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- Title
Mending the Sick and Wounded: The Development of Naval Hospitals in the West Indies, 1740-1800.
- Authors
CONVERTITO, CORI
- Abstract
Until the 1740s, the Royal Navy's policy aimed at caring for sick and wounded seamen both at home and abroad was uncomplicated. It routinely retained London-based contractors who, in turn, employed regional agents to run the day-to-day operations in all of the country's seaport towns and at naval stations abroad. These agents were responsible for leasing sick quarters or temporary hospital buildings, as well as procuring victuals, medical supplies, surgeons and nurses. The contractor system allowed the Admiralty to pay a fixed rate to contractors, which meant it could approximate its annual costs for taking care of sick and wounded seafarers. Once the Sick and Hurt Board became a permanent division of the Royal Navy, however, it bore accountability for the navy's medical decisions. At the Admiralty's urging, the Board set about re-evaluating the longstanding contractor system, and determined that purpose-built naval hospitals were better suited to the navy's expanding needs. Following the immediate success of two naval hospitals erected in Britain, Haslar in Portsmouth and Stonehouse in Plymouth, the navy determined they would benefit from the erection of similar facilities in the West Indies. This paper sets out to explore this transitional period in the Royal Navy's medical branch when it undertook the critical change from a contractor-lead hospital scheme to a navy-controlled system. By investigating individual hospital designs, letters, and hospital muster books, an accurate representation of naval hospitals in the West Indies can be established. In doing so, the notion of an advanced military body emerges, dispelling several misapprehensions about seamen's healthcare during the eighteenth century.
- Subjects
HISTORY of the West Indies; NAVAL &; marine hospitals; SAILORS; NAVAL history; GREAT Britain. Royal Navy; HOSPITAL building design &; construction; NAVAL medicine; HOSPITAL care; 18TH century medical history; GOVERNMENT policy; EIGHTEENTH century; HISTORY; MEDICAL care
- Publication
Canadian Journal of History, 2016, Vol 51, Issue 3, p500
- ISSN
0008-4107
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3138/CJH.ACH.51.3.003