The account books of Boroughs and Parishes show that the poor received medical treatment from men and women indiscriminately. A whole series of such payments occur in the minute book of the Dorchester Corporation. “It is ordered that the Vˡⁱ to be paid to Peter Salanova for cutting of Giles Garrett’s leg shall be paid out of the Xˡⁱ yearly paiable out of the Hospitall for pious vses ... to have the one halfe having cutt of his leg already, and the other halfe when he is thoroughly cured.[[612]] ... Unto the Widdow Foote xs. for the curing of the Widow Huchins’ lame leg at present; and xs. more when the cure is finished[[613]].... Mr. Losse should be payed by the Steward of the Hospital the somme of viij li for his paynes and fee as Phisitian in taking care of the poore of the Towne for the last yeare ... as it hath bin formerly accustomed.... Vnto Mr. Mullens the somme of thirty shillings for curing Hugh Rogers of a dangerous fistula.”[[614]] Three pounds more (three having already been paid) was ordered to be given to “Cassander Haggard for finishing the great cure on John Drayton otherwise Keuse.”[[615]] In another case the Council tendered to Mr. Mullens, “the chirurgeon, the some of xxxˢ for curing of Thomas Hobbs, but he answered hee would consider of it next weeke [He declined].”[[616]]
At Cowden the overseers paid to Dr. Willett for “reducing the arm of Elizᵗʰ Skinner, and for ointment, cerecloths and journeys, £2;” three years later a further sum of 10s. was given “to Goodwife Wells for curing Eliz Skinner’s hand.”[[617]] Mary Olyve was paid 6s. 8d. “for curing a boye that was lame” at Mayfield,[[618]] and 15s. was given to “Widow Thurston for healing of Stannard’s son,” by the churchwardens at Cratfield.[[619]] In Somerset £5 was paid to “Johane Shorley towards the cure of Thomas Dudderidge. Further satisfaction when cure is don.”[[620]]
Such entries show that though women may have practised surgery and medicine chiefly as domestic arts, nevertheless their skill was also used professionally, their natural aptitude in this direction enabling them to maintain their position throughout the seventeenth century even when deprived of all opportunities for systematic study and scientific experiments, and in spite of the determined attacks by the Corporations of physicians and surgeons; but their success was owing to the fact that Science had as yet achieved small results in the standard of medical efficiency.
C. Midwifery.
It has been shown that the employment of women in the arts of medicine, nursing and teaching was chiefly, though not entirely, confined to the domestic sphere; midwifery, on the other hand, though occasionally practised by amateurs, was, in the majority of cases, carried on by women who, whether skilled or unskilled, regarded it as the chief business of their lives, and depended upon it for their maintenance. Not only did midwifery exist on a professional basis from immemorial days, but it was formerly regarded as a mystery inviolably reserved for women; and though by the seventeenth century the barrier which excluded men had broken down, the extent to which the profession had in the past been a woman’s monopoly is shown by the fact that the men who now began to practise the art were known as men-midwives.
The midwife held a recognised position in Society and was sometimes well-educated and well-paid. Nothing is known as to the mediæval history of midwifery in England; and possibly nothing ever will be known concerning it, for the Englishwoman of that period had no impulse to commit her experience and ideas to writing. All the wisdom which touched her special sphere in life was transmitted orally from mother to daughter, and thus at any change, like the Industrial Revolution, which silently undermined the foundations of society, the traditional womanly wisdom could vanish, leaving no trace behind it. Even in the Elizabethan period and during the seventeenth century, when most women could read and many could write, they show little tendency to record information concerning their own affairs. But the profession of midwifery was then no longer reserved exclusively for women. The first treatise on the subject published in England was a translation by Raynold of “The Byrth of Mankynd.” He says in his preface that the book had already been translated into “Dutche, Frenche, Spanyshe and dyvers other languages. In the which Countries there be fewe women that can reade, but they wyll haue one of these bookes alwayes in readinesse ... it beinge lykewyse sette foorth in our Englyshe speeche ... it may supply the roome and place of a good Mydwyfe, ... and truly ... there be syth the fyrst settynge forth of this booke, right many honourable Ladyes, & other Worshypfull Gentlewomen, which have not disdayned the oftener by the occasion of this booke to frequent and haunt women in theyr labours, caryinge with them this booke in theyr handes, and causyng such part of it as doth chiefely concerne the same pourpose, to be read before the mydwyfe, and the rest of the women then beyng present; whereby ofttymes, then all haue been put in remembraunce of that, wherewith the laboryng woman hath bene greatly comforted, and alleuiated of her thronges and travayle.... But here now let not the good Mydwyves be offended with that, that is spoken of the badde. For verily there is no science, but that it hath his Apes, Owles, Beares and Asses ... at the fyrst commyng abroade of this present booke, many of this sorte of mydwyves, meuyd eyther of envie, or els of mallice, or both, diligented ... to fynde the meanes to suppresse ... the same; makyng all wemen of theyr acquayntaunce ... to beleeue, that it was nothyng woorth: and that it shoulde be a slaunder to women, forso muche as therein was descried and set foorth the secretes and priuities of women, and that euery boy and knaue hadd of these bookes, readyng them as openly as the tales of Robinhood &c.”[[621]]
It is sometimes supposed that childbirth was an easier process in former generations than it has become since the developments of modern civilisation. The question has a direct bearing on the profession of midwifery, but it cannot be answered here, nor could it receive a simple answer of yes or no, for it embraces two problems for the midwife, the ease and safety of a normal delivery and her resources in face of the abnormal.
No one can read the domestic records of the seventeenth century without realising that the dangers of childbed were much greater then than now; nevertheless the travail of the average woman at that time may have been easier. There was clearly a great difference in this respect between the country woman, inured to hard muscular labour, and the high-born lady or city dame. The difference is pointed out by contemporary writers. McMath dedicated “the Expert Mid-wife” to the Lady Marquies of Douglas because “as it concerns all Bearing Women ... so chiefly the more Noble and Honourable, as being more Excellent, more Tender, and Delicate, and readily more opprest with the symptoms.” Jane Sharp confirms this, saying that “the poor Country people, where there are none but women to assist (unless it be those that are exceeding poor and in a starving condition, and then they have more need of meat than Midwives) ... are as fruitful and as safe and well delivered, if not much more fruitful, and better commonly in Childbed than the greatest Ladies of the Land.”[[622]]
Rich and poor alike depended upon the midwife to bring them safely through the perils of childbirth, and it is certain that women of a high level of intelligence and possessing considerable skill belonged to the profession. The fees charged by successful midwives were very high, and during the first half of the century they were considered in no way inferior to doctors in skill. It was natural that Queen Henrietta Maria should send for one of her own country women to attend her, French midwives enjoying an extraordinarily high reputation for their skill at this time. The payment in 1630 of £100 to Frances Monnhadice, Nurse to the Queen, “for the diet & entertainment of Madame Peron, midwife to the Queen,” and further of a “Warrant to pay Madame Peron £300 of the King’s gift”[[623]] shows the high value attached to her services.
That English midwives were often possessed of ample means is shown by a deposition made by “Abraham Perrot, of Barking parish, Gentleman,” who “maketh oath that a month before the fire ... he ... paid unto Hester Shaw Widow, ... the summe of £953.6.8.”[[624]] the said Mrs. Shaw being described as a midwife; but relations who were members of this profession are never alluded to in letters, diaries or memoirs. From this absence of any social reference it is difficult to determine from what class of the community they were drawn, or what were the circumstances which led women to take up this responsible and arduous profession. No doubt necessity led many ignorant women to drift into the work when they were too old to receive new ideas and too wanting in ambition to make any serious effort to improve their skill, but the writings of Mrs. Cellier and Mrs. Jane Sharp prove that there were others who regarded their profession with enthusiasm, and who possessed an intelligence acute enough to profit by all the experience and instruction which was within their reach.