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Quarantining Ships In the Golden Age of Piracy, Page 15

History of Quarantine Regulations - Bubonic Plague: England

While England never built formal lazarettos, they did establish locations for crews to serve out quarantines on their ships as well as finding unoccupied land where cargoes could be opened and aired to remove any contagion. The history of the plague in England goes at least back to 1348, arriving in "the sea-port towns of Dorsetshire; thence to have palled into Devonshire and
Lazaretto Vecchio on Early Map, Wellcome Collection
Somersetshire, as far as Bristol; and though the Gloucestershire people cut off all communication with that city, yet at length it reached Gloucester, Oxford and London."¹ This was followed by England having to withstand numerous other significant bouts of the bubonic plague. A list of the major plague epidemics experienced in London and the surrounding liberties (outlying areas overseen by London) including mortality statics can be found in the chart at left.

Beginning in the 16th century action was taken to prevent the plague from being imported into the country. Regulations were introduced in England in 1585.² Other measures were implemented during the seventeenth century, although "imposition of quarantine was always short-lived, in response to perceived emergencies, and within the royal prerogative. There was as yet no question of permanent measure or of parliamentary involvement."³

At the beginning of the 17th century, "quarantines for foreign goods are recommended by the College of Physicians according to the custom of Italy, and... were enjoined by royal authority in 1664."⁴ The College of Physicians directed that incoming ships would have to have a bill of health or be quarantined. The 1664 regulations directed, "Infected ships were to be sent to sea and ships from infected ports were to be moored under guard in a named creek of the Thames estuary and only released if free from infection after forty days, the goods meanwhile being 'aired' on shore."⁵ The measures enacted followed the advice of the College.⁶

On August 22, 1709, the Privy Council of England, advisors to the sovereign, decided that "The navy was to prevent any goods, seamen or passengers from those areas being landed in London or the outports 'untill they be under the Care of the Officers of the Customes who are to
Queen Anne's Privy Council, From Cassells Illustrated
History of England, Vol. 4 (1864)
take Care ... according to the Intention of this Order'."⁷ This was too vague to be practicable, so another order was issued on September 5th, which added that such landing was to occur at locations "'provided for airing the ... Persons and Goods for 40 Days appointed for performing their Quarantain"⁸. This was also confusing because available locations were not identified. A third order was issued eight days later which did nothing to clarify the second, but added that the 'Baltic Seas' were considered an infected area.

Quarantine was made official by Queen Anne's 'Act to oblige Ships coming from Places infected more effectually to perform their Quarantine' in 1710, passing both Houses of Parliament in only eight days. The Act was created because "several Places on or near the Baltick Sea are and have been, for some Time past, infested with the Plague, and her Majesty... required a Quarantine to be performed by all Ships and Persons coming from Places infected, as herein is directed". This act advised that quarantine was to be served "in such Place, &c. as shall be directed by her Majesty". Those leaving the ship before quarantine ended were simply ordered to be put back aboard to finish their term. Those in charge of overseeing the quarantine were to keep watches and could "seize any Boat belonging to the Ship, and detain it during the Quarantine"⁹ Once the quarantine was completed, the ship was given a Certificate costing 1 s. Similar to the rules established at Mediterranean lazarettos, the act ended with a quick mention of opening and airing imported goods which had been tacked on following discussion in Parliament.

Like the Privy Council orders, the act was vague, not providing specifics such as the term or place of quarantine. It also lacked effective punishments for those breaking quarantine and didn't provide money to pay those in charge of overseeing it and the watches. "A clumsier piece of legislation could scarcely have been imagined."¹⁰

For the British Navy "the imposition of quarantine was a thorough nuisance" because it tied up fleets who were needed to fight the French during the War of Spanish Succession, escort merchant fleets past French privateers, and take French merchant ships for England.¹¹ The new ruling saddled the navy with the additional tasks of supporting Customs officers enforcing the law and providing guard-ships at the quarantine stations. In addition, the already undermanned naval vessels which had been in the Baltic were now required to perform quarantine, putting them out of action for forty days. Because news of plague in the Baltic continued through 1711, the bill remained in place until 1714.¹²

Due in some measure to the problems experienced with the 1710 Act combined with the alarm raised by a
Artist: Sir Godfrey Kneller - King George I (1714)
serious plague outbreak in Marseilles, France, the need for rules of quarantine in England resurfaced in 1720. Since the King was out of the country, "the Lords Justices issued an Order which was a virtual resurrection of the texts used in the Baltic crisis"¹³. The justices asked physician Mead for his advice, which resulted in the writing of his A short discourse concerning pestilential contagion.

In October of 1720, the Privy Council specified the establishment of quarantine ports for London, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Falmouth and Bristol, and airing grounds were to be summarily appointed by local Customs."¹⁴ To enforce these orders, parliament's backing was needed. On December 17th, 1720, the quarantine bill was ordered, the result of which which was read the 10th of January. It passed the 21st of January, and was endorsed by King George I on the 25th. "More pains and deliberation had been employed in preparing this act, than the former; and it consequently came out not only enlarged, but much improved."¹⁵.

The 1721 act began by explaining that the 1710 "Act is defective and insufficient for the Purposes intended, and the Penalties inflicted by the same not adequate to the Offences thereby prohibited". With this in mind, the new act spelled out more stringent penalties for men and ships who failed to work with the government and properly serve their quarantine. Those in charge "of any Vessel coming from infested Places, or having on board Persons visited with the Plague, and not discovering the
Artist: Claude Lorrain
Ship at Anchor, From The Abduction of Europa by Jupiter (17th c)
same, [were] Guilty of Felony." Failure to 'discover' such information to officials was also fined £200. Men who left the ship before their quarantine period expired were similarly fined, put back on the ship to serve out the rest of their quarantine and then jailed for 6 months. If the ship's master or captain let men leave a ship under quarantine or didn't take his ship to the place specified for quarantine, he forfeited his ship and was fined £200. Anyone not under quarantine who boarded a ship under quarantine was required to stay and serve. Ships with infected people or goods or coming from infected areas could also be burned at the king's discretion. Most chilling of all, people who escaped from quarantine and left the quarantine area, "shall suffer Death."¹⁶

The king could further set up 'Lines' around infected areas "and prohibit Persons, Goods, &c. to pass such Lines. Persons offering to pass without Licence, may be compelled back, and actually passing, shall suffer Death." Like the previous act, watches were to be set up around quarantine area. Watchmen failing to perform their duty or not following the quarantine rules would fired and fined 100 £. The act also allowed for the creation of lazarettos upon an outbreak of plague in England. This read, "In Times of Infection the King may cause Ships and Lazarets to be provided for the Performance of Quarantine, and Entertainment of Persons infected; likewise proper Places for airing of Goods, &c."¹⁷ Fortunately, plague never again visited England, so no lazarettos were ever built there.

In September of 1721, the Privy Council took specific action against France, telling the Attorney General, "to prepare an Order obliging all persons arriving in the country from the French coast north of Biscay, to bring a bill of health or be subject to quarantine."¹⁸ The King issued and Order and Proclamation to this effect in October
A Sloop Being Used as Packet Boat (1825)
which directed that "All persons on packet boats (vessels carrying mail and packages between places) ‘of what Condition or Quality soever they be’ were to produce their bill to the master before sailing, or the whole ship would be quarantined."¹⁹ As a result, "all ships arriving from the French Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts [were put] under quarantine, and all person crossing the Channel [were] under the necessity to prove that they, and their port of departure, were healthy."²⁰

Curiously, this created new problems for the English navy who were trying to stop smuggling: they could not board ships coming from these regions who did not have bills of health, so if they caught a ship suspected of smuggling, all the master had to do was say that they did not have the required health documents. At the same time, it hindered legitimate trading vessels who had to either show bills of health or go through the quarantine process and have their goods aired, delaying them from landing and possibly having their goods and packages spoil. It was eventually ruled that perishable products such as currants, prunes, lemons and wine "could discharge without airing"²¹. Over time, a number of similar exceptions were eventually required to accommodate trade, undermining the spirit of the act.

Today, we are familiar with the idea that quarantined locations are specifically indicated so that people do not accidentally wander into them, requiring them to serve out the quarantine themselves. On land in England, such indications were posted. The doors of houses containing a person with the plague were marked with a red cross in Modena, Italy in 1630 and Padua, Italy in 1631 and with a white cross in Verona in 1630.²² Physician Richard Mead wrote that during the 1665 plague epidemic, the
Artist: Paul Bril
Yellow Flag at Top Mast Head (Note: Original Image Altered)
College of Physicians 'Directions for the Cure of the Plague' ordered houses containing infected individual were to be "shut up, with a large red Cross, and Lord have Mercy upon us on the Door; and Watchmen attending Day and Night to prevent any one's going in or out, except Physicians, Surgeons, Apothecaries, Nurses, Searchers, &c. allowed by Authority: And this to continue at least a Month after all the Family was dead or recovered."²³

At sea, however, the situation was different. Many people think of a yellow quarantine flag in association with vessels under quarantine restrictions. Unfortunately, quarantine ships during this period were not identified by any particular symbol. The description of the 'yellow jack' first didn't appear in England until the quarantine act of 1788. This act specified that such ships were "to hoist a particular signal, to denote that this vessel is liable to quarantine; such signal, for the day time, to be a large yellow flag at the main top-mast head; and, for the night time, to be a light at the same mast-head"²⁴. This was still more than 60 years in the future at the end of the golden age of piracy.

¹ Patrick Russell, A Treatise on the Plague, Vol. 2, 1791, p. 325; ² Neville M Goodman, International Health Organizations and Their Work, 1971, p. 12; ³ John Booker, Maritime Quarantine: The British Experience c. 1650 -1900, 2007, p. 30; ⁴ Russell,p. 323; ⁵ Goodman, p. 31; ⁶ John Booker, Maritime Quarantine: The British Experience c. 1650 -1900, 2007, p. 89; ^7,8 Booker, p. 30; ⁹ Great Britain and Owen Ruffhead, Statutes at Large, Vol. 4, (1699-1713), 1763, p. 420-1; ¹⁰ Booker, p. 38; ¹¹ Booker, p. 48; ¹² Booker, p. 39 & 85; ¹³ Booker, p. 88; ¹⁴ Booker, p. 94; ¹⁵ Russell, p. 442; ^16,17 Great Britain and Owen Ruffhead, Statutes at Large, Vol. 5, (1714-1728), 1763, p. 330; ¹⁸ Booker, p. 107-8; ^19,20 Booker, p. 108; ²¹ Booker, p. 109; ²² Carlo M. Cipolla. Cristofano and the Plague, 1973, p. 30; ²³ Richard Mead, A short discourse concerning pestilential contagion, 4th ed, 1720, p. 32-3; ²⁴ Great Britain and Danby Pickering, Statutes at Large, Vol. 36, (1787-1789), 1761, p. 379

 

³ John Atkins, The Navy Surgeon, 1742, p. 131
³ Philip Ashton, Ashtons Memorial Strange Adventures and Signal Deliverance, 1726, p. 1;
⁴ Thomas Aubrey The Sea-Surgeon or the Guinea Man’s Vadé Mecum. 1729, p. 74-89;
³ Edward Barlow, Barlow’s Journal of his Life at Sea in King’s Ships, East and West Indiamen & Other Merchantman From 1659 to 1703, p. 508;
³ Joel Baer, British Piracy in the Golden Age, Vol. 1, 2007, p. 307;
¹ Elizabeth Bennion, Antique Medical Instruments, 1979, p. 156;
⁶ Nathaniel Boteler, Boteler's Dialogues, 1929, p. 66;
¹ Stephen Bradwell, Helps For Suddain Accidents Endangering Life, 1633, p.43;
² Kevin Brown, Poxed and Scurvied: The Story of Sickness and Health at Sea, 2011, p. 66;
² William Clowes, Selected Writings of William Clowes, 1948, p. 84-5;
² William Clowes,A Profitable and Necessarie Booke of Observations, for all those that are burned with the flame of Gun powder &c., 1588. p. 8;
² Emily Cockayne, Hubbub: Filth, Noise, and Stench in England, 1600-1770, 2007, p. 95;
¹⁴ Edward Cooke, A Voyage to the South Sea and Round the World in the Years 1708 to 1711, 1969, p. 11;
¹ James Cooke, Mellificium Chirurgiae, 1704, p. 389;
⁴ Edward Coxere, Adventures by Sea of Edward Coxere, 1946, p. 107;
⁴ William Ambrosia Cowley, "Cowley’s Voyage Round the Globe", A collection of original voyages, William Hacke, ed., 1993, p. 2
² Nicholas Culpeper, Pharmacopœia Londinesis, 1720, p. 32;
¹ John Covel, "Extracts from the Diaries of Dr. John Covel, 1670-1679," Early Voyages and Travels in the Levant, edited by J. Theodore Bent, 1893, p. 129
⁷ William Dampier, Memoirs of a Buccaneer, Dampier’s New Voyage Round the World -1697-, 1968, p. 214;
⁷ William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, 1699, p. 124;
³ William Dampier. A Supplement of the Voyage Round the World, 1700, p. 153;
⁷ William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, Vol III, 1703 p. 124;
² Jonathan Dickinson, Jonathan Dickinson's Journal or God's Protecting Providence, 1945, p. 47;
¹ Johann Dietz, Master Johann Dietz, Surgeon in the Army of the Great Elector and Barber to the Royal Court, 1923, p. 409-10;
⁴ Pierre Dionis, A course of chirurgical operations: demonstrated in the royal garden at Paris. 2nd ed., 1733, p. 409-10;
⁴ George Francis Dow and John Henry Edmonds, The Pirates of the New England Coast 1630-1730, 1996, p. 123;
⁴ Alexandre Exquemelin, The Buccaneers of America, 1856, p. 120;
⁴ Clement Downing, A Compendious History of the Indian Wars, 1737, p. 43;
¹ Ed Fox, "47. John Fillmore's narrative", Pirates in Their Own Words, 2014, p. 229;
⁹ Zachary B. Friedenberg, Medicine Under Sail, 2002, p. 35;
⁹ William Funnell, A Voyage Round the World, 1969, p. 226;
⁹ Eric J. Graham, Seawolves: Pirates & the Scots, 2005, p. 120;
⁹ Charles Grey, Pirates of the Eastern Seas (1618-1723), 1933, p. 120;
⁹ Jacques Guillemeau, The French Chirurgerie, 1597, p. 40;
² Alexander Hamilton, British sea-captain Alexander Hamilton's A new account of the East Indies, 17th-18th century, 2002, p. 404;
⁵ Guliielm. Fabritius Hildanus aka William Fabry, His Experiments in Chyrurgerie, 1643, p. 3;
² Guliielm. Fabritius Hildanus aka. William Fabry. Cista Militaris, Or, A Military Chest, Furnished Either for Sea or Land, 1676, p. 31;
¹ Hippocrates, Hiipocratic Writings, Translated and Edited by Francis Adams, 1952, p. 82;
² Bruce S. Ingram, Three Sea Journals of  Stuart Times, 1936, p. 121;
³ Robert James, Pharmacopœia universalis, 1747, p. 306-7;
³ John Franklin Jameson, Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period - Illustrative Documents, 1923, p. 269;
¹ Captain Charles Johnson, A general history of the pirates, 3rd Edition, 1724, p. 270;
¹ Captain Charles Johnson, The History of the Pirates, 1829, p. 183;
¹ Daniel Defoe  (Captain Charles Johnson), A General History of the Pyrates, Manuel Schonhorn, ed., 1999, p. 270-1
¹ John J. Keevil, Medicine and the Navy 1200-1900: Volume II – 1640-1714, 1958, p. 25;
¹ John Kirkup, The Evolution of Surgical Instruments; An Illustrated History from Ancient Time to the Twentieth Century, 2005, p. 407;
³ Pere Jean-Baptiste Labat, The Memoirs of Pére Labat 1693-1705, 1970, p. 29;
³ Edward E. Leslie, Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls, 1988, p. 1,
² Rory W. McCreadie, The Barber Surgeon's Mate of the 16th and 17th Century, 2002, p. 58;
¹ Raymund Minderer, A Body of Military Medicines Experimented, Volume 4 of Paul Barbette's, Thesaurus Chirurgiæ, The Fourth Edition, p. 73;
² John Moyle, Abstractum Chirurgæ Marinæ, 1686, p. 24;
¹ John Moyle, Chirugius Marinus: Or, The Sea Chirurgeon, 1693, p. 2;
¹ John Moyle, The Experienced Chirugion, 1703, p. 2;
⁶ John Moyle, Memoirs: Of many Extraordinary Cures, 1708, p. 119;
² Domingo Navarrete, The Travels and Controversies of Friar Domingo Navarrete 1618-1686, 1962, p. 40;
³ Ambroise Paré, The Apologie and Treatise of Ambroise Paré, 1952, p.585;;
³ Ambroise Paré, The Workes of that Famous Chirurgion Ambrose Parey, 1649, p.585;
⁷ Pierre Pomet, The Compleate History of Druggs, 3rd Edition, 1737, p. 260;
⁵ John Pechey, The Compleat Herbal of Physical Plants, 1707, p. 159;
⁶ Matthias Gottfried Purmann, Churgia Curiosa, 1706, p. 209;
² John Quincy, Lexicon Physico-Medicum, 1726, p. 409;
² John Quincy, Pharmacopoeia Officinalis & Extemporanea, 1719, p. 409;
⁹ James Rennie, A New Supplement to the Pharmacopœpias of London, Edinburgh, Dublin and Paris, Baldwin and Cradock, 1833, p. 263;
⁹ George Roberts, The four years voyages of Capt. George Roberts, 1726, p. 58;
³ Francis Rogers. from Bruce S. Ingram's book Three Sea Journals of Stuart Times, 1936, p. 230;
⁸ Woodes Rogers, A Cruising Voyage Round the World, 2004, p. 61;
⁸ Woodes Rogers, A Cruising Voyage Round the World, 1712, p. 82;
¹ Hugh Ryder, New Practical Observations in Surgery Containing Divers Remarkable Cases and Cures, 1685, p. 82-3;
⁴ Bartholomew Sharp, "Captain Sharp's Journal of His Expedition," from William Hacke's A collection of original voyages, 1993, p. 44;
⁴ Captain William Snelgrave, A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea and the Slave Trade, 1971, p. 272;
⁴ Captain William Snelgrave, A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea and the Slave Trade, 1734, p. 272;
¹ Henry Teonge, The Diary of Henry Teonge, Chaplain on Board H.M.’s Ships Assistance, Bristol, and Royal Oak, 1675-1679, 1927, p. 190
¹ Henry Teonge, The Diary of Henry Teonge, Chaplain on Board H.M.’s Ships Assistance, Bristol, and Royal Oak, 1675-1679, 1825, p. 200;
⁴ Nathaniel Uring, A history of the voyages and travels of Capt. Nathaniel Uring, 1928, p. 242;
⁴ Lionel Wafer, A New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America, 1903, p. 103;
;⁴ Vice-Admiral Sir James Watt, "The burns of seafarers under oars, sail and steam", Injury: the British Journal of Accident Surgery, Vol. 12, p
;⁴ Vice-Admiral Sir James Watt, "Some forgotten contributions of naval surgeons", Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Vol. 78, September 1985, p.
² Guy Williams, The Age of Agony, 1986, p. 81;
¹ Richard Wiseman, Of Wounds, Severall Chirurgicall Treatises, 1686, p. 454;
¹ Richard Wiseman, Eight Chirurgicall Treatises, 3rd Edition, 1696, p. 430;
³ John Woodall, the surgions mate, 1617, p. 202;
³ John Woodall, Woodalls Viaticum, 1628, p. 116;
¹ James Yonge, Currus Triumpalis, é Terebinthô.,1679, p. 110-1
⁴ James Yonge, The Journal of James Yonge [1647-1721] Plymouth Surgeon, 1965, p. 41-2;

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