Category Archives: Medicine & Science

The Georgian Apothecary

Posted on January 11, 2017 by William Savage

Medicine in georgian times was categorised largely by the social class of the practitioner and the scale of fees they charged. Some doctors did tend to focus on one or two main approaches to treatment — sea bathing, for example. … Continue reading →

Posted in Commerce, Medicine & Science | 5 Comments

The Cure for ‘Green Sickness’

Posted on December 14, 2016 by William Savage

‘Green sickness’ was described as a condition ‘peculiar to virgins’, which was said to turn the skin a greenish colour and leave the sufferer weak and melancholic. It was also believed to be common throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, … Continue reading →

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A Pair of Famous Quacks

Posted on November 30, 2016 by William Savage

Despite The Enlightenment, the eighteenth century was still an age of credulity and superstition. Astrological almanacs and charms were sold by the thousand. Every sort of fortune-teller, quack doctor and peddler of patent remedies set themselves up in business. Since … Continue reading →

Posted in Medicine & Science | 4 Comments

The Georgian and Regency Home Medicine Chest

Posted on November 9, 2016 by William Savage

On a recent visit to Edinburgh, my wife and I visited The Georgian House in Charlotte Square. It’s a late-Georgian townhouse, wonderfully preserved, furnished and displayed by The National Trust for Scotland. During our visit, we spotted the early Regency … Continue reading →

Posted in Medicine & Science | 2 Comments

Marriage amongst the Middling Sort

Posted on June 22, 2016 by William Savage

Marriage was a significant part of life for the majority in 18th century England as it still is today. Not everyone married, of course, but most did. It was seen as a natural stage in life, important for the stability … Continue reading →

Posted in Georgian Society, Medicine & Science | 4 Comments

Infant Mortality: A Surprising View

Posted on June 1, 2016 by William Savage

There are occasions when you come upon something from the 18th century that overturns our modern assumptions about people’s outlook on life at that time. Such an event occurred to me this week when I lit on this entry in … Continue reading →

Posted in Georgian Society, Medicine & Science | 3 Comments

The Serious Business of Sea-Bathing

Posted on March 8, 2016 by William Savage

A little while ago, I wrote a post about sea bathing. It attracted so much interest I thought more research would be useful, going beyond the basics into the reasoning behind the fashion and how it changed during the 18th … Continue reading →

Posted in Medicine & Science | 4 Comments

Dealing with a Quack

Posted on January 26, 2016 by William Savage

  In the eighteenth century, legislation to protect the public from quack doctors and other medical charlatans was still in its infancy. Here’s an example from a Norwich newspaper of 1767 where the magistrates made use of such legislation as … Continue reading →

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Melancholia: The English Malady

Posted on November 4, 2015 by William Savage

Mine, you are to know, is a white Melancholy, or rather Leucocholy… which though it seldom laughs or dances, nor ever amounts to what one calls Joy or Pleasure, yet is a good easy sort of a state … But … Continue reading →

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Daily Medicine, Georgian-style

Posted on August 2, 2015 by William Savage

Elizabeth Postlethwaite in 1777 (© Copyright National Portrait Gallery, London) A little while ago, rummaging in a secondhand bookshop as I often do, I found a small, locally-published book containing extracts from the correspondence of two Norfolk sisters, Elizabeth and … Continue reading →

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