8 Institutions and the sick poor
-
Steven King
Abstract
This chapter shows that the workhouse was the single biggest category of institutional engagement by parish officers. In turn, most workhouse inmates were sick. Yet the workhouse played a variable part in medical welfare spending in most places. Only in Norfolk was its presence concerted and long-lasting. Over time, the range of engagements between parishes and other types of institution, notably hospitals, expanded massively. By the 1820s an institutional sojourn became an anticipated and expected parish response to sickness.
Abstract
This chapter shows that the workhouse was the single biggest category of institutional engagement by parish officers. In turn, most workhouse inmates were sick. Yet the workhouse played a variable part in medical welfare spending in most places. Only in Norfolk was its presence concerted and long-lasting. Over time, the range of engagements between parishes and other types of institution, notably hospitals, expanded massively. By the 1820s an institutional sojourn became an anticipated and expected parish response to sickness.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of figures viii
- List of tables x
- Acknowledgements xi
- Abbreviations xiii
-
Part I Locating sickness and medical welfare
- 1 The ecology of poor relief 3
- 2 Defining and measuring 33
- 3 Negotiating medical welfare 69
-
Part II The scale and character of medical welfare
- 4 Treating the sick poor: a quantitative overview 107
- 5 Medical people 148
- 6 Wider medical welfare 186
- 7 Dying, being buried and leaving people behind 220
-
Part III Parochial medical welfare in context
- 8 Institutions and the sick poor 251
- 9 The medical economy of makeshifts 285
- 10 Making sense of diversity 320
- Appendix 334
- Bibliography 341
- Index 381
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of figures viii
- List of tables x
- Acknowledgements xi
- Abbreviations xiii
-
Part I Locating sickness and medical welfare
- 1 The ecology of poor relief 3
- 2 Defining and measuring 33
- 3 Negotiating medical welfare 69
-
Part II The scale and character of medical welfare
- 4 Treating the sick poor: a quantitative overview 107
- 5 Medical people 148
- 6 Wider medical welfare 186
- 7 Dying, being buried and leaving people behind 220
-
Part III Parochial medical welfare in context
- 8 Institutions and the sick poor 251
- 9 The medical economy of makeshifts 285
- 10 Making sense of diversity 320
- Appendix 334
- Bibliography 341
- Index 381
