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Source: Page 43
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16/9/11

Queen's SA Medal refused to Dr J F Allen and staff of this hospital.

I want to point out that people associated with this hospital have always been treated in a very cavalier fashion. I was born there and no-one has thought to put up a plaque commemorating that event.

Brett

PS The old hospital next to a very conveniently located cemetery has been converted to use by public servants of the Provincial Administration. A new hospital has been built elsewhere, with no convenient cemetery nearby.

Brett,

I hadn't heard of Dr Allen before but found this reference to him in a book called The Story of an African City by Ingram, J Forsyth, 1898.

There is even a picture of Dr Allen:



CHAPTER XV. Maritzburg as a Health Resort. — Vital Statistics. — Effect of Climate on Diseases. — Pleasure Resorts.

In order to arrive at the actual truth with regard to Maritzburg's status as a health resort, we resolved, instead of depending merely on common report or personal impressions, to endeavour to obtain from the Health Officer of the Borough as complete a statement as possible on a subject of such vital importance. Accordingly we called on that popular official, and in the course of an hour's conversation, elicited the following information.

Before proceeding to deal with it, it may be of interest to distant readers to know that Dr James F. Allen, M.D , M.Ch.M.L., R.U.I., came to Natal in 1874, and settled in Maritzburg.

Since his arrival, he has grown steadily in popularity, and can now, with all justice, be described as one of the first medical practitioners in South Africa. He was President of the third South African Medical Congress, and has contributed in various ways to the scientific and general literature of the day.

Having resided for so long in Maritzburg in the active practice of his profession, there are few, if any, who are better qualified to deal with the vital statistics of the place.

Not only is he Visiting Surgeon to Grey's Hospital, and to many educational institutions, in this City, but he is Medical officer to the Corporation.

In response to our request for information, he readily afforded us the full benefit of his wide and varied experience

In reply to a question as to whether Maritzburg is a desirable place to seek by those in quest of health, he said : — It cannot be said of any place that it is a perfect health resort all the year round ; still there are certain facts which are indisputable, and which may be used as gauges for com- parison, as for example, the local death rate. This record does not tell everything, but it is nevertheless a good general guide to the healthiness of a place.

Taking the past five years together, the average death rate of this town has been 13.5 per thousand per annum ; but the death rate is not an altogether reliable guide ; it is more desirable, if possible, to arrive at the sick rate, i.e , the prevalence of diseases of a non-fatal character which might give a place a bad health record without affecting its death rate.

One way in which this can be done, approximately, is by comparing it with other places in respect of the number of medical men it employs. Doctors are not likely to stay in a place too healthy to support them. These matters tend to balance themselves, and in doing so produce a register from which fairly correct deductions can be made.

In London, which is considered one of the healthiest cities in the world, there is one medical practitioner to every 750 inhabitants, whereas in Maritzburg it takes at least 3,000 persons to support one doctor. It must be borne in mind that the death returns, as shown in the City rate, are much higher than should actually apply to residents, there being a tendency for sick and failing people to come to the City for medical advice, and, of course, among such persons the death rate is high, and their record is placed to the town's account, thereby considerably raising it by the register of the deaths of persons who do not actually reside here, and 'who have succumbed to diseases contracted else- where, and which, of course, have no local bearing.

There is also a general hospital and a large lunatic asylum which, in each case, receives patients from all parts of Natal, the Orange Free State, the Transvaal Republic, and Portuguese East Africa. Thus it is evident that there are many extraneous sources which tend to swell the death rate above what is normal to Maritzburg.

The climate of the City and its suburbs is so healthy that, even with these additions to the death rate, it can still show a record which will compare favourably with any town or community of the same size in the United Kingdom, and most favourably with any similar town in South Africa.

This is specially instructive in our case, because as far as I know Maritzburg is the only City in South Africa that has the courage to publish complete returns ; that is, to take the population as a whole, white and coloured, without regard to the actual place of domicile.

In other lands possessing more complete and extensive statistical machinery, vital statistics are kept more correctly than in South Africa, Errors which occur here are guarded against, as, for instance, if a London resident goes to Brighton and dies there, his death is registered, not where he died, but where he lived ; here it is invariably where he dies. In time this will be changed, but at present such a course is not possible. Many things are favourable to life in this City, and therefore contribute to lower the death rate. The most important being that we have no epidemic diseases, and malaria, the endemic disease of other parts of Africa, is unknown.

The situation of the town is about faultless, it being thoroughly sheltered on the north and west, from the former of which directions come the most trying winds of South Africa, and from the latter the rains and storms.

The town is built on a ridge tailing gently on all sides, and draining into streams which carry off the surface water, so that in a few hours after rain has ceased the ground is dry and clean. At present our Corporation is carrying out a plan to systematically improve the natural drainage.

The citizens live much of their lives in the open air ; there is a beautiful, well-planted Park, in which driving, riding, and games, such as cricket and football, can be, and are, extensively enjoyed.

We are fortunate enough to have an ample supply of excellent drinking water and to possess a handsome public bath, the latter the gift of one of our leading townsmen, which is a great benefit to the place.

There is a considerable difference between life in the English towns and life in the City of Maritzburg, for here there are far greater opportunities of enjoying the open air, which is always conducive to the maintenance of good health and long life.

David

Grey's Hospital was established in the mid-1850's and it has played a prominent role in the history of Pietermaritzburg and the Natal Midlands. Having coincidentally been founded at about the same time as Natal's premier regiment, the Natal Carbineers, it has had strong links with the military history of the Colony, particularly during the Boer War. By the way, the headquarters of the Carbineers and the old Grey's Hospital were separated by the cemetery I mentioned in my earlier post. Both had many occasions to use this cemetery.

The hospital's doctors and nurses, as well as those trained there, served the military throughout the Boer War. For example, one of the Siege of Ladysmith's best known nurses, Kate Driver, whose diary of the siege has been published, was the first registered nurse to be trained at Grey's (in 1891). Unlike Dr Allen and the staff of Grey's, Kate Driver and the other Ladysmith nurses were awarded the QSA. The whereabouts of Kate's QSA is a closely guarded secret.

Brett

Brett

I have just won a couple of cdv photos showing the Scots Guards at Pietermaritzburg.
When I receive them I will post on the Forum, you can give me your expert opinion.

Paul

Brett Hendey wrote: David

Grey's Hospital was established in the mid-1850's and it has played a prominent role in the history of Pietermaritzburg and the Natal Midlands. Having coincidentally been founded at about the same time as Natal's premier regiment, the Natal Carbineers, it has had strong links with the military history of the Colony, particularly during the Boer War. By the way, the headquarters of the Carbineers and the old Grey's Hospital were separated by the cemetery I mentioned in my earlier post. Both had many occasions to use this cemetery.

The hospital's doctors and nurses, as well as those trained there, served the military throughout the Boer War. For example, one of the Siege of Ladysmith's best known nurses, Kate Driver, whose diary of the siege has been published, was the first registered nurse to be trained at Grey's (in 1891). Unlike Dr Allen and the staff of Grey's, Kate Driver and the other Ladysmith nurses were awarded the QSA. The whereabouts of Kate's QSA is a closely guarded secret.

Brett