'Go and see Nell; She'll put you right': The Wisewoman and Working-Class Health Care in Early Twentieth-century Lancashire

This paper explores health care in one Lancashire working-class community during the golden age of biomedicine. Both the biomedical and alternative medical services available in the town are examined. The services provided by one community 'wisewoman'; ranging from the respectable, such as midwifery, to the illegal, including abortion are a key focus. This case study is used as a way to engage with a larger theme in the history of medicine, namely, the tension between orthodox biomedical science and more traditional and alternative approaches to health care. The ways in which during the early twentieth century, traditional healing networks found ways to survive despite the increasing power and reach of biomedicine are demonstrated. This evidence points to the complexity of working-class attitudes to medical authority and practice during the period in question. In Rochdale, the working-class community remained slow to accept the orthodox challenge to traditional beliefs concerning health and healing.