Welfare Systems and the Parish Nurse in Early Modern London, 1650–1725

Abstract

This article argues that the part played by parish nurses in the capital's welfare system requires radical reassessment. Such women were playing a central role in the lives of the poor by the early 18th century. It will demonstrate that, at least in some of London's large suburban parishes, there existed a surprisingly sophisticated network of parish nurses who played an important part in the overall care package delivered to paupers. Such nurses, often operating on a very substantial scale, were running what were in effect nursing homes for the homeless and sick poor. These women were running multi-functional enterprises. In addition to caring for the sick poor, they looked after abandoned and orphaned children, pregnant women and lunatics. The existence of these individuals has not been hitherto identified in the metropolis, has been almost completely missed by those interested in the history of women's work, and hardly features in the small but growing literature on nursing in early modern England. Such neglect is not surprising, because, as the article concludes, such 'multi-functional' parish nurses, in all probability, only existed in the metropolis for a relatively short period of time. The metropolitan workhouse movement undermined many functions of the London parish nurse. By the mid-18th century, the roles and responsibilities of 'the parish nurse' had become restricted largely to the rearing and nursing of children and infants.     

Tory anti-exclusionism in church and state: Richard Thompson of Bristol in 1678–85

This article examines the career of Richard Thompson, briefly dean of Bristol in 1685, as an example of a clergyman of Tory royalist and anti-exclusion principles. Thompson’s public attack on the Popish plot and impugning of the exclusionist cause led to his attempted impeachment by the House of Commons in December 1680. Only the prorogation of parliament in January prevented his impeachment. Nevertheless, Thompson remained a figure strongly associated with the anti-exclusion cause in Bristol. His fractious behaviour brought him to the attention of Archbishop Sancroft on a number of occasions. But this did not prevent his advancement to a prebend and then the deanery of Bristol. His sermon during the Monmouth rebellion is one of the highest expressions of Tory theology. Thompson’s extreme High Tory position therefore also serves to illustrate the spectrum of views within Toryism in the late 1670s and 1680s.     

Difficillima et Ardua: theory and practice in treatises on the abacus, 950–1150

The abacus is often regarded as a comparatively simple instrument of calculation. Yet the scholars of the tenth to twelfth centuries who wrote the practical manuals on the use of the abacus often went to some lengths to relate their teaching to the work of their contemporaries in the other artes, and to provide theoretical explanations for the principles involved. They sought to elevate the study of the abacus to the status enjoyed by the other arts. This paper attempts to examine the range of their treatment and the limitations imposed on their efforts by their subject-matter.