Poverty, Sickness and Death in England, 1750-1850

ISBN-13: 9781441130273 / Angielski / Twarda / 2022 / 224 str.

Steven King

Opis

Poverty, Sickness and Death in England, 1750-1850 provides an in-depth look at medical provision in England under the Old Poor Law, a subject on which little has been written to date. Based on the results of the first large-scale comparative regional analysis of the scale, form and duration of medical relief, this study provides a valuable insight into the issue of pauper access to medical care and sickness relief. Steven King draws on a wide range of sources for this study, including vestry minutes, overseers' accounts, doctor's treatment books, diaries, newspaper reporting, coroner's reports, court depositions, hospital and workhouse records and the correspondence of poor law unions. The largest ever sample of pauper letters are analysed to explore issues such as pauper agency, the nature of relief negotiation processes and the feeling and strategies of paupers.

Spis treści

1. Introduction: The human ecology of poor relief 2. Defining, Identifying and Measuring Sickness and its Relief Amongst the Poor 3. Treating the Sick Poor: A quantitative and regional overview 4. Doctors, Drugs and Nursing: The poor and the medical market 5. Cash, Rent, Food and False Legs: A wider definition of medical relief 6. Institutions and the Sick Poor 7. Experiencing the Poor Law: The narratives of the sick pauper 8. Negotiating Medical Relief 9. Gender, Life-cycle, Family Situation and Medical Relief 10. Dying, Getting Buried and Leaving People Behind 11. Conclusion: Making sense of diversity Appendices: Places, sources and methods Bibliography Index