Lock hospital

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Cartoon showing inmates of a lock hospital, 1802. The man at left is undergoing paracentesis (draining of fluid from the abdomen). In the centre, one patient reads handbills for quack medicines. At right, a prosperous and smug apothecary (pharmacist) rides in a coach with footmen; his family motto is Memento mori, "remember you shall die." A satire on the refurbishment (or building) of a Lock Hospit Wellcome V0013419.jpg
Cartoon showing inmates of a lock hospital, 1802. The man at left is undergoing paracentesis (draining of fluid from the abdomen). In the centre, one patient reads handbills for quack medicines. At right, a prosperous and smug apothecary (pharmacist) rides in a coach with footmen; his family motto is Memento mori , "remember you shall die."
London Lock Hospital, 1831 London Lock Hospital.jpg
London Lock Hospital, 1831
Plan of the lock hospital of Southwark: it includes a "pleget room," devoted to the changing of dressings. Plan of the Lock Hospital, Southwark Wellcome M0015151.jpg
Plan of the lock hospital of Southwark: it includes a "pleget room," devoted to the changing of dressings.

A lock hospital was an establishment that specialised in treating sexually transmitted diseases. They operated in Britain and its colonies and territories from the 18th century to the 20th. [1]

Contents

History

The military had a close association with a number of the hospitals. By the mid-19th century, most of the larger army bases in India were home to a lock hospital. [2] There were more military than civil lock hospitals in India, due to the prevalence of venereal diseases amongst British troops. [3] In 1858, the Admiralty paid to have one opened in Portsmouth and, in 1863, another in Plymouth. [4]

The earliest lock hospitals in India were established around 1797 at Berhampur, Kanpur, Danapur, and Fatehgarh. They were usually within bazaars, surrounded by a mud wall and staffed by a doctor and a female nurse. The local police were in charge of rounding up women suspected of being diseased, who could return home only after obtaining a certificate of discharge. [5]

Lock Hospital operated in Hong Kong from 1858 to 1894 to deal with venereal diseases.[ citation needed ]

The term "lock hospital" originates from their use as leprosariums, after the "locks", or rags, which covered the lepers' lesions. [6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Loundes, Frederick W. (1882). Lock Hospitals and Lock Wards in General Hospitals. London: J. & A. Churchill.
  2. ↑ Dartnell, George R. (1860). "On the prevalence and severity of syphilis in the British army and its prevention". British Medical Journal. 1 (174): 317–319. doi:10.1136/bmj.s4-1.174.317. PMC   2252720 .
  3. ↑ Sehrawat, Samiksha. "Institutions: Lock hospitals: Measures to halt venereal diseases". Medical History of British India. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  4. ↑ Stark, Suzanne J. (1998). Female Tars: Women aboard ship in the age of sail. Pimlico. p. 33. ISBN   978-0-7126-6660-2.
  5. ↑ Wald, Erica (5 May 2009). "From begums and bibis to abandoned females and idle women". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 46 (1): 5–25. doi:10.1177/001946460804600102. S2CID   143874173.
  6. ↑ "Lock Hospital, Hyde Park Corner". Sara Douglass, Old London Maps. 2006. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
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