Fury in a Human Shape? Rewriting the history of nurses before the reform movement
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A poetical patient of the Devon and Exeter Infirmary in 1809 critiqued the attitude of hospital nurses as 'fury in a human shape', but there are good reasons to unpick the stereotype of pre-reform nurses as drunken and brutish. This paper considers a variety of evidence shedding light on nurses' relationships with patients and with doctors to reconsider women's attitudes to (and competency in) nursing. It will discuss domestic and institutional care, with a focus on the one hundred years before Nightingale's birth.
Professor Alannah Tomkins has worked as a historian at Keele University in Staffordshire since 1995. She is a researcher of poverty, medicine, and nursing and is the author of Nursing the English from Plague to Peterloo, 1665-1820 (Manchester University Press, forthcoming).
Speaker: Professor Alannah Tompkins, University of Keele
Date: Wednesday, 4 June, 4:00pm
Venue: Wheeler Building, Chester
Host: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Society Historical Society
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How to get there
Access is via main Wheeler Building reception, located in the centre of Chester on Castle Drive by the River Dee. It is accessible via the M53, A55, A483, A51 and A41, and public transport from the city centre.
Cycling
There are cycle shelters at Queen’s Park which are marked with a yellow circle and the letter C on University location maps.
Public Transport
Chester railway station is a 20-minute walk from Wheeler and the Arriva 1 and 11 run frequent services that stop within a short walking distance. The Arrowebrook Coaches 26 also stops nearby. Parking is not available for students at Wheeler, however, all three Park and Ride routes, PR1, PR2 and PR3 have connections within walking distance to the site.
Parking
For alternative car parks, including the nearby Little Roodee, see the Cheshire West and Chester Council website.