Interlude 1

Thomas Woolgar, the mystery man

Jean Irvin

We don’t know a great deal about Thomas Woolgar.1 We don’t know exactly when or where he was born or when and where he died, but we do know that he was living somewhere in the village of East Hoathly in Sussex in 1775, when the surgeon Mr Nathaniel Paine amputated his leg.

East Hoathly’s account book records that the parish shared the expenses of the amputation and Thomas’s subsequent care with the parish of St John sub-Castro in Lewes.2 This was an unusual arrangement since the costs of medical care usually fell on the patient’s parish of legal settlement. Perhaps the amputation was the result of an accident that occurred during Thomas’s employment in East Hoathly. Whatever the reason, no clue was left in the parish records as to the reason for these shared expenses.

Thomas’s ongoing care was undertaken in East Hoathly, including subsequent dressing of the wound and medicines. He was also provided with wine and ‘liquor’, no doubt to help with pain relief. The aptly named surgeon, Mr Paine, who also lived in the village, checked on Thomas’s progress and dressed the wound on at least one occasion. Mr Paine’s itemized bill, including the professional fee of three guineas for the amputation itself, medicines and treatments indicates that this took place sometime before April 1775.3 On 7 January 1775 Thomas received a generous quantity of ‘liquer’ from Thomas Turner’s general store and two ‘rollers’ (or bandages), a sponge and ‘rags’.4 From then on he received a regular supply of fuel, food, drink and household items that comprehensively addressed his personal care needs.

Thomas’s hygiene appears to have been a continuing priority. Turner provided copious supplies of soap together with a rented bedpan (two shillings) and candlestick (1s 2d), all at parish expense.5 The quantity of candles was increased, no doubt to ensure there was enough light to properly wash and dress Thomas’s wound. On 19 April, James Marchant was paid four shillings for having shaved Thomas on eight occasions.6 The last overseers’ receipt paid on behalf of Thomas, dated 21 April 1775, was for the attendance of and services provided by the surgeon, Mr Nathaniel Paine.7

For Thomas Woolgar to have survived life-threatening surgery without any of the advantages of modern medicine and hygiene was probably not just a result of the skill of the surgeon but also an indication of his robust constitution and of the good pre- and post-operative care he was given. The parish supported Thomas financially throughout the first three months of 1775, providing cash, goods and services, costing a total of £28 2s. At today’s prices this approximates to £2,419.54, which suggests that East Hoathly was a parish with a settled community that could afford to take its responsibilities for relief of the poor seriously, and in Thomas’ case it did not stint.8

Sadly, Thomas Woolgar then disappeared from the records as mysteriously as he had arrived.

1 For the fuller story of Thomas Woolgar see J. Irvin, ‘The Mystery Man – Thomas Woolgar’, The Poor Law <https://thepoorlaw.org/the-mystery-man-thomas-woolgar> [accessed 20 Mar. 2021]. The blog post is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

2 ESRO, PAR378/31/1/1, East Hoathly, Overseers’ account book, 1775.

3 ESRO, PAR378/31/3/14/17B, East Hoathly, Overseers’ vouchers, Apr. 1775.

4 ESRO, PAR378/31/3/14/13, East Hoathly, Overseers’ vouchers, 7 Jan 1775.

5 ESRO, PAR378/31/3/14/12, East Hoathly, Overseers’ vouchers, 13 Apr. 1775.

6 ESRO, PAR378/31/3/15/2, East Hoathly, Overseers’ vouchers, 19 Apr. 1775.

7 ESRO, PAR378/31/3/14/17A, East Hoathly, Overseers’ vouchers, 21 Apr. 1775.

8 Currency converter, The National Archives <https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency-converter> [accessed 20 Mar. 2021].