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“Little, if at all, Removed from the Illiterate Farrier or Cow-leech”: The English Veterinary Surgeon, c.1860–1885, and the Campaign for Veterinary Reform

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2012

Abigail Woods  and
Stephen Matthews
Stephen Matthews
Affiliation:
Sadly, Stephen Matthews, FRHS, died shortly after this paper was accepted. He was an enthusiastic, inspiring, and multi-faceted scholar, who will be sorely missed. This paper is dedicated to his memory.
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Medical History , Volume 54 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 29 - 54
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Copyright © The Author(s) 2010. Published by Cambridge University Press

References

1 See R E W Halliwell, ‘Is our divided profession a profession in decline?’, Veterinary Record (hereafter VR), 2008, 162 (25): 828, and subsequent correspondence.

2 One twentieth-century episode is described in A Woods, ‘The farm as clinic: veterinary expertise and the transformation of dairy farming, 1930–50’, Stud. Hist. Philos. Biol. Biomed. Sci., 2007, 38: 462–87. Although in other countries, veterinary roles and relations with animal owners and the state differed in many respects from those in Britain, the profession was similarly preoccupied with its future. C Offringa, ‘Ars veterinaria: ambacht, professie, beroep: sociologische theorie en historische praktijk’, Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, 1983, 96: 407–32; Franklin M Loew, ‘Animals and people in revolutionary France: scientists, cavalry, farmers and vétérinaires’, Anthrozoos, 1990, 4 (1): 7–13; Lise Wilkinson, Animals and disease: an introduction to the history of comparative medicine, Cambridge University Press, 1992; Ronald H Hubscher, Les maîtres des bêtes: les vétérinaires dans la société française (XVIIIe–XXe siècle), Paris, Editions Odile Jacob, 1999; Susan D Jones, Valuing animals: veterinarians and their patients in modern America, Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 2003; Peter Koolmees, ‘Constructing a profession: a questionnaire on veterinary practice in the Netherlands in 1846’, unpublished paper delivered to European Science Foundation Workshop, ‘Veterinary knowledge: between human medicine and agriculture, 1870–1970’, Paris, 2008.

3 Iain Pattison, The British veterinary profession 1791–1948, London, J A Allen, 1984; L Pugh, From farriery to veterinary medicine, 1785–1795, Cambridge, Heffer, 1962; Ernest Cotchin, The Royal Veterinary College London, London, Barracuda Books, 1990; S A Hall, ‘The struggle for the charter of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, 1844’, Vet. Hist., 1994, 8: 2–21.

4 Pattison, op. cit., note 3 above, pp. 62–86; J R Fisher, ‘Not quite a profession: the aspirations of veterinary surgeons in England in the mid-nineteenth century’, Historical Research, 1993, 66 (161): 284–302.

5 A M Carr-Saunders and P A Wilson, The professions, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1933; Harold Perkin, The rise of professional society. England since 1880, London, Routledge, 1990. Other examples of its application include Ivan Waddington, The medical profession in the industrial revolution, Dublin, Gill and Macmillan, 1984; P Brassley, ‘The professionalisation of English agriculture?’, Rural History, 2005, 16 (2): 235–51. Traits assumed to characterize a profession included: a collective orientation; specialized knowledge; an approved and regulated course of training; exclusion of the unqualified; status and authority; altruism; independence of the market; a skilled service usually provided full-time for a fee.

6 Pattison, op. cit., note 3 above; Fisher, op. cit., note 4 above.

7 Key works include: Paolo Palladino, ‘Wizards and devotees: on the Mendelian theory of inheritance and the professionalization of agricultural science in Great Britain and the United States, 1880–1930’, Hist. Sci., 1994, 32: 409–44; John C Burnham, ‘How the concept of profession evolved in the work of historians of medicine’, Bull. Hist. Med., 1996, 70: 1–24; Adrian Desmond, ‘Redefining the X axis: “professionals,” “amateurs” and the making of mid-Victorian biology: a progress report’, J. Hist. Biol., 2001, 34: 3–50; Ruth Barton, ‘“Men of science”: language, identity and professionalization in the mid-Victorian scientific community’, Hist. Sci., 2003, 41: 73–119.

8 Similar questions have been asked of the medical profession by Irvine Loudon, Medical care and the general practitioner, 1750–1850, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1987, and Anne Digby, Making a medical living: doctors and patients in the English market for medicine, 1720–1911, Cambridge University Press, 1994.

9 Fisher, op. cit., note 4 above; J Lane, ‘The English provincial veterinarian and his practice’, Vet. Hist., 1975/6, 6: 13–19; Philippa Moss, ‘Local vets and the Glasgow college’, no date, http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_60646_en.pdf (accessed 2 July 2009).

10 Roy Porter has also made this point in relation to medical practice, see Health for sale: quackery in England, 1660–1850, Manchester University Press, 1989.

11 For example, Francis Clater, Every man his own farrier, London, Baldwin, Cradock and Joy, passed through thirty-one editions between 1783 and 1823. His Every man his own cattle doctor went through five editions between 1810 and 1870.

12 R Perren, ‘The manufacture and marketing of veterinary products from 1850–1914’, Vet. Hist., 1989/90, 6 (2): 43–61; J Lane, ‘Farriers in Georgian England’, in A R Michell (ed.), The advancement of veterinary science: The bicentenary symposium series, volume 3: History of the healing professions: parallels between veterinary and medical history, Wallingford, CAB international, 1991, pp. 99–117; S Matthews, ‘The cattle plague in Cheshire, 1865–66’, North. Hist., 2001, 38 (1): 107–19; Louise Hill Curth, ‘Care of the brute beast: animals and the seventeenth-century medical market-place’, Soc. Hist. Med., 2002, 15: 375–92.

13 G Poyser, ‘Remarks on the veterinary medical associations’, Veterinarian (hereafter Vet.), 1864, 37: 832; ‘Veterinary jurisprudence’, Vet., 1871, 44: 692–5, describes a case of slander, brought by a HASC holder against a MRCVS who had described him as “only a cowleech”. The judge found for the plaintiff.

14 Pugh, op. cit., note 3 above; Hall, op. cit., note 3 above.

15 Census of England and Wales 1841–1891, House of Commons Parliamentary Papers.

16 The following directories were used in this study. For Cheshire, the commercial directories of Pigot 1818/19, 1834; Bagshaw, 1850; Morris, 1861, 1864, 1874; and Kelly, 1894. For Warwickshire: Pigot, 1828/9, 1842; Kelly, 1863, 1872, 1884, 1896; White, 1850, 1874. For London: Post Office directory, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1885, 1900. Many are available at www.historicaldirectories.org. Fisher, op. cit., note 4 above, also uses directory evidence, but does not cross-reference entries with RVC and RCVS registers.

17 Names of RVC diploma holders first appear in RVC: rules and regulations, with a list of the subscribers and names of VS (1831); The first Annual register of members of the RCVS appeared in 1858. The 1861 register included a separate list of HASC holders. The latter were not admitted to the full RCVS register until the HAS withdrew its certificate in favour of RCVS exams in 1878.

18 The limitations of this data must be acknowledged. Farriers and vets were not differentiated in censuses until 1891. Sometimes RVC and RCVS registers omitted names or provided incomplete details. Trade directories were inaccurate, incomplete, outdated by the time of publication, and provide little definite information on the reportedly large number of individuals who pursued animal healing on an informal, part-time basis. Jane Newman, ‘“A want of better information?” Some early trade directories of southern England’, South. Hist., 1994, 16: 180–4; Gareth Shaw and Allison Tipper, British directories: a bibliography and guide to directories published in England and Wales (1850–1950) and Scotland (1773–1950), 2nd ed., London, Mansell, 1996, pp. 7–22.

19 This point is also made by Fisher, op. cit., note 4 above, pp. 287–8.

20 Directory evidence, op. cit., note 16 above.

21 There were an estimated 1,287,000 horses in Great Britain in 1811, rising to 2,112,000 by 1871 and 3,277,000 by 1901. The largest growth was in the category of commercial horses, used largely for transport, though private and farm horse numbers also expanded. F M L Thompson, ‘Nineteenth-century horse sense’, Econ. Hist. Rev., 1976, n.s. 29: 60–81, p. 80.

22 Perren, op. cit., note 12 above, p. 43.

23 Ralph Turvey, ‘Horse traction in Victorian London’, J. Transport Hist., 2005, 26 (2): 38–59; Perren op. cit., note 12 above.

24 Cotchin op. cit., note 3 above, p. 61, claims there were 1.5 million cattle in Britain in 1830, though he does not provide a source for this figure. The first livestock census was in 1871: cows then numbered 5,338,000, rising to 6,746,000 in 1901. Agricultural returns, cited in Perren, op. cit., note 12 above, p. 43. For a discussion of livestock health, see Abigail Woods, ‘The construction of an animal plague: foot and mouth disease in nineteenth-century Britain’, Soc. Hist. Med., 2004, 17: 23–39.

25 Edith H Whetham, ‘Livestock prices in Britain, 1851–93’, Agric. Hist. Rev., 1963, 11: 27–35; Jonathan Brown, Agriculture in England: a survey of farming, 1870–1947, Manchester University Press, 1987, ch. 2.

26 Gamgee offered a more advanced, scientific education than the other schools, but he did not attract sufficient students to make his college financially viable. S Hall, ‘John Gamgee and the Edinburgh New Veterinary College’, VR, 1965, 77 (42): 1237–41. The new Edinburgh college was founded by William Williams, former principal of the Dick college. On being asked to resign by the Dick trustees, he decamped with most of the staff and students and set up a rival institution. C M Warwick and A A McDonald, ‘The New Veterinary College, Edinburgh, 1873–94’, VR, 2003, 153 (13): 380–6.

27 This point is made by Fisher, op. cit., note 4 above, p. 291.

28 RCVS, ‘Annual meeting’, Vet., 1863, 36: 358–70. The survey also identified 1,189 “others” who performed elements of the veterinary surgeon’s job without assuming the title.

29 National Archives, Kew (hereafter NA) PC 8/298, Veterinary Surgeons Act, appeals, 1883.

30 Census records, op. cit., note 15 above.

31 Turvey, op. cit., note 23 above.

32 Hartest, ‘A reply to MRCVS’, Vet., 1873, 46: 469; WW, ‘Veterinary quackery’, Vet., 1873, 46: 541–3; ‘A voice from border land’, Vet., 1876, 49: 598–9, 671; Correspondence to Vet., 1881, 54: 316–772, passim.

33 Trebble X, Correspondence, Vet., 1880, 53: 326–30.

34 MRCVS, ‘A voice from the provinces’, Vet., 1870, 43: 302–8; J Steele, ‘On the prospects of veterinary students’, Vet. J., 1880, 10: 266–70, 392–7; Cotchin, op. cit., note 3 above, pp. 70–80; Fisher, op. cit., note 4 above, p. 291; Moss, op. cit., note 9 above.

35 Steele, op. cit., note 34, above.

36 Thompson, op. cit., note 21 above.

37 Collection of veterinary surgeons’ bills, MS 7562 and Certificates relating to the veterinary examination of animals, MS 7565, Archives and Manuscripts, Wellcome Library; Digby, op. cit., note 8 above, pp. 254–6.

38 Turvey, op. cit., note 23 above, pp. 53–5.

39 ‘Veterinary Jurisprudence’, Vet., 1864, 37: 60–1.

40 Urban dairies housed freshly calved cows, brought from the country, which were milked for a single lactation then sold to the butcher. Reputedly, dairies were “hot beds” of disease. However, because owners had little long-term investment in cattle health they rarely sought veterinary care. The growth of the railway, refrigeration, and the cattle plague epidemic of 1865–7 caused many dairies to close. Woods, op. cit., note 24 above, p. 27.

41 Several specialist canine vets are known to have worked in London during the early nineteenth century. Neil Pemberton and Michael Worboys, Mad dogs and Englishmen: rabies in Britain 1830–1900, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, pp. 20–1. When the RVC opened a cheap practice in 1879, dogs made up the bulk of the patients. A Gardiner, ‘Courses for horses: British veterinary education and practice before 1950’, unpublished paper delivered to European Science Foundation Workshop, ‘Veterinary knowledge: between human medicine and agriculture, 1870–1970’, Paris, 2008.

42 Although anaesthetic use in human medicine began in 1846/7 (Stephanie J Snow, Operations without pain: the practice and science of anaesthesia in Victorian Britain, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), it was slow to take off in veterinary practice. Few case reports appear in veterinary journals (an exception, relating to its experimental use in the firing of horses, is Prof. Tuson, ‘Remarks on local anaesthesia applied to veterinary surgery’, Vet., 1866, 39: 779–81). By 1881, chloroform use was still not routinely taught at the RVC (RVC quarterly meeting, Vet., 1881, 54: 337–8). In his 1896 RCVS fellowship thesis on the castration of horses, W Pallin noted that while it could be of service, “the time, however, which I take is very short and the whole operation would be performed while the effects of the anaesthetics was in preparation”. RCVS fellowship theses: no 1. W Pallin, ‘Castration in horses’, 1896, RCVS library.

43 Perren, op. cit., note 22 above; Veterinary surgeons’ bills, op. cit., note 37 above; Warwickshire Record Office, CR 1596/box 133, J Rose and Son, ledgers, 1876–92.

44 A detailed consideration of the ways in which surgical techniques of unqualified and qualified vets differed, and whether such differences could be attributed to a formal education in veterinary anatomy and physiology is beyond the scope of this paper. However, analysis of the frequent case reports appearing in veterinary journals, some of which emanated from unqualified vets, would enable this question to be addressed.

45 RCVS, ‘Annual meeting’, Vet., 1864, 37: 413.

46 Wiltshire & Swindon Record Office (hereafter WSRO), ref. 776/930, James Kite, account books; J Rose and Son, op. cit., note 43 above. For a history of Rose’s practice, see Lane, op. cit., note 9 above.

47 WSRO, ref. 2515 210 Box 37/7, Contract between William Penhale and the Great Western Railway, 1881.

48 ‘North of England VMA’, Vet., 1868, 41: 60–3; Steele, op. cit., note 34 above, p. 393. VMA stands for Veterinary Medical Association.

49 Report of the Veterinary Department, 1873, PP 1874 (c978), XXI, p. 659. Most of these posts were created under the 1866 Cattle Diseases Act (passed for the control of cattle plague) and the 1869 Contagious Diseases of Animals Act (which scheduled foot and mouth disease, pleuro-pneumonia and glanders). Anon, Animal health, a centenary, 1865–1965, London, HMSO, 1965.

50 NA PC 8/182, Particulars of inspectors, 1872; Report of the Veterinary Department, 1872, PP 1872 (c619), XVIII, p. 629. The State Veterinary Department was created during the cattle plague epidemic, to collate local authority statistics and advise on disease control policy. It contained two full-time vets, J B Simonds and George Brown, who received £500 a year “on the understanding that they give up their whole time to the public”. NA PC 8/160, Report, 1869; Animal health, op. cit., note 49 above.

51 Veterinary surgeons’ bills, op. cit., note 37 above.

52 T Greaves, ‘Farriers strike, or a VMA on its trial’, Vet., 1864, 37: 578–82.

53 J Woodroffe Hill, Correspondence, Vet. J., 1880, 11: 71.

54 RCVS, Annual meeting, Vet., 1864, 37: 412–13.

55 The infirmary comprised thirty horse boxes, a surgery, drug store, Turkish bath, coach-houses, farriers’ shop, straw and hay loft, clerk and consulting office, operating space and table, dwelling house. J A W Dollar [son of Thomas Dollar], Memoirs (in the private possession of Mrs J Dollar).

56 Post Office directory of Cumberland, London, 1858, p. 133.

57 Directory evidence, op. cit., note 16 above; Veterinary surgeons’ bills, op. cit., note 37 above; J Rowe, ‘Professional advertising and “specialists”’, Vet. J., 1880, 10: 60–1.

58 J McCunn, ‘The evolution of equine practice’, VR, 1944, 56: 159; Obituary, J A Dollar, VR, 1948, 60: 137–8.

59 Digamma, Correspondence, Vet. J., 1876, 2: 396; J Gerrard, ‘Our fees’, Vet. J., 1879, 8: 139–40; Artemus Secundus, ‘Spurious titles’, Vet. J., 1879, 8: 151; Ubique, ‘Our social status’, Vet. J., 1880, 10: 376–8; J Woodroffe Hill, Correspondence, Vet. J., 1880, 11: 70–2; ‘Fraudulent warranties’, Vet. J., 1880, 16: 47–8.

60 Editorial, ‘The contagious diseases act and the veterinary profession’, Vet., 1871, 44: 486–8.

61 The HAS was an early and enthusiastic supporter of the RVC, supplying funds for J B Simond’s lectureship in cattle pathology, and for investigations into livestock disease. J R Fisher, ‘Animal health and the Royal Agricultural Society in its early years’, Journal of the Royal Historical Society, 1981, 143: 105–11; Pattison, op. cit., note 3 above, pp. 48–54, 143–5.

62 A two-year-old stirk sold at Lincoln Beast Fair in 1882 fetched an average of £17 10s, while at its Sheep Fair, sheep sold for £3 2s 5d. Final report of the Royal Commission on Agricultural Depression, PP 1897 (c.8540), XV.1, pp. 47–8; Whetham, op. cit., note 25 above.

63 Artemus Secundus, ‘Our present state’, Vet. J., 1878, 7: 216.

64 Mr Dewar to North of Scotland VMA, Vet., 1869, 42: 219–25; Editorial, ‘The contract system’, Vet., 1871, 44: 809–11; T Mayer, ‘Review: A text book of veterinary obstetrics’, Vet. J., 1876, 3: 375; Fisher, op. cit., note 4 above, pp. 293–5.

65 R Chrystal Irving, ‘In partnership with Wm Hunting’, VR,1938, 50: 923.

66 Artemus Secundus, ‘Our fees’, Vet. J., 1878, 7: 289.

67 Veterinary surgeons' bills, op. cit., note 37 above.

68 Directory evidence, op. cit., note 16 above; Stephen Matthews, ‘Cattle clubs, insurance and plague in the mid-nineteenth century’, Agric. Hist. Rev., 2005, 53: 192–211.

69 Directory evidence, op. cit., note 16 above.

70 G P Male, ‘The evolution of equine practice’, VR, 1944, 56: 147.

71 R H Dyer, ‘Social position of the veterinary surgeon’, Vet., 1865, 38: 360–5.

72 Charles Moir, ‘Taxing riding horses used by veterinary surgeons’, Vet., 1855, 28: 247. The tax was abolished in 1874. Thompson, op. cit., note 21 above, p. 68; ‘The service on juries by veterinary surgeons’, Vet., 1873, 46: 337–41; W Woods to Liverpool VMA, Vet. J., 1877, 4: 204.

73 F H Lascelles, ‘Horse warranty: on the purchase and sale of horses’, reviewed in Vet. J., 1877, 5: 374. The Veterinarian, edited by J B Simonds with the help of George Fleming, was the main journal until the latter established his own Veterinary Journal in 1875. Some qualified vets attributed their fellows’ unwillingness to write for these journals to the fear that unqualified vets might benefit. T Greaves, ‘The state and prospects of the veterinary profession’, Vet., 1864, 37: 392–5; T Broad, ‘Professional morals’, Vet. J., 1877, 4: 69–71.

74 G Morgan to Lancashire VMA, Vet., 1870, 43: 408–11; J Fraser, ‘Our social position’, Vet., 1870, 43: 927–8; F Prentice, ‘A reply to MRCVS’, Vet., 1873, 46: 469; Old practitioner, Correspondence, Vet., 1881, 54: 316–7; Justicia, ‘The registration of existing practitioners’, Vet. J., 1883, 16: 149.

75 A J MacCallum, ‘A scheme for raising the status of the veterinary profession’, Vet. J., 1877, 4: 68–9.

76 M Hedley to North of England VMA, Vet., 1869, 42: 292–6; J Barker, ‘The veterinary profession and education’, Vet., 1869, 42: 573–5; C Stephenson, ‘Veterinary topics of the day’, Vet. J., 1881, 12: 50–1.

77 ‘Veterinary jurisprudence’, Vet., 1853, 26: 322–4; Nemo, ‘Qualified and unqualified practice’, Vet., 1876, 49: 88.

78 ‘Veterinary jurisprudence’, Vet., 1876, 49: 519–25; ‘Horse case: difference of opinion’, Vet. J., 1878, 7: 431.

79 Report of the Veterinary Department, 1873, op. cit., note 49 above.

80 Register of the members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Edinburgh, T C Jock, 1861.

81 Directory evidence, op. cit., note 16 above; Hartest, ‘A reply to MRCVS’, Vet., 1873, 46: 469; J Watson, ‘Quackery’, Vet. J., 1878, 6: 145–6; J Walker, ‘Quackery’, Vet. J., 1878, 6: 224–6; For complaints about running doctors, see Correspondence in Vet. J., 1880, 10, passim.

82 One bill employing the title MRCVS was issued by J R Cox of London, a council member and future RCVS president. Collection of veterinary bills, op. cit., note 37 above.

83 J Gerrard, Correspondence, Vet. J., 1878, 6: 69.

84 Editorial, ‘The annual meeting of the members of the veterinary profession’, Vet., 1871, 44: 423.

85 C Hunting to North of England VMA, Vet., 1864, 37: 117–23; R Reynolds to Liverpool VMA, Vet., 1873, 46: 291.

86 West of England VMA meeting, Vet., 1870, 43: 75–83; T Greaves, ‘The state and prospects of the veterinary profession’, Vet., 1864, 37: 392–5; T Broad, ‘Professional morals’, Vet. J., 1877, 4: 69–71.

87 T Greaves, ‘Farriers’ strike, or a VMA on trial’, Vet., 1864, 37: 578–82.

88 Fleming was the son of a shoeing smith. He attended Dick’s school but also took the RCVS exams which enabled him to enter the army. He served in the Crimea, India and the Middle East. In 1879 he was appointed inspecting veterinary surgeon at the War Office and in 1883, principal vet to the army. He was RCVS president 1880–3. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online, http://www.oxforddnb.com/; printed version, vol. 20, pp. 52–3.

89 G Fleming to Central VMA, Vet., 1872, 45: 65.

90 Pattison, op. cit., note 3 above, pp. 11–62; Hall, op. cit., note 3 above; Fisher, op. cit., note 4 above, pp. 287–9.

91 Waddington, op. cit., note 5, above; Elma P Douglas, ‘Licensed to practice’, Newsletter, History of Dentistry research group, 2003, 12, http//:www.rcpsg.ac.uk/hdrg/2003April4.htm (accessed 6 July 2009); S W F Holloway, Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain 1841–1991, London, Pharmaceutical Press, 1991, chs 3–5.

92 ‘The Veterinary Medical Bill of 1863–4–5–6–7’, Vet. J. 1882, 14: 112–18.

93 Waddington, op. cit., note 5 above; Loudon, op. cit., note 8 above. It is important to note that the 1858 Medical Act did not live up to doctors’ expectations, as it failed to legislate against quackery or to limit competition from chemists and druggists. Digby, op. cit., note 8 above, ch. 2. A government enquiry revealed that in 1910, unqualified dentists, chemists, herbalists, bone-setters, faith healers, and abortionists continued to practise in large numbers. Report as to the practice of medicine and surgery by unqualified persons in the United Kingdom, PP 1910, (Cd 5422), XLIII, p. 5.

94 Pattison, op. cit., note 3 above, pp. 64–5; Fisher, op. cit., note 4 above, p. 284.

95 Hunting qualified in 1850 and established a practice serving the horses of colliery owners. He also managed several farms. His son, William Hunting, worked as assistant to Greaves in the 1860s and, in 1888, founded the Veterinary Record. J Francis, ‘William Hunting’, VR, 1943, 54: 349–52. Greaves qualified at the RVC in 1841, then joined his father in a Manchester practice. By 1876 he owned several branch practices and had taken on a partner, Faulkner, which allowed him to divert his energies towards educational reform.

96 Editorial, ‘The sciences in connection with veterinary medicine’, Vet., 1863, 36: 287–90; Prof. Tuson, ‘Address at opening of the RVC session’, Vet., 1870, 43: 788–98; J Lambert, Correspondence, Vet. J., 1877, 5: 387–89.

97 T Greaves, ‘The state and prospects of the veterinary profession’, Vet., 1864, 37: 392–5; C Hunting to North of England VMA, Vet., 1868, 41: 200–5; T Greaves, ‘The question of the day’, Vet., 1868, 41: 412–16.

98 A working practitioner, ‘Practical veterinary science’, Vet., 1869, 42: 723.

99 M Hedley to North of England VMA, Vet., 1869, 42: 292–6.

100 T Greaves to Midland counties, Vet., 1875, 48: 611–26; T Greaves, ‘The elevation of the veterinary profession’, Vet., 1876, 49: 219–224; G Morgan to Liverpool VMA, Vet., 1876, 49: 255–62.

101 I Loudon, ‘Medical education and medical reform’, in Vivian Nutton and Roy Porter (eds), The history of medical education in Britain, Amsterdam, Rodopi, 1995, pp. 229–30.

102 Editorial, ‘Veterinary education’, Vet., 1868, 41: 440.

103 Editorial comments, Vet. J., 1877, 4: 228.

104 Editorial, ‘The practical training of veterinary students’, Vet. J., 1880, 11: 22.

105 Editorial, ‘The RVC’, Vet., 1872, 45: 186–8; ‘The new curriculum’, Vet., 1876, 49: 856–8; Bye-laws and regulations of the Royal Veterinary College, London, Thos Scott, 1876, pp. 7–8; Cotchin, op. cit., note 3 above, p. 94.

106 Compulsory apprenticeship was considered but prevented by disputes over its value, and doubts over the RCVS’s powers to dictate to the schools. Correspondence and RCVS meeting reports, Vet. J., 1880–85, passim.

107 A provincial practitioner, ‘Veterinary teachers and students’, Vet. J., 1878, 7: 65–6; RVC annual report, Vet., 1881, 54: 650–1; Bye-laws and regulations of the Royal Veterinary College, London, Thos Scott, 1883, p. 6; The RCVS did not set written exams until 1892. Cotchin, op. cit., note 3 above, p. 120.

108 T Greaves, ‘The penal clause’, Vet. J., 1881, 13: 123–4.

109 Directory evidence, op. cit., note 16 above.

110 Harold Leeney, ‘Tipping’, Vet. J., 1883, 16: 385.

111 W Taylor to Lancashire VMA, Vet., 1873, 46: 219; AEGR, ‘Veterinary quackery’, Vet., 1873, 46: 468–71; HD, ‘Professional bêtes-noires’, Vet. J., 1876, 2: 395–6; Parlan Walker to Yorkshire VMA, Vet., 1878, 51: 47–9; Lancashire VMA discussion, Vet. J., 1880, 10: 110–13; Ubique, ‘Our social status’, Vet. J., 1880, 10: 376–8.

112 East Anglia, ‘Professional humbug’, Vet. J., 1883, 16: 466–7; E Stanley, ‘Veterinary medical ethics’, Vet. J., 1883, 17: 363–6, 418–21.

113 C Stephenson, ‘Veterinary topics of the day’, Vet. J., 1881, 12: 130.

114 Scottish metropolitan division meeting, VR, 1873, 46: 586. See also W G Litt, ‘Professional propriety’, Vet. J., 1877, 4: 150.

115 Veterinary surgeons’ bills, op. cit., note 37 above.

116 Annual meeting of the RCVS, Vet., 1864, 37: 408–15.

117 G Fleming, A manual of veterinary sanitary science and police, 2 vols, London, Chapman & Hall, 1875; A Hardy, ‘Pioneers in the Victorian provinces: veterinarians, public health and the urban animal economy’, Urban Hist., 2002, 29: 372–87; Woods, op. cit., note 24 above, p. 29.

118 In 1876, the SVS comprised two veterinarians and nineteen full- and part-time port veterinary inspectors. By 1901, it had appointed another twelve veterinary inspectors, with port staff reduced to nine full-time inspectors. Annual reports of proceedings under the Diseases of Animals Acts, 1901, PP 1902 (Cmd 1041), XX, p. 33; NA MAF 39/8, A Anstruther, Memo, 12 Nov. 1917.

119 Annual report of the Veterinary Department, 1878, PP 1878–9 (c2263), XXI, p. 479.

120 Hardy, op. cit., note 117 above, p. 381.

121 Fisher, op. cit., note 4 above, pp. 300–1.

122 Veterinary surgeons’ bills, op. cit., note 37 above.

123 Fisher, op. cit., note 4 above, p. 300.

124 RCVS meeting, Vet. J., 1879, 8: 107; Editorial, ‘The animals order’, Vet., 1880, 53: 181–3.

125 J Rose and Son, op. cit., note 43 above.

126 Southern counties VMA, Vet. J., 1883, 16: 115–16.

127 M Hedley to North of England VMA, Vet., 1869, 42: 292–6; MRCVSL, ‘Veterinary quackery’, Vet., 1873, 46: 327–8; Editorial, ‘The protection of the veterinary profession and the public’, Vet. J., 1876, 3: 448–50; RCVS meeting, Vet., 1876, 49: 804; Bones, ‘Unqualified practitioners, Vet. J., 1877, 4: 467.

128 J Fraser, ‘Veterinary quackery’, Vet., 1873, 46: 397; C Stephenson, ‘Veterinary topics of the day’, Vet. J., 1881, 12: 49–56, 127–30; T Greaves to RCVS meeting, Vet., 1876, 49: 435; F Fitzwygram to Yorkshire VMA, Vet. J., 1877, 4: 281–4.

129 MRCVS, ‘Gross injustice’, Vet., 1881, 54: 536.

130 Editorial, ‘Professional unity’, Vet. J., 1878, 7: 386–7; Pattison, op. cit., note 3 above, pp. 77–86.

131 Editorial, ‘The charter of the RVC’, Vet. J., 1875, 1: 34–41.

132 ‘Veterinary medical bill’, Vet. J., 1881, 12: 112.

133 Bill, intituled, Act to amend law relating to veterinary surgeons, PP 1881, VI, p. 519; Editorial, ‘The veterinary surgeons’ bill’, Vet. J., 1881, 13: 33–6.

134 The pharmacy act of 1868 restricted the sale and dispensing of poisons to qualified men and created a register. ‘The pharmacy act of 1868’, Vet., 1868, 41: 850–3. The Dentists Act of 1878 created a register and required dentists to take a licence in order to practice. ‘The birth of the BDA’, http://www.bda-advance.org/museum/story.cfm?ContentID=366 (accessed 6 July 2009).

135 ‘Nottinghamshire Chamber of Agriculture’, Vet. J., 1882, 14: 223–5.

136 R Reynolds, ‘Correspondence’, Vet. J., 1882, 14: 64–6; T Greaves, ‘The Lancashire VMA and “enemies in our midst”’, Vet. J., 1882, 14: 148; C Stephenson to North of England VMA, Vet. J., 1883, 16: 368–70; Many RCVS council members wanted to fix the fee at 10 guineas. They eventually agreed on 6 guineas but Privy Council pressure reduced it to 3 guineas. Southern Counties VMA, Vet. J., 1882, 14: 349–53.

137 Justicia, ‘The registration of existing practitioners’, Vet. J., 1883, 16: 149; NA PC 8/298, Veterinary Surgeons Act: appeals, 1883.

138 Register of the members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, London, RCVS, 1884.

139 Alpha, ‘Existing practitioners’, Vet. J., 1882, 14: 388; Southern Counties VMA, Vet. J., 1883, 17: 115–16; Royal Counties VMA, Vet. J., 1885, 21: 205–6.

140 C Stephenson, ‘Letter to Daily Chronicle’, Vet., 1881, 54: 109–11; J D Gregory to Devon County VMA, Vet. J., 1885, 18: 352–8.

141 ‘A Surrey veterinary surgeon’, Correspondence to Vet. J., 1885, 21: 70–1; Kelly’s Directory for Cheshire, 1894, op. cit., note 16 above.

142 Fisher notes that problems over veterinary education and professional competence continued well into the twentieth century. Fisher, op. cit., note 4 above, p. 301.

143 Census of England and Wales, PP 1893–94, IV, p. 133.