Sanctuary for Sailors

The Benefits of the Early St. Catharines General and Marine Hospital

Ashley Watson

Niagara - 2024

Ships and other water vessels crewed with sailors have passed through the Welland Canal situated in the Niagara Region of Ontario for nearly two centuries. The first canal opened for ships in November of 1829, allowing for trade to grow immensely between Canada and many other countries worldwide due to its effectiveness in carrying cargo between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.¹ Following the canal's opening, several improvements to expand the waterway were accomplished over the nineteenth century, permitting larger commercial vessels to utilize the canal. It is estimated that over 200,000 tons of cargo were being carried through the canal each year by 1869.² This led to an increasing numbers of sailors either settling or travelling through the Niagara Region on these ships, with many of these individuals facing critical health problems that needed to be addressed to prevent life-threatening situations from occurring.³ This essay will explore how the establishment of a marine hospital in St. Catharines, Ontario during the nineteenth century was imperative to the Region to support sailors that navigated the Great Lakes.

The abundance of health problems that these sailors experienced stemmed from the fact that working on a ship during this time was not a luxurious and trouble-free occupation. The sailors crewed on these ships faced many challenges while at sea due to the treacherous living and working conditions aboard. One of the challenges was the frequent accidents that occurred amongst the sailors that worked on the ships, which led to many appalling injuries. These injuries were often the result of the dangerous working conditions aboard these vessels due to flaws during ship assembly, insufficient maintenance of the vessel, as well as risky cost-cutting practices.⁴ Not only was the ship itself a dangerous place to work, but fatigue also made it easier for sailors to injure themselves. Fatigue amongst the sailors occurred frequently as a result of these ships often being undermanned, leading to many sailors experiencing deep exhaustion aboard due to working between 72 and 80 strenuous hours each week. It was quite common for a ship that was supposed to carry between 25 to 35 sailors to have less than 20 sailors.⁵ Not only would this fatigue take a toll on their physical strength while working, but it also greatly affected their decision-making abilities that were crucial for appropriately responding to emergencies and avoiding hazards while aboard. Many of these accidents led to sailors perishing due to their injuries that could not be properly treated due to the lack of medical services that were available to them.

Along with the frequent injuries that occurred amongst sailors, disease was another challenge that many sailors faced while working on ships during the nineteenth century. This was because there were many virulent diseases and illnesses during this time that greatly affected society. Some of the most prominent diseases during the nineteenth century included smallpox malaria, typhus, and cholera. Sailors were especially at risk for contracting these diseases due to the close contact they had with other sailors aboard these ships. As a result, many sailors fell victim to sicknesses that significantly impacted on their health due to their living and working conditions.⁶ This can be seen through a study that was conducted on the health of sailors between January of 1830 and 1831 by a physician that went by the name of Dr. George Roupell. During his examination of 701 sailors, he found 273 had fevers, 126 displayed inflammations in the chest, 69 experienced abdominal diseases, and 141 suffered from rheumatism.⁷ The prominence of health issues presented by sailors during the nineteenth century directly shows why a marine hospital was necessary in the Niagara Region.

The poor health of the sailors transiting the Welland Canal became evident to the residents of the Niagara Region during the mid 1800's, and they began acknowledging that action was needed to allow these sailors to receive care for their health problems. This led to the idea that was introduced in 1854 by an individual named Dr. Theophilus Mack, who proposed the opening of a marine hospital in St. Catharines to act as a relief for some of these sick and injured sailors.⁸ A portrait featuring Dr. Mack can be observed in Figure 1.⁹ Dr. Mack acknowledged that a hospital to solely help unhealthy sailors passing through the Welland Canal was crucial, and he brought these ideas that he had to the Legislature of the Province of Canada.¹⁰ Unfortunately, this original project he had proposed to the government was denied at first. This was due to officials fearing that opening solely a marine hospital in St. Catharines would harm the marine hospital that was already present in Montreal.¹¹ This led to Dr. Mack acknowledging that his proposal was going to have to be modified to secure government approval for building a marine hospital in St. Catharines.¹²

Over the next few years, Dr. Mack brainstormed new ideas for the facility he anticipated opening within the Niagara Region to aid unhealthy sailors. He eventually conceived the promising idea of opening a "cottage hospital" through fundraising that would act as a relief for locals of the area, with an added branch to benefit sailors as well.¹³ This plan was approved by the government in 1856, with a bill being passed finally acknowledging that a marine hospital was fundamental in the area.¹⁴

Following the authorization of Dr. Theophilus Mack's plan to develop a hospital in the Niagara Region to aid both locals and sailors, he formed a committee to help with the planning and execution of the hospital's construction. This committee held regular board meetings during the planning process to determine the specific details about the hospital. They made many decisions surrounding the development of the facility, the policies that were to be established, and the individuals that would be appointed the positions of major leadership roles. These meetings are where they elected the board of trustees for the hospital, including individuals such as J.R. Benson, J.G. Currie, Bernard King. Theophilus Mack, and James Norris. Theophilus Mack was also elected as the president of the hospital, and a physician by the name of Dr. Augustus Jukes was appointed as the attending surgeon for the first year of the hospital's opening.¹⁵ Figure 2, a photograph showcasing Dr. Augustus Jukes.¹⁶ These meetings are also where the name for the hospital was determined, which was decided on to be "St. Catharines General and Marine Hospital".¹⁷ All of the decisions that were made by the committee during the planning process were instrumental in shaping the foundational framework of the hospital.

During the early stages of the hospital's development, many fundraising events were organized to support the committee with the funding of the facility. Some of the fundraising events that took place in support of the hospital included entertainments, concerts, and theatricals.¹⁸ These events and other meetings in relation to the hospital were often published in public newspapers as a promotional strategy to encourage locals to attend. One newspaper titled the "St. Catharines Constitutional" published an article in the year of 1865 that requested the public attend a meeting in support of the marine hospital. It emphasized that these sailors risk their lives to contribute to the commercial of the country, and they deserved to receive proper care when they are either sick or injured. The article shared a story of an individual by the name of Jack who endured severe injuries following an accident that occurred along the Welland Canal. He did not receive the medical attention that he should have gotten due to the lack of resources available to him in the Region, and a hospital is essential to relief injured sailors passing through the Welland Canal, like Jack.¹⁹

Along with these fundraising events and meetings that were held to encourage the public to donate in support of the hospital, many religious organizations within the area also made generous donations. Through all the contributions that were given, a total of $1,917.26 was raised for the hospital.²⁰ This money allowed the committee to successfully build the hospital to help relief sailors passing through the Welland Canal. After many years of planning and constructing the facility, the St. Catharines General and Marine Hospital officially opened to the public on August 5th, 1865. The hospital was situated in a small house on Cherry Street in St. Catharines, Ontario, and it was rented for a duration of one year at $8 a month.²¹ It consisted of four beds that could be occupied by either locals of the area or sailors passing through the Welland Canal.²²

While the hospital did open on August 5th, the first patient of the hospital was not admitted until 11 days later, August 16th. This first patient was a man that went by the name of Levi Nash, who stayed at the hospital for 8 days with an occlusion of the external ear. The same day Levi Nash was admitted, a second patient, George Dittrick, was brought into the hospital for a leg amputation. These patients were treated by the only attending surgeon of this general and marine hospital, Dr. Augustus Jukes.²³ A Steward and Nurse, Francis Smiley and his wife, also aided the first patients of the hospital at a salary of \$200 a year until they were replaced by James Jack and his wife on August 28th. These staff members of the hospital remained consistent until Dr. Augustus Jukes was reassigned as the attending surgeon on March 23rd, 1866. As a result of this reassignment, Dr. Theophilus Mack stepped down from his position as president of the hospital to become the new attending surgeon.²⁴

This general and marine hospital located in St. Catharines, Ontario was found to be highly valuable, with positive outcomes being widely seen within the first year of the medical facility's opening. It was observed by August of 1866 that 51 patients had received treatment at the hospital, with over 88% of these patients being completely cured of the health problems they were admitted for.²⁵ The success rate of patients being treated at the hospital led to more and more individuals coming to the hospital for treatment each year.²⁶ This resulted in the hospital moving to larger buildings several times in order to accommodate more patients. The first move of the hospital occurred in April of 1867 to a new building located on Hainer Street in St. Catharines that had beds for 12 patients. The hospital ran at this location until a new, more permanent hospital opened in 1870 on Queenston Street in St. Catharines with 25 beds for patients.²⁷ A visual representation of the hospital at this location can be observed in Figure 3.²⁸ This image serves as the first visual of the marine hospital as images of the first two locations are non-existent.²⁹ The hospital located on Queenston Street had a greater array of amenities than its predecessors, including an elevator, icehouse, and mortuary.³⁰ These new amenities allowed the general and marine hospital to enhance healthcare services for patients that have been admitted, while accommodating a broader range of needs. As a result, many more patients were able to be admitted into this hospital to receive aid for the health problems they were experiencing.

Within the first decade of the opening of St. Catharines General and Marine Hospital, the facility had attended the medical needs of 1,045 patients in the Niagara Region.³¹ These patients received extraordinary care while staying at this medical facility, and this is evident by the hospitals lower death rates compared to other hospitals located in Ontario. While the hospital in London had 18 deaths among 260 patients, and the hospital in Ottawa had 18 deaths among 177 patients, the hospital in St. Catharine's only had 15 deaths among 241 patients.³² These reporting's show just how beneficial the opening of this hospital was to individuals within the Niagara Region. An image of some of the nurses that played a crucial role in the exceptional medical attention given to patients staying at the hospital can be seen in Figure 4.³³

In conclusion, the opening of the St. Catharines Marine and General Hospital in 1865 was highly necessary due to the abundance of unhealthy sailors passing through the Region following the opening of the Welland Canal. During this time, many sailors navigating the waters experienced critical health issues due to their living and working conditions onboard the vessels. It was extremely common for these individuals to be exposed to deadly diseases and illnesses, as well as environments that predisposed them to injury.³⁴ Locals of the Niagara Region recognized these issues that were apparent in the sailors and acknowledged that something needed to be done to help them. This led to the idea of establishing a marine hospital in St. Catharines that sailors visiting the area could benefit from. After many years of constructing and planning by an individual by the name of Dr. Theophilus Mack, the hospital finally opened for patients on August 5th, 1865.³⁵ This hospital proved to be highly successful, with sailors and locals significantly benefiting from the facility.³⁶ This can be observed by the medical facility's statistics, showcasing its positive impact on sailors with exceptionally high cure rates and low death rates compared to other hospitals in Ontario.³⁷ The St. Catharines General and Marine Hospital prevented the loss of life of many unhealthy sailors navigating the Great Lakes, and this demonstrates how valuable of an asset this hospital was to individuals' transiting the Welland Canal.