medicine Archives - Cumbrian Characters

Bonesetter – a family occupation

Posted on November 17, 2019 by HarrietP

Bonesetter: a person, usually not formally qualified, who set broken or dislocated bones. The above gravestone, at Beacon Edge Cemetery, Penrith, caught my eye. It is rare to see an occupation mention... Read More

Kill or cure: Georgian medicine

Posted on October 27, 2019January 22, 2021 by HarrietP

Georgian medicine: introduction The best way to live a long and healthy life is stay away from doctors and never take medicine. Such was the philosophy of a relative of mine who made it to 94, before ... Read More

Quack medicines and ‘miracle cures’

Posted on November 25, 2018January 22, 2021 by HarrietP

A further look at the discomforting world of Victorian ‘cures’ for illness In July 1863, a former Carlisle weaver named Thomas Hetherington was fined £5 by magistrates in Hartlepool for selling q... Read More

Scarlet fever in the 1800s

Posted on October 20, 2018January 22, 2021 by HarrietP

Scarlet fever in the 1800s was a common disease among children – and a deadly one. And sadly, cleanliness and ventilation were either a luxury for poorer households, or maybe not appreciated as impo... Read More

Cumbrian Characters

Family history is so much more than names and dates

Category: medicine

Bonesetter – a family occupation

Kill or cure: Georgian medicine