From 1650 to 1750 the provision of medical care for injured seamen in the Royal Navy underwent a major transformation, shifting from care provided by civilians in private homes to care at hospitals run by the navy. Early Modern Naval Health Care in England examines the factors responsible for the emergence of centralized naval health care over the course of a century.
In 1650 sick and injured Royal Navy sailors were billeted in homes in coastal communities where civilians were paid to look after them. Care work, which involved making meals and feeding patients, administering medicines, washing clothes and bed linens, and shaving and cutting hair, was essential to the recovery of tens of thousands of seamen – and it was done mostly by women. Beginning at the turn of the eighteenth century, naval health care moved to a more centralized system based in hospitals, where the conduct of sailors and care workers could be overseen. A key factor driving this change was the relationships between naval officials and female civilian caregivers, which were often fraught. Yet even with the shift to naval hospital settings, most care for convalescing sailors continued to be provided by women.
Early Modern Naval Health Care in England shines a light on the care work that lay behind England’s formidable Royal Navy during the Age of Sail.
Authors
- Published in
- Montreal, CA
Table of Contents
- Cover 1
- EARLY MODERN NAVAL HEALTH CARE IN ENGLAND, 1650–1750 2
- Title 4
- Copyright 5
- Dedicated 6
- Contents 8
- FIGURES 10
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 12
- CHAPTER 1 Introduction: Care Work and Care Workers in the Early Modern Royal Navy 18
- CHAPTER 2 Finding Care for Sick and Injured Seamen in England, 1650–1688 34
- CHAPTER 3 Suffering the System of Care during the Nine Years’ War and After, 1689–1701 60
- CHAPTER 4 Securing Care for Seamen during Queen Anne’s War, 1702–1715 84
- CHAPTER 5 Naval Health Care during the Early Georgian Era, 1715–1739 120
- CHAPTER 6 Failing and Succeeding to Provide Care during the War with Spain, 1739–1744 140
- CHAPTER 7 Disorders and Due Care for Seamen during the War against France, 1744–1748 173
- CHAPTER 8 Conclusion 202
- NOTES 212
- BIBLIOGRAPHY 252
- INDEX 274
