Remote & Rural Remedies

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"Survey return from John Cowie"

Lerwick.

1851.

RCP/COL/4/8/256

John Cowie was a medical practitioner in Lerwick.

Lerwick was a parish and a post town on the Shetland Islands. It has a harbour in Bressay Sound. The population in 1837 was 3564. The parish had a freestone quarry. The biggest industry was fishing.

[[Addressee]]
John Cowie, Esqre
Surgeon
Lerwick

[[Survey]]
QUERIES

1. How long have you practiced in the locality you at present occupy?

Ten years

2. What are the ordinary and what the greatest distances which you have to travel in visiting patients?

My practice is principally confined to the town and parish
of Lerwick but occasionally I have to travel distances of from twenty to
thirty miles.

3. What means of conveyance do you employ in going long journeys?

Boats when available and on
other occasions ponies.

4. What is the state of the roads in your neighbourhood?

Generally good since the Destitution
Board¹ commenced operations here in 1847.

5. Is the position of medical men in general in your quarter improved, or otherwise, of late years?

It has not improved, the peasantry having been much impoverished
[1 word illegible] by the failure of the potato crop during the last four years.

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?

I think the parishes of Lerwick, Bressay and
Tingwall ought be undertaken by one practitioner.

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 extreme poverty of the peasantry generally renders them unable
to pay for medical aid, and as a consequence irregular prac-
titioners abound in every parish, some of whom interfere much
with the work duties of the profession.

[[Additional text]]

Jno Cowie

Explanatory notes:

1. Destitution Committee set up by the Free Church of Scotland in response to the Highland Potato Famine.

"Survey return from John Cowie"

Lerwick.

1851.

John Cowie was a medical practitioner in Lerwick.

Lerwick was a parish and a post town on the Shetland Islands. It has a harbour in Bressay Sound. The population in 1837 was 3564. The parish had a freestone quarry. The biggest industry was fishing.

1. Destitution Committee set up by the Free Church of Scotland in response to the Highland Potato Famine.