Death, Grief and the Victorian GP: A Case Study of Edward Wrench of Baslow, Derbyshire, 1862 - 1898

Abstract

ABSTRACT While historians such as Anne Digby and Irvine Loudon have explored and examined the processes of general medical practice in the nineteenth century, we still know relatively about individual doctors' emotional responses to death, grief and dying. The diaries of Edward Wrench, a Derbyshire GP, act as a lens through which to examine his responses when faced with the deaths of his own children, family members, close friends and his patients many of whom he came to know well through living and working in a relatively isolated rural community. In the early days of his practice Wrench had a strong Christian faith but this waned over time as new scientific findings made him more sceptical and unable to balance his faith against these new discoveries. This article will by using his diaries focus on his emotional and professional attitudes to death across the entire spectrum of his practice and family life.