Health and welfare of European seamen: colonial Indian port cities in the long nineteenth century

Thesis

This thesis examines the health, welfare and sanitary regulation of the European seamen in the British naval and merchant fleet in the nineteenth century. The aim, in this study, is twofold. First, to see how and to what extent maritime medicine helped shape the understanding of health and hygiene in the tropics. The agency of European troops and military surgeons in shaping public health in British India has generated a field of historical enquiry, but little is known about the impact of European seamen and maritime medicine. Second, to expand our current understanding of imperial medicine in a British colony through a study of mobile British subjects and health policies across various imperial sites. The thesis argues that seamen􏰂s health in transit and in imperial port cities 􏰄as instr􏰁mental in the de􏰅elopment of tropical hygiene and sanitary reform as an indispensable mechanism for empire-building. Through a study of these go-betweeners who linked the metropole (Britain) and the periphery (colonies), and the role of imperialism and philanthropy in shaping public health, this thesis broadens our understanding of how the political, medical, and civilian personnel of the British Empire governed poor and vulnerable white imperial subjects.

Authors: Dutta, M

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-devrzw6j2
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: colonialism; sanitation; seamen; health; maritime history; British Empire; hygiene
• Subjects: Indian Ocean; Sailors; Great Britain--Colonies; History, Modern; Port cities