Book contents
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures and Tables
- Introduction
- Part I The Hostipal
- Part II The Workplace
- Part III The Community
- 5 Charity, Compensation and Carriers: The Development of Blame and Responsibility in Response to Epidemics
- 6 The ‘Typhoid Trials’: Compensation Culture in 1930s Croydon
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
5 - Charity, Compensation and Carriers: The Development of Blame and Responsibility in Response to Epidemics
from Part III - The Community
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures and Tables
- Introduction
- Part I The Hostipal
- Part II The Workplace
- Part III The Community
- 5 Charity, Compensation and Carriers: The Development of Blame and Responsibility in Response to Epidemics
- 6 The ‘Typhoid Trials’: Compensation Culture in 1930s Croydon
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
But disease germs are not our worst enemies. A new danger has arisen: an insidious enemy who works without ceasing, whose names are fear, rumour, false report, folly, ignorance, cowardice, and others equally unpleasant. This enemy has seemingly seized upon the minds of many of our once friendly and kindhearted neighbours in outlying parishes, so far destroying their good nature and commonsense that they are now actively engaged in boycotting Malton and its too-hard-hit trades people! Our neighbours are kicking us when we are down.
E. Tracey Archer, Malton Messenger, 19 November 1932Tracey Archer's concerns are indicative of the discussion which follows; although bacteria were generally acknowledged in popular responses, reactions to epidemics were largely informed by concepts which had a much longer history than bacteriology, such as fear of and flight from afflicted towns. Epidemics of disease generate a wealth of sources for historians to explore but the outbreak of typhoid in Malton, Yorkshire, in 1932 resulted in more personal accounts from individuals than most: several boxes of correspondence and press cuttings gathered by the Typhoid Relief Fund, revealing the suffering, concepts of disease and beliefs in responsibility for ill health among this local community.
The historiography of epidemics of diseases such as cholera, typhoid and typhus has examined public reactions to disease: flight, panic, sanitary policies, cessation of public gatherings, religious ceremonies, charity, riots and violence, and suspicions of people in authority and of foreigners.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Bacteria in Britain, 1880–1939 , pp. 125 - 148Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014