Joseph Rogers, M.D.: Reminiscences of a Workhouse Medical OfficerRogers, Joseph
History
Joseph Rogers, M.D.: Reminiscences of a Workhouse Medical Officer
Rogers, Joseph
Charities, Medical -- Great Britain; Poor laws -- Great Britain
The presentation of a handsome testimonial to Dr. Joseph Rogers,
Chairman of the Poor Law Medical Officers' Association, took place on
Tuesday last at the rooms of the Medical Society, Chandos Street, in the
presence of a numerous gathering of ladies and gentlemen. Mr. John A.
Shaw Stewart, presided.
Mr. J. Wickham Barnes (honorary secretary of the fund) spoke of the
cordial reception with which the proposition to do honour to Dr. Rogers
had been received, and the support which had been given to it by the
medical journals, the editors of which had been among the most liberal
contributors to the fund.
The Chairman, in his opening remarks, spoke of Dr. Rogers' work and
worth, which were so well known that little further need be said on
those points; but, on an occasion like the present, they should not
forget that Dr. Rogers was a sanitary reformer and advocate of
sanitation of about forty years' standing, and that matters which were
now accepted as facts were then subjects of the fiercest controversy.
Dr. Rogers, in conjunction with Mr. George Alfred Walker and others, was
the first who successfully advocated the closing of the burial-grounds
in cities, and had succeeded in establishing the first public mortuary
in London. Those facts alone testified to his energy and ability. Those
who were older than the speaker could remember the time when the light
of heaven was taxed; and Dr. Rogers, with the late Lord Duncan, was one
who worked hard to abolish the window-tax, a more unjust tax than which
it was impossible to conceive. He was appointed medical officer of the
Strand Union in 1856, at a time when there were no paid nurses and when
the Poor Law officer had to pay out of his small salary for all
medicines. Dr. Rogers, with Dr. Anstie, and Mr. Ernest Hart, was among
the stoutest advocates for the improvement of the workhouse infirmaries;
and, aided by the full force of the Medical Press, the great work was
commenced. The first time he (the Chairman) had had the pleasure of
working with ladies was in Mr. Ernest Hart's house; he was thankful that
now, in all useful social work, ladies came to the front. Dr. Rogers'
work led up to Mr. Gathorne Hardy's Act, and his force and determination
prevailed so far that the more expensive medicines were henceforth to be
paid for by the Guardians, but for a long time the bulk of the drugs
supplied was still left as a charge upon the ill-paid medical officer.
Dr. Rogers' great and difficult work had been in connection with Poor
Law administration. He believed one of the greatest political economists
of the day, whom he saw present, would bear him out that political
economy and philanthropy went hand in hand when they were employed in
energetic and persistent endeavours to arrest disease in its earliest
stages. No one could go much about our general hospitals without seeing
how much of the misery and distress of this world were caused by
disease. We were subject to a variety of diseases--and diseases meant
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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