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
This report, thus obtained, was sent
to the Guardians, whereupon a man, who had misconducted himself at the
official inquiry by coarsely asking "whether mesenteric disease was not
something to eat," moved that I be suspended from my office. This was
adopted by the Board, only four of the members supporting me, the fact
being that the Board had changed very considerably at the preceding
election, some of the Board ejected from office two years before having
unfortunately returned again. Of course it was necessary for the Board
to report this suspension to the Poor Law Board. The clerk asked
permission to absent himself from duty for a time. He took with him the
minutes of the Board for the preceding twelve years, and busied himself
with extracting all the hostile resolutions which the Board had adopted
against me, frequently at his suggestion, in return for my continuous
efforts to cleanse their augean stable. I do not know who had distinctly
intimated to the clerk that it was desirable to get rid of me, but the
mover of my suspension stated that he knew the Poor Law Board wanted to
get me discharged. That was admitted some time after by Sir Michael
Hicks Beach in a conversation he had with a medical gentleman living
near him in Gloucestershire.
Some month after my suspension a copy of the clerk's extracts was sent
me by the Poor Law Board, and I was asked what I had to say to it. I
acknowledged its receipt, and asked for an official inquiry. This
request was ignored, although it was suggested by a minority of the
Board, by the Vestry of St. Anne's, Soho, who unanimously supported me,
and by many influential inhabitants of the parish in which I had lived
and worked. That my suspension would have been followed by the Poor Law
Board calling on me to resign my office, without delay, would have been
certain, but the President, Earl Devon, was away, although the most
terrible distress prevailed that winter in East London. He had gone off
to the South of France, and there he remained some three months. On his
return, he at once put me out of doubt by removing me from my office.
It is very curious, but true, that when I turned on this Department and
stated my own case, he made the remark to a friend, who repeated it to
me, that he was surprised at my hostility to the Board, as in calling
for my resignation no reflection had been made by the Department on my
character. At this time a general order was issued by the Department,
imposing, without payment, additional and onerous obligations upon
Workhouse medical officers. It was to the effect that they should make,
from time to time, a return of all that was amiss in their respective
workhouses to the Board of Guardians, the doing of which, on my own
account, had led to my differences with the Strand Board. It had always
been understood that this was one of the duties of the Inspectors, but
it was attempted to throw the obligation on the doctors. After Earl
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account