SCOTTISH MEDICAL RECORDS
Chris Paton helps you navigate the wealth of resources that shed light on both practitioners and patients
Chris Paton helps you navigate the resources which shed light on both patients and practioners
From the 18th century onwards Scotland’s medical institutions began to develop a truly worldwide reputation
The traceable history of medical treatment in Scotland goes far back into antiquity. From the advent of Christianity in the country there have been many tales of healing holy saints and wells endowed with some sort of mystical healing abilities, such as that of Saint Margaret’s Well at Restalrig. As medieval abbeys came to be established across the country as centres of learning, the use of herbs and books of medicine began to shape the treatment of illness, often with knowledge imported from the Continent. In parts of the Highlands the practise of medicine was a hereditary role, with families such as the MacBeths (from Gaelic ‘MacBheathadh’, ‘son of life’) and the MacConachers of Lorn amongst those so involved.
By the 15th century many Scottish burghs were beginning to pass laws to improve the health of their citizens, and to prevent the spread of disease. The introduction of trade incorporations saw many occupations effectively unionised. This included barbers, first noted in Edinburgh records in 1451, who formed an incorporation with surgeons, whilst apothecary practices also developed across the country. James IV (1473-1513) was very interested in the medical arts, and is recorded as having performed dental operations and surgical procedures on some of his subjects. By the 16th century most burghs had their own surgeons, whilst royal surgeons also had charge of various country districts. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh was set up in 1505, whilst the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons was later founded in Glasgow in 1599. The establishment of Scotland’s universities further helped to turn the medical arts into an academic discipline. King’s College in Aberdeen was the
first university college in Britain to include medicine as part of its teachings from 1505, followed by the universities of Glasgow (established 1637) and Edinburgh (in 1685). Through the work of these institutions, Scotland began to develop a truly worldwide reputation for medicine from the 18th century. For more on the history of Scottish medicine, visit scotlandandmedicine.com.
Doctors & nurses
Such a rich background and heritage means that there is a wealth of records available to help with your ancestral research, whether your forebear was a medical practitioner, or was treated by one.
If your ancestor attended one of the colleges or universities, there will be a range of materials available on their career in the institution’s libraries. From the 19th century onwards information on surgeons and physicians is easier to glean from the annually produced Medical
Directory (established in 1845), and the Medical Register (from 1859), which provide details on the qualifications, publications and careers of those practising medicine. The 1865 entry for Dr William Henderson of Perth (1784-1870), for example, notes several of the physician’s publications, including his book Plain Rules for Improving the Health, which is free to consult on Google Books ( books. google.co.uk), and an article in the Edinburgh Medical
Journal from 1821, entitled “Case of Caesarean Section where Child was saved”, which is available in many libraries across the country. The child born through a caesarean operation was subsequently christened Caesar Anna Low in Perth on 30 September 1820, in honour of the procedure, whiled the preserved pelvis of her mother can now be viewed in Edinburgh University’s Anatomy Museum as an exhibit.
If your ancestor was a nurse, the National Records of Scotland holds some useful records, including various registers of trained nurses appointed by the Scottish Board of Health to poorhouses between 1885 and 1930 (catalogued under HH2/33 to HH2/36), and registers of nursing examination candidates, appointments and exams passed (HH2-37). From 1925 all nurses had to be registered by the state, with registration records available at The National Archives at Kew (under DT 10-14) and examination records (DT 22-32).
Scottish sickness
In terms of the health care of the nation, the ScotlandsPlaces website ( scotlandsplaces.gov. uk) holds a particularly fascinating and free to access digitised resource in the form of Medical Officer of Health Reports from 1891. The role of the Medical Officers was created a year before, and their reports note the conditions within the various registration districts within which people were residing, as well as the diseases they were suffering from, epidemics, and other health issues. The reports are useful in allowing us to step back and take a wider look at the circumstances in which our ancestors lived, to truly understand the squalor that many experienced.
For patient care, hospital records and register indexes are increasingly appearing online. If you know the name of the institution where your ancestor may have been treated, you can try to locate the records via the Scottish Archive Network catalogue at www.scan.og.uk. Alternatively, you can also consult The Hospital Records
Database at nationalarchives.
gov.uk/hospitalrecords, a joint project between The National Archives and the Wellcome Library, part of the Wellcome Trust ( wellcome.ac.uk). If, for example, you’re looking for any surviving records from Glasgow Royal Infirmary, you can search for this either by the institution’s name or by using Glasgow as a location. The details returned provide a brief overview of the history of the hospital, the administrative authorities responsible for it and where to find the records – in this case, the NHS Greater Glasgow Archives, based in the Mitchell Library building in Glasgow. In addition, the site breaks
Instead of coroners, deaths in Scotland were investigated by procurator fiscals
down the collections into respective areas, noting that it holds nursing records from 1893-1993 and, importantly, admission and discharge records from 17941939, as well as clinical and patients’ records from 1811-1943. Be aware that with most collections there will be a 100-year closure period for access, to protect the privacy of older patients who may still be alive.
If your ancestor was placed into an asylum, the NRS has some additional collections of interest. Notices of Admission were compiled by the Superintendent of Mental Institutions into a series of monthly volumes from 18581962, and are catalogued by the archive under MC2. They name the referring physician, details of the petition to the Sheriff for committal, information on the patient, two medical certificates, and the emergency order granted by the Sheriff. A General Register of Lunatics in Asylums from 1805-1978 is catalogued separately under MC7.
Presented in chronological order, it also provides details of dates of patients’ admission, the asylums to which committed, dates of discharge or death, and in whose care the patients are under. Additional records from the Mental Welfare Commission from 1805-1986 are catalogued by the NRS under MC1-MC16, but again, a 100-year closure period is in play. If an ancestor died suddenly, unlike England, Wales and Ireland, there is no coroner system in Scotland. Instead, the death has historically been investigated by a public prosecutor known as a procurator fiscal. In 1895, the Fatal Accidents Inquiry ( Scotland) Act 1895 led to the creation of a sheriff-led jury based system to examine the cause of death for various industrial accidents. The act was amended in 1906 to take into account some non-industrial related sudden or suspicious deaths, and the jury component abandoned by a further reform in 1976. Not all FAI records have survived, but for those that do a guide is available on the NRS website ( nrscotland.gov. uk/research/guides/fatalaccident-inquiry- records).