to 45 Queen Square. In 1787 he was elected a member of the Bear's Cub Club ; but in consequence of his " advocacy of the common people " in the 1 Joseph Fox was apprenticed to John Wolcot of Fowey, whose nephew, another John Wolcot — afterwards celebrated as the writer of some well-known verses, e.g. " The Pilgrims and the Peas," " The Apple Dumplings and a King," etc., under the nom de plume of Peter Pindar — was a fellow-apprentice. In 1766 Joseph Fox took a house at Porham, near Falmouth, for harbouring and attending sick seamen. Dr. Pole (p. 371), who was one of his assistants, said that at one time over a hundred patients were landed and put under his care. Apparently he was appointed by the Government to " take charge of sick and wounded seamen in the King's service." This information was given me by Dr. A. E. W. Fox, of Bath, to whom I am indebted for many interesting particulars incorporated in this biography. 474 • fe i ^=E • ... «!* fflP .O <<£ '^ 1 qf BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY affair of the Bristol Bridge Riots in October, 1793 (when many were shot by the Hereford Militia), his name was taken off the books of the club, and he was nick-named " Jacobin." In 1784 Dr. Mesmer, who had created a furore in Paris, had been exposed in a report drawn up by Bailly, Franklin and others, and had retired, with the money he had made from his dupes, to Constance. He had, however, many followers, amongst others Dr. E. Long Fox, who had studied his " Animal Magnetism," as it was then called, under a Frenchman called Mainanduc. He tried this new remedy (since known as hypnotism) on some patients at the Infirmary, with the laudable desire to find out if there was any truth in it. Mesmer's exposure as a quack, and the strange tales current about the new science, had made the subject unpopular, and Dr. Fox was attacked in the newspapers in a virulent manner by an apothecary named Milbourne Williams. The doctor replied that " the experimental inquiry was begun from most disinterested motives, but that being unable to ascertain that any such power as animal magnetism existed, he had laid it altogether aside." This, however, did not satisfy the class of people who take a pleasure in attacking medical charities, and for some time afterwards letters appeared in the press, severely commenting on these harmless investigations. Dr. Long Fox became famous as an authority on lunacy. He succeeded Mr. Henderson at the Asylum at White's Hill, and in 1804 he built the fine Asylum at Brislington, where he went to live in 1806. He resigned his post at the Infirmary in February, 1816, and devoted himself after this more exclusively to his special subject. He was one of the first doctors to treat the insane in a humane manner. Before this time those afflicted with madness were often confined in rooms which were little better than dens, and sometimes were fastened up like savage animals. The " non-restraint " system was, from the beginning, carried out at Brislington, and it was probably the first institution of the kind where provision was made for the inmates to have regular religious services. So famous did Dr. Fox become that he was called in consultation on George the Third at Windsor. One of the most interesting features of his writings and teaching was his recognition of what he called the " animalcular origin " of diseases. This appears particularly in a pamphlet on Cholera which he published in 1831. x In this he distinctly attributes the disease to a " living animalcular virus," and recommends for treatment arsenic, mercury, tar, the essential oils, etc., all known now to be germ destroyers. In an outbreak of Glanders amongst his own horses he made use of a powder consisting of one grain of corrosive sublimate mixed with an ounce of arrowroot, which he blew up the animals' nostrils every day with a long tube. Two of them recovered from this dangerous complaint. 1 Surmises respecting the Cause and Nature of Cholera," printed by Mills and Son, Bristol, 1831. 475 A HISTORY OF THE It is evident, therefore, that Dr. Long Fox anticipated the discoveries of Pasteur, and their application by Lister, to an extent which should be permanently recorded. A transaction much talked about at the time, which was very honourable to Dr. Fox and his father, may here be mentioned. It has been told in various ways, but some of the details given, both in English and French papers, are incorrect. The following account is taken from a letter written by E. Long Fox himself : — Joseph Fox, of Falmouth, who as a Quaker " recognised no political enemies," was at the time of England's declaration of war with France in 1778 the member of a firm which possessed two vessels well suited for privateering. These cutters were aimed with guns, and sent out with the purpose of capturing defenceless merchantmen belonging to the enemy. Joseph Fox strongly disapproved, and told his partners that if they obtained any prize-money in this way he should return his share to the original owners. The two English ships made some successful captures, and the booty was so great that Joseph Fox's share amounted to £22,000. He acted up to his principles, and at the end of the war, in 1784, he sent his son, the doctor, to France, having previously found by advertising who were the owners of the captured ships, and what firms were involved. l The whole sum was restored, with the exception of £120 for which there was no claimant. According to Dr. Long Fox, this " accumulated to £600 " s in a few years, and was given by him to a fund for the invalid seamen of France. This act of generous restitution brought to the Foxes many expressions of praise and thanks, but no doubt the son was speaking the absolute truth when he wrote : " The chief applause he (Joseph Fox) sought was a conscience void of offence towards God and man." 3 Newspaper " skits," especially in the form of verses, were the fashion at the end of the eighteenth century, and Edward Long Fox came in for his share of these. For instance, when it was known that he was going abroad on the above charitable errand, the following appeared in a Bristol paper : — " A doctor well skill'd in the medical art, 'Mongst others, for France was resolved to depart, And leave his domestic concerns : — But what will become of his patients the while ? ' O, fear not,' a neighbour replied with a smile ! ' They will LIVE — -till the Doctor returns ! ' " 1 Mons. Elie de Fibure, father of the Mayor of Rouen, was the chief proprietor. 2 His words are, " The balance has in the interval accumulated to ^600." 3 The crest of the family is a fox, " supporting by his sinister paw a flagstaff of the second, thereon a banner azure, seme of fleur-de-lis or." The legend is that the King of France, Louis XVI., was so pleased with the transaction above narrated, that he gave Dr. Edward Long Fox permission to use the French neur-de-lis in his crest, and that this right was not made use of by the doctor, who was as a Quaker indifferent to such things, but that when his descendants took out a Grant of Arms the fleurs-de-lis were incorporated. 476 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY Some of the verses published on leaflets concerning the experi- ments on mesmerism and the building of Brislington Asylum are unjust and virulent to an extreme degree. After a busy and useful life Edward Long Fox died on May 2nd, 1835, aged seventy-four. (For portrait see Fig. 85.) He was a man of great ability, " well acquainted with botany, chemistry and mineralogy, a good French scholar, and could write and converse fluently and correctly in Latin." l To the poor he was always kind, both in charitable gifts and in free attendance. He bought Knightstone, at Weston-super-Mare, and built salt- water baths there, chiefly for the use of Infirmary patients. 2 HENRY HAWES FOX. Henry Hawes Fox, son of Edward Long Fox, was born in 1788. His early education was received at a school in Queen Square, Bristol, kept by a Mr. Peter Hill. He was apprenticed, in the usual manner of the time, to Charles Holman, surgeon, of Milverton, Somerset ; he then studied at Edinburgh, where he took his degree. When Dr. Lovell resigned his post at the Infirmary in August, 1810, Dr. Long Fox applied on behalf of his son for the vacancy ; but Henry Hawes Fox returned from Edinburgh too late, and finding that most of the votes were already promised, he withdrew his application on September 2nd. He was elected Physician to the Infirmary on February 29th, 1816, on his father's resignation, and held office until May, 1829. He lived at 25 Berkeley Square, and had a large practice. He married Harriet, daughter of the Rev. Richard Jones, Vicar of Charfield. Like several other members of his family, he devoted himself especially to the study of lunacy, and in 1833 he settled at Northwoods, near Winterbourne, where he built a fine asylum. He died on October 12th, 1851, at the age of sixty-three, after only two or three hours' illness. " He was sensible to the end, and conversed quietly and sensibly about the various signs of the very peculiar and gradually increasing paralysis of his limbs, and his other symptoms, until he died." 3 We have, fortunately, some excellent descriptions of him. 1 According to Dr. A. E. W. Fox. 2 In 1814 Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who was at that time in a state of great misery from the excessive use of opium, thought that nothing would cure him but the restraint of an asylum, and suggested Dr. Fox's house at Brislington. Joseph Cottle says of the doctor that he " was an opulent and liberal minded man ; and if I had applied to him (or any friend) I cannot doubt but that he would instantly have received Mr. Coleridge gratuitously." He pays a further tribute to his benevolence : " Mr. Coleridge knew Dr. Fox himself, eighteen years before, and to the honour of Dr. F. I think it right to name, that, to my knowledge, in the year 1796, Dr. Fox, in admira- tion of Mr. C.'s talents, presented him with FIFTY POUNDS ! '•—Early Recollections, chiefly relating to the late Samuel Taylor Coleridge, during his long Residence in Bristol, by Joseph Cottle. 3 " A few Medical and Surgical Reminiscences," by Augustin Prichard. 477 A HISTORY OF THE Mr. Henry Alford 1 says : " He was pre-eminently a courtier, with soft, slow and gentle speech, and a kind and insinuating look and manner. A rather stout, handsome, middle-aged man (this was in 1822-8), always well dressed. His walk was quiet and deliberate, and apparently slow. . . . The treatment of his patients at the Infirmary was almost entirely expectant. . . . He would see and prescribe for twenty to forty or fifty Out-patients in twenty or twenty-five minutes, and would go round the wards in the same time and manner." With reference to his rapid but deliberate methods, Mr. Alford writes : " Seated by the table in the Out-patient Room, with the resident medical officer or his senior pupil by his side to write his prescriptions, this would be the general mode of procedure. As they came into the room, one at a time, and stood (rarely sat) by his side, Dr. Fox would look kindly and say, ' How-do-you-do, my friend ? ' Some answer would come from the patient ; but the doctor would immediately turn to his attendant scribe and say, ' Continue,' or ' Repeat, Sir,' and then to the boy at the door, ' Next, if you please.' " Mr. Augustin Prichard says of him in his Reminiscences : " He was a short but sturdily-built man, with a very grave expression of countenance, and being well dressed, he looked, as he was, a typical physician of the old school, with his shiny Hessian boots with a little silk tassel at the side, and conspicuous white shirt- frills, white cravat, and black clothes." Dr. A. E. W. Fox writes : " He was one of the best whips in the country, and he drove four horses to perfection ; he generally had thorough-breds. When in practice he made about £4,000 a year." EDWARD LONG FOX, JUN. Edward Long Fox, jun., the son of Dr. Francis Ker Fox, of Brislington House, and grandson of Edward Long Fox, sen., was born in 1832, and received his early education from a private tutor, and at the Bath Grammar School. He was sent to Shrewsbury School in 1845, and in 1850 went to Balliol College, Oxford. He obtained a First Class in Natural Science in 1853 ; he then studied Medicine at Edinburgh and at St. George's Hospital, London. He took his degree of M.B. at Oxford in 1857, an d the M.D. in 1861. He was elected Physician to the Infirmary on September 3rd, 1857, an d resigned, in accordance with the twenty years rule, in August, 1877. From 1869 to 1874 he lectured on Medicine and Pathological Anatomy at the Bristol Medical School, in which he took a keen interest. He felt the importance of a good medical library, and considered that this, and a large and convenient room in which professional meetings could be held, should be in connection with the University College. On June 2nd, 1888, he gave a dinner to a 1 " The Bristol Infirmary in my Student Days." 478 EDWARD LONG FOX, JUN. Fig. 87. BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY number of medical men at the Queen's Hotel, Clifton, in connection with a movement then on foot to establish such a library. So successful was he in advocating this, that no less than £1,200 was promised by those present at the dinner. His services at Clifton College (to which he was appointed Physician in 1862), and to many other local philanthropic and educational institutions, have been described elsewhere. » He was a frequent contributor to discussions, etc., at Medical Societies, and in 1894 was President of the British Medical Association. In 1882 he gave the Bradshaw Lecture at the College of Physicians, of which he was made a Fellow in 1870. He died, much lamented, on March 28th, 1902. Dr. Fox was of middle height, strongly made, energetic in his movements, with a rather quick, determined walk. He was always neat in his person and dress, with a look of freshness and vivacity due to the brightness of his eyes and to his remarkably clear, ruddy complexion, which contrasted well with his black hair and whiskers. His expression was gentle and refined. (For portrait see Fig. 87.) He was an excellent host, and told amusing anecdotes in a forcible, clever way ; he always made his guests feel at home, and encouraged them to talk. When he lived at Church House, Clifton, it was his custom to invite all the Bristol medical students and practitioners once a year to a " strawberry party." This function, which was held, weather permitting, in the pleasant garden at the back of his house, was very popular, and was much enjoyed by everyone. He took a personal interest in all his pupils, looking after them in every way, guiding their studies, frequently asking them to his house, and, in the case of his clinical clerks, usually giving them some standard work on Medicine. He knew very well how to utilise time ; nearly always read journals or books whilst going his rounds in his carriage, and was impatient of delay at patients' houses. He was rapid in diagnosis, and saw his Infirmary patients quickly, passing from one bed to another with a cheery word, or orders for some alteration in treatment. He had the knack of appearing to consult his senior pupils in a way which was very nattering, and even when he did not accept their opinions, he was so adroit that students frequently thought he was following their suggestions, when in fact he was adopting quite a different line of treatment. Besides many contributions to journals, he published two books, The Influence of the Sympathetic on Disease, and The Pathological Anatomy of the Nervous Centres, both of which were considered at the time standard works. See The Bristol Medico-Chinwgical Journal for June, 1902. 479 A HISTORY OF THE The following table, for which I am indebted to Dr. A. E. W. Fox and Dr. C. H. Fox, sufficiently explains the relationships of some of the medical members of the family : — M O oo M P. T) W - * c o i-i w - MS o W 5 B B *9 W m >. Sen W II— Q (0 S 55 • O .o •— >-5 X a) o S «3 bo a o ES X o Pn 3« wo -gtf Q w < w « C , CO ►J » *~ «S O^ :W hod o S a, •a W o Uh fa C/) CO £ M o o rt mh CM o -£1 O IH feO o o OO c^Q gh CD li Is ri a rt o 03+3 ^^ B Ox) o a* 3 5q 9 O X $ C^ P. ^ o N B ft NO g ao S Bo ^ X CLJ > & ^1 X rt ^rt H S o ^1 S x > o W u 480 APPENDIX C LIST OF ELECTIONS AND RESIGNATIONS OF INFIRMARY OFFICERS TREASURERS. Name. Elected. Resigned. Died. John Elbridge Jan. 7, 1736-7 Feb. 22,1738-9. John Andrews Mar. 2, 1738-9 Dec. 7, 1739 . . — Richard Champion Dec. 18, 1739 . . — Feb. 23,1747-8. Nehemiah Champion Mar. 8, 1747-8 — Dec. 12, 1753. Richard Champion Dec. 20, 1753 . . — Jan. 9, 1766. Abraham Richard Hawkesworth Feb. 11, 1766 . . — Oct. 29, 1768. Richard Champion Dec. 6, 1768 Dec. 24, 1778 . . — Joseph Harford Jan. 4, 1779 . . Sept. 6, 1791 . . — Edward Ash Dec. 20, 1791 . . Mar. 15, 1808 . . — Samuel Birch Dec. 20, 1808 . . Dec. 17, 1811 . . — William Fripp Dec. 30, 1811 . . Mar. 31, 1829 . . — Daniel Cave Mar. 31, 1829 . . Mar. 15, 1844 . . PRESIDENTS AND TREASURERS. Name. Elected. Resigned. Died. John Scandrett Harford Mar. 15, 1844 . . Mar. 15, 1859 . . — John Battersby- Harford Mar. 15, 1859 . . April 27, 1869. . — Robert Phippen April 27, 1869. . — July 5, 1869. Rev. James Heyworth July 27, 1869 . . — Dec. 22, 1879. Sir Charles Daniel Cave, Bt. Mar. 23, 1880 . . May 5th, 1904. — Sir George White, Bt. May 5th, 1904. — 31 481 A HISTORY OF THE SECRETARIES. Name. Elected. Resigned. Died. Morgan Smith Jan. 7, 1736-7 1739 Richard Lathrop . . Feb. (?), 1739 — i75i- Joseph Beech 1752 — Feb. 2, 1 77 1. Thomas Bawn Feb. 26, 1771 . . — Dec. 15, 1790. John Jordon Palmer Jan. 8,1791 .. Sept. 19, 1818. . — William "Weir Oct. 29, 1818 . . Oct., 1823 — Samuel Johnson . . Oct. 16, 1S23 . . May 13, 1840 . . — Robert Johnson June, 1840 — Feb. 11, 1849. William Henry Bosworth Feb. 21, 1849 — April 18, 1849. William Trenerry . . May 9, 1849 . . — Oct. 14, 1884. Lieut. -Col. Charles Senhouse Graham Dec. 19, 1884 . . Dec. 13, 1887 . . — Joseph Furlonge Shekleton, M.D. Dec. 13, 1887 .. Nov. 12, 1895. . — Edward Albert Leonard April 9, 1895 . . May 13, 1902 . . — Richard John Coles July 29, 1902 . . Jan. 10, 1905 . . — William Edward Budgett .... Nov. 14, 1905 . . — — CHAPLAINS. Name. Elected. Resigned. Died. William Davis 1739-40 .. .. April 24, 1772. Thomas Johnes Nov. 9, 1772 . . Jan. 8, 1817 1 . . — John Swete Jan. 22, 1817 . . June 1, 1825 . . — John Mais May 15, 1825 . . Sept. 2, 1856 . . — William Hood Sage Oct. 7, 1856 . . Jan. 24, i860 . . — John Mackie April 24, i860. . May 23, 1876 . . — Oswald Harrison . . Aug. 8, 1876 . . Jan. 9, 1877 . . — Oliver Sumner Feb. 13, 1877 . . Aug. 27, 1878 — Octavius Maunsell Grindon Dec. 10, 1878 . . Aug. 25, 1885 — Fairfax Goodall Nov. 24,1885 . . May 22, 1900 . . — Odiarne W. D. Lane June 26,1900 . . April 9, 1901 . . — F. A. D. Williams. . June 25,1901 . . Aug. 1, 1905 . . — George Beilby Feb. 13, 1906 . . Jan., 1908 2 — Charles W. Fowler. . Feb. 8, 1910 . . May 10, 1910 . . — G. W. Pitt . . June 14, 1910. . Dec. 10, 1912 . . _ P. W. Bischoff Feb. 25, 1913 . . — — 1 His resignation did not come into force until March 25th. * From January, 190s, to December, 1909, the Clergy connected with St. James's Church officiated as Chaplains. 482 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY MATRONS. Name. Elected. Resigned. Died. Mrs. Ann Hughes . . Oct. 7, 1737 . . June, 1770. Mrs. Ann Williams June 25, 1771 — 1778. Mrs. Elizabeth Preece Nov. 19, 1778. . — Mar. 12, 1790, Mrs. Jane Simmons April 8, 1790 . . April 12, 1812 1 — Miss Mary Davy . . Feb. 27, 1812 . . Sept. 21, 1827. . — Mrs. Mary Wadley Oct. 4, 1827 . . Dec. 29, 1830 . . — Mrs. Ann Jean Lynch Feb. 3, 1831 . . Sept. 12, 1838. . — Mrs. Mary Wheeler Oct. 3, 1838 . . — Oct. 26, 1844. Miss Mary Ann Weaver 2 Nov. 14, 1844. . Mar. 27, i860 . . — Mrs. Elizabeth Beaven July 24, i860 . . Jan. 10, 1865 . . — Miss Tresidder 3 Feb. 20, 1865 . . — Mrs. Lovell Jan. 29, 1867 . . Aug. 27, 1867. . — Miss Worthington . . Oct. 17, 1867 . . Oct. 13, 1868 . . — Miss Emily Bird . . Dec. 8, 1868 . . April 14, 1885 — Miss Corvan June 9, 1885 . . Jan. 8, 1889 . . — Miss Maud G. Smith Feb. 15, 1889 . . Dec. 14, 1897 . . Miss A. B. Baillie . . Feb. 8, 1898 . . — — 1 She formally resigned after the election of her successor. 2 Niece of Mrs. Mary Wheeler. 3 Owing to new arrangements, Miss Tresidder's term of office expired on appointment of Mrs. Lovell as Lady Superintendent and Matron in January, 1867. PHYSICIANS. Name. Elected. Died or Resigned. William Logan John Middleton — Etwall Archibald Drummond William Cadogan Francis Woodward James Plomer Samuel Farr John England Thomas Rigge John Wright May 20, 1737 May 20, 1737 May 20, 1737 May 20, 1737 June 3, 1737 Dec. 15, 1747 Dec. 15, 1747 Dec. 23, 1757 Dec. 23, 1757 Dec. 8, 1761 Jan. 13, 1767 Jan. 13, 1767 March 3, 1767 Nov. 4, 1771 Nov. 13, 1761. Dec. 14, 1757. Sept. 1, 1747. June 3, 1737. 1743- Oct. 29, 1771. March 3, 1752. Dec. 5, 1769. Oct. 25, 1765. April 4, 1798. April 13, 1780. March, 1767. March 3, 1778. Dec. 23, 1794. 483 A HISTORY OF THE PHYSICIANS (continued). Name. Elected. Died or Resigned. John Paull William Moncrieffe Benjamin Colly ns. . Arthur Broughton Edward Long Fox Robert Lovell John New- Walter Kennedy Craufuird Andrew Carrick John Edmonds Stock James Cowles Prichard Henry Hawes Fox George Wallis John Howell Henry Riley Gilbert Lyon James Fogo Bernard William Budd Frederick Brittan Alexander Fairbrother Edward Long Fox John Beddoe William Henry Spencer Robert Shingleton Smith Henry Waldo John Edward Shaw Arthur Bancks Prowse Patrick Watson-Williams Francis Henry Edgeworth John Alexander Nixon John Roger Charles Sept. 5, 1772 July 18, 1775 March 17, 1778 May 4, 1780 April 3, 1786 Jan. 7, 1795 April 18, 1798 Nov. 18, 1802 Sept. 20, 1810 March 28, 181 1 Feb. 29, 1816 Feb. 29, 1816 Feb. 21, 1828 June 4, 1829 Aug. 28, 1834 June 29, 1843 June 29, 1843 Oct. 28, 1847 Feb. 15, 1855 June 5, 1856 Sept. 3, 1857 March 20, 1862 Nov. 20, 1873 Nov. 20, [873 July 28, 1876 Sept. 11, 1877 March 27, 1888 March 7, 1905 Feb. 14, 1906 July 28, 1908 July 28, 1908 July 10, 1775. Feb. 13, 1816. July, 1778. March 28, 1786. Feb. 14, 1816. Aug. 29, 1810. Oct. 28, 1802. March 13, 1811. Aug. 2i, 1834. Jan. 30, 1828. June 7, 1843. May 13, 1829. Jan. 3, 1855. June 7, 1843. Oct. 13, 1847. Aug. 18, 1857. May 20, 1856. Feb. 25, 1862. Oct. 14, 1873. June 27, 1876. Aug. 14, 1877. Oct. 28, 1873. March, 1888. Jan. 10, 1905. Jan. 23, 1906. Sept. 14, 1907. Nov. 14, 1906. ASSIST; \NT PHYSICIANS. Name. Elected. Died or Resigned. Jan. 28, 1871 May 14, 1872. William Henry Spencer May 30, 1872 Nov. 20, 1873. Nov. 25, 1873 July 28, 1876. John Edward Shaw July 28, 1876 Sept. 11 1877. Arthur Bancks Prowse Sept. 25, 1883 March 2 7, 1888. Patrick Watson-Williams May 8, 1888 March 7 1905. Francis Henry Edgeworth . . June 13, 1893 Feb. 14, 1906. John Roger Charles June 20, 1905 July 28, 1908. John Alexander Nixon Feb. 14, 1906 July 28, 1908. John Matthew Fortescue- Brickdale July 28, 1908 Dec. 9, 1913. . 484 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY SURGEONS. Name. Elected. Died or Resigned. William Thornhill Thomas Page John Page James Ford John Castelman Jerome Norman John Townsend John Ford Abraham Ludlow Thomas Skone Richard Smith Godfrey Lowe John Padmore Noble James Norman Morgan Yeatman Joseph Metford Robert Jones Allard Richard Smith Francis Cheyne Bowles William Hetling Richard Lowe Henry Daniel Thomas Shute Nathaniel Smith John Harrison William Francis Morgan Henry Clark Thomas Green Augustin Prichard Ralph Montague Bernard . . Henry Augustus Hore Crosby Leonard Thomas Edward Clark Robert William Tibbits Charles Steele Edmund Comer Board Christopher Henry Dowson . . Arthur William Prichard Francis Richardson Cross . . James Greig Smith William Henry Harsant James Paul Bush George Munro Smith James Swain Thomas Carwardine Harold Frederick Mole Edward Hugh Edwards Stack May 20, 1737 May 20, 1737 June 5, 1741 June 13, 1743 Dec. 20, 1754 Dec. 20, 1754 Dec. 20, 1754 June 12, 1759 Jan. 20, 1767 Jan. 20, 1767 Dec. 15, 1774 Aug. 15, 1775 May 6, 1777 Aug. 9, 1779 Nov. 27, 1781 April 1, 1783 July 7, 1791 June 23, 1796 April 24, 1806 June 2, 1807 July 9, 1807 Sept. 27, 1810 July 9, 1812 Sept. 19, 1816 July 21, 1836 Nov. 23, 1837 Feb. 23, 1843 Aug. 29, 1844 Feb. 28, 1850 May 4, 1854 Sept. 3, 1857 Jan. 5, i860 Sept. 15, 1864 April 28, 1868 March 11, 1870 Sept. 21, 1871 Oct. 9, 1873 Aug. 27, 1878 Jan. 7, 1879 Jan. 7, 1879 Nov. 10, 1885 Feb. 12, 1889 June 17, 1897 Oct. 28, 1902 Jan. 23, 1906 July 27, 1909 Feb. 25, 1913 Oct., 1754. May 5, 1741. April, 1777. June 5, 1759. July 28, 1779. April 29, 1763. Nov. 14, 1781. 1775- Dec. 6, 1774. June 4, 1770. June 21, 1791. April 8, 1806. June 22, 1812. March, 1783. June 24, 1807. June 8, 1796. Sept., 1810. Jan. 24, 1843. May 15, 1807. Nov. 8, 1837. Feb. 9, 1850. July 6, 1836. Sept. 2, 1816. Aug. 7, 1844. Dec. 20, 1859. April 18, 1854. Aug. 18, 1857. Aug. 23, 1864. Feb. 22, 1870. Aug. 18, 1871. April 14, 1868. Aug. 13, 1878. Sept. 23, 1873. Nov. 22, 1878. Dec. 10, 1878. May 10, 1892. Jan. 14, 1889. Jan. 23, 1906. May 25, 1897. Oct., 1902. Jan. 15, 1913. June 8, 1909. July 28, 1914. 485 A HISTORY OF THE ASSISTANT SURGEONS. Name. Elected. Died or Resigned. Edmund Comer Board Jan. 28, 1871 Sept. 21, 1 87 1. Christopher Henry Dowson . . Sept. 21, 1871 Oct. 9, i873- David Edward Bernard . . Oct. 9, 1873 July 25, 1876. Arthur William Prichard Aug. 10, 1876 Aug. 27, 1878. Francis Richardson Cross . . Sept. 10, 1878 Jan. 7, 1879. William Henry Harsant Jan. 7, 1879 Nov. 10, 1885. Nov. 10, 1885 Feb. 12, 1889. George Munro Smith Feb. 12, 1889 June 17, 1897. June 7, 1892 Oct. 28, 1902. Thomas Carwardine June 17, 1897 Jan. 23, 1906. Harold Frederick Mole Oct. 28, 1902 July 27, 1909. Edward Hugh Edwards Stack Jan. 23, 1906 Feb. 25, 1913. Charles Ferrier Walters July 27, 1909 OPHTHALMIC SURGEONS. Name. Elected. Died or Resigned. Francis Richardson Cross . . Alexander Ogilvy Edward Hugh Edwards Stack Oct. 26, 1885 Sept. 25, 1900 July 28, 1914 July 10, 1900. June 10, 1914. OBSTETRIC PHYSICIANS. Name. Elected. Died or Resigned. Walter Carless Swayne Dec. 13, 1887 Dec. 8, 1891 May 26, 1 891. DENTAL SURGEON. Name. Elected. William Robert Ackland Died or Resigned. Feb. 28, 1888 486 BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY ASSISTANT DENTAL SURGEONS. Name. Elected. Died or Resigned. Frederick Charles Nichols . . April 26, 1904 Dec. 14, igog Dec. 14, igog. THROAT AND NOSE PHYSICIAN. Name. Elected. Died or Resigned. Patrick Watson-Williams . Nov. 14, igo6 487 INDEX Abernethy, 192, 193, 307. Ackland, William Robert, 392, 454. 4 86 - Acting Librarian, 285. Adams, Dr., 38. John Till, 98, 99. 254, 434, 474- Mr., Dispute over, 190. Addenbroke's Hospital at Cambridge, 8, 406. Addington, H. J., 442. H. U., 442. Admission Room, 194, 281 ; lectures in, 371 ; unclean state of, 280. Agaric, Use of, 67, 264-5. Ainsworth, Nathaniel, 37. Albion Tavern, 226. Aldworth, Robert, 44. Alford, Henry (cited), 174, 180, 191, 192, 197, 198, 208, 309, 469, 471, 478. Allard, Robert Jones, 128, 164, 185, 191, 193. 251, 435. 438, 4 8 5- Allbutt's (Clifford) System of Medicine, (cited), 89. Allen, Mary Ann, 270. " Thumb," 226. Alley ne, Mrs. (cited), 273. American War, 142, 272. Ames, Alderman, 123. J-, 236. An Account of the Hospitals, Alms Houses, and Public Schools in Bristol (cited), 15. Anaesthetics, 318-20, 401-2. Instructor in, 402. Anaesthetist, 402. Assistant, 402. Resident, 401, 411. to Dental Department, 402. An Affectionate Address to the Patients in the Wards of the Bristol Infirmary (cited), 39, 299. Anatomical Department, 385. Lectures and Demonstrations, 205, 366-81. Theatres and Schools, 194, 212, 302, 37°. 37 6 > 377- 37 8 - Anatomy Act, 204, 208, 298, 374. Anchor Society, 123, 134, 367 ; curious toast at Annual Dinner, 228. Andrews, Colonel John, 47, 235. John, 9, 12, 14, 27, 47, 48, 64, 100, 235, 420, 481. Love, 47. Annals of the Harford Family (cited), 47. 336. Annual Dinner, Heads broke at. 24,111. Report or " State " (cited), 18, 36, 154. 347. 359, 361. Sermon, 23, 25, 26, 144, 332. Anstice, George, Legacy by, 336. Anthony, John, 287. Anti- Jacobin (cited), 230. Antiseptics, 354-6. Apothecaries (general), 249-53, 262, 263; Society of, 302; Visiting, 21, 33- Apothecaries' Hall, 282, 378, 379. Apothecary, 3, 6, 21,-23, 29, 32, 34, 49, 50. 5i. 52, 53. 55. 56, 58, 63, 70, 75, 91, 92, 93. 96, 99. 100, 103, 105, 109, 113, 114, 118, 132, 169, 170, 171, 172, 174, 192, 194, 196, 198, 207, 222, 249, 255, 263, 280, 284, 285, 292, 295, 307, 311, 313, 314, 316, 317, 329, 333. 41°. 419, 420 ; title of changed, 278. Apprentices, 51-3, 155, 167, 173, 278, 349 ; dispute over, 189-90 ; dis- turbances by, 197-8 ; education of, 263 ; serious mistake by, 311-12. Arbitration Money, 43. Arbuthnot, 249. Archer, John, 463. Mr., 252. Armitage, Mrs., Gift by, 412. Arnold, Charles, 28. Arno's Vale Burial-ground, Interment of patients at, 41. Arrowsmith, J. W., 387, 405. Artichoke Tavern, 226. Ash, Charles Wyndham, 238. Edward, 2, 47, 87, 130, 137, 146-7, 163, 165, 207, 481. G , 432. William, 168. Ashley, A. H., 263. Assault on day-porter, 317-18. 489 32 INDEX Assistant Physician, 348, 386, 395, 449, 452 ; list of, 484 Surgeon, 314, 331, 336, 341, 348. 386, 395. 449 ; list of, 486. Axford, Mrs., 22. Babington, Benjamin, 97. William, 26-7. Bacteriological Department, 389, 398, 405 ; opening of, 399; Bacteriologist, 399. Bagnell Abraham, Pamphlet by, 279. Bailey's Dictionary (cited), 77. Baillie, Miss A. B. 407, 414, 483. Baily, Giles, 21, 40. Baker, Betty, 242, 243, 245, 246. Robert, 170. Ball, Cecilia, 84, 104. Hannah Love, 101, 104. Love, 84. Ballard, Mr., and the Church v. Dissent Election, 432. Balsum, Eliza, Murder of, 215-16. Bancroft, Air. Squire, Reading by, 397. Baptist Burial-ground, 21, 66. Barber-Surgeons, 12, 66, 108, 247-9, 250, 252, 262, 263. Barker, William, 146. Barnes, William, 12. Barnett, Gilmore, Letter by, 390. Baron, Barclay Josiah, 452. Barrett, Elizabeth, 371. William, 21, 70, 248, 259-60, 422, 423, 4 2 4, 425- Barry, Samuel, 93. Barry's Coffee House, Meetings at, 12, 419. Reading Room, 230. Bartlett, John, 27. Bartley, Alfred Collett, 172. Battersby, William, 139, 142. Baugh, Benjamin, 155. Bawn, Thomas, 145, 2S6, 482. Bayce, Sarah, Complaint by, 160. Baylis, Dr., Physick Garden kept by, 259. Baynton, Daniel, 243, 245. Dr. 255. Thomas, 100, 255-7, 433 ; works by, 256. Bear's Cub Club, 37, 133, 176, 179, 181, 223, 231-4, 474. Beaufort, Duchess of, 96, 414. Duke of, 204, 389, 397, 417. Beaufort House, Home for Nurses, 414. Beaven's Bristol Lists (cited), 6, 124, 163, 441. Beaven, Elizabeth, 300, 483. Beck, Joseph, 27, 145. Joshua, 420. Beckford, Richard, 271. Beddoe, C. B., 225. John, 341, 343, 357, 448, 449," 4 50, 4 8 4 . Beddoes, Thomas, 126, 156, 159, 253, 318-19, 367-70. Beddome, Joseph, 129. Miss, 129. Bedford, G. C, 223. Rev. Mr., 237. Bedingneld, James, 172-3. Bedminster Churchyard, Body stolen from, 210 ; fight in, 212. Beech, Joseph, 49, 69, 70, 105, 145, 286, 482. Beilby, Rev. George, 410, 482. Bell, Marianne, Legacy by, 390. Bennett, Susannah, 40. Berfew, John Payne, 232. Berjew, Thomas, 95. Berkeley, Earl of, 153, 461. Bernard, Claude, 342. David Edward, 385, 450, 451, 486. James Fogo, 304, 343, 344, 385, 446, 448, 484. Ralph Montague, 305, 344, 357, 385, 446, 447, 454, 485. Rev. Samuel Edward, 385. Betterley, John, Murder by, 267. Bigg, L. O., 308. Billroth, 342. Binsin, Elizabeth, Legacy by, 415. Biographical Memoirs (cited), 27, 45, 79, in, 172, 178, 194, 224, 237, 265, 276. Biographies, 460-80. Birch, Samuel, 163, 164, 165, 168, 481. Bird, E., Picture by, 119. Emily, 483. Mary Elizabeth, 365. Sarah, 339. Birmingham General Hospital, 333. BirtilCjohn, 154, 155- Bischoff, Rev. P. W., 410, 482. " Bishop's Bull," The, 38. Blackwell, John, 10, 12. Blagden, Thomas, 95. Blake, William, 141. Blandford, George, and his red cloak, 3i- Bleeck, Alfred, 194, 224, 225, 236, 465. Charles, 225, 250. Family, Pedigree of, 225. John, 225, 447. Margaret, 224, 225, 235. Bleeding, 31, 54-5, 121, 124, 160, 174, 180, 193, 197, 198, 199, 263, 298, 3°3- 4 6 9- Blunt, John, 94, 95. Board, Edmund Comer, 331, 332, 341, 348, 357. 386, 388, 394, 449, 455. 485, 486 ; cited, 305, 317. G., 279. John, 160. Board Meetings, Squabbles at, no, 130 ; poor attendance at, 146. Room, Diverse uses of, 316, 328, 356. 452. Board of Trustees, 10, n, 33, 299, 419. Bobbett, Charlotte, Murder by, 268. Body-snatching, 41, 64, 75, 203, 204, 205-14, 377. 490 INDEX Bolle, John, 186. Bompas, Charles Smith, 446. G. G., 441, 444. Bonis, Dr., 468. Bonner and Middleton's Bristol Journal (cited), 151, 269. Bonville, Thomas, 130, 161. Bonython, Dr., 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 30, 40, 44, 67, 69, 73, 85, 106, 109, 271, 420, 421, 422, 424, 425, 465, 483. Borlase, John Bingham, 97, 98-100, 113, 118, 134, 208. Rev. William, 98. Boswell, 1, 49, 257 ; cited, 38, 82, 223, 404. Bosworth, William Henry, 288, 299, 482. Botetourt, Lord, 426. Bovey, Thomas W. Widger, 411. Bowen, Polly, 116. Bowles, Edward, 186, 370. Francis Cheyne, 141, 156, 186-8, 193, 195, 203, 208, 209, 230, 233, 239, 316, 367-7°. 374. 436, 437. 438, 4 8 5- Bradford, Elizabeth, 460. Bradshaw, Surgeon George Dix, Tablet in Chapel to, 365. Braham, John, 162. Brereton, Lieut. -Col., 273, 274. Brewer and Baker, 73. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (cited), 244. Brewing, 61, 72, 139, 144, 145, 199. 296. Brice, Edward, 436. Brickdale, Anna Maria, 441. John, 289, 458. Matthew, Legacy by, 289, 441. Brickenden, Thomas, 246. Bridges, Edward, 93-5, 96, 105, 113, 426. Rev. John, 441. William Richard, 314. Bright, Henry, 203, 204. Lawbridge, 232. Mr. 165. Richard, 232. Brights of Ham Green, The, 441. Brigstocke, H., 279, 280, 445. Brislington Churchyard, Body-snatch- ing in, 212. Bristol and its Famous Associations (cited), 319. Art Gallery, Bust of Greig Smith in, 405. Bishop of, 34, 38, 39, 324 ; palace of burnt, 274; " Spital Sermon" by, 26. Bridge Riots, 475. Central Library, R. Smith MSS. at, 25, 42, 268. Chamberlain of, 41, 268. Chronicle or Universal Mercantile Register (cited), 19. Coal Gas Company, 202. College, 179, 302, 345, 381, 470, 471. Bristol, Corporation of, 24, 38, 39, 40 114, 300, 439. Dean of, 9, 11, 293, 3S9, 390. Dispensary, 118, 123, 169, 183, 213, 280, 345. Eye Dispensary, 345, 472, 473. Eye Hospital, 258. Gazette and Advertiser (cited), 180, 254. 38o, 433. General Hospital, 279-80, 332, 384. Hospital and Surgery, 278-80. Institution, Lectures on Anatomy at, 302, 373 ; death of Richard Smith, jun., at, 308. Library Society, 37, 39, 118, 179. Lying-in Institution, 373. Mayor of, 10, 12, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 40, 81, 113, 134, 150, 153, 161, 163, 164, 226, 227, 247, 268, 274, 275, 347, 382, 389, 412, 417, 447, 451. Medical and Anatomical School, 304. Medical and Surgical School, 195, 277. 378, 379, 380. Medical Library, 97, 470. Medical School, 139, 231, 240, 270, 271, 282, 283, 302, 304, 310, 321, 345. 349, 352, 355. 365. 366, 373, 379, 380, 381, 382, 387, 393, 449, 472, 478. Medical Students' Literary Societ- 231. Medico-Chirurgical Journal (cited) 356, 403, 405 ; first issue of, 387- Medico-Chirurgical Society, 472. Memorialist (cited), 268. Mirror (cited), 156, 159, 162, 171, 182, 213, 217, 227, 229, 280, 281, 303, 438, 441, 445, 446, 464. Mirror and General Advertiser (cited), 446. Oracle (cited), 101, 262. Oracle and Weekly Miscellany (cited), 31, 205, 248, 421. Penitentiary, 179, 302. Preventive Medical Institution, 318. Recorder of, 11, 14, 16, 22, 40, 106, 216, 245, 267, 270, 273. Riots, 273-5. Samaritan Society, 157. Sheriff of, 10, 12, 27, 129, 134, 135, 151, 163, 165, 168, 215, 220, 226, 274, 275, 4I7- Times and Mirror (cited), 6, 7, 304, 328. Volunteers, 150, 186. Bristolian (cited), 217. " Bristol Milk," 84. British Medical Journal (cited), 264, 319, 364- Brittan, Frederick, 329, 339, 342, 344, 350, 357- 446, 447. 448, 450, 484, Broderip, Robert, 235, 236. William, 92, 232, 250, 252, 253. Brossart, 264. )2 A 491 INDEX Brouglrton, Arthur, 132-3, 176, 232, 433. 435. 474, 4§4- Rev. Thomas, 133, 232, 433. Brown, Anne, 189. Bruce, Captain, 125. Bryant, Dr. 393. Miss, 393. Budd, William, 323-4, 327, 328, 329, 34 2 , 343. 344. 348, 354- 363. 446, 448, 484. Budgett, William Edward, 406, 482. Building Committee, 15, 48, 139, 142, 161. Bull-baiting, 222, 223. Bunsen, Baron, 335. Burdett's Hospitals and Charities (cited), 333. Burdock, Mrs., Murder by, 270-1, 3°3- Burke, Edmund, 1, 105, 134, 135, 271. Mrs., 105. Richard, 124, 245. Burke murders, 204. Burroughs, Jeremiah, 44, 421, 422. Bush, James, 21. James Paul, 364, 391, 394, 405, 413, 453. 454- 459. 485, 486. Robert, 441. Bush Tavern, 226, 234, 237, 239, 243. Bushell, Harley, Legacy by, 390. Bute, Lord, 67. Butler, Bishop (cited), 26. Harriet, Legacy by, 282. Mr., 434. W., Legacy by, 414. Butt, John, Murder of, 269. Madame Clara, 396. Buxton, Jedediah (calculating prodigy), 135- Cadogan, W T illiam, 68-9, 421, 422, 424, 483- Calendar, Alteration in, 5, 6, 23. Calls to Consultation, 334. Camborn, William, 12. Camplin, Alderman Thomas, 432. Mr., 432. Rev. John, 138, 139, 272, 435. Cannington, Mary, 414. Carless, Martha, 170. Rev. Joseph, 170, 175. Carlyle (cited), 316, 371, 403. Carnivals, 391, 416-17. Carpenter, Lant, 181, 182. Carrick, Andrew, 179-80, 181, 197, 198, 201, 220, 233, 303, 366, 373, 380, 382, 435, 436, 437, 445, 469, 471, 484. Carter, Rev. J., 39. Sarah, 66. Cartwright, Mr., 451. Carwardine, Thomas, 456, 458, 485, " Caspar," Gift by, 418.' Castle, Michael, 161. Castleman, John, 19, 73,74-6, 105, 111, 132, 184, 265, 422, 423, 424, 432, 485- Paul, 74. Rev. John, 74. Casualty Hospital, 132. Officer, Resident, 411. Room, 401. Casualties, 154. Catalani, Madame, 162, 224. Catch Club, 97, 234-7, 377- Catcott, Alexander, 81, 127. Augusta, 462. George Symes, 82, 83, 117, 462. Martha, 83. Rev. Alexander, 462. Rev. Alexander Stopford, 462. Catley, Martha, 168. Cato Street Conspiracy, 196. Cave, Daniel, 276, 277, 281, 298, 303, 363. 481. Samuel, 70, 258, 434, 435, 474. Sarah, 261. Sir Charles Daniel, 363, 389, 407-8, 416, 417, 481. Stephen, 276. Thomas, 434. William, 125. Caw, W. S., 9. Chadwick, Adam, 378, 379, 444. Chairman of Committee, 290, 298. Champion Family, Pedigree of, 104. Joseph, 103, 104. Nehemiah, 11, 61, 69, 84, 100, 101, 104, 481. Richard (1), 9, 11, 12, 14, 22, 23, 47, 63, 69, 100-1, 104, 134, 452, 465, 481. Richard (2), 11, 27, 101-2, 104, 146, 481. Richard (3), 37, 102, 103-5, 107, 108, !33. I 45. 271, 481. Chaplain, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 192, 223, 231, 299, 300, 325 ; Deputy, 40 ; list of, 482. Chaplaincy, 25 ; changes in, 325-6, 410 ; Fund, 36, 38, 297, 300. " Charity Universal," 11, 59. Charlemont, Lord, 82. Charles, Charlotte, Tablet in Chapel to, 364- John Roger, 457, 458, 484. Charlton, Richard, 21. Chatham, Dowager Countess of, 116. Chatterton, Richard (cited), 1, 37, 77, 82, 248, 260, 462. Cheyne, George, 132. Chiun, Edward, 235. Chloroform, First use of, 320. Cholera epidemic, 302. Christian Social Union and Provident Dispensaries, 400. Christofierson, Per Emil, 402. Church v. Dissent Election, 432. Church and Dissenters, 11, 36, 37. 492 INDEX Churches and Chapels, Collections at, 61, 142, 323, 332, 357. Chute, James Macready, 349, 415. Henry Macready, 317, 349. 35 2 > 3 6 4- Clare, Robt., Complaint against, 27. Lord, 271. Clark, G. T., 445. Henry, 277, 309-10, 320, 344, 378, 379, 380, 445, 44S, 485; Prize, 309, 400 ; first winner of, 321. Sir Andrew, 385. Thomas Edward, 336, 357, 448, 449, 450, 4S5 ; Vicar of St. Peter's, Clifton, 347. Clarke, Clementina, Abduction of , 242. Rev. Alured, 9. Richard, 459, 484. Samuel, Operation on, 160. Clements, John, Grant of land to, 40. Cleve, Walter, 376. Clifton v. Bristol Election, 441. Clifton Dispensary, 302, 304, 441, 445- Clinical Clerks, 294, 295. Lectures, 291, 292, 293, 298. " Close Committee," 145, 167. Coates, William, 234. Coathupe, Thornton, 379. Cobb, Gilbert, 17. J- 17- Cockburn, Mr., 237. Cock-fighting, 96. 222. Cock Tavern, 83, 226, 227. Cogan, Rev. L. R., 309. Coleridge, 319, 477. Coles, Richard John, 405, 482. College of Physicians, 249, 301, 479. Surgeons, 184, 282, 328, 373, 378, 379- Collignon, Professor Charles, 214. Collyns, Benjamin, 131, 43 1 " 2 - 4 8 3- Colston Dinners, 227. Edward, 45. Colthurst, John, 379. Combe, Richard, 81. Commercial Rooms, Meeting at, 332. Committee of Election, 455. Inquiry, 167. Room, Lectures in, 220. Concerts, 90, 153. " Conciliation Committee," 197. Connor, Eleanor, Sentence of death passed on, 267. Constitution of the Infirmary, 10. Consultation Room, 213, 216, 320, 400. Consulting Physician, 450. Surgeon, 307. Convalescent Homes, 349, 412. Ward, 327, 333, 338, 412. Cook, E. H., 270, 271. Mrs., 270. Cooke, Mrs., 136. Cookworthy, F. C, 287. William, 105. Coombe, Alderman, 421. Coomber, Thomas, 382. Cooper, Geoffrey Viel, 331. Rev., Open-air sermon by, 152. Robert, 434. William Herbert, 401. Coopers' Hall, Meetings at, 135, 229; elections at, 295, 313. Corporation of Surgeons, 202 ; appeal to, 384. Corryn, Dr., 426. Corvan, Miss, 483. Costello, Mr., 224. Cottle, Joseph (cited), 477. Coutts, Thomas, 367. Cove, Eliza, 43, 58. Cove's Ward, 58, 66. Cox, Joseph Mason, 236. Craufuird, Walter Kennedy, 171, 176-9 180, 253, 435, 436, 438, 4 8 4- Creedy, Anne Hyden, 463. Creswick, Anne Eugenia, 464. Dean, 9, 11, 12, 14, 22, 23, 23, 34, 45, 419, 464 ; fondness for cock- fighting, 222. Henry, 464. Cridland, A. B., 413. Crisp, Henry, 336. Nathaniel, 314, 3 2 7. 3 2 8, 331. Croles, Rev., 195. Crosby, Mary Ann, 344. Cross, F. Richardson, 227, 341, 356, 357. 387. 388, 391. 392, 4°5. 452, 453. 456, 4 8 5. 4 86 - J. B., 307, 468. William, 333. Crossley, William, 26. Cruger, Henry, 37, 207, 271, 272. Cruikshank, 129, 183. Culliford, Charles John, 311. Rev. John, Rector of St. Michael's, 40. Cupping, 263, 298 Curious Prescriptions, 264. Currie, 193. Curtis, John, Legacy by, 297. Thomas, 12, 14, 27. Custom House Election, 436. Dacre, John, 360, 454, Dallaway, James, 102, 105. Dampier, Alderman, 120. Daniel, Cecilia Anne, 303. Henry, 159, 164, 165, 171, 185, 190-1 , 197, 203, 228, 229, 263, 273, 274, 275. 303, 305. 37 1 " 2 - 373- 437. 43 8 . 445- 4 8 5- Thomas, 273. Danvers, John, 209, 210. Daubeny, George, 271, 272. John, 139. Martha, 316; legacy by, 414. Davies, D., 378, 435, 470. Mark, 232. Thomas, 51, 429. Davis and Bobbett, Skeletons of, 216. Davis, Maria, Murder by, 268. 493 INDEX Davis, Rev. William, 35, 36, 39, 69, 105, 482. Richard, 295, 313. William, Murder by, 269. Davy, Humphry, 319. Mary, 137, 300, 483. Day, Henry, 216. Nathaniel, 23. Rev. Mr., 218. Thomas, 21. " Dead Hole " or House, 63, 120, 161, 205, 207, 209, 220, 336, 366 ; General Superintendent of, 328. Deane, Theresa, Legacy by, 358. " Death by pressure," 215. Death sentence on criminals in Bristol, 214, 267. Delprat, Mr., 463. Dental Assistant, 392. Department, 389, 392, 453, 454. Operation Room, 400. Surgeon, 392, 454, 486 ; Assistant, 392, 487- Deputy Treasurer, 69. Deverall, John, 420. Dew, James, 255. Diaper, Mrs., 92. Dick, Dr., 270, 301, 441, 445. Paris, 378, 379. Dickens (cited), 52, 201, 203-4, 263, 401. Dictionary of National Biography (cited) , 135- Diet, 31, 32, 297, 323-4, 329-30. Dining-room, Games in, 317. Dinners, 223-4. Dispensary or " Shop," 21, 23, 42, 48, 51, 62, 90, 96, 98, 145, 155, 172, 173, 202, 281, 292, 329, 333, 335 ; fighting cocks kept in, 96, 222 ; staff of, 334. Dispenser, 57, 62, 292, 295, 317, 333, 334- Dispensing Druggist, 253-4. Disputation Society, The, 230. Dissection of bodies of criminals, 215, 268, 269. Dissenters, 239. Distillers v. Quakers Election, 434, 474. Dixon, Mr., 408. Dobson, Austin (cited), 375. " Doctors' Stand, The," 237. Dodd, Woodwell, Gift by, 389, 390. Dolphin Society, 83, 126, 128, 170, 171, 183, 192, 229, 310, 460 ; dinner, 227, 228 ; toasts at, 228. Dorcas Ward, 58, Dowding, Peter, 236. Dowson, Christopher Henry, 357, 393, 394. 449, 45°. 454. 4 8 5. 4§6. H. C, 393- " Dr. Stock's Conversion," 181. Draper, Sir William, 255. Drawing Society, 239. Dresser for the Week, 173, 284, 298, 317, 404, 410, 411 ; death of, 364. Dressers, 294, 29S. Dressing Boxes, 51. Drummond, Archibald, 68, 69, 105, 107, 122, 237, 421, 422, 424, 425, 428, 474. 483- Ducie, Lord, 153. Duck, Nehemiah, 371. Duels, 97, 120, 193, 240, 241. Dukinfield, Robert, 429, 430, 431. Dunsford, W. J., 446. Durban, Richard, 468. Dyer, Robert, sen., 261. Robert, jun., 239, 261. Thomas Webb, 171-2, 185, 192, 438, 439- William, 2, 92, 95, 132, 250, 261. Eagles, Rev. John, 377. Earl, Thomas, 210. " Early Dawns," 411. Edinburgh Medical Society, 68. Pharmacopceia (cited), 264. Royal Infirmary, 8, 9. Eden, Rev. John, 173, 192, 233, 234, 239. Rev. Thomas, 173, 192. Edgar Family, 14. John Fry, 234. Edgell, Richard, 185, 437, 440. Edgeworth, Francis Henry, 392, 399, 402, 456, 457, 458, 484. Maria, 319. Edkins, Michael, 226. William, 21, 442. Edwards, Laura E., 337. Miss, and the telegraphic apparatus, 335- Sir George, 414. Elbridge, Aldworth, 44, 46. Elizabeth, 44, 46. Family, Pedigree of, 46. Frances, 45. Giles, 44. John, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 22, 23, 25, 43, 44-6, 47, 57, 285, 419, 420, 465, 481 ; Blue School founded by, 45. Mary, 46. Rebecca, 46. Thomas, 44, 46. Thomas, jun., 45, 46. Ward, 58. " Elbridge's Butchers," 74, 423. Eliza White Ward, 418. Ellis, John, 95-6, 113. Elliot, Dean, 405. Ellison, Thomas Farr, 177. Elmes, Thomas, 93, 95, 113, 255. Elton Abraham, 10. Abraham Issac, 423. Alderman, 266. Isaac, 90. Miss, 429, 430. Rev. Sir Abraham, 233. Sir Abraham, 426, 427. Emergency and Casualty Officer, 360. 494 INDEX Emery, Henry Gresley, 76, 172. England, John, 103, 113, 115, 116, 119, 426, 427, 483. Entertainments, 396-7. Entrance Scholarships, 391, 400. Estlin, Anna Maria, 468, 473. Edward Richmond, 213. J. Bishop, 159, 171. 3°5, 345- 43 9, 47i, 473- Rev. J. B., 132. Ether, Use of, 319. Etwall, Dr., 11, 16, 20, 67, 420, 421, 483. Evans's History of Bristol (cited), 15, 21. Evans, David, 151, 157, 165. Surgeon-Major John Fenton, 408-9. Exley, John (cited), 345. John Thompson, 406. Thomas, 234. Eye Dispensary, 233, 345, 352. Eyres, Rev., 195. Thomas, 66. Fabian, Ernest, Bust of Greig Smith by, 405. Faculty, Dean of, 392-3. Room, 401. Fairbrother, Alexander, 343, 350, 446, 447. 451- 4§4- Fancourt, Lyon, 419. Mrs., 16, 22, 419. Faraday, 319. Fardon, John Henry, 396. Farland, Mr., 261. Farley, Felix, Si, 180. Mr., 237. Sarah, 102. Farnell, William Balme, 94, 95. Farr, Alderman, 115. Paul, 116. Samuel, 94, 95, 103, 105, 107, 115-16, 133- 4 2 5. 4 26 > 428, 433. 4 8 3 ; works by, 115. Fayle, R., 225. Felix Farley's Bristol Journal (cited), 17, 95, 101, 102, 117, 122, 152, 171, 238, 247, 249, 328 377, 425, 430. Fernie's Animal Simples (cited), 264. Fiddis, Mary, 158-60. Figgins, Miss, 11S. Filer, Charity, 164, 165. Finances, 42-3, 57-8, 61-2, 72, 90, 114, 148-57, 161, 196, 297, 322-4, 333, 336, 349-50, 357-8, 389-91, 414-18. Fine Arts Exhibition, 415. Finny, Miss S., 100, 104. " Fire Office Jack," 432. First patients, 27-8. Fisher, John, Medallion of Greig Smith by, 404. Letitia, 74. Paul, 14, 27, 40, 61, 70. Sarah, 64. Theodore, 399, 457. " Fitz," the porter, 383. Flemming, A. L., 402, 413. Foort, Eleanor Agnetta, 364. Foot, Mr., 51. Football, 352. Ford, James, 12, 19, 51, 58, 66-7, 69, 71, 74, 205, 259, 366, 420, 422, 424, 485- John, 105, 118, 127, 129, 183, 425, 43°. 451, 4 8 5- Mrs., 52. Thomas, 66. Fordyce, John, 129. " Formula Medici," 329. Forster, Rev. Robert, 233. Forster's Coffee House, 12. Fortescue-Brickdale, John, 289. John Matthew, 2S9, 402, 458, 484. Matthew Inglett, 289, 458. Foster Family, Pedigree of, 467. Mr., 281. Serjeant (or Sir Michael), 9, 10, 11, 14, 22, 40, 44, 47, 106, 215, 267, 285, 467 ; biography of, 465-6. Fowler, Mr. Sheriff, 165. Rev. Charles W., 410, 482. Fox, A. E. W. (cited), 474, 477, 478, 480. C. H., 480. Charles James, 184. Edward Long, sen., 142, 176, 220, 253, 264, 279, 343, 434, 435, 439, 443, 478, 480, 484 ; biography of, 474-7- Edward Long, jun., 294, 329, 353, 357, 358, 387, 388, 448, 449, 450, 452, 480, 484 ; biography of, 47S-9 ; cited, 472. Family, Pedigree of, 480. Francis Ker, 478. Henry Hawes, 182, 196, 197, 301, 302, 439, 440, 444, 448, 469, 480, 484 ; biography of, 477-8. Joseph, 474, 476. Foy, Nathaniel, 113. Frank, Mr., 146. Franklin, 135, 279. Frederick, Sir John, 203. Freeman, Francis, 21. French Academy, 279. French, Dr., 11. French Prisoners in Bristol, 272. Revolution, 150, 189. Revolutionists, 123, 1S0, 230. Fricker, Louis M., 331. Fripp, C. Bowles, 188. G. D., 275, 2S0. H. E., 44S. James, 168 280. Mr., 327. Samuel, 168. William, 63, 168, 200, 276, 2S5, 271, 441, 481. Fry, Francis J., 418. J. Storrs, 418. Mr., 41. Right Hon. Lewis, 3S9, 417. William, 434. 495 INDEX Fryers and Temple Street Meeting House, Collection at, 61. Fyffe, W. Johnstone, 450, 451. Gaisford, Mr., 230. " Gallipot Hall," 253. Gallows Field, 215. Gardiner, Joel, 142. Garlick, Edward, S7-90. Garnet, John, 232. Garrard, Elizabeth, 225. Garrick, David, 67, 68, 82, 135 ; cited, 103. Garth, Mr., 177. Sir Samuel, 249. George, Alderman James, 441. W. E., 407. Ghent, Mayor of, 244. Gibbons, Molly, 114. Gibbs, Mr., 118. Gibson, Bishop, 22, 466. Professor (cited), 471. Gifford, Andrew, 66. Sir Robert, 216. Gifts, 350, 415. Gill, Edmund, 406. Gillard, Joe, 226. Girdlestone, F. B., 405. Glascorine, Mr., 260. Glasgow Infirmary, 156. Glisson, Benjamin, 27. Gloucester, Duke of, 258, 263. Glynn, Dr., 83. Goddard, Marianne R., 393. Godwin, Mr., 138. Godwyn, Thomas, 255, 261, 262. Goizin, Daniel, 27. Gold, Francis, 235, 237, 239, 374, 375, 376-7 ; prisoner in Paris, 377 ; translation of works by, 377. Goldney, Miss, Gift by, 145. Goldsmith, 1, 82, 83, 300. Goldwyer, Edward, 257. Family, Pedigree of, 257. George, 257, 432, 433. Henry, 233, 257. John, 257. William Henry, 77, 78, 224, 249, 2 57"9 ; founding of Bristol Eye Hospital by, 258 ; freedom of city presented to, 258. Goodall, Rev. Fairfax, 326, 410, 482. Goodere, Captain Samuel, Murder by, 267-8. Sir Dinely, 19 ; murder of, 267. Goodeve, William James, 387, 445. Gordon, Dr., S5, 425. Isabel, 225. William, 242, 243. Gordon Riots, 135. Golden Hart Tavern, Clutton, Doctors' dinner at, 126. Gough, R., Grave robbers caught by, Grabham, John, 19. Grace, E. M., 393. Fred, 339, Gilbert, 339. James, 422, 423. James, 254. Grafton, Mr., 335. Graham, Col. Charles Senhouse, 365, 405, 482. Grainger, Mr., 275. Granger, Frederick, 192. Grant, Abel, 420. Grateful Society, 347. Gratte, Charles Brooke, 396. Gray, Dr., Bishop of Bristol, 432. Great George Tavern, 229. Green, Mr., Land bought of, 200. Rev. Henry, 237. Thomas, 227, 310, 320, 347, 441, 445, 44 6 , 449, 485- Greenly, Mr., 252. Greig, Charles, 312-13, 314, 316, 446, 447- Grey Friars, 15. Grey, Right Hon. Sir George, 321. Griffiths, Edmund, 190, 440. Family, Pedigree of, 175. L. M., 274. Martha, 170, 175. Mr., 195. Thomas, 170, 171, 173, 174, 175, 176, 1S5. 235. Grimstead, Harriet, 258. Grindon, Rev. Octavius Maunsell, 326, 482. Guildhall, Elections at, 95, 97, 100, 127, 137, 169, 170, 287, 300, 302, 312, 3i4. 332, 358, 4 2 °. 4 2 5, 429, 432, 436, 439, 447, 449, 45 1 ; meetings at, 138, 150, 161, 180, 185, 324, 389, 419, 424. Guillotin, 279. Guinness, Mr., and religious teaching in the wards, 35. Gulch, J. M., 441. Gulliford, Rev., 266. Guthrie (cited), 440. Guy's Hospital, 97, 120. Haberfield, Sir John Kyrle, 295, 322. Lady, 357. Habits and Costumes of Staff, 340-2. Hague, Daniel, 142. Halfpenny, Mr., Plan of Infirmary by, 48. Half-pint Club, 126, 237-S. Hall, I. Walker, 399. John, 237, 23S. Joseph, 195, 201. Robert, 328. Halse, Edward, Lectures by, 37S. Hamblett, John, 41. Hamilton, D. E., 447. Hann, Hannah, 184. Hanson, Richard, 159. 496 INDEX Harcourt, Rev. Dr., n, 12. Harding, Martha, 225. Hardwicke, Dr., 11, 16, 18, 67, 420, 421, 483- Dr., of Sodbury, 93. Hardy, Colonel, 406. Hare, Charles, 186. William Ody, 217, 218. Harford, Charles, 134, 232. Charles Joseph, 135. Edward, 47. John Battersby, 299, 335, 347, 481. John Scandrett, 141, 197, 273, 292, 298-9, 316, 321, 324, 335, 336, 446, 4S1. Joseph, 47, 90, no, 133, 134-5. I4 2 . 146, 147, 298, 232, 481, Mark, 47. Miss, 47. Harford-Battersby, Abraham Gray, 335, 434- Harris, H. Elwin, 456. Thomas, Legacy by, 336. Wintour, 2, 41, 164, 437. Harrison, John, 213, 298, 305-6, 309, 320, 331, 344, 350, 445, 44S, 471, 485- Rev. Oswald, 326, 482. Harsant, William Henry, 357, 387, 388, 389, 452, 453, 457, 485, 486. Hart-Davis, Richard, 203, 204, 273, 279. Hartnell, Aaron, 234. Harvey, C. O., 225. James, 150, 324. Haslar Hospital, 89. Hassell, Councillor Thomas, 212, 215. Robert, 362. Hathway, Mr., 451. Hatton, Peter, 107. Hawkesworth, Abraham Richard, 47, 102-3, 105, 146, 238, 239, 426, 481. Richard, 102. Mrs., 103. Hawkins, Agnes Mabel, 365. F. M., 386. Mr., 207. Hayman, Charles, 392, 457, 459, 487. Haynes, Rev. Richard, 234. Haythorne, Alderman, 216. Headington, Mr., 193. Heath, Rev. Dr., 301. Heilicar, Ames, 361, 362, 437, Family, Pedigree of, 362. John, 361, 362. Joseph, 361, 362. Thomas, 235, 361, 362. Hellier, Thomas, 249, 422, 423. Henderson, Mr., 475. Henson, Daniel, 426. Herapath, C. E. K., 240. C. K. C, 240. William, 240, 270, 271, 37S, 379. William Bird, 231, 240, 241, 271, 344. 447- Herring, Mrs., 137. Hetling, Ernest Von, 189. Family, Pedigree of, 189. George Hilhouse, 311. Henry Ernest, 189, 190. Thomas, 189. William, 156, 173, 185, 188-91, 200, 201, 213, 224, 233, 280, 345, 371-2, 373. 380, 436, 437, 445, 485 ; his last days, 306-7. Hewlett, Ann, 189. Heylen, Susannah, 10. Heyworth, Rev. James, 348, 353, 451, 481 ; death of, 362-3. Heylyn, Edward, 12. Hicks, John Heathfield, 435. T. W., Gift by, 336 ; legacy by, 357. 358- Higgs, Samuel, 97, 100, 169. Hill, James, 432. John, 232. Peter, 477. Rosetta, 365. William, 267. Hill's Wards, 336-7. Hillhouse, Alderman George, 275. History of the Study of Anatomy at Cambridge (cited), 214. Hobhouse, Benjamin, 367. Isaac, 43. Hodgkin, Dr. 471. Hodnett, E. J., 188. Hofman, Thomas, 28. Holman, Charles, 477. Holmes, Marcus Henry, Painting by, 45- Home, Sir Everard, 374. Honorary and Consulting Physician and Surgeon, 295. Hopetoun, Earl of, 9. Hope, Rev. Thomas, 332. Hopper, Miss, Legacy by, 414. Horace (cited), 117. Hore, Henry Augustus, 313-14, 3 l8 . 344, 347, 393. 4 02 . 447. 448. 449. 485 ; table of cases compiled by, 3!3. 321. Horler, William, 159. Horner, Miss, 66. Hort, Ann, 46. Horwood, John, Story of murder by, 215-21. " Hospital " or " Putrid Fever," 93, 95. "3. J 34- Hospital Sunday, 332-3, 415. House Committee, 161, 196, 199, 306, 328, 439- Physician, 401 ; Resident, 359. Pupils, 51, 174, 197. 278, 295, 317, 330 ; fees of, 277, 283, 292 ; luncheons for, 413. Steward, 87, 88, 290, 318. Surgeon, 91, 154, 284, 285, 292, 295, 298, 313. 3M, 317. 33°. 33i. 334. 337- 34L 349, 359. 392, 4°i, 4i°; Assistant, 284, 314, 317, 330, 331, 332, 334. 359- 497 INDEX House Surgeon and Apothecary, 278, 285, 291, 295, 3io, 313, 316. Visitors, 20, 26, 27, 28, 29, 33, 34, 49, 61, 70, 73, 91, 95, 159, 278, 296, 422, 447 ; lady, 278, 325- House of Commons, 203, 223 ; petition to, 204. Lords, Petition to, 204. Howard, John, 141. Lady, 415. Howell, James, 376. John, 2S5, 294, 302, 304, 308, 309, 312, 445, 446, 484 ; account of his election, 441-4. Hughes, Ann, 3, 16, 22, 29, 56, 70, 105, 135, 420, 483. Humphries, Governor, 217, 218, 219. Humphrys, Ann, 58. Hungerfords of Farleigh Castle, The, 189. Hunt, Elizabeth, Tablet in Chapel to, 364- Samuel, 27. Hunter, John, 183, 202. Zaccheus, 199. Hydrophobia, Outbreak of, 126. Infirmary Burial-ground, 40-1, 208, 209, 213 366. Chapel, 154, 327 ; memorial window in, 365 ; opening of, 333 ; tablets in, 364-5, 4 o8 > 4°9- Dinners, 228, 298; heads broke at, 24, in. Elections, 419-59 ; committee for, 455 ; cost of, 434 ; disturbances at, 422, 427-8, 453 ; ladies' votes at, 429, 436 ; political and religious differences at, 437-8 ; rules for, 439-40. Library, 285, 317, 401. Medical Reading Society, 345. Museum, 131, 215, 238, 248, 268, 285, 294, 298, 327, 328, 336, 374, 395, 416, 457, 464 ; curator of, 328 ; demonstration in, 355 ; lectures in 373, 387 ; opening of, 333. Reports (cited), 297. Well, Contamination of, 350, 351. " Infirmary Contest, The " (pamphlet), 423- Influenza epidemic, 133, 250. Ingleby, Mr., 157. Innys Fund, 202, 390. Mary, Legacy by, 156. In-patients, 15, 28, 35, 43, 45, 49, 57, 72, 88, 89, 154, 196, 278, 293, 322, 333, 4°°- Invasion scares, 150, 185. Ireland, James, 139. Irvine, Lieut. Guy Harle, 409. Isolation Cottage, 397. Ivyleaf, James, Legacy by, 322-3. Jack's Coffee Houses, 241. Jackson, Mr., 254. Jacob, Mr., 138. Jacobins, 230, 370, 475. Jacobites, 143, 23S, 370. Jail Fever, 113. James, Cecilia, 192. David, 128. Elizabeth, 135, 136. John, 192. Samuel Loscombe, 45. Jardine, Lewis J., 435. Jarman, Francis, 306. Jeffery, Frederick, 334. Jefferies, William, 43. Jekyll, Mr., 251. Jenkins, Agnes, 365. George, Legacy by, 415. Robert, 215, 217. Jenner, Edward, 195, 377. Sir William, 113, 342. Job's Ward, 58. " John Jones, Brewer," 62. Johnes, Rev. Thomas, 37, 38, 39, 40, 141, 192, 223, 231, 482. Johnson, Dr., 5, 38, 49, 77, 82, 118, 223. J-, 203. Robert, 287, 290, 322, 482. Samuel, 198, 287, 288, 482. Joliffe, Mrs., 72. Jones, Alfred, 334. Elizabeth, 47. James, 272, 432. John, 334. Harriet, 477. Martha, 112. Mary, 22. Miss, 92. Rev. Richard, 477. Samuel, Legacy by, 414. Thomas, 237. William, 272. Journal of Sciences and Arts of the Royal Institution (cited), 152. Jowett, Professor, 382. Junior House Physician, 395. Surgeon, 395, 396, 411. Keir, Dr., 11. Kelson, Joseph James, 270. Kempster, Christopher, 112. Kent, Stanley, 399. Kentish, Dr., 161, 171, 278, 280, 374. Kenyon, Lord, 122. Kill, Hannah, 134. Joseph, 134. Kilner, Frederick J., 408. King, John, 234, 239, 437, 439, 469- Richard Poole, 448. W. P., 234. Kingsley, Charles, 274. Kingstons of Leigh, The, 441. Kirby, Camilla, Legacy by, 415. M. A., Legacy by, 415. Kitcat, Hester, 225. Knight, Mr., 263. 498 INDEX Knowles, Sheridan, 229. Knowlton, Dr., 261, 430. Kruger, Paul, 413. Ladies' Needlework Guild, 414. Lady Superintendent, 337, 339. Laennec, 279. Lamb, Dr., 293. Lancaster, John, 195. Lancet (cited), 281. " Landlord Wyat," 226. Lane, Elizabeth, 17. Rev. Odiarne W. D., 410, 482. Richard, 17. Langley, Humphrey, 192. Langton, Sir Thomas, 14. Lansdown, J. G., 2S0. Lord, 367. Lassalle, W. H., 376, 378. Latham, Dr., 471. Mr., 246. " Latham the Newsman," 50. Lathrop, Richard, 12, 69, 482. Latimer, John (cited), 340. Latour, 354. " Laughing Gas," 319. Laundry, 401. Laurence Sterne, Dissection of body of, 214. Lavoisier, 279. Lawrence, Aust, 398. Henry, 159. John, 305. Miss, 305. Mr., 207. Sir Henry, 305. Lax, Robert, 185, 208, 246. Sheriff, 275. Leach, John, 239. Lean, James, 441. Lecture Theatre, 327. Lee, Rev. Charles, 37, 191, 235. Thomas, 158, 159. Leech, Ada, 225. Alfred, 225. Joseph, 225. Mabel, 225. Mary, 225. Leeches, 199, 263, 297. Leeching Room, 281. Legacies, 44, 62, 282, 297, 320, 322, 336, 343. 349. 357-8, 389-91, 406, 414- 15- Leigh, Mr., 227. Leland (cited), 15. Leman, Frederick, 278, 307, 310-11. Leonard, Crosby, 21, 277, 294, 298, 321, 344-6, 352, 357, 360, 361, 383, 384, 385. 4°5. 447. 448, 452. 485- Edward A., 21, 345, 346, 401, 405, 482. Family, Pedigree of, 346. Isaac, 344, 345, 346. Leprosy, 89. Letsom, J. C, 203. " Letters of Junius," 121. Lewin's Mead Chapel, 61, 65, 69, 123, 131- Lewis, Mr., 212. Ley, Mary, 472, 473. Library Catalogue, Curious comments in, 285, 286. Committee, 285. and Reading Room, 284, 285. Lift, 330. Lighting, 202, 316, 401. Lippincott, Sir Henry, 271. Lister, 342, 454, 476 ; demonstration by at the Infirmary, 355-6. Listerism, 353. Little, W. E., 225. " Little Committee," 422. Livett, Mr., 451. Lloyd, Harford, 81. Mr., 322-3. Mrs., 323. Samuel, 48. Lloyd's Encyclopedic Dictionary (cited), 199. Locock, H., 276. Logan, Mrs., Murder of, 266. William, 11, 16, 19, 67, 69, 81, 266, 420, 422, 424, 483. London, Bishop of, 34. Eye Hospital, 307. London Pharmacopeia (cited), 264. " Long Jack," Story of, 206. Love, Susanna, 47. Lovell, Mrs., 337, 339, 477, 483. Robert, 124, 176, 233, 435, 437, 484. Lowe, Godfrey, 1, 75, 88, 93, 109, no, 125, 127-9, 141, 142, 188, 189, 191, 205, 227, 250, 252, 265, 366, 429, 430. 433. 436, 4 62 . 4 6 4. 485- Miss, 171. Richard, 2, 128, 164, 165, 185, 191, 197, 198, 227, 237, 273, 285, 294, 297. 298, 309, 344, 345, 371-2, 373, 436, 437- 446, 462. 485- Richard Godfrey, 198, 240. Lucas, J. J. S., 400. Ludlow, Abraham, 98, 99, 103, 105, 115, 116, 117-19, 121, 123, 127, 129, 184, 206, 237, 260, 420, 485. Abraham, jun., 206, 420, 425, 427, 429, 436, 474. Ebenezer, 332, 348, 349, 357, 449, 484. Lunell, Mr., 78, 171, 239. Luscombe, Mr., 202. Lyde, James, 466. Lynch, Ann Jean, 300, 483. Lyne, Edward, 21, 81, 84-6, 104, 115, 424, 425, 483. Lyon, Gilbert, 228, 304, 343, 345, 347, 444. 445. 446. 448, 484- Madam Trenchard of Leigh Court, 10. Maddox, John, 232. Macalister, Professor, 214. 499 INDEX Macartney, James, 43. Macaulay, Lord, 242. Zachary, 242. MacCormac, Sir William, 405. Mackenzie, Dr., S5, 425. Dr. Colin, 461. Mackie, Rev. John, 326, 482. MacWatters, John Courtenay, 398. Magdalen Ward, 58. Mahony, Matthew, Murder by, 267. Mainanduc, 475. Mais, Mr., and Body-snatching, 213. Rev. John, 300, 482. Major, W., 299. Man " whipp'd publickly," 267. Manchee, Thomas John, 441. Manchester Riots, 196. Man -Midwife, 129, 170, 213, 259, 261, 345. 371- Mansion House, Sack of, 273, 274. Marks, Alfred (cited), 215. Martin, William, 445. Mason, Benjamin, 97, 100, 113, 169. Massage, 402. Master of the Ceremonies " for Bristol, 222, 232. Materia Medica, Lectures on, 304, 383. Matravers, Miss, 184. Matron, 3, 16, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 34,35. 4 2 , 48, 62, 63, 70, 73, 91, 99, 105, 114, 135-7, I 6o, 161, 278, 285, 286, 299, 300, 316, 317, 3i8, 330, 339, 419, 420; list of, 483. Matthew's Directory (cited), 142, 248. Maze, Peter, 264. McDonald, Arthur, 85. George, 231, 376, 377, 378. John, 213. Mease, Matthew, 24. Medical and Chirurgical Association, 262. and Surgical Departments, 291. and Surgical Library, 191. and Surgical Registrar, 411. Superintendent, 359. Book Society, 256. Charges, 262. Reading Society, 305, 345. Registrar, 402. Medical Times and Gazette (cited), 8. Medicinal Dispensary, 254. Merchant Tailors' Hall, Elections at, 101, 102, 421, 423, 426, 427, 452. Merchant Venturers, 38, 39, 116, 300, 361, 439 ; meeting in hall of, 417. Merlott, Alderman, 232. John, 133. Mesmer, 279, 475. Metford, Joseph, 65, 125, 142, 150, 156, 1S3-5, 186, 189, 260, 429, 432, 433, 434. 435. 441. 464. 4 8 5- Joseph Seymour, 314, 447, 448. Middleton, John, 16, 19, 420, 483. Miles, William, 327. Millard, Mr., Land bought of, 200. Miller, Dr., 367. Miss, 86. Mr. (keeper of the jail), 158. Mr. (Mayor), 25. Visger, 407, 416. Millet, Miss, 86. Mills, Misses, 242. Rev. Mr., 468. Selina, 242, 243, 244. Milton, John, 108, 426. Rev. W., 232. Minute Books (cited), 7, 12, 15, 23, 41, 49. 56, 59. 90, 101, 138, 142, 146, 148, 161, 19S, 199, 213, 316, 320, 419, 420, 431, 440. Moffat, Mrs., 136. Mole, Harold Frederick, 389, 457, 458, 459, 485, 486. Moncrieffe, William, 125-7, J 55> I 7 I > 192, 220, 227, 237, 253, 430, 439, 474. 484- Monkman, Joseph, 334. Montague, Lady Mary Wortley (cited), 201. Montague Tavern, 126, 174, 223, 226, 228, 240, 262, 298, 304, 305, 376. Montgolfier, 152. Moore, Leonard A., 392, 402. Thomas, 45. Morbid Anatomy, Demonstrator of, 392, 399, 458 ; and Assistant Curator of Museum, 400. More, Hannah, 83, 143, 144, 242, 442 ; legacy by, 282 ; Memoirs 0/ (cited), 84. 144- Martha, 282. Patty, 144. Morgan, David, 219. Susanna, 281. William Francis, 173, 278, 285, 307-8, 309, 310, 311, 320, 336, 344, 445, 447. 485- Morning Chronicle (cited), 244. Morse, John, 95. " Mother Widcombe," 284, 352. Mortimer, William, 224. Mosely, Alfred, 413. Mules, Mr., 307. Mundy, Kate Amelia, 365. Munk, Dr. (cited), 97. Munro, J. M. H., 400. Murders, 19, 215, 266-71. Murray, Charles, 172. Musical Festivals, 153, 162, 196. Muskan, Prince Puckler, 340. Nagg's Head Club, 102, 238-9. Tavern, 23, 24, 143, 226, 228, 238-9. Napoleon Bonaparte, 150, 153, 162, 1S5, 377- Nash, Charles, 448. Mrs. R. L., Legacy by, 414. Susannah, 45. Neale, George, 265. Neep, Rev. E. F., 410. 500 INDEX Neddy Bridges, 75. Nelson, Toast of, 237. Nepotism, 283. New Bears' Club or Bears' Debating Club, 233. Jail, Executions at, 220, 270. Surgical Wing, 41S. New, John, 176, 435, 436, 484. Newgate Prison, Unsanitary condition of, 220. Newman, John, 435. Newton, Dr. Thomas, 38. Niblett, Mr., 227. Nicholas, William, Murder by, 266. Nicholson, Mr., 261. Nicholl's History of Bristol (cited), 215. Nichols, Frederick Charles, 459, 4 8 7- Nitrous oxide, Discovery of, 319. Nixon, John Alexander, 457, 458, 4S4. Noble, Alderman, 129. James, 430. John Padmore, 24, 31, 78, 93, 98. 109, no, 113, 125, 128, 129-31, 141, 143. 155, 184, 192, 230, 250, 427, 430, 43L 438, 485- Luke, 129. Sheriff, 129. Norman, Bridget, 127. James, 109, 132, 183, 255, 257, 429, 43°. 43i. 432, 433. 485- Jerome, 73, 76, 125, 127, 265, 36b, 422, 423, 427, 4S5. North, Lord, 184. Norton, Frederick, 234, 471. Mr., 121. Nose and Throat Department, 400. Nott, Dr., 193- Nugent, Robert, 271. Nurses : Diet and sleeping accommoda- tion, 338 ; efficiency of, 337 ; Home, 388, 391 ; old style, 28, 31S ; Training Institution, 337 ; Training School, 414. Nursing Institute, 391. Oakes, Eliza, 302. Obstetric Aphorisms, 398. Department, 389, 397"9, 453- 454- Officer, Resident, 398. Physician, 395, 397. 454- 4S6. Wards, 398. O'Connor, Emily, 177. Sir Patrick, 177. Ogilvie, Mr., 242. Ogilvy, Alexander, 456, 458, 4S6. Oil Gas Company, 202. Old Hagley, 143. Pretender, 30. Quiddle, 56. Rosewell, 66, 247, 259. Whig, 7. "Old Order Changeth, The" (cited), 3°5- Oldland Rest Home, 412. " Open Committees," 85, 146, 167, 424. Operations, 55, 74, 76, 158, 160, 184, 200, 201, 305, 355. Operation Room, 145, 190, 200, 220, 339, 4°3. 4°4. 4°5- Table, 145, 403. Ophthalmic Department, 389, 453. Surgeon, 389, 395, 401, 453, 456, 458, 486. Oracle County Advertiser (cited), 266. Orlebar, John, 7. Osborne, Jere, 232. Miss, 176. Otway, Admiral, 313. Out-patients, 23, 26, 28, 43, 57, 72, 101, 109, no, 154, 157, 160, 164, 173, 181, 196, 198, 279, 280, 281, 291, 292, 293, 298, 322, 333, 334, 34 s - 35i, 358, 359, 364, 385, 386, 395. 397, 398, 400, 401, 403, 447, 452, 457- 478. Out-patient abuse, 359, 411-12. Book, 59, 60. Department, 14, 199, 276, 2S0, 281, 315-16, 322, 333, 348, 359, 393. 4°°. 405, 411, 416. Room, 130, 198, 395, 411, 47S. " Over-times," 59, 152, 167. Owen, Mr., 16. Page, Alderman John, 19, 84. John, 12, 19, 21, 64-6, 69, 105, 117, 121, 129, 169, 205, 206, 248, 268, 346, 366, 420, 422, 424, 428, 431, 432, 485- Thomas, 16, 19, 20, 21, 64, 66, 109, 265, 346, 420, 485. Paget, Sir George, 214, 342. Paisley, John, 243, 245. Palmer, Arthur, 445. Esther, 100, 104. F. C, 3S6. Henry, 340. James, 414. John Jordon, 145-6, 192, 286, 482. Miss, 235. William, 170. Pall Mall Magazine (cited), 234. Palmerston, Viscount, 82. Park Street Club, 233-4. Parker, George, 249. Henry, 265. Richard, 40. Parsley, James, 247, 248. Parson Penrose, 267. Parsons, Dr., 231. Miss, 68. Rev. Mr., 38, 40. Parliamentary Elections, 105, 184, 239, 240, 249, 271. Partridge, Thomas, 233. Pascoe, Edith Annie, 365. Pasteur, Louis, 342, 354, 476. Pathological Department, 359, 399- Assistant in for Opsonic' Treatment, 400. 501 INDEX Pathologist, 392, 399, 436, 457. Pathologist, Bacteriologist, and Director of the Clinical Laboratory, 399. Paty, Thomas, 140, 142. Paull, John, 123, 124-5, 428, 429, 430, 484. Peace of Amiens, 153, 376. Pearce, E. Mountjoy, 402, 413. Pelham, Sir Henry, 103. Pellew, Fleetwood H., 406, 455. Pelly, Edward, Story of, 163-7. Peloquin, Mary Ann, Legacy by, 114. Pendrill, Thomas, 376. Penny, William John, 454. Penrose, Rev. Mr., n. Pepys's Diary (cited), 264. Percivall, Joseph, 62. Richard, 62. Percy's Reliques (cited), 186. " Perdita " (Mrs. Robinson), 242, 375. Perin, Mr., and Suple Prize, 321. Perrin, Dr., 254. Perry, Mrs., 245. Richard Vining, abduction by, 242-6; duel fought by, 240 ; lecture by, 241. " Pers," 443. Personal Reminiscences, 351-3. Perth, Dukes of, 68. Pharmacopceia of the Bristol Infirmary, 329- Phillips, Edward, Legacy by, 388, 39o. Philosophical Institute, 308. Phippen, Mr., 227, 446. Robert, 347, 362, 481. Phcenix Glee Society, 236. Physician for the Week, 109, 194, 280. Physicians, Qualifications of, 291 ; list of, 483-4. Physicians and Surgeons, Age limit, 291, 294; number of, 290, 291. Physick Gardens, 259. Pickwick in Bristol, 234. Pigou, Dean, 405. Pine, William, 19, 433. Pine's Gazette (cited), 112. Thursday Paper (cited), 229. Ping Pong Tournament in Board Room, 316. Pinney, Charles, 274, 275. Piquenet, Miss, 249. Pitt, Rev. G. W., 410, 482. William, 116. Plomer, James, 24, 73, 85, 86-8, 95, 9S, 105, 107, 121, 141, 176, 177, 179, 425, 428, 435, 483. Plowden, Mr., 35. Pneumatic Institute, 159, 318, 319. Pocock, Andrew, 15. Lydia, 15. Thomas, 15. Poisoning epidemic, 321. Pole, Thomas, 371, 468. Rachel, 371. Politics, 30, 105, 126, 128, 135, 171, 183, 184, 237, 239, 271, 273, 322, 431, 437. 4 6 °- Polito, Mr., 157. Pope, Alexander, 201, 249. Dr., 46S. Mrs., 430. Noble, 14. Porter, Rev. James, 163. Rev. Joseph, 102. Rev. Richard, 311. Portland, Duke of, 153. Post-mortem examinations, 161, 392. Room, 336, 357, 392, 395. Pountney, W., 66. Powell, James, Legacy by, 35S. Robert, 314. Thomas Joseph Cookson, 331. Power, Onesiphorus, 232. . Prankerd, P. D., Gift by, 390. Preece, Elizabeth, 35, 114, 136-7, 4 8 3- Prescriptions, Use of Latin in, 329. President, 2, 321. and Treasurer, 290, 291, 298, 335, 347, 348 ; list of, 481. Pretender, The, 30, 143, 461. Prevalent Diseases, 29, 59, 60, 89. Prideaux, John, 235, 236. Priest, Robert, 95, 96, 99, 139. Priestley, 319. Price, Mr., 240. Mrs., 358. Prichard, Arthur William, 357, 358, 383, 388, 391, 451, 452, 457, 473, 485, 4S6 ; cited, 306, 308, 310, 355- Augustin, 305, 320, 329, 333, 344, 360, 386, 406, 446, 447, 449, 451, 473, 485 ; biography of, 471-2 ; cited, 174, 213, 214, 297, 298, 303, 304, 309, 341, 342, 372, 373, 380, 465, 471, 472, 477, 478 ; Prize, 406. Family, Pedigree, of, 473. James Cowles, 181, 182, 194, 196, 197, 198, 227, 233, 234, 285, 294, 301, 303, 304, 309, 311, 312, 345, 366, 37 2 -3. 382, 437, 438, 439, 44°. 446,451,471,473,484; biography of, 468-71. Thomas, 468, 473. William, 112. Prince Consort, Ward named after, 282. Regent, 186. Princess Amelia, 466. Charlotte, 22S. Christian Hospital, 413. " Printer's Devil," Rhyme by, 287. Privateering, 57, 121, 476. Proctor, Rev. Dr., 313. Protheroe, Edward, 154. Mr., 332. Philip, 165. Sir Henry, 156. Provident Dispensaries, 400. Provincial Medical Association, 227. 502 INDEX Prowse, Arthur Bancks, 312, 358, 391, 392, 452, 453, 454, 458, 484. James, 312. James Barrington, 312, 447, 452. William, 452. " Proxies," 447, 449. 45 1 - Prys, Walter Alfred ap, 408. Pye, James, 249. Samuel, 248, 249. Quacks, 56, 260-2. Quaker funeral, 103, 146. Quakers' Burial-ground, 41, 146, 147. Qualifications of Staff, 395. Quarrels, 24-5, 37-8, 52, 8S, 97, 108, 110-11, 120-1, 130, 190, 197, 384, 422. Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature and Arts (cited), 68. Queen Anne, 21. Charlotte, 67. Victoria Convalescent Home, 407, 412; title of "Royal" granted by, 322 ; ward named after, 282. Quincey, B. de., 415. Mary Francis de, 415. Railway panic, 297. Randall, Dean, 389-90. Randolph, Francis, 233, 421, 422. Ratcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, 140. Rawlins, F. L., 47, 102, 104, 105. J-> 429- Rawlinson, 241. Ray, Rev. R. C, 189. Read's Weekly Journal or British Gazeteer (cited), 10. Red Lodge, 17, 138, 139 ; lectures in, 367-9- Rees, Mr., and the Ivyleaf Legacy, 322. Reeve, William, 43, 238. Reform Bill, 273, 282, 300. Resident Medical Officers, 292, 295. Residents in Park Street in 1822, 171. Resurrectionists. See Body-snatching. Reynall, Rev. Carew, 10, n, 25. Reynolds, Richard, 154. Re-opening of Infirmary, 353. Rich, Alderman, 14. John, 441. Richards, Thomas, 62. Richardson, B. W., 8. Ridder, Edward de, 234. Louis E., 234. Riddle, Selwood, Gift by, 357. Ridout, Charles, 258. Rigge, Thomas, 24, 25, 93, 96, 103, 105, 107, 109, no, in, 115, 117, n8, 119-23, 131, 240, 428, 431, 474, 483. Riley, Henry, 55, 212, 213, 270, 277, 279, 3°3-4. 309, 342. 37 8 . 379, 44 1 - 444. 445. 44 6 . 4 S 4- Rishton, Miss, 189. Roach, Elizabeth, 135, 136. Robertson, Robert, 428. Robinson, G. N., 376. Sir J. Clifton, 418. Rochester Infirmary, 8. Rodbard, Dr., 118. Rodney, Admiral, Toast of, 237. Rogers, Bertram Milford Heron, 411, 456. Eliza, 104. George, 446. Miss, 102. Mr., 307. Robert, 21. Rolfe, W. D., 373. Rook, George Elbridge, 45. Rooke, Major James, 122. Thomas, 45. Thomas Elbridge, 45. Withington, 45, 46. Roolsey, Samuel, 233, 234, 379. Roosser, Joseph, 127. Rooth, Goodwin, 465. John, 465. Rowand, John, 96, 222. Rowe, Rev. John, 131, 153, 161, 181, 278, 440. " Rowley Poems," 82. Rotation Scheme, 155, 156, 280. Roxburgh, Dr. (cited), 355. Royal College of Physicians of Edin- burgh, 8. College of Surgeons, 202, 378. Hampshire County Hospital, 9. Ruby, H.M.S., Murder on, 267. Rucster, William, 235. Ruddock, R. B., 446. Rudge, C. King, 185. Rev. Thomas, 185. Rules, 10, 22, 27, 28, 29, 58, 70, 106-12, 134, 137, 153, 197, 276, 277, 278. 283, 290-5, 299, 309, 332, 348, 397. Rummer Tavern, 44, 47, 100, 226, 237, 452. Rumsey, Henry, 21, 50. Nathaniel, 16, 21, 50, 419, 420. Rupert, Prince, 21. Russell, Ann, 45. Russia, War with, 323. Ryan, Dr., 262. Rycroft, John, 406. Ryley, Edward, 303. Rymsdyke, 21, 85, 226. Sage, Rev. William Hood, 300, 326, 482. Saints v. Sinners Election, 301, 377, 441. St. Alban's Tavern, 234. St. Andrew's Festival, 180, 228. Society, 126. University, 98, 118. St. Augustine's Church, 19, 61, 238. Churchyard, 267, 270 ; body stolen from, 210. St. George's Burial-place, Tyburn, Body stolen from, 214. 503 INDEX St. George's Chapel, Votes taken in, 44° ■ St. George's Church, 303, 410. St. James's Church, 14, 15, 35, 37, 39, 228, 249 ; Annual Sermon in, 24, 25, 26 ; clergy of as Chaplains, 410, 482. Churchyard, 14; body removed from, 204. Priory, 14. St. John's Church, 37, 86. St. Michael's Church, 18, 40, 86, 127. 234- St. Michael's Hill Gallows, 266, 267. St. Nicholas Church, 61, 461. St. Paul's Church, Picture in, 119 ; Musical Festival in 153, 162. Churchyard, 74. St. Peter's Hospital, 14, 64, 70, 120, 121, 125, I32, 183, 207, 248, 249, 26l, 280, 304, 429, 445, 462, 469. St. Philip and Jacob Church, 20. Churchyard, Body stolen from, 213. St. Stephen's Ringers, Society of, 183, 192, 229. St. Thomas's Church, 68. St. Vincent, Earl of, 37. St. Werburgh's Church 121, 168, 466. Salmon, Samuel Simmons, 150, 259, 260. Salop Infirmary, 87. Salter, Mr., 351. Sampson, Edward, 316, 414. Sam. Farley's Bristol Newspaper (cited), 261. Samuel White Ward, 417. Samuels, Mr., 243, 245. Sanders, G. E., 322. J., 446. John Naish, 234. Thomas, 288. Sartor Resartus (cited), 3. Sauvages, Boissier de, 113. Savage, Alderman, 274. Scandrett, Charles, 420. Schimmelpenninck, Mary Ann, 221. School of Anatomy and Medicine, 378, 379. 380- Schultz, 354. Schwann, 354. Scott, James, 359, 404. Sir Walter, 258. Scudamore, Rowles, Land bought of, 114. Seagram, William Lye, 197. Secretary, 11, 12, 21, 25, 69, 73, 105, 145, 156, 161, 198, 199, 278, 286-8, 290, 299 ; list of, 482. and House Governor, 2, 405, 406. and House Steward, 287, 299. and Receiver, 69, 70. and Recorder, 12. Sewell, Jem, 226. Seyer, Rev. Samuel, 116, 239, 460. Seyer's History of Bristol (cited), 268. Shapland, Angell, 50. Charlotte, 181. Joseph, 50, 51,70, 92-3, 170, 232, 249, 250, 427. Rev. J., 181. Sharpe, Anthonv, 15. R. A. F., 42. " W. E., 42. Shaving on the Lord's Day, 247. Shaw, John Edward, 352, 356, 357, 358, 386, 451, 452, 458, 484. John George, 324, 332, 389, 447. Sheffield Infirmary, 333, 339. Lord, 153. Shekleton, Surgeon-General Joseph Furlonge, 397, 405, 482. Shellard, Thomas, 93. Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 67. Ship Tavern, 226. Shipton, Dr., 232. Shop Waiting Room, 281. Shute, James, 431. Thomas, 192-4, 3 02 . 37°. 374-6, 377, 378, 438, 439, 440, 485. Simmons, Jane, 137, 192, 483. Simpson, Mr., 192. Nicholas, 21, 50, 91, 93. Sion College, 259. " Sister," Opposition to title of, 338. Skelton's Antiquities (cited), 375. Skerritt, Markham, 356, 399. Skiagraphic Department, 389, 405. Skiagraphist, 401. Skone, Thomas, 66, 76, 103, 105, 115, 116-17, 127, 260, 427, 428, 462, 485- Slade, John, 187. Mr., Operation on, 248. Sara, 225. Small, W. P., 123. Small-pox, 195, 330. Smart, Sir George, 162. Smith, Adam, 86. Alderman, 431. Augusta, 259. Augusta Anne, 465. Brooke, 232. Clara Ann, Murder of, 270. Elizabeth Creedy, 465. George Munro, 346, 362, 454, 456, 458, 485, 486. Henry, 62, 63, 193, 240, 259, 463, 465. James Greig, 356, 357, 359, 364. 386, 387, 388, 391, 398, 403-5, 452, 456, 485. Joseph, 232. J. N., 96. Maud G., 483. Morgan, 10, 11, 12, 14, 69, 420, 482. Nathaniel, 171, 185, 194-5, 196, 197. 213, 270, 285, 294, 301, 306, 309, 310, 311, 320, 356, 373, 378, 379, 437- 438, 439. 44°. 446, 485- Richard Catcott, 465. 504 INDEX Smith, Richard, Sen., 20, 45, 55, 77, 81, 88, 97, 109, no, in, 117, 120, 125, 126, 129, 134. 141. x 4 2 . I 45. I 5 6 , 185, 186, 227, 234, 240, 252, 259, 271, 272, 374, 429, 433, 435, 485 ; biography, 460-3. Richard, jun., 1, 2, 6, 24, 45, 131, 146, 150, 154, 156, 159, 160, 163, 165, 171, 181, 185, 186, 190, 191, 192, 195. !97. 2 ° 2 . 2 °7> 2 °8> 2I 5. 22I > 223, 224, 227, 230, 235, 236, 251, 2 57. 2 59. 26l > 26 5> 26 9. 28 5. 2 95. 3°i. 305. 3°6. 3i 2 - 313. 3 2 7. 373. 43°. 435. 445. 448, 485 ; biography of, 464-5 ; death of, 308-9 ; lectures by, 367-70 ; MSS., cited through- out the work. Robert Shingleton, 349, 356, 357. 383, 391, 393, 450, 457, 484- Sir Jarritt, 19, 267, 425. W. A., 214. Smollett's Humphry Clinker (cited), 97. Smyth, Dowager Lady, 44. Lady, 418. Sir John Hugh, 44, 46. Snow, Miss, 124. Robert, 124. " Social Villagers, The," 229. Social and Scientific Club, 231. Society of Apothecaries, 302, 311. Bristol Artists, 239. Friends, 34, 36, 47, 90, 103, 146, 371, 434. 474- Sodor and Man, Bishop of, 34, 367. South Sea Annuities, 57, 114. Bubble, 74. Southey, Robert (cited), 223, 230, 319. Sowerby, Mr., Action against for re- covery of fees, 251. Special Departments, 389, 405. Spencer, Henry, 393. William Henry, 357, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 391, 392, 393. 450. 4S4. Spurzheim, Dr., 221. Stack, Edward Hugh Edwards, 391, 402, 456, 458, 485, 486. Stanhope, Lord, 367. Stark's Picture of Edinburgh (cited), 9. Stayner, Ann, 44, 46. Stebbings, Alice, 365. Steele, Charles, 383, 3S7, 449, 452, 485. Stephen, Dr., 435. Stephens, Nathaniel, 145. Mrs., and her nostrum, 56, 260. William, 12. Stethoscope, First use of, 279. Stethoscope, The (cited), 305, 317. Stimulants and expensive drugs, 400. Stock, John, 180. John Edmonds, 180-2, 197, 220, 236, 260, 301, 319, 369, 37 2 "3, 437-. 438. 441, 469, 484 ; his " Conversion," 181. Robert, 263. W. Stuart Vernon, 402. Stoddart, W. W., 350. Stokes, Sir William, 133. Stone, Bridget, 63. Samuel, 91. Stonhouse, Rev. Sir James, 25, 144. Stratton, Thomas (cited), 8. Stuart, James, 313. Lady, 226. Sturge, Joseph, 236. Sugar Loaf Tavern, 297. Sumner, Rev. Oliver, 326, 482. Suple, Robert, Legacy by, 320 ; Prizes, 320, 321. Surgeon Extraordinary, 65, 431. for the Week, no, 155, 280, 283, 348. Surgeons' Hall, 12; elections at, 16, 452; lectures at, 205, 366; meet- ings at, 14, 419. Miscellaneous Book, 213, 331, 360. Surgeons, List of, 485. Surgery and Surgical Waiting Room, 281. Surgical Consultation Book, 320. Registrar, 402. Swain, James, 394, 405, 454, 455, 457. 485. 486. Swayne, Anne, 175, 255. John Champney, 170, 174, 175. Joseph, 175, 255. Joseph Griffiths, 55, 175, 398, 446, 455. 47i- Miss, 175. Rev. George, 173, 175. Rev. Robert Arthur, 175. Samuel Henry, 175, 356. Walter Carless, 170, 175, 398, 455. 486. William, 170, 173-5, 185, 194, 196, 311, 333, 455. Swete, Rev. J., 39, 299-300, 482. Swift, Dean, 122. Syme, Mr., Gift by, 331. Symes, J. Odery, 399. Symonds Family, 61. John Addington, 270, 271, 280, 363, 445, 471 ; (cited), 470, 471. Talbot, Joseph, 254. Talbot Tavern 226. Tandy, J. M., 258. Taylor, A. L., 408. Chevalier John, 262. James, 401. John, 2S1, 441. John Brathwaite, 378, 379, Rev. James, 86. William, 66. Telegraphic Apparatus, 335. Temple Church, John Elbridge buried in, 45 ; ]\Iessiah performed in, 153 ; Richard Smith, jun., buried in, 308. Temple, Dr., 3S2. Temporary removal to Colston Street, 35i- Thackeray, 52, 263. 505 INDEX Thatch'd House Tavern, 234. Theatre of Anatomy, 277. Theatrical Performances, 90, 14s, 153. The Bristol Journal, 169. The Feathers Tavern, 229. Thistlethwaite (cited), 105, 122, 272, 273- Thomas, Charlotte, 270. John, 191. Mr., 178. Oliver, 159. Robert William, 321. Thompson, Miss, 20. William, Legacy by, 391. Thornhill, Miss, 76. William, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 20, 30, 54, 69, 70- 73. 7 6 > 77. io 9, 247, 248, 264, 268, 420, 422, 485. Thorp, W. H., 403. Three Tuns Tavern, 123. Throat and Nose Department, 389, 458. Physician, 487. Thynne, Dr., 192. Tibbits, Robert William, 294, 339, 347, 351, 357. 36i, 364. 383. 384. 385. 387, 449, 452, 485 ; death of, 360 ; Memorial Prize, 361. Tool, James, 267. Tothill, Mr., 468. Townsend, John, 14, 76-80, 105, 107, 112, 128, 139, 237, 265, 422, 423, 433, 461. 462-3, 4 8 5- Tozer, Arthur, 168. Mr., 38. Transactions of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, Analysis of Infirmary cases in, 321. Trapnell Collection of Bristol Porcelain, 105. Trask, Surgeon-Major J. E., Tablet m Chapel to, 408. Travers, Benjamin, 471. Treasurer, 11, 23, 29, 37, 38, 42, 43, 44, 47, 48, 62, 64, 69, 74, 84, 87, 90, 92, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 107, 108, 134, 143, 148, 150, 151, 153, 158, 163, 164, 167, 197, 207, 271, 276, 281, 285, 322 ; title changed, 290 ; list of, 48 1. Treasurer's Clerk, 69. Trenerry, William, 299, 364, 482. Tresidder, Miss, 483. Treves, Sir Frederick, 399. Trousseux, 310. Truman, Susannah, 104. Trustees, 10, 11, 15, 16, 24, 25, 26, 33, 35, 38, 42, 44, 68, 85, 88, 93. 95. 107, 108, no, in, 115, 118, 133, 137, 139, 142, 145, 153, 156, 164, 189, 200, 276, 277, 280, 286, 290, 291, 295. 3°°. 3°7. 3°9, 3i5. 327. 33i. 332, 4 I 9, 420, 421, 429. Tucker, Edward, 254. Rev. Josiah, 26. Tudway, Caroline, 179. Tully, George, 59. Turner, Hester, 143. Mrs., 137. William, 142-4. Tweedie, Dr., 471. " Twenty years rule," 294. " Two in a bed," 316. Tyburn Tree, its History and Annals (cited), 215. Tyndall, Mr., 139. Typhoid Fever, 113, 199. Typhus Fever, 93, 113, 116, 134, 169. Unitarian Burial-ground, 124, 131, 181. University College, 381, 387, 393, 400, 401, 478 ; affiliation of Medical School with, 383-5 ; Chair of Pathology at, 399 ; foundation of, 382 ; opening of, 385. Vaccination, 195, 330. Vachell, Charles, 311. Charles Redwood, 269, 285, 311-12, 446. Vandarwell, Martha, 104. Vaughan, Ann, 20. John, 139. Philip H., 407, 414, 417. Richard, 414. Vice-Presidents, 290, 292, 347. Virchow, 342. Visitors, 20. Volunteers, 150. Wade, Arthur B., 386. Wadley, Mary, 300, 483. Wait, Daniel, jun., 436. E. T., 231. Waldo, Edward, 213. Henry, 213, 357, 389, 450, 451, 457, 4S4. Walker, Charles Ludlow, 226, 293. Mrs., 119. Wallis, George, 159, 171, 212, 231, 277, 285, 301-2, 309, 342, 374, 376, 377-8, 447, 4S4 ; account of his election, 441-4 ; lectures on Com- parative Anatomy by, 302, 373. George Lewis, 301. Walters, Charles Ferrier, 458, 486. Ward, Danvers, 260, 433, 435. Miss S., 166. Rev. John, 466. Richard Brickdale, 236, 441. Waring, Lydia, 102. Warren, Robert Hall, 346, 375, 407, 408. Thomas, 235. Wasbrough, John, 235. Rice, 235. Waterloo, Battle of, 196. Water Ram, Invention of, 152. Wathen, Mr., 420. Watkins, Valentine, 132. 506 INDEX Watson's Medicine (cited), 89. Watson-Williams, Patrick, 400, 454, 457, 458, 484, 487. Watt and Downie, Republicans, 180. W r atts, James, jun., 367. Mr., 134. Roger, 226, 227. Way, Lewis J. U., 44, 46. Wayet, Tohn Cecil, Death of, 364. Rev. F. W., 364. Wayte, Rev. Samuel W., 406. Weare, G. E., 15. Wearing of swords, 31. Weaver, Mary Ann, 300, 483. Webb, John, 261. Wedgwood, Thomas, 367. Wedmore, Ernest, 454, 455, 486. E. T., 371. Thomas, 371, 454. Weekly Committee Book (cited), 428. Weeks, Buckler, 12, 423. Jack, 234, 237, 239, 243. Weir, William, 286-7, 4§ 2 - Weld, Thomas, 162. Wellington, Duke of, 263. Wells, Peter, 77, 132, 238 ; thigh bone of, 238. Wesley, John, 34. Westbury Churchyard, Body stolen from, 212. Western Daily Press (cited), 66. West Indian Coffee House, 12. Westminster Hospital, 6. Weston, Joseph Dodge, 389. Wetherell, Sir Charles, 270, 273, 274. Wheeler, Mary, 300, 483. Whippie, Sarah, 282. " Whitawers and Glovers," 12. WTritchurch, George, 159. White, Charles, Murder by, 267. George, 416, 417, 481 ; baronetcy conferred on, 416. George F., 331. Lady, 414. Mrs. Eliza, 418. Samuel, Gifts by, 417, 418. White Hart Tavern, 241 White Lion Club, 239. Hotel, 126, 227, 237, 239, 241, 248, 262, 272, 273, 429. White Lodge, 14. Whitefield, Captain, 57. Whitehead, Miss A., 101, 104. Thomas, 105. Whitwill, Mark, 450. Wickham, Miss, 189. Windham, William, 223. Wilcox, John, 122, 151. Mrs., 137. Miss, 122. Wilkes, Jack, 121. Wilkins, Ellen Bertha, 365. Rev. George, 461. Rev. J., 234. Willcocks, Joshua, 104. Mrs., 84. Williams, Ann, 135, 136, 483. Rev. F. A. D., 410, 482. Rowland, 120. Samuel, 79. William, 37. Willoughby, Christ., 40. Wills, George, 286. H. O., 418. Sir Frederick, 418. Sir W. H., 418. Wilson, J. G., 280. Winchester County Hospital, 8, 9. Winthrop, Rev. B., 322. " Wire-drawers and Pin-makers," 12. Wiseman, 256. Wolcot, John (" Peter Pindar "), 474. Woman " burnt in the hand," 267. W 7 ooden legs, 156, 423. Woodford, Patience, 135, 136. Woodward, Francis, S1-4, 105, 107, 122, 227, 424, 425, 428, 483. Mr., 240. Richard, Bishop of Cloyne, 81. Woolnough, Elizabeth, 44, 46. Henry, 44, 46. Rebecca, 45, 46. Worcester, Marquis of, 153. W'orrall, George, 122. Worsley, Samuel, 234. Mr., 415. Worthington, Miss, 339, 483. Wright, John, 123-4, J 7^> x 77> I 79, 428, 435. 4 8 3- Matthew, 148. Thomas, 123. William, 441. X-ray apparatus, 401. Yates, Constable, 213. Yeatman, Charlton, 169-70, 183. H. F., 95. John Charlton, 376. Morgan, 31, 128, 158, 169, 183, 191, 227, 251, 431, 432, 433. 437, 438, 485- Yeld, Thomas, 171. York County Hospital, 334. 507 \JX1 X V JUAViJJ. . Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. UCLA YRL ILL DUE: DEC TLL-e*T% UCLA ACCESS Interlibrarv 1 1630 Untvers Box 961575 Angeles, CpA t 7 2005 ty Researcl i ibra 30095 ib/t> orm L9-25m-9,'47(A5618)444 DN1 -IBRARY D 000 452 730 5 *DA 690 B8S64 HLJUIUUIUHlUiUIUl