Local Health, Local History in the Oxford DNB

To mark Local History Month in May 2008, we present a selection of medical lives from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Covering nearly 300 years, the following subjects—all of whom were born or practised in Lancashire—show the breadth and changing patterns of medical provision: from man-midwifery to radiotherapy, and from surgery to dietary reform.

Physicians and surgeons

• Charles White (1728–1813), surgeon and man-midwife
• James Braid (1795–1860), surgeon and hypnotist
• Annie McCall (1859–1949), physician and promoter of antenatal and maternity care
• Sir Herbert Barker (1869–1950), bone-setter
• Nesta Wells (1892–1986), physician and first female police surgeon

Nursing

• Beryl Hutchinson (1892–1981), volunteer ambulance driver and member of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
• Dame Kathleen Raven (1910–1999), nurse

Health and lifestyle reformers

• Amelia Freund (b. 1824/5, d. in or after 1881), food reformer
• Phebe Lankester (1825–1900), writer on botany and health
• Margaret Parker (1827/8–1896), temperance activist
• Thomas Allinson (1858–1918), dietitian and food reformer
• Mary Meta Stack (1883–1935), health and fitness expert

Modern specialisms

• Catherine Chisholm (1878–1952), paediatrician
• Robert Minnitt (1889–1974), anaesthetist
• Ralston Paterson (1897–1981), radiotherapist

More local history in the Oxford DNB

• further shapers of British regional history are available with our interactive maps: local heroes and podcasts by place.
• with the Oxford DNB online you can search for people by county, town, village or street. Tips for using the ODNB for research or schools projects is available here.

And more Lancashire lives

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography includes the life stories of 56,000 men and women who shaped British history worldwide from the 4th cent BC to 2004.

The Oxford DNB online is freely available for patrons of Lancashire County Library and Information Service via the Online Reference Library (see under Premium Sources). Library members can access the Dictionary remotely from any computer using their card number as a log-in.

With the Oxford DNB you can look for people by name, or use People Search to find more than 1000 men and women active in Lancashire history.

Free Oxford DNB

Topical history is always available in the ODNB: try our Lives of the Week, online magazine, biography podcast and Open Shelves for free content and ways into the main Dictionary.

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