Apothecary
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Apothecaries/Assistant Surgeons and Stewards Introduction Ancestors in British India often followed the professions of Apothecary or Assistant Surgeon and it is hoped that this article will help you to track yours down and learn more about how they lived and worked. There are two apparent contradictions that researchers will face straight away. According to usual definitions, apothecary is an old fashioned word for a pharmacist, while surgeons perform surgery. In this context however, they are used for the same job at different times and in fact Apothecaries in the earlier period and Assistant Surgeons in the later were required to do both and much more besides. The second problem concerns whether they are Military or Civilian and the answer to this is the former, although they could be posted as Civil Surgeons to hospitals and even jails. A further frequently asked question is why an Assistant Surgeon ancestor does not appear in Crawford’s Roll of the Indian Medical Service 1614-1930. Apothecaries as members of the Indian Subordinate Medical Department rather than the superior Indian Medical Service generally are not listed in Crawford, except for some reason, those in the Madras Presidency. It should be noted that IMS used the title Assistant Surgeon for its lower ranks until 1873 and that the ISMD used the same title after 1894. Therefore if your Assistant Surgeon appears with that title before 1873, he should be in the IMS. Medical personnel appointed to the IMS will almost always have been educated in the UK, even if they were born in India, They always held higher medical ranking. The following link sets out the requirements for Assistant-Surgeons in the service of the East India Company in March 1856. http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/21858/pages/976
Conversely, however brilliant, the Indian born and educated men were trained in India and provided service in the ISMD, on lower pay scales. Some did rise in seniority, but would always be 'inferior' to their colleagues in the IMS. As the years went by, this perceived inferiority became an issue to be addressed. There are examples of men in the ISMD trained elsewhere, although these were in the minority. For example, The London Gazette Oct 17, 1919 lists under To be Senior Asst Surgeon with rank of Lieutenant: 1st class Asst Surgeons, 10th Feb 1919, Frederick William Mathews, L.R.C.P and S.I., L.M (Dub) ie Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians (London) and Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (LRCSI), coupled with a Licence in Midwifery. . ***** The India Office Family History Search, in its Dictionary gives the following description of Apothecary: The title given to the various grades of warrant officer in the Indian Military Subordinate Medical Service. The rank of Apothecary was abolished in the Subordinate Medical Service in 1894 and replaced by that of Assistant Surgeon. Apothecaries in the Indian Army undertook general medical duties - by the early 19th century the word was used in the more general sense of medical practitioner as well as in its original meaning of pharmacist. The word Service is not quite accurate in the definition above and should be replaced by Department. Surgeons, trained in Great Britain, held covenanted positions in the Medical Departments of the Presidencies and later in the Indian Medical Service and were of officer rank in the Army. The European establishment of the Subordinate Medical Departments of the presidencies (with abbreviations such as Sub Medical Dept, Sub-Med Dept, S-Med Dept, SMD.) and of the later Indian Subordinate Medical Department (ISMD) consisted of the uncovenanted positions of Apothecaries and Stewards, Assistant Apothecaries and Assistant Stewards, together with those in training for these roles called Hospital Apprentices or Medical Apprentices. The first four positions were of warrant officer rank, but this rank did not apply to Hospital or Medical Apprentices. The members of the SMD were almost always locally born and recruited, although there were the odd exceptions.
The Early Years - Training
In Bengal, a formal scheme to train apothecaries commenced following a General Order dated June 15, 1812 by the Governor General (reported in the Calcutta Gazette dated Thursday, July 2, 1812 (Vol LVII, No 1479) which “approved a Plan submitted to him by the Medical Board, for the instruction of Boys from the Upper and Lower Orphan Schools and Free School, to serve as Compounders and Dressers, and ultimately as Apothecaries and Sub Assistant Surgeons in the Medical Department of this Presidency...The Medical Board shall select 24 Boys of 14 or 15 years of age, from the above Institutions, in the choice of whom the Governors of these schools are enjoined to afford every possible assistance.”
General Order, by the Right Honorable the Governor General in Council (note sent as separate document) The Upper Orphan School was the Military Orphan School for Officers’ Children and the Lower Orphan School was the Military Orphan School for the children of Warrant Officers and Soldiers. Not all the children were orphans. The Free School was for children of non military fathers. The background of the boys from the Lower Orphan School was approximately 25% European and 75% Eurasian (or East Indian or from 1911 Anglo Indian), with a European soldier father and Indian mother. The percentage of Eurasians in the Upper Orphan School was higher, as orphans with European parents were returned to England, provided they had family there who could care for them. Subordinate Medical Departments were also established in Madras in 1812, and a little later in Bombay.
Medical College training for Hospital Apprentices was introduced in 1847 in Bengal following the system that had previously been successfully introduced in Madras.
General Order 200 dated 15 June 1847 is about Apprenticeships in the Bengal Subordinate Medical Department. It sets out that candidates would sit an examination to become an apprentice. Those successful would serve for two years as an apprentice in the Hospital of a European Regiment or General Hospital. They then may be selected by the Medical Board for a studentship in the Medical College. They would then attend a two year course of study comprising Anatomy, Dissection, Materia Medica, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, the practice of Medicine and Surgery and more especially clinical instruction in connection with the last two branches. At the end of the two years they were to undergo an examination. If successful they were to be drafted to European Regiments or to the General Hospital, there to wait their turn for promotion as Assistant Apothecaries or Assistant Stewards. Promotion to Apothecary was also to be by examination.
This Order is in a book called General Report on Public Instruction in the Lower Provinces of the Bengal Presidency for 1847-1848, Appendix E, no. XI, page clxvi Click here to read the complete Order http://books.google.com/books?id=H8wCAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PR166 Click here for further background information (page 69) http://books.google.com/books?id=c4gIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA69 However, when the Mutiny occurred (1857), the classes at the Medical College for Hospital Apprentices were broken up. Due to the shortage of medical personnel, and the demand for them in the regiments, this situation continued for over ten years [in Bengal]. A decision was made in July 1868 to recommence classes for the Hospital Apprentices at the Medical Schools. Click here for the full article, page 158 Indian Medical Gazette, July 1868 http://books.google.com/books?id=oLkTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA158 The Bombay Medical Board issued new Rules for training Medical Apprentices dated 2nd April 1851. They were similar to Bengal, but with three years of Medical College prior to becoming an Assistant Apothecary with progression to Steward, then Apothecary. Pages 235 to 246 Report of the Board of Education, Bombay January 1,1850 to April 30, 1851 Published 1851 Click here for the full article http://books.google.com/books?id=38AIAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA2-PA235
It is interesting to note that from 1869 until the founding of the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore, apprentice Apothecaries were also recruited from schools in that region and trained in the Madras Medical College. Full details are given in The Founding of the Medical School in Singapore in 1905 by YK Lee.
http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/34VolNo6200506/V34N6p4C.pdf
Promotion Published in 1841, page 5 of Medical Advice to the Indian Stranger by John McCosh stated, in respect of the situation in Bengal, “They enter the service as hospital-apprentices, on the pay of 33 rupees a month; after ten years service they are promoted either to assistant- apothecaries or assistant-stewards, on an allowance of 70 rupees; and, after about nine years in that grade, they are promoted to apothecaries with the pay of 140 rupees a month, or stewards with the pay of 120 rupees. To every European regiment, whether Royal or Company's, there is an apothecary and a steward attached, with each his assistant.” Click here to read full article: http://books.google.com/books?id=4y5WftsInfgC&pg=PA5 In earlier years the assistant apothecaries were promoted much more quickly. William Hannah was promoted from Assistant Apothecary to Apothecary in December 1824 (The Oriental Herald and Colonial Review Volume V, April to June 1825, page 530, http://books.google.com/books?id=DB0YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA530 ) when he was about 22 years old, and there is an 1818 reference to Apprentice Henry Anderson who was appointed directly from Apprentice to Apothecary (Asiatic Journal Vol VI June-December 1818, http://books.google.com/books?id=OPbiZPTdVUAC&pg=PA507 )
However it seems the situation did change and that promotion became much slower. When William Hannah became an apothecary in December 1824, ten were appointed assistant apothecaries. Of these, three became apothecaries in January 1834, almost exactly nine years later. (One became a steward in September 1826, one was on the invalid pension from December 1833.The others were probably dead. (Dates are from the 1838 Bengal Directory http://books.google.com/books?id=O94NAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA245) So it does seem that if an apothecary was appointed from 1834 onwards he would probably be aged in his thirties at date of appointment which may help to indicate a date of birth (if not otherwise known).
Duties
The following 1855 description of the duties of apothecaries and stewards, and training, is in an article called The Medical Services of the British Army in The British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review or Quarterly Journal of Practical Medicine and Surgery, Vol XV, January-April 1855. The article starts on page 411, but the relevant pages are 444-447. “An invaluable appendage of the Indian army is the subordinate medical department attached to it. This, in Bengal, consists of the European establishment, and of a special class of subordinate agency for the native army, and for duty in civil hospitals appropriated to natives. The European establishment consists of apothecaries, assistant-apothecaries, apprentices, stewards, and assistant-stewards. The apothecaries are charged with the preparation and administration of medicines, the care of wounds, accidents, and injuries, during the intervals of the visits of the surgeons, the admission of patients, and, in fact, are the general assistants of the medical officers in the performance of their professional duties in the field, in garrison, and in all the circumstances in which the troops are employed. It would be impossible to exaggerate the usefulness and importance of this excellent class of public servants. As a body, they are a credit to the service, and are of more real use, from their careful professional training, than any body of nurses could possibly be, to the sick and wounded. They are usually the sons of soldiers, educated in the regimental schools, or in the Military Orphan School. They are admitted to the service after examination by special committees of medical officers—a concours upon a small scale—and after doing duty in regimental hospitals for two years, are (if in Bengal) transferred to the medical college in Calcutta tor two additional years of training. There they are under strict military control; are instructed in anatomy, materia medica, medicine, and surgery; are carefully trained in hospital duties as clinical clerks; and, after undergoing a tolerably strict examination—in somе particulars more severe than that of the College of Surgeons of England—are reported qualified. If they fail, are idle and insubordinate, and otherwise misconduct themselves, they are removed from the army, and forfeit all the advantages of their previous service. In the recent Burmese campaign, and in the late Punjaub war, they were found most efficient field-assistants; and we are able, from personal knowledge, to state that some of them are more efficient members of the profession, and generally better informed, than some assistant-surgeons with whom we have come in contact, armed with degrees and diplomas from British schools of old and great pretensions. (Note: Remember that at this date assistant surgeon was an IMS title). The stewards and their assistants are charged with all the details relating to the food, clothing, and similar interior economy of military hospitals. Both classes aid the surgeon in the preparation of official reports and statements. “ Click here to read the full article: http://books.google.com/books?id=akkBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA444 Click here to read an article about a Field Hospital after battle in 1846 including medical details, with the slightly wounded carried out on elephants .The article is called The Loodianah Field Hospital, With Remarks On The State of The Army Medical Department in India by John Murray, M.D., Field Surgeon. page 158, Medical Times Published in 1849 http://books.google.com/books?id=XhoCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA158 Click here to read an article about the logistics of a Field Hospital, including the number of camels required for the apothecaries and stewards, in a chapter in a book called Army Hygiene by Charles Alexander Gordon published in 1866. The chapter is called Field Arrangements in India page 255 http://books.google.com/books?id=rEU7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA255 Click here for the numbers of staff in the Medical Department in India including number of apothecaries, approx 1842 From The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal By Massachusetts Medical Society, New England Surgical Society Published 1842, page 17 http://books.google.com/books?id=qUYBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA17 The Cambridge (UK) Centre of South Asian Studies, in its Archive Collection, has the Winn Papers which contain information about James Winn who joined the East India Company in the Bengal Establishment in 1842, aged 13. He served as an apothecary at various stations including Lahore, Multan, Dinapore, Dum Dum, Allahabad, Calcutta, Chunar. He was invalided out of the service at Meerut in July 1884. (WINN 1/1 Testimonials, statements of service, etc in connection with James Winn's work as an apothecary in the service of the Bengal Establishment,1842-1884, 45 items )
More Apothecary Links Awarded Victorian Cross August 13, 1861. Indian Medical Establishment—Hospital Apprentice Arthur Fitzgibbon. http://books.google.com/books?id=w1IBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA35 and also page 154 Medals of the British army, and how they were won By Thomas Carter Published by Groombridge, 1861, states Snippet viewJ The youngest VC recipient is generally regarded as Hospital Apprentice Arthur Fitzgibbon (15 years and 3 months), Indian Medical Establishment, ... and the following information, collected from various sources ,some of which give conflicting personal details, include his citation in The London Gazette issue 22538 dated 13 Aug 1861, published 13 Aug 1861 for the action in the 3rd China War of 1860.He was in the Bengal SMD. ARTHUR FITZGIBBON
Hospital Apprentice, Indian Medical Establishment; attached 67th Regiment
Born: 13 May 1845, Gujarat, India Died: 7 March 1883, Delhi, India
Citation: For having behaved with great coolness and courage at the capture of the North Taku Fort [near Tientsin, China], on the 21st of August, 1860. On the morning of that day he accompanied a wing of the 67th Regiment, when it took up a position within 500 yards of the Fort. Having quitted cover, he proceeded, under a very heavy fire, to attend to a Dhoolie-bearer, whose wound he had been directed to bind up; and, while the Regiment was advancing under the Enemy's fire, he ran across the open to attend to another wounded man, in doing which he was himself severely wounded. The Wellcome Library (London) has some documents, including his baptism in 1845 at Almorah (NW India) under the name Andrew Fitzgibbon.
Subordinate Medical Department staff killed or wounded during the Indian Mutiny The following names are from the book Bulletins and other State Intelligence , first published in the London Gazette. : published in 1860, pages 1687 ,1886 ,2096 Page 1886: List of Europeans Killed by the hands of Rebels, as per Return furnished by the Magistrate of Delhi, between May 11 and October 24, 1857. Mr. T. Corbet, Sub. Medical Department, Delhi.
Page 1687: Nominal Roll of Europeans Killed, Wounded, and Missing, in the Army under the command of his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief. Head-Quarters, Camp before Lucknow. March 14, 1858 3rd Brigade, Bengal Horse Artillery. Officiating Apothecary R. W. Beale, severe contusion on 8th instant. Her Majesty's 23rd Fusiliers. Hospital Apprentice R. Pereira, severe contusion Page 2098: Return of Killed and Wounded of the 2nd Brigade Nerbudda Field Force during the Siege and Attack of Rathghur. (Bombay Presidency, around March 1858) 1st Troop Horse Artillery. Assistant Apothecary W. Conway, wounded dangerously, ball through head http://books.google.com/books?id=0tU1AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1687
Murder of Apothecary Healy (sometimes spelt Healey) by tribesmen, while travelling to his unit.(1850).The first link is the main link.
http://books.google.com/books?id=axgYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA281 and
http://books.google.com/books?id=axgYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA313 and
http://books.google.com/books?id=axgYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA351 and
http://books.google.com/books?id=vRoCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA394
Apothecary Daly (1821) and Assistant Apothecary Everard (1824) charged with being drunk while treating patients, from a book about Law in India, published 1825,page 597 http://books.google.com/books?id=FukGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA597
The first case was also mentioned in this link page 497 http://books.google.com/books?id=9SYYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA479 Assistant Apothecary Burgess murders Assistant Apothecary O’Brien in 1840 (Madras Presidency) and is sentenced to be hanged, but his sentence is commuted into “Transportation beyond the seas”. (page 234). Note at least some convicts were sent to Australia http://books.google.com/books?id=vSsYAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA234 Not all reports about Apothecaries were good (Kurratchee(Karachi), Bombay Presidency 1840’s) The Westminster Review Published 1846 page 252 http://books.google.com/books?id=wT6gAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA252
The Situation by the 1870s The following information is from a book published in 1870 and relates to Madras. However, it would be expected that conditions would be much the same throughout India. By this time the course at Medical College (at least in Madras and Bombay) had been extended to three years, but there was still a two year period before college, when there were examinations every six months.
Pupils and Apprentices of East Indian or European parentage were prevented from marrying until they had passed through Medical College (Page 85)
The examination for promotion from Assistant Apothecary to Apothecary consisted of Anatomy, Surgery, Materia Medica, Pharmacy, Practice of Medicine, Midwifery and Vaccination (page 99)
One tenth of the number of Apothecaries were to be Senior Apothecaries (page 86)
A salary scale is set out on page 126. In addition the members of the Subordinate Medical Department received free quarters and at least the Hospital Apprentices received food. Per month the rates in rupees were Hospital Apprentice: First year 16, second year 20. When in College: First year 20, second year 25, third year 30 Passed Hospital Apprentice: 50 Assistant Apothecary: Under 5 yrs service 75, over 5 yrs service 100 Apothecary: Under 5yrs service 150, over 5yrs service 200 Senior Apothecary: 400 They were also allowed a Field Allowance of Rs 30 per mensem (month) when marching or in the field. Also a staff or employed allowance when senior with, or in subordinate medical charge of, the hospital of a British Regiment or detachment of British Troops, or a Battery of Artillery, or a Depot or Sanitarium or when attached to a General Hospital or Medical Store Depot
(Hospital Assistants were in a different stream, serving in Native Regiments and Hospitals)
The book is called A Code of Medical and Sanitary Regulations for the Guidance of Medical Officers serving in the Madras Presidency by William Robert Cornish(1870) http://books.google.com/books?id=WhUDAAAAQAAJ (Volume 1 which contains the above references).There is also a Volume 2 http://books.google.com/books?id=NhcDAAAAQAAJ Both these books are snippet view only. Some readers may be able to access them using a proxy server. (An author was originally able to access these books, but now cannot)
The Later Period Towards the end of the 19th century and into the 20th, Apothecaries and Assistant Surgeons continued to perform their duties but increasingly it seems that they were “in Civil Employ”. Having said that, many continued to follow a military path, one example being Major Hector Alfred Richardson, 1875 – 1957. Born in Ellichpur, he worked at the J.J. Hospital in Bombay in the 1890s for a couple of years, presumably having trained in the adjacent Grant Medical College, and then joined the Indian Medical Department, Army Service, and was shipped out to the Boer War in South Africa, Ladysmith Relief in the 1898/99. Returning to India, his subsequent postings included: 1904 Meerut; 1906 Deolali; 1908 Calcutta; 1911 Agra Cantt.; 1912 Bhusaval; 1914-1919 Lahore; 1923 Jhansi; 1929 Meerut & Ajmer; 1931 - 1938 Jhansi; 1941- 1942 Mhow; 1946 Jhansi.
Photograph of Major Hector Alfred Richardson (Note: being sent separately) Thus we can see that ISMD employees, could, with application, rise to the rank of Major, but in many cases there was growing dissatisfaction with pay and status. See the following entries on Civil Surgeons, who, it seems, led demanding and frustrating lives although the pay was better than in the Military and the range of professional duties greater. page 272 The Indian Medical Gazette 1868 http://books.google.com/books?id=oLkTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA272 page 168 of History of Medicine in India by Chittabrata Palit (Limited view) http://books.google.com/books?id=Yz-zE8waQukC&pg=PA168 Thacker's Bengal Directory, published from 1864, was in 1885 renamed Thacker's Indian Directory and covered the whole of British India. Volumes for most years are available in the Asian and African Studies Reading Room at the British Library and the 1895 edition is available to purchase as a CD. It is a useful source for tracing Assistant Surgeons of both Military and Civil persuasions: Thus one can find, for example, an Assistant Surgeon Patrick McCarthy in Thacker’s –
1892-5 - Assistant Surgeon, doing duty at the hospital at Bareilly, North West Provinces 1903 - Assistant Civil Surgeon and Superintendant of Jail, Lower Chindwin, Burma Another invaluable source is the Indian Army Lists, like Thacker’s, available at the British Library. The January 1912 edition is available online via Ancestry. Here again are some sample extracts - July 1888 – Listed under Subordinate Medical Department, Sub Assistant Apothecaries - McCarthy P. Date of present rank 1 Mar 88.
Apr 1901 - Asst surgeon 2nd class Ranking as Conductor, McCarthy, Patrick (105) = Qualification Burmese Lower Standard) B (for Bengal) DoB 19 Feb 1868, d of warrant rank 1 Mar 88, d of present rank 1 Mar 00. At Monywa.
Oct 1910 - Medical Warrant Officer, Indian Subordinate Medical Department, Assistant Surgeon First Class ranking as Conductor. Date of Warrant Rank 1/3/1888, date of present rank 1/3/07, Civil and Jail, Hensada (Assistant Surgeons seconded for Civil Employ) Oct 1918 - Senior Asst Surgeon with honorary rank of Major, Date of 1st command 26 Dec 10, date of present rank 25/12/1917. Civil and Jail Akyab Once the whereabouts of your ancestor in a given year has been established, a useful next step is the IOR V/12 Service Histories. The necessary volumes can be accessed on National Archives site: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/. Search for IOR/V/12 and chose one or more relevant volumes. The later you can get in your Assistant Surgeon’s career the better, as the information appears to be cumulative. The documents themselves are held at the British Library. In addition to the postings, the Service Histories also contain other details relating to leave and training.
Hence the following extracts from Histories of Service in Burma - Medical Department IOR/ V/12/ 406 for 1921:
Sandoway – Civil Surgeon - 28 Oct 1899 Leave on medical certificate in India from 15th and out of India for 5 months and 11 days from 17 August 1900, the date of being struck off duty being 15 Aug 1900.
Henzada - CS – 26 May 1909 On deputation to Kasauli for training in Clinical Bacteriology and Technique from 25 Feb to 30 Mar 1912
Henzada - CS – 6 Apr 1912 On deputation to Calcutta for Royal Commission from 7 Jan 1914
Interestingly, by the time these records appear in 1921, this Assistant Surgeon is listed as IMD and not ISMD. The word “subordinate” was finally dropped in 1919 – this was the year it no longer appeared in The London Gazette. It is probable that the deputation to Calcutta in 1914 was in pursuit of this aim, amongst others.
Assistant Surgeons and Superintendents of Jails
The employment of Assistant Surgeons as Jail Superintendents seems curious, but was the usual practice.
Reports on Jails, Hospitals, Public Health Departments and much more can be found in the IOR/V/24 series. As with the Service Histories they are searchable on the National Archives http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/. site and available to view at the British Library.
See Superintendents of Jails for some details of daily life (note sent as separate document)
The Question of Status Collection 116/52 Recognition by General Medical Council of certain Indian degrees, including Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery of University of Madras. IOR/L/MIL/7/5323 1915-1916 This is an interesting collection of documents and correspondence. The hope had been that qualifications such as the LMS (Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery) would be recognised by the General Medical Council, and that at the end of 5 years in the ISMD, Assistant Surgeons would be able to study for further qualifications that would put them on an equal footing with their IMS colleagues.
(Click here for a document, Chapter 11 from an unnamed book, which sets out the requirements for a medical qualification from the Indian universities. http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005abe_476.pdf ) The outcome was to defer the adoption of the system of nomination for admission into the medical colleges for Assistant Surgeon branch of the ISMD. Presumably the decision was not taken at this time as it was the middle of the First World War and there were more pressing matters to hand - during this time many Civil Surgeons served for a time with the Military - but it would seem that the ISMD was put on a more equitable footing shortly thereafter.
It is clear from other documents in this collection that the ISMD had numerous grievances and that they were prepared to voice them.
Rates of pay for 1915 are given, not vastly different from those given above for 1870 4th class Assistant Surgeon ranking as sub conductor, 100 rupees per month 3rd class, 150 rpm 2nd class ranking as conductor, 200 rpm 1st class, 250 rpm Senior Assistant Surgeon with honorary rank of Lieutenant, 350 rpm Senior with honorary rank of Captain or Major, 450 rpm
A letter dated 1907, says that the ISMD no longer a desirable field for employment for young men. The pay is poor, particularly in junior grades: this and the 4 year course of professional study makes it difficult to recruit suitable men. There is a need to improve pay and prospects - an Assistant Surgeon has to serve for 19 years before promotion to 1st class. It was proposed to reduce this to 17 years, and introduce more “perks” relating to horse allowance, furlough pay etc.
Correspondence with General Council for Medical Education and Registration in London in which they point out that granting of qualifications is their remit and are entitled to refuse - they refused to acknowledge qualifications of State Medical Faculty of Bengal. In 1914, 18 Military Assistant Surgeons sent memorials to His Majesty’s Secretary of State praying for certain improvements in the pay, status and prospects of the ISMD – among them was Senior Assistant Surgeon AW Truter, who wrote a lengthy letter, including the following: “Your memorialist submits that the present designation, viz Indian Subordinate Medical Department, casts an undeserved slur on its members inasmuch as no Government Department of similar standing is designated “subordinate”, nor is the word “subordinate” borne by any department of the British or Indian Army... your memorialist would therefore crave your lordships indulgence in this respect and beg for the removal of a word so obnoxious as “subordinate” from his designation” This collection also includes a copy of the entrance exam to the ISMD in 1912. There are sections on English Composition, (eg write an essay on punctuality), Mathematics (including algebra), History and Geography (both Indian and UK based - candidates had to answer some of each.) The reform of the ISMD is covered in more detail in the following Collections, which, to date, have not been perused by the authors: Collection 116/8 Senior apothecaries no longer to be styled as warrant officers. IOR/L/MIL/7/5278 1886.
Collection 116/13 Royal Warrant for grant of commissions to senior apothecaries. IOR/L/MIL/7/5283 1890.
Collection 116/15 Names of senior apothecaries granted commissions under Royal Warrant. IOR/L/MIL/7/5286 1890.
Collection 116/22 Apothecary branch: changes in rank and designation of members. IOR/L/MIL/7/5293 1893-1894.
Collection 116/48 Issue of new Royal Warrant for promotion of assistant surgeons and sub-assistant surgeons. IOR/L/MIL/7/5319 1910-1933
Collection 116/50 Improvements in pay and prospects of military assistant surgeons of Indian Subordinate Medical Department, including removal of the word "Subordinate". IOR/L/MIL/7/5321 1914-1934 The End The Indian Medical Department effectively ended as a separate entity on April 3rd 1943 when it was amalgamated with the Indian Medical Service and the Indian Hospital Corps. In this form, it still exists today.
*****
Listings of Apothecaries Some Directories contain lists of Apothecaries and Stewards, Assistant Apothecaries and Assistant Stewards, which contain details as to when they obtained their grading and where they were currently serving. The list, in a section headed Subordinate Medical Department is usually found at the end of the Military List, following a Medical Department List. Occasionally the apothecaries are found in lists where the heading is Warrant Officers. In a few volumes Hospital Apprentices are also included, or Passed Medical Apprentices in Madras. Even if there is no specific list, the apothecary’s name may appear in the Alphabetical List of Residents, particularly for the Mofussil. Currently (May 2009) there are only six known lists online, 1838 Bengal Directory, page 245 http://books.google.com/books?id=O94NAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA245 Madras Quarterly Journal Of Medical Science (search within these volumes for ”warrant officers” or more generally for “medical warrant officers”) Madras at 1 October 1860 (Page 17 of appendix at end of book) http://books.google.com/books?id=ahe1AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PR17 Madras at April 1861(Page 17 of appendix) http://books.google.com/books?id=0he1AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PR17 Madras at 1 October 1861(Page 17 of appendix) http://books.google.com/books?id=ahi1AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PR17 Madras at 1 April 1862 (page 16 of appendix) http://books.google.com/books?id=Dhm1AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PR16 Madras at 1 April 1863(Page 19 of appendix) http://books.google.com/books?id=2xm1AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PR19 In Bengal, the following have also been noted to contain lists. There may well be others. Scott and Co Bengal and Register for 1844 New Calcutta Directory 1857-1862, but excluding 1860. Hospital Apprentices and “Extra Assistant Apothecaries” are included in 1861. Thacker’s Bengal Directory 1864-1868.These volumes include Hospital Apprentices. You can also try searching in Directories (both online and in a library) for additional lists of apothecaries and also for birth, marriage and burial entries, and entries relating to postings and promotion. Click here for the Fibiwicki link about Directories (Note amendments to this Directories page being sent as separate Doc)
In addition The London Gazette http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/ is a good source of information for promotions.
Prepared by Maureen Evers and Joss O’Kelly 6 May 2009
