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"Survey return from Andrew Stoddart"
Brodick, Arran.
1851.
RCP/COL/4/8/207
Andrew Stoddart was a medical practitioner in Brodick.
Brodick was a village and a quoad sacra parish within the parish of Kilbride on Arran. It had a good quay, alongside the village of Lamlash. In 1882, the village had a population of 933. For further information on the whole parish, see the entry for Kilbride.
[[Addressee]]
Aw. Stoddart Esq.
Surgeon
Brodick
Arran
[[Survey]]
QUERIES
1. How long have you practiced in the locality you at present occupy?
30. years
2. What are the ordinary and what the greatest distances which you have to travel in visiting patients?
ordinary distance from 4 to 8 miles,
greatest distance, 20 Miles.
3. What means of conveyance do you employ in going long journeys?
Sometimes on Horseback,
but generally in a gig1
4. What is the state of the roads in your neighbourhood?
good in general
5. Is the position of medical men in general in your quarter improved, or otherwise, of late years?
Improved
6. Supposing the people of the Highlands and Islands were generally able to pay for medical
advice, according to rates usually observed in other parts of the kingdom, what extent of
country in your locality would you regard as sufficient to occupy a single practitioner
fully?
It depends entirely upon the
population of the district, probably
from 10 to 12 Miles would be enough
7. Mention, if you please, any special hardships incident to your situation, such as you think
might be remedied by some general measure or enactment?
The people are
mostly poor & cannot pay for medical
advice. & the distances so great that it
is a hardship for a Medical Man to
travel so far for nothing
Explanatory notes:
1. A gig is a light two-wheeled carriage pulled by one horse.
Remote & Rural Remedies
