[from the Medical Aid and Poor Relief Commission Report - 1879]

REPORT OF THE MEDICAL AID AND POOR RELIEF COMMISSION

Presented to the Tynwald Court by order of His Excellency, H.B. Loch, Esq., C.B Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Man.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY,

Your Excellency having been pleased to issue your warrant, bearing date the 28th day of August, 1878, appointing us, Uvedale Corbett, Esquire, barrister-at-law ; Edward Curphey Farrant, Esq., and the Rev William Bell Christian, Members of the House of Keys; John Moore Jeffcott, Esquire, High-Bailiff of Castletown ; Samuel Harris, Esq., High-Bailiff of Douglas; Robert John Moore, Esquire, High-Bailiff of Peel; Alured Dumbell, Esquire, High-Bailiff of Ramsey ; the Rev John Qualtrough, Rector of Bride; the Rev Benjamin Philpot Clarke, Vicar of Marown; the Rev Hugh Stowell Gill, Vicar of Malew; the Rev Edward William Kissack, Vicar of Rushen; and the Rev George Paton, Incumbent of St Paul"s, Ramsey, to be Commissioners for the purpose of making, inquiring, and ascertaining what provision exists within the Isle of Man for providing medical aid and hospital accommodation for the Poor ; what legal or other provision for the maintenance and relief of the poor exists in the several parishes, or other places of the said Island; and what prin ciples govern the distribution of charitable and other funds available for the poor, and by whom such funds are distributed; also, to what extent the law as to the support of the poor by their relatives has been carried out and enforced since January. 1870. And your Excellency having, by the same warrant, enjoined and directed us, or any three of us (Uvedale Corbett being one), to make diligent inquiry into all the matters afore said. and to make a full, true, and particular report of the same, and also report our opinion whether any or what provision of medical aid for the sick and infirm poor, including the establishment of medical dispensaries, ought to be made, and whether, for the prevention or spread of epidemic or contagious diseases, any, and what cottage hospitals or other buildings should be provided; also, whether it is desirable there should be greater uniformity in the administration of poor relief than now exists, and if so, what would be the best means of insuring the same, and what should be the principles that should govern the distribution of the same, and to what extent there should be a legal obligation to contribute towards the support of relatives, and if so, the extent of such obligation, and the manner of enforcing it,

We have now the honour to submit to your Excellency the following report of our proceedings, together with the evidence taken by us, or some three or more of us (Uvedale Corbett being one), upon the several matters entrusted to us. —

Our first meeting was held at the Government Offices, Douglas, on the 23rd October, 1878, when the High-Bailiff of Douglas was elected our chair man; and after discussing at some length the various points submitted to us, and considering what would be the best means of procedure in order to obtain the fullest information thereon, we decided to hold sittings in the four towns of Douglas, Castletown, Peel, and Ramsey, and at the parish of Kirk Michael, to take evidence respecting those places, and the parishes adjacent to each — the dates for which sittings were then fixed — and to send out a circular to the vicars and wardens of each parish, and to the ministers of all Nonconformist congregations, and the heads of the various charitable associations, requesting preliminary information in reply to queries accompanying such circular.

On the following day (October 24) Mr Corbett submitted a draft of the proposed circular and queries to the members of the Commission then present, which was approved, and order to be sent out (vide Appendix I.); and Mr J. A. Brown was appointed shorthand writer to the Commission.

The further sittings of the Commission were then adjourned for three weeks, in order to give time for the reception of answers to these queries ; and upon the 13th November, 1878, the first public sitting of the Commission for hearing evidence as to the charities of the town of Douglas was held at the Court House, Douglas. The 14th, 15th, and 18th of November were likewise devoted to receiving evidence relating to these charities, and those of the parishes of Onchan and Braddan, in which the town of Douglas is situate ; but we found it impossible to close the evidence relating to Douglas, or to take any relative to the other two parishes (Lonan and Marown) belonging to the Douglas district within the time we had then allotted to it.

It therefore became necessary to adjourn the inquiry at Douglas until we had concluded our sittings at the other towns, in the order in which ther had been fixed.

On the 19th and 20th we sat at Castletown, when evidence, having a very important bearing upon the objects of the commission, was given by the Chairman and other members of the Castle town Relief Committee; and subsequently we received evidence relating to the charities of the parishes of Malew, Santon, Arbory, and Rushen.

The 21st and 22nd of November were devoted to hearing at Peel the evidence as to the town of Peel, and the parishes of German and Patrick.

On Monday, the 25th of November, we pursued, at Kirk Michael, the inquiry into the charities of that parish, and those of Ballangh and Jurby.

On the 27th and 28th of November we sat at Ramsey, and took evidence as to the parishes of Andreas, Bride, Lezayre, and Maughold, and the town of Ramsey, in which town, as in Castletown, there is a Relief Society, whose regulations and practice will be found to have exercised a material influence upon the recommendations which we venture to submit to your Excellency in this Report.

On the 29th of November we again sat at Douglas, and it being then found impossible to conclude our inquiry into the charities of that town, and to bring the labours of the Commission to a conclusion, within the few remaining days at the disposal of the chairman and other members before Christmas, we adjourned until a day to be thereafter named, which it was subsequently found impossible to fix, with a due regard to the convenience of all the members, before the 26th of March following.

The Commission here desire to record the great loss which they sustained during this interval by the lamented death of their valued and excellent celleague, the Rev. J. Qualtrough, Rector of Bride.

The supplementary evidence taken at Douglas, upon our re-assembling on the 26th of March, extended over five days, and the whole of the evidence will be found annexed to this Report in the order in which it was taken.

The answer returned to the circular and queries which was sent to the various parishes have been arranged in a tabulated form, and will be found in Appendix No. 1 to this Report.

These returns formed the basis for our inquiries, which usually commenced at each place with the examination of the vicar and wardens of the parish, after which we invariably invited any other per son, who might be desirous of doing so, to give evidence upon any of the subjects embraced in our inquiry. This invitation was rarely responded to, owing, possibly to the fact that a parish meeting had been, we believe, almost invariably held previously to agree upon the answers to the queries accompanying our circular. Every opportunity was, however, afforded to parishioners to come forward, as we always sat in the Court House of each place we visited, and, in accordance with the terms of our circular, ample notice was given beforehand of our intention to do so, and of the nature of our inquiry, and of our desire to hear all persons who might wish to give us any information, or to bring forward any complaint. Passing by for the present the first question adressed to us, as to what provision exists for affording medical aid for the poor, we now proceed too deal with the second point referred to us, viz., that relating to poor relief,

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