The Commonwealth and African Studies Collections held at Weston Library contain materials relevant to the history of leprosy in the British Empire, especially in Africa and India. The collection was previously known as the Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, or Rhodes House Library, and was renamed when it was moved from Rhodes House to Weston House in 2014.
Two collections contain documents on leprosy in Africa and India. The first collection contains interviews collected during an Oxford History Project which records written narratives of people who worked in a missionary capacity in Africa, some of which relate to leprosy. There are documents from workers such as Mrs A Brincklow titled “Notes on Methods of Dealing with the Sick in Parts of Nigeria between 1930-1951”. This describes her experiences in a colony of people with leprosy, near a village called Molai, six from Maiduguri, in Borno State. She mentions Dr Frances Priestman as being in charge of the dispensary. She also writes of the use of chaulmoogra oil by injection or by Plancha method (small injections given subcutaneously). There are medical papers from Dr A Young related to the Walezo Leper Settlement and the closure of the Funzi Island Settlement, Zanzibar, in 1935.
There are documents associated with Dr John Murray Philip who was the doctor in charge of the Mary Slessor Hospital and Medical Superintendent of Itu Leper Colony, Nigeria, 1951-68. Mary Stone, matron at Kumi Leprosy Centre, Uganda (1949-59) who assisted in the vaccination trials against leprosy in Eastern Uganda (1959-70) and Dr Esther M Davis, a missionary doctor to Nigeria (1948-68) and Provincial Medical Officer associated with Qua Iboe Church Leprosy Hospital are also represented. The second collection at Rhodes House relates to UMCA and USPG (United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) handlists. These include records from Medical Missionary work at St Luke’s Leprosarium, Peikulam Tinnevelly, India; Fiwila Hospital and Leprosarium, (Northern Rhodesia/Zambia) (1948-66 and 1967-73), and printed annual reports for the Leper Institute, Westfort, Pretoria (1930-1960). In addition, there is a file of correspondence between the USPG and the Mission to Lepers (1955-79). This includes references to work at Chota Nagpur, Mkambah Leprosy Institution in Cape Province of South Africa, St Luke’s Hospital, Murhu, the Leper Clinic Itki, St Luke’s Hospital, Chabua, in Assam, and Paul Brand’s work at Vellore and Karigiri. There is also correspondence between BELRA and the USPG. There is also a substantial report written by the Medical Secretary for the Mission to Lepers in 1961 (Report to the Council of a Visit to Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Northern Rhodesia and Tanganyika) relating in part to the work of Dr Kinnear Brown, the Government Leprosy Specialist for Uganda in which 60 leprosy surveys had been conducted in two and a half years. This report itemises leprosaria in Uganda, Northern Rhodesia, and Tanganyika and reports on the work done there.
There are documents relating to Amatikulu Leper Institute and Mkambati Leper Institutions, Pondoland. There is a report on The Future of Christian Medical Work in India: Review (1969) at which Frank Davey (when he worked at Victoria Leprosy Hospital, Dichpali) attended as a member of the Consultative Committee. There are also annual reports from Mary Calvert Holdsworth Memorial Hospital, Mysore (1960-61) in which mention is made of leprosy patients in surgical wards. There are also reports of a surgical clinic and village leprosy control unit run by Dr Chaudhury under the Gandhi Memorial Trust; orthopaedic work of Mr Devadas, and mention of physiotherapists supplied at the expense of the Hind Kusht Nivaran Sangh and BELRA. There is also a proposal, including maps and building plans, for a Medical Centre at Muheza, Tanzania, which includes the recycling of the district hospital in order to house leprosy patients in their initial period of treatment. This was written by Dr H F Kortmann in 1969.
Entry updated January 2016