The third doctor to hold the office of Medical Officer of Health for Poole was appointed in November 1880 after some very deliberate partisan manoeuvring by Poole councillors. Frederick Vernède was an active member of the Liberal Party, which at the time held the majority on the council. There was no recruitment process. His predecessor Herbert Lawton was a Conservative; an opportunity arose to replace him and in a vote of councillors Frederick Vernède was selected by the smallest margin of 10 votes to 9. (see also blog post on Herbert Lawton). It was plain to see that the post of Medical Officer of Health was still not considered important enough for health issues to outweigh political adherence.
But it was now Frederick Vernède¹ who had the task of improving the health of the people of Poole. He undoubtedly pursued this task with due professional vigour for the next 5 years. However his name in the history of Poole may well be better known from the popular press and the courtroom than the council. He gave evidence in two notorious murder trials and was part of a widely-reported libel action concerning his wife, his brother and a jilted bride
Life before Poole
Frederick Edwin Vernède had been born in 1840 about as far from Poole as it was possible to be – in Java, Indonesia, then known as Batavia and part of the Dutch East Indies. His father, Henri Jean Vernède, had settled there with his wife Emma. Henri was a descendent of a Huguenot family who had fled France in 1685 after the Edict of Nantes; Henri became a naturalised British citizen on his marriage to Emma. Following his death, his widow returned to England with their children.
By 1866, the family were in London, where Frederick was enrolled as a medical student at University College. He became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons on his graduation the following year, while living at an address in Bayswater. The census for 1871 lists him at the family home of his mother in Upper St Marylebone, with sisters Emma and Rose, brothers Camille and Victor, plus 2 servants. There can be little doubt that this was a prosperous family.
The following year Frederick appears for the first time in Poole in relation to a property in Market Street, which was to be sold to another brother, Oscar Vernède. Frederick was, however, still living and practicing in London at this time. In 1877 the Medical Register listed his address as 25 Blomfield Street Bayswater. And it was in London late that year where he married Harriet Pearce in a civil ceremony. His entrance to Poole is certainly not clear. Something linked him to Poole before he had established his practice in the town, during 1877.
Practice in Poole
In 1877 a notice in the Poole Herald newspaper for 15 November announced that he had taken over the medical practice of Mr HD Ellis and was in fact at Mr Ellis’ previous address – Beech Hurst in the High Street. This is the grand house by where North Street crosses the High Street, now somewhat diminished in appearance and without grounds, used as a solicitors’ practice. Frederick announced that he had purchased the medical practice and was not a member of any other medical practice in Poole. There was clearly some problem, as he said that he made this public announcement because of reports which have been circulated to the contrary.
The following year he was publicly thanked for allowing the use of the grounds of his Beech Hurst mansion to be used for a Sunday school fete. Clearly he had established a presence in the town. However Frederick did not stay long at Beech Hurst. By 1879 he had moved his home and practice to Market Street; Beech Hurst was now occupied by Philip Budge, a well-known solicitor in the town.
Frederick went on to establish himself socially and professionally in Poole. In addition to his practice, he took valued positions as Medical Officer to the Ancient Order of Foresters and to the Independent Order of Rechabites. He also joined the Poole Musical Association, performing at public concerts. His political allegiance with the local Liberals led to him becoming its vice-president.
However he obviously was intent on building his professional medical base in the town. The post of Medical Officer of Health would have suited this aim. He would presumably have welcomed the manoeuvring in the council chamber in November 1880 that removed his predecessor and allowed his Liberal backers to appoint him.
Being Medical Officer of Health
On becoming Medical Officer of Health Frederick must have quickly realised the problems in having no department to support him, bar the plainly-titled Inspector of Nuisances. No office even – he was expected to use his practice premises as his base. Further, following the precedent set for his predecessors, the next April he took on the duties of Port Medical Officer of Health as well. Whether he knew much about public health of town and port did not seem a necessary qualification.
As the 3rd holder of the post, there were at least some precedents as to what duties he had to take on and how to respond to council pressures. There were also the potential problems of juggling his two masters – Poole Council and his professional overseers at the Local Government Board in London. Whilst he could probably control his own agenda in the town, the Board certainly had the ability to direct his actions when necessary.
He must also have quickly found his duties involved environmental issues as well as medical ones. On 11th June 1881, Frederick was reported as visiting Lower Parkstone with the Inspector of Nuisances in order to pass judgement on the health effects of an open ditch. This was described as a serious evil with a most offensive smell, and required immediate action. Whilst as a doctor, offensive smells were obviously not unusual, these remedies would be beyond his medical experience.
Also in June 1881, Frederick was called on by the Council to inspect Poole’s Dame schools². These were tiny schools run in houses. About 20 such places were inspected, many of them condemned for operating in rooms too small and poorly ventilated for the numbers of children. Legislation required there to be 80 cubic feet of space for each child, but an example reported had only 28 cubic feet provided. Frederick reported that some schools were simply run in the living rooms of the small houses. He concluded that the schools were prejudicial to health, and urged action from the council.
His first annual report on the health of the town was presented to the council at the beginning of February 1882. He reported on the recent census returns, which showed a modest population rise, which he said was due largely to new entrants to the town. He recorded just 9 deaths from infectious causes. The year had been free of large outbreaks of infectious disease, although there had been closure of a school in Kinson to combat cases of scarlet fever. He urged that conditions such as scarlet fever and measles be taken more seriously, instead of as inevitable childhood infections. Other deaths included 1 from eating poisonous berries and 4 from being run over (presumably by horse and cart).Disruptions in water supply from the Poole Waterworks company in the summer were criticised, especially as many wells in the town were polluted.
In July 1883 the Local Government Board called on Poole Council to investigate the safety of the water supply, acting because of concerns about cholera outbreaks across the country. Frederick duly presented a report in which he called for the closure of all water pumps in the Old Town for drinking water. He claimed they were either polluted or in close proximity to cesspools. He proposed night soil be disinfected before collection. He further recommended how any outbreaks on visiting ships should be dealt with. The council did recommend the wells be closed, but not until the following year was action apparently taken. This followed a visit to the town by Dr Bloxall of the Local Government Board to examine further how Poole was prepared for any cholera outbreak, including inspection of the hospital. All apparently was considered up to scratch, apart from closing the wells.
Late in 1883 the Poole Herald published a long article3 on the state of housing for the poor in Poole’s old town area. This article was inspired by the publication How the Poor Live by George Sims on the state of housing for the poor in London. The descriptions of life in the hovels of the Old Town make hard reading…degradation and misery…yard full of thick mud and offensive refuse… boys with bare feet, shivering…the rain comes through the ceilings…squalid wretchedness…detestably filthy. Blame is put on drink as the sole cause of all this terrible degradation. This was clearly a challenge to the Medical Officer of Health. However there does not seem to have been any practical or political outcome of note. Hillier³ states that the sudden death of the town’s MP, Charles Schreiber, took all attention away from the article. Of course, the newer parts of Poole, in Parkstone and Branksome, were very different and their populations were probably much more vocal than those in old town Poole in demanding council services. In February 1885 Frederick did give evidence in a court case concerning a property in Parkstone being in a state injurious to the public health, so he must have been active in such work, but perhaps the problems in the Old Town were too great.
Also in February 1885 Frederick presented his next annual report on the health of the town. This was received by the council seemingly with little comment, except for discussion on the need for domestic sewers. Some councillors thought these actually created a conduit to bring disease into houses, rather than the reverse. But the state of housing in the Old Town did not apparently receive press comment.
Baiter Hospital
Frederick was, like his predecessor, vaulted into the role of a hospital doctor as he was in charge of the infectious diseases hospital out on the Baiter peninsular. He was its sole doctor, not a problem until any epidemic arose in the town. The hospital was otherwise staffed by a superintendent, usually joined by a wife who acted as a nurse. The 1881 census shows William Bush was then the Superintendent, accompanied by his wife Martha. Both were born in Poole, but how suited to their roles can be questioned. William was 73 and a gardener by trade, Martha was 67. In May 1885 Frederick had to recruit a new couple to staff the hospital. A John James was appointed the Superintendent, with his wife Harriet in the role of nurse. While James was at 48 definitely younger than his predecessor, his qualifications are also hard to see – he had previously been an inn keeper!
The small hospital was in an exposed position on Baiter, with difficult access in high tides and bad weather. Frederick did succeed in persuading the council to fund improvements during 1885. A tender of £148 was accepted for work to add further patient accommodation, and provide a new kitchen, laundry and bedroom. It was also recommended that the old Powder House nearby be used as a mortuary and disinfecting chamber. (See also blog on Baiter Hospital)
The hospital was subject to inspections from the Local Government Board. The Board report for 1885/6 recorded that: There is hospital accommodation for infectious cases of permanent kind for seven patients, well situated and adapted for isolating cases of one disease; a mortuary is needed for this hospital; a boat with a canvas covering is provided for removal of patients from ship to hospital.
In February 1885 he had hosted a visit by Dr Davies of the Local Government Board, part of a national survey on the sanitary state of ports. The actual report was not published until after Frederick had left office, so he may not have known that the inspector found the work of the Medical Officer of Health was satisfactory and the work of the council as the sanitary authority was energetic. These judgements seem rather limited in praise, but were actually quite positive compared with those given for some other ports!
Much more down to earth was his work In July that year when he had to give evidence in a case involving putrid eggs being for sale in the town. In January 1886 he was involved in a case involving complaints about smell from a resident keeping 4 horses in a back yard of a house in Old Orchard.
Downfall of the Medical Officer of Health
The year 1886 saw a big step forward for the post of Medical Officer of Health, when for the first time dedicated accommodation was provided, albeit a room in the old prison building. Frederick no longer had to use his private practice premises for council business. This was somewhat ironic, however, as almost immediately his role as Poole’s Medical Officer of Health came to an end when he resigned.
He had had to inform the Council about a new outbreak of smallpox in the town. Cases were admitted to the hospital, but extra accommodation was sought for further patients. A row blew up following removal of one suspected case of smallpox to a house in Parkstone, where a confirmed case was already being isolated. This drew complaints from neighbouring residents, including letters sent to the Local Government Board. Frederick’s case was that he had acted in a private capacity in confirming that it would be better to confine the patient to an already affected house, but had not acted as Medical Officer of Health in carrying out the action. This seemed a confusing argument to various councillors and others. It might not have been so significant if the post of Medical Officer of Health had not been due for renewal and if the political balance had not changed.
At the council meeting held on 15 March 1886, the Town Clerk read a letter from Frederick in which he resigned. He stated he had believed he had the confidence of the council but that recent events showed this was incorrect. The Mayor then spoke up that no case was being made against Dr Vernède except over the removal of the smallpox victim to a house. The meeting however seemed then to have degenerated into political divisions between Conservative and Liberal members, and as to whether this and previous appointments had been on political grounds. The conclusion was that the resignation was accepted. Frederick’s career as Medical Officer of Health was over. His predecessor Herbert Lawton was quickly reappointed.
Later Career in the Limelight
But just as Lawton had done before him, Frederick now simply concentrated on his medical practice in the town. However due to his involvement in several highly-publicised events, he remained very much in the public eye.
The first had occurred whilst he was still in office; in November 1883 Frederick had given evidence in a court case which revealed the showman side to his personality. The case had nothing to do with his Medical Officer of Health duties. It involved an inquest and the subsequent murder trial of a Danish seaman. In giving evidence Frederick did not just provide a dry statement of medical facts, rather he provided a show to the assembled courtroom. This was subsequently written up by Thomas Hardy:
…the knife passing through the unfortunate man’s left lung, penetrating the heart. The doctor at this point searched in his coat-tail pocket and produced a small paper parcel. This he explained as a shudder passed through the court is the lung of the deceased through which the knife went. Later on he produced a still larger parcel…he then presented to the shocked gaze of the court, the heart of the dead man and pointed out the hole in it where the knife had penetrated….The doctor meanwhile calmly held up the heart and described the injuries with nonchalance that distinguishes the medical profession…. 4
It is difficult to understand how such a pathological demonstration could be conducted in an open court room in such a nonchalant way, but these were obviously very different times!
A few months after leaving office as Medical Officer of Health, Frederick was involved in one of the most notorious murder cases in Poole – that of Horatio Hamilton. Hamilton was one of Poole’s leading citizens, a long term Liberal member of the council and previous Mayor. The story of his murder is detailed in John Hillier’s book Victorian Poole3and on the Poole High Street Project website. Frederick was named as one of the principal mourners at Hamilton’s funeral, so was presumably a close friend of the victim. However his involvement was more immediate than that, as he was called to the police station to inspect the body as an expert witness. He was then called to give evidence at the inquest, and later at the trial of the accused, John King. Frederick was quite used to giving evidence at court, as a local doctor. This time there was no sensational display of body parts!
He featured in a case report in the British Medical Journal in October 1893, when he acted as anaesthetist during surgery on an industrial injury conducted by surgeon Mr Arthur Kemble. The patient unfortunately died soon Frederick administered chloroform, despite his reported use of artificial respiration for a prolonged period. The report certainly did not ascribe any blame to Frederick.
In 1894, Frederick was involved in another sensational court case, which this time brought him much unwanted press attention and notoriety. This involved his wife Harriett, and brings her very much to the forefront. It was a libel case heard at the Dorset Assizes, brought by Harriett Vernède against J H Slade, prominent Poole businessman. She claimed to have been libelled in a letter sent by Slade to her brother-in-law Camille, a landscape painter who frequently stayed with them in Poole. Harriett claimed £500 damages because the letter suggested that she had publicly expressed her intention to end the engagement between Camille and Slade’s daughter Martha. It was stated that she had caused Camille to end previous engagements, with a strong imputation that she and Camille had had an improper relationship. The facts were clear in that Camille had indeed broken off the engagement to Martha. The Judge’s view of the proceedings was shown by his reported comment that surely Poole Harbour was big enough to wash the dirty linen of the two families without having had to resort to court. The outcome however was a jury decision in favour of Slade.
There was more, however, as the court then turned to an associated case: Martha Slade having accused both Frederick and his wife of slander. Martha won this case, and was awarded £50 in damages. The whole affair took up many column inches in Dorset newspapers and beyond, and certainly did nothing for the Vernède name in Poole. The town was apparently awash with gossip about a relationship between Camille and his sister-in-law, and her influence over him. Frederick’s stature in the town must have been diminished.
Final Days
Harriett died in 1898, aged just 50. With the notable exception of the court case involving her brother-in-law, Harriett features little in the documented life of Frederick. From those reports, Harriett seemed to have been no shrinking violet, hiding behind her Victorian curtains while her husband ruled the family.
However Frederick was a widower for less than 6 months, marrying again in London in December the same year. His second wife was Alice Jane Day, who came from Chelmsford, where she was a school governess. Her father had been a wool merchant. Nothing is known about how the couple knew each other.
Frederick died on 6 January 1905, aged 64. The couple had left Poole and moved to Bedford, the medical practice having been sold. Frederick was to be buried in Poole alongside his first wife Harriett. His coffin and mourners travelled to Poole by train on the 12th January. Reported as arriving at Poole Station at 1pm, the coffin and travelling mourners were taken the short distance to Longfleet Church for the committal service. An obituary in the Poole Herald stated that he made himself very popular in the town, where he took a warm interest in many of its institutions.5
Frederick Vernède was a leading citizen during his 25 or so years in Poole, but the sensational trials certainly stand out, rather overshadowing his role serving Poole as its third Medical Officer of Health.
Notes
¹ Sources are confused about the accent in his name. Official records, such as his marriage and death records show a grave accent, which is therefore taken to be correct. Some other sources use an acute accent, whilst newspapers normally used no accent at all.
² See the website The Victorian School on Dame Schools
³ See Poole Herald 13 Dec 1883 How the poor live. This has been partially reprinted on pages 127-9 of Victorian Poole by John Hillier, Poole Historical Trust 1990.
4 Thomas Hardy’s facts notebook ; edited by William Greenslade. Routledge, 2017.
5 Poole Herald 12 Jan 1905
Poole's Health Record 