Introduction

Healthcare for early Victorian Bournemouth’s invalids and convalescents began with its excellent climate, but other assistance came from medics, bathing and visiting quacks. Several of the larger households recorded in 1851 contained nurses amongst other servants.

Medics, resident and transient, offered professional healthcare

Three doctors

In addition to providing healthcare to invalids and other individuals, each of the three doctors present during Bournemouth’s early period made active contributions to the resort’s infrastructure. Richard Elgie, perhaps a London chemist’s son, had brought his family to Bournemouth by 1843, having dwelt in at least two other places. E.V. Mainwaring had worked for the East India Company, noted as a physician in Birmingham during 1841. The Crimean War cut short A.W.P. Pinkerton’s medical stay at Bournemouth. He served with distinction in a Maltese hospital. Elgie appeared amongst the early Improvement Commissioners. Mainwaring played an active role in the settlement’s society and culture, getting involved in education and fund raising. A leading supporter of the Sanatorium’s creation, he would have served as its first physician had he not died. Pinkerton’s professional concern for Bournemouth’s dilapidated drainage system shone through a series of letters he wrote to the press.

Two chemists and a visiting dentist

Bournemouth offered enough business to attract a chemist during the early period, but not for a dentist. Only itinerant dentists operated at this period, seeing patients at the Bath Hotel (1848) or even Whiffen’s the bootmaker (1855). Little has emerged about the earliest mentioned chemist, William Belling, a Cornishman, the name common in that region. Present in 1851 according to the census, he may have emigrated to Australia not long after. The passenger list for a man so-named suggested he may have had medical training, for he served as the surgeon. His successor, Henry Blacklock, came from Brighton. His family worked in the trade in that area, more than one member listed as a chemist. Later, a Mr Blacklock had served as a Bournemouth Improvement Commissioner, but lost his position through non-attendance. Perhaps the pharmacy business attracted his attention more, his probate listing recorded an estate worth almost £4,000.

Baths and bathing

Two aspects to bathing

Even before Dr Granville praised Bournemouth’s site as suitable for healthy bathing, property advertisements referred to machinery dedicated to sea immersion. For the 1820s and most of the following decade similar advertisements referred to a single bathing machine, but a press reference in 1839 mentioned three such vehicles. Much of the early marketing positioned the settlement as a bathing place, a ‘lovely bathing village’ according to one press report (1851). The bathing machines played a central role in the process, allowing customers to change in privacy and, through the presence of assistants, to swim in safety and some privacy. Dr Granville had emphasised the healthy aspect of bathing, but it may have had another aspect. A whimsical article on Bournemouth referred to the scant, clingy clothing of female bathing assistants, hinting at the activity’s appeal as other than healthcare.

The bathing business

Proprietors alert to revenue possibilities formed a syndicate to construct a building beside the sea.This would offer warm bathing, an activity more appealing in the winter season. Shares in the associated company had a tradeable value, as noted in the assets listed during Samuel Bayly’s bankruptcy. Bayly also had garnered assets for sea-bathing: a lease on a strip of the shore as well as exclusivity on bathing machines. Women appear to have had a prominent place within the trade at this time. Eliza Hardiman may have owned or controlled a bathing machine, but later came to manage the baths as well. Although the 1851 Census listed Joseph Pratt as baths’ proprietor, the trade directories listed Anna, his wife, as manager. By 1855, however, William Roberts appeared to have taken over, his family controlling the baths for the rest of the century.

Itinerant quacks: the arrival of electro-biology

Showbusiness

In the early 1850s advertisements began to appear inviting the public to the Assembly Rooms where they might witness an itinerant lecturer on the subject of electro-biology. The copy underlined its importance as a ‘remedial agent’ for curing all manner of ailments. The audience would see an important scientific discovery. The lectures combined scientific instruction with experiments conducted on audience members. They offered a cocktail of knowledge, medical promise and entertainment. Professor Reynolds came in 1852, Professor Bushell in 1854, their titles enhancing new technology’s importance. Their academic associations perhaps did more to boost crowd attention than reassure patients. The early use of electricity had become fashionable at this time, attracting medical attention, but after a while tilting towards quackery. The showmanship promised in the advertisements suggests that Professors Reynolds and Bushell had already made that transition. Their equipment seemed more an entertainment prop than a clinical device.  

Serious equipment

Soon after his death, the estate of Dr Mainwaring came up for auction (1855). An advertisement referred to items included in his house contents. Amongst these featured machines used in early electrical treatment. As discussed, Dr Mainwaring occupied a prominent place in the resort’s community, seeming to have strong medical qualifications. The presence of this electro-biology machinery, however, gives cause for consideration. The auctioneer, by including Mainwaring’s electrical equipment in the advertisement, may have tried to ride off its current media interest. On the other hand, given the apparent fashionable appeal of the treatment and the affluence of invalids attending the resort, Mainwaring may have deemed it a necessary tool to remaining competitive. No evidence has survived as to whether he used the device during consultations, but, perhaps as a serious medic and not a showman, he felt it important to keep up with apparent clinical advances.

Takeway

Bournemouth’s early promotion made much of its healthy attributes. The resort attracted a range of people engaged in healthcare. Experienced medical people held clinics and sold pills over the counter, but the business also included such money-making ventures as bathing services as well as visiting quacks showcasing the latest electrical medical technology.

References

For references and discussion, contact here.