Manx National Heritage Library

Select Bibliography No. 6

This select bibliography draws on printed material in class B464 (Public Health) and sources from our manuscript collection. Additional material can be found in classes B468 (Hospitals and Hospices), D126 (Benevolent Societies) and D244 (Local Government). These sources are intended as an aid to researching the occurence of outbreaks of infectious diseases on the Island. Cholera appeared in 1832/3 and again in 1866 with additional scares about its return; smallpox, typhus fever, dysentry and tuberculosis were other illnesses to be combatted. The reading material can help in the study of how the Island sought to prevent the spread of disease and why public health reforms emerged in the nineteenth century. Increased government regulation and improvements to water supplies, public sanitation, housing, medical provision, preventative vaccinations, diet and general public knowledge can be documented. The effectiveness of these reforms is difficult to trace accurately given that mortality statistics reported by the Registrar-General are available from 1880 onward only.

Additional library sources can be helpful in setting the scene to nineteenth century developments. For instance, the Island had been subjected to an 1759 Order in Council ordering a quarantine of forty days on all vessels from the

Mediterranean to prevent the spread of the plague (see Atholl Papers 60-18). Amongst the listed sources an 1883 tousle between two men, Haviland and Talbot, brings some colour - they argue about the relative merits of the Isle of Man as a potential health resort. Also of note is the emergence of a nursing heroine in the person of Nellie Brennan (1792-1859) whose selfless efforts during the 1832/3 cholera outbreak have been lavishly praised in print.

BYE-LAW REGULATIONS

There is a series of such bye-laws at Library reference D244. They are arranged as follows:

D244/1/2 - General
D244/1/3 - Parishes
D244/1/4 - Castletown
D244/1/5 - Douglas
D244/1/5 - Onchan
D244/1/7 - Port St Mary
D244/1/8 - Peel
D244/1/9 - Port Erin
D244/1/10 - Ramsey

In addition section D244 contains bound volumes of indexed Local Government Acts (1886-1901) at D244/4a.

Bye-Laws, Rules and Regulations framed and made by the Douglas Town Commissioners and confirmed by the Tynwald Court

BELOW: Lithograph published in the Lancet of twelve year old Ellen ‘Isabella’ Hazard, one of the first victims of cholera in England, October 1831. (Detail)

Lithograph published in the Lancet, 1831

Bye-Laws with respect to new streets and buildings made by Douglas Town Commissioners

Douglas: 1893

Made under powers conferred by the Local Government Act of 1886 and approved by Tynwald Court, 17 November 1893, these by-laws include stipulations for building drainage, ventilation, water closets, privies and cesspools.

Library Ref F71/5

Model Bye-Laws for the regulation of Ashpits, New Streets, Buildings, & made under the Provisions of the Local Government Acts, 1900

42 page pamphlet

Library Ref D 151/16x (no. 38)

STATUTORY PROVISIONS

The statutes are indexed and available on the Reading Room shelves. The following is not intended as a comprehensive summary of relevant Manx legislation.

Library Ref D200/1

Act for better supplying the town of Douglas with water, 1834

Public Health Acts, 1884 & 1884

Douglas Town Improvement Act, 1889

Local Government Act, 1889

CHOLERA AND SMALLPOX PREVENTION

Letter from Government Office

to Commissioners of Town and Village Districts] noting the wishes of the Lieutenant Governor for contingency planning given the outbreak of cholera in Europe.

31 August 1892

Library Ref B464/2x

Church pamphlet

A Special Form of Prayer to Almighty God to be read...in all Churches and Chapels in the Isle of Man on Sunday 19th August 1866...for continued preservation from the cattle plague and for protection against the cholera.’

Library Ref B464/1x

Directions and Regulations for the prevention of the spread of smallpox in the town of Douglas

Order issued by Lt-Governor Henry Loch, September/November 1877

Library Ref B464/2x

Report of Committee of Tynwald Court, appointed on 14 April 1893 to enquire into the working of the Vaccination Acts, 30 May 1893

Douglas, 1893

The report notes an unsatisfactory state of affairs concerning the registration of vaccinations and declares: ‘...it is manifest that the Vaccination Act [of 1878] is very inefficiently carried into effect’.

Library Ref D151/14x (no. 17); also B464/2x (looseleaf)

Vaccination Amendment Bill, Isle of Man: Reply of Dr Walter R Hadwen to the Medical Evidence and Arguments of Members of The Legislative Council presented in favour of the Continuance of Legal Compulsion 1893

Gloucester: F J Brooke, 1913

Anti vaccination responses to evidence arguing for compulsory vaccination. Published by The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.

Library Ref B464/2x

SANITATION

Sanitary Matters in the Isle of Man

The Sanitary Record, 14 March 1879, pp 161-165

Critical account of sanitary affairs on the Island, by the journal’s ‘Special Commissioner’. Compares Manx with British legislation and gives a detailed eye witness account of sanitary conditions.

Library Ref B464/2x

Lancet, The Medical Notes in the Isle of Man by a Frequent Visitor

21 February 1891 pp 459-460

This reviews medical provision, climate and sanitary reforms on the Island.

Library Ref B464/2x

MEDICAL PROVISION

Medical Aid and Poor Relief Commission (Isle of Man): Report and Evidence with Appendices presented to the Tynwald Court by Order of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor

Douglas: James Brown and Son, 1879

Sets out the testimonies of numerous individuals and the commissioners’ conclusions about existing provisions for providing medical aid and hospital accommodation to the poor with recommendations for improvements and the prevention of the spread of epidemic or contagious diseases

Library Ref B464/5x

White Hoe Isolation Hospital, Braddan Report on Infectious Diseases and Isolation Hospital Administration for the ten years ending 31 March 1896

Douglas, 1896

Compiled by Town Clerk Thomas H Nesbitt, this 56 page report contains useful tabulated statistics and notes on the response to infectious diseases as well as a history of the beginning of White Hoe.

Library Ref F71/5

GENERAL SOURCES

Davies, Charles. A Dissertation on the Causes of Consumption with special reference to its Prevalence in the Isle of Man / by Charles Davies

Douglas: Brown & Sons Ltd, 1899

Medical degree thesis submitted to the Victoria University, 1899.

Library Ref B464/3

Consumption: The Social and Geographical Causes Conducing to its Prevalence / by Alfred Haviland

Douglas: J Brown and Son, [1883]

Lecture delivered by the author at the Victoria Hotel, Douglas in December 1883 in the presence of the Lt-Governor. Includes a coloured map illustrating the geographical distribution of consumption on the Isle of Man. Additional pamphlets by the same author can be found at this reference.

Library Ref B464/3; looseleaf map at B464/1x

Here is the News: an illustrated Manx History / by Terry Cringle with features by R E Forster and G N Kniveton

Douglas: The Manx Experience, 1992

ISBN 1873120 07 9 (Softback)

ISBN 1873120 09 5 (Casebound)

See especially page 88 ‘A matter of life or death’ on the cholera outbreak of 1832. Note also pages 124 and 132.

Library Ref F64/180 Reading Room

McHardy, Mary. The Cholera Epidemic in the Isle of Man / by Mary McHardy

Journal of the IOMFHS, 10th Anniversary issue, May 1989, pp 29-34 Article tracing the spread of the disease to the British Isles, the 1832 epidemic on the island and the 1866 outbreak.

Library Ref L6/FAM

Library Ref F64/180 Reading Room

McHardy, Mary. The Story of Judith Crinnal / by Mary McHardy

Journal of the IOMFHS Vol.XIII No.2, May 1991, pp 57-58

Account of the death from cholera of this 30 year old woman and the associated information passed down by word of mouth concerning her burial and the location of her grave.

Library Ref L6/FAM

Newspaper Index to Isle of Man papers (to ca. 1850)

This contains plentiful references to cholera for the years 1826 - 1833 under the heading ‘Health-General’. Smallpox, dysentry and typhus fever are also reported upon in this section.

See also: MD 312 (accession 6417) for typescript extracts from the Manx Sun for July - October 1832 on the cholera epidemic.

Pantin, Guy. A study of Maternal Mortality and Midwifery on the Isle of Man, 1882 to 1961

Offprint from Medical History, 1996, 40: 141-172

Library Ref B464/23

Radcliffe, Constance K. Life in Ramsey 1765-1865 / by Constance Radcliffe

Proceedings of Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society Vol IX, No 2 pp 183-196. See especially p 192.

Library Ref L6 Counter

Radcliffe, Constance K. Ninety Years Young: A short illustrated acccount of Ramsey District Cottage Hospital 1907-1997 / by Constance Radcliffe

Douglas: Nelson Press Co.,1997.

Library Ref B468/16

Shining by the Sea: A History of Ramsey 1800 - 1914 / by Constance Radcliffe

Douglas: Nelson Press Co. Ltd, 1989

pp 45 - 48 and 71-73 cover public health

Library Ref F72/14 Reading Room

Statistics (official). Annual Reports of the Registrar-General as to Births, Deaths and Marriages in the Isle of Man, 1880 onward

Summarize mortality rates, causes of death and the number of vaccinations carried out annually.

Library Ref D34/2/1-3 Reading Room

Talbot, Rev Theosophilus. Mr Haviland’s Lecture Reviewed I-VI / by Rev T Talbot

1883

Six newspaper articles of October-December 1883 criticizing the content and claims of an 1883 lecture on the ’Essential requisities of a health resort’ (at B464/3) and querying the island’s suitability as a health resort for those afflicted with rheumatism, nervous disorders and consumption given its actual climate of ‘chilling fogs, excessive rain and boisterous winds’.

Library Ref B464/2xf

NELLIE BRENNAN SOURCES

Cowin, Hilda. A Manx Heroine / by Hilda Cowin

Douglas: Isle of Man Times reprint, 1932

The story of Nellie Brennan; episodes of the cholera outbreak 100 years ago.

Library Ref G88/5xf & G88/1x

Forrest, Katherine A. Manx Recollections - Memorials of Eleanor Elliott / by Katherine Forrest

London : James Nisbet and Co, 1894

Douglas: James Brown and Son, 1894

Chapter 4, ‘The Cholera’, contains a considerable amount of reference to Nellie Brennan.

Library Ref F65/83

Johnson, Joseph. Noble Women of our Time / by Joseph Johnson

London: T Nelson and Sons, 1883

See chapter XI - ‘Miss Brennan among the Manx Poor’, pp 246-263

Library Ref G88/B7/3

Miss Eleanor Brennan: a Manx Methodist Worthy / by Joseph Johnson

Douglas: 1895

Serialized in the Manx Wesleyan Methodist Church Record, Vol 3, pp 2, 11, 18, 28

Library Ref L6 MW 1/1xq

Stowell, Bellanne. Labours of Love, A Manx Story, being a Memorial of Eleanor Brennan / by Bellanne Stowell

Douglas: John Mylrea, 1859

Douglas: Hospice Care, 1988

For biographical details of the authoress see Manx Worthies, p 107 at G4. The reprint contains a commentary by Dr Guy Pantin.

Library Ref G88/B7/1-2

MANUSCRIPT SOURCES

Atholl Papers

See Reading Room card index to the deposit under subheading ‘Health’. Includes correspondence on smallpox and procedures for vaccination (1817 -1824)

Cholera Deaths in Castletown, 1832

List of persons buried in Malew, with dates, in the cholera epidemic of 1832

Library Ref MD 287 (accession 6378)

See also: a published list of these names in IOMFHS Journal Vol XVII No 1 Februrary 1995 pp 13-14

‘Cure for cholera’

‘One teaspoonfull of salt - One teaspoonfull cayenne peppr - Half a pint of boiling water mixed and taken soon as possible’. Undated handwritten remedy, probably compiled prior to the 1866 outbreak.

Library Ref Ms 1592 A

The Dorcas Society of Douglas / by Mrs N M Wilson Paper read at the Methodist History Society meeting of October 1971 with illustrative record appendices. The address charts the history of the Society which was formed on 1 December 1834, a day set aside by Wesleyan Methodists and others of Douglas for public thanksgiving for the exemption of the town from cholera during the past year. The object of the Society was to administer relief through the distribution of ‘plain and necessary articles of clothing to needy men, women and children’.

Library Ref MD 551 (accession 6778)

Government Office Papers

Various references, especially folders GO 37 and GO 39. Examples given below are by no means exclusive. The reading room card index should be consulted for further information and clarification.

GO 9/5 Draft of letter from the Lt-Governor to the Secretary of State informing him of the outbreak of cholera symptoms in Peel, 1866. Poor legibility.

GO 37/2 Printed open letter from W Trench (Medical Officer, Liverpool,), advising on the prevention of cholera, 1866.

GO 37/9 Request to the High Bailiffs of various districts asking for information about suitably equipped houses in their areas to be used at short notice for cholera patients; also about the availability of people willing to nurse, 1866.

GO 37/11-14 Responses to the above, 1866.

GO 37/18 Proclamation of precautions against cholera, 1873

The Health of the Manx: Advances during 150 years / by Dr Guy Pantin

Photocopy of text of lecture delivered in 1974. Previous attitudes of the Manx to health and medicine are explored and the causes and events of the 1832 cholera epidemic and smallpox outbreaks of the nineteenth century are well covered.

Library Ref MD 15123 (accession 8502)

The Inquiry of Samuel Harris, 1878 / by Dr. Guy Pantin

Photocopy of text of lecture delivered by Dr Guy Pantin in 1986 based on the conduct, findings and results of the Medical Aid and Poor Relief Commission chaired by Harris. Touches on the prevention of cholera in Douglas by supplying piped water from a protected source (page 4) and notes ‘It was not so much the diseases which killed the people as the overcrowding and poor feeding that caused them to succumb to illnesses which better fed succeeding generations successfully withstood’.

Library Ref MD 1036 (accession 8616)

The Manx National Heritage Library holds a wealth of various and extensive source material. Staff at the library and throughout Manx National Heritage, are always pleased to hear from anyone with an interest in Manx history. WT rev. ed. 6.00

Manx National Heritage,

Douglas, Isle of Man IM1 3LY.

Tel: +44 (0) 1624 648000 Fax: +44 (0) 1624 648001

E-mail: library@mnh.gov.im

Website: www.gov.im/mnh

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Closed Sunday and for one week in January

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