Lock hospital

A lock hospital was an establishment that specialised in treating sexually transmitted diseases. They operated in Britain and its colonies and territories from the 18th century to the 20th.^[1]

Cartoon showing inmates of a lock hospital, 1802. The man at left is undergoing paracentesis (draining of fluid from the abdomen). In the centre, one patient reads handbills for quack medicines. At right, a prosperous and smug apothecary (pharmacist) rides in a coach with footmen; his family motto is Memento mori, "remember you shall die."

London Lock Hospital, 1831

Plan of the lock hospital of Southwark: it includes a "pleget room," devoted to the changing of dressings.

For the Broadside ballad, see The Unfortunate Lad.

History

The military had a close association with a number of the hospitals. By the mid-19th century most of the larger army bases in India were home to a lock hospital.^[2] There were more military than civil lock hospitals in India, due to the prevalence of venereal diseases amongst British troops.^[3] In 1858 the Admiralty paid to have one opened in Portsmouth and in 1863 another in Plymouth.^[4]

The earliest lock hospitals in India were established around 1797 at Berhampur, Kanpur, Danapur, and Fatehgarh. They were usually within bazaars, surrounded by a mud wall and staffed by a doctor and a female nurse. The local police were in charge of rounding up women suspected of being diseased, who could return home only after obtaining a certificate of discharge.^[5]

Lock Hospital operated in Hong Kong from 1858 to 1894 to deal with venereal diseases.^{[citation needed]}

The term "lock hospital" originates from their use as leprosariums, after the "locks", or rags, which covered the lepers' lesions.^[6]

See also

• London Lock Hospital
• Birmingham Skin and Lock Hospital
• Westmoreland Lock Hospital, Dublin
• Contagious Diseases Acts
• Glasgow Lock Hospital