Report and State of the Kelso Dispensary

When I was in the National archives the other day I came across some leaflets entitled Report and State of The Kelso Dispensary. I found it useful to help me understand the daily running of the dispensary. Here is a transcription of the front page of the leaflet:

Report and State

of

The Kelso Dispensary

77th Year of the Institution

The Physicians and Surgeons connected with the Institution attend the Dispensary every Sunday before Divine Service, and every Friday form nine to eleven o’clock, to give their advice, and to direct the Apothecary of the Dispensary (who also attends on these days), to dispense such Medicines as are proper for the Patients recommended. In cases of acute, and occasionally in chronic disease, when Patients cannot be brought to the Dispensary, the Surgeons of the Institution are allowed, at the recommendation of a Subscriber, to visit them in the country at the expense of the Charity, in terms of the following rule of the Institution, viz., “That no one be visited in the country who can be brought by any conveyance to the Dispensary without personal hazard; that when in cases of sickness or accident it becomes necessary for the Surgeons to visit a Patient in the country, the visit shall not be repeated at the Surgeon’s discretion for a longer period than till the first ordinary Meeting of Physicians, Surgeons, and other Office-bearers; at which Meeting it shall be incumbent on the Visiting Surgeon to report the case, and after consultation it will be in the power of he Meeting either to order a continuation of visits for a limited time, or a notification to be made to the Patient that he must be brought to the Dispensary in Kelso–it being always kept in view that the expense of these visits, to be borne by the Institution shall not exceed triple the sum subscribed by the recommender.” Patients in the town of Kelso may be visited in their own homes by the Apothecary to the Institution, upon an order from the Physicians or Surgeons to do so. All recommendatory letters to be addressed, “To the Apothecary of the Kelso Dispensary,” who is appointed to deliver the same to the Surgeons in rotation.

No Patient will be visited in the country at the expense of the Institution, unless a visit is solicited by a Subscriber, or ordered by the Physicians. The other regulations under which the dispensary is managed, and the rules by which proper objects of charity are recommended are entitled to the benefit of the Institution, will be furnished by the secretary. 

There is a record kept of the Patients, their ages, diseases, the event of their case, the names id the Subscribers, and the parishes to which they belong. There have been 715 admitted for the year from the 1st October 1853, to the 1st October, 1854.

BATHS

There is one Bath kept exclusively for the Patients of the Dispensary; another, handsomely fitted up with marble for the accommodation of the Public. Baths may be had at one hour’s notice, on application to the Housekeeper, for payment of 1s. Hot Bath, and 6d. Cold and Shower Bath, which sums go toward the support of the Charity.

© Kelso dispensary data - Crown copyright. National Archives of Scotland reference HH71/5.

© Transcription — Copyright Graham Maxwell Ancestry 2011.

Kelso Dispensary Year One PDF

Well I have another treat for everybody today: a full transcription of year one of the Kelso Dispensary patient records is online and FREE. These records are fantastic! They can link families back to the early 1700’s and beyond in some cases, as well as giving some colour to your family tree. What was your ancestor really like? See, for example Agnes Fairbairn of Smailholm, born about 1747 recorded in the register with a case of Hystericks. Alternatively you could be related to Christian Burn who had Flatulent Pains!

From a more genealogical point of view, there are also some dates of death recorded which may well not be recorded elsewhere. A bit of Google searching may be necessary for identify some of the archaic names for diseases.

I hope you find this register as fascinating as we have, once we finish the first volume we’ll make it available in our bookshop. We’re not sure on the cost yet but we’ll keep you all informed.

Here’s the link in full: http://www.maxwellancestry.com/ancestry/resources/kelsodisp1.pdf

The Kelso Dispensary

I was looking at the records of the Kelso Dispensary (held by the National Archives of Scotland) the other day. These are fascinating records and an amazing number of people seem to have gone through their doors. The Kelso Dispensary was founded in 1777 and people from all over the Scottish Borders and Northumberland were treated there and for quite a surprising number of different diseases. There are a number of records remaining; the most interesting being the admission registers. The earliest of these (commencing in 1777) gives the name, parish, date of admission, age, disease and “event” of their cases. As time goes on more details are recorded, and a page per person allowed for more details, having said that as with many records they exact details vary from person to person. The “event” of their cases column generally tells us whether a person was cured, relieved or died, as these are pre-1855 this could be another source of death records when other records do not exist.

Accounts books also survive which could give an insight into an ancestor’s financial circumstances, however most of the funds seem to have come from a few wealthy patrons and not the individual patients.

I’m not sure whether these will be records we will transcribe or index at the moment, however we can easily look at them on an individual basis if you are interested.

Research in Edinburgh