"Physician heal thyself": drink, temperance and the medical question in the Victorian and Edwardian Church of England, 1830-1914.

Abstract

This paper examines the connection between medical research and temperance from the point of view of the Anglican temperance movement in three periods: (1) 1830-55, when Anglican clergymen resisted teetotalism in favour of moderation, in keeping with accepted medical opinion; (2) 1855-73, when a minority of Anglican teetotal clergymen attempted unsuccessfully to convert the Anglican Church to teetotalism and prohibition, as the medical profession in theory, but not always in practice, discouraged excessive therapeutic reliance on alcohol; and (3) 1873-1914, when the prestigious Church of England Temperance Society, with a dual basis, promoted teetotalism among the majority but affirmed the legitimacy of moderate drinking among the British medical and social elite.