By The name of Dr Thomas Gibson (1648/9–1722) isn’t one with much impact outside those studying the history of medicine, yet his story is one full of interesting details. Gibson was born in High Knipe, in the parish of Bampton, Westmorland.1 This is near Penrith in modern-day Cumbria. Gibson’s ODNB entry and his
Six Lessons From a Child’s Death
In a poignant diary entry dissenting minister and local physician James Clegg (1669-1755) described the death of one of his infant sons from convulsions. In March 1720 he noted that ‘My dear child Ebenezer was seized about the first day of this month with very strong convulsions which continued above
By The Derbyshire Damsel
Martha Taylor: The Derbyshire Damsel In the late 1600s, a young woman in the Derbyshire Peak District became a celebrity for a brief time. Martha Taylor, born in February 1651, was an adolescent who had a history of ill-health starting from when she was about ten years old. She became
Children of Wrath
New Book Published – ‘Children of Wrath: Possession, Prophecy and the Young in Early Modern England’ – Anna French I have been meaning to (promising to) write a blog post on my recently published monograph, Children of Wrath: Possession, Prophecy and the Young in Early Modern England, for some time
Flesh and Spirit
This week’s post is a quick look at the anthology Flesh and Spirit: An Anthology of Seventeenth-century Women’s Writing August saw the first anniversary of the publication of Flesh and Spirit: An Anthology of Seventeenth-century Women’s Writing (Manchester University Press, 2014) co-edited by Sara, with Rachel Adcock (Keele) and Anna Ziomek. Since we didn’t