-
"Survey return from John McIntyre"
Delting, Shetland.
1850.
RCP/COL/4/8/199
John McIntyre was a church minister in Delting.
Delting was a parish on the Shetland Islands and contained the islands of Muckle Roe and Little Roe. In 1841, the population was 2087. The main industry was fishing of ling, cod, and herring. Some parts of the land was also cultivated.
[[Addressee]]
The Rev.
John McIntyre
Delting
Lerwick
[[Survey]]
QUERIES
1. How many Medical Men practice within the Parish of Delting?
No Medical Man has practised in this Parish of Delting within the last 15 months –
2. The Names and Addresses of these.
[No text]
3. Has the number increased or diminished of late years?
A Medical Man previous to that time was resident in this parish & appointed also for Northmavin
4. Have any left the Parish since you became connected with it? If so, for what reasons?
This Person whose medical studies were incomplete left for reasons of his own & his services were of very little use to the poor as they were unable to remunerate him -
5. Is there any complaint among the people of inadequacy in the supply of Medical aid?
The people feel deeply the want of medical aid
6. Do you know of any cases of protracted suffering, or of injury by Accident, such as might have been alleviated had proper advice been at hand?
A young female in the neighbourhood of the Manse died I may say was about a year & half ago murdered by the ignorance & neglect of her widowed mother & neighbours.
7. To what extent is the deficiency of qualified Practitioners made up by the efforts of other parties?
The Merchants, clergy & Proprietors dispense medicines & advice as far as they can to the poor who freely avail themselves of such assistance.
8. Does your experience enable you to suggest any measure – of general applicability – such as would be likely to relieve to some extent the evils (if they exist) of deficiency in the supply of Medical aid?
The Person alluded to above had £16 from the Parochial boards1 of Delting & Northmavin & the same sum from Government to reside in this Neighbourhood But as the poor could not2 pay for his services they availed themselves most sparingly of them & a Gentleman of Property resident in another parish having called for his aid The Medical man lived for 6 or 8 months with his patient & finally attended him to Edinr. During this period of neglect the young woman died.
9. What Heritors3 are resident, either generally or occasionally, in your Parish?
Arthur Gifford of Busta
James Hoseason Esq. Mossbank4
[[Additional Text]]5
This Parish or Ministry contains upwards of 2000 of a very scattered population6 who except six families are in a pauperized condition. They feel it imposible7 to pay the extravagant rate of Medical charges here made by the few resident Medical Men in Zetland. The temperance or rather starvation in which they live as well as the salubrity of the dreary & desolate wastes in which we are imprisoned make them to feel their miseries less painfully than they would otherwise do – Had our successive liberal Governments been less liberal towards Papal endowments in Ireland & abroad, they might perhaps have been able to have appointed half a dozen Medical Men with a liberal salary for the 12 parishes of these islands, or if the British Treasury were8 too poor for such a stretch of generosity surely they might afford us a few well educated females of respectability for Midwives – 9 And who might be qualified to afford the population generally wholesome advice in cases of danger & necessity –
John McIntyre
Manse of Delting
Decr 4th 1850
Explanatory notes:
1. Following the Poor Law Amendment (Scotland) Act of 1845 parochial boards were set up in each parish to administer poor relief.
2. Continues into query box 9.
3. A heritor was a landowner, under Scots Law, whose holdings were sizeable enough for them to be liable for the payment of public burdens such as Poor Law rates, road and bridge assessments and the church minister’s stipend.
4. Written in the box containing the query.
5. Written on the reverse.
6. Part of the word “population” is obscured by curve in page.
7. Misspelling of “impossible”.
8. Part of word “were” obscured by curve in page.
9. The text is divided by the printed return address.
Remote & Rural Remedies
