Lot Essay
Although known to have been used by the Arabs circa 1000 B.C., obstetric forceps appear to have been introduced in the West by the Chamberlin family by the early-part of the seventeenth century.
The Chamberlins were Hugenot refugees who settled in England following the Battle of Jarnae in 1569. Dr. William Chamberlin came to England with his family that summer. Two of his sons, Peter the Elder and Peter the Younger followed their father, but as surgeons, not physicians. They were members of the Barber-Surgeons Company, but both fell foul of their Company and the Royal College of Physicians, for overstepping their marks. At this time only physicians were allowed to prescribe medecines, Barber-Surgeons having the more "menial" tasks of blood-letting, tooth-pulling, administering ennemas and, in extreme cases, attending to births. These excessive restrictions would have frustrated the brothers as they had been trained in "physicks" by their father from youth, and only the lack of an Oxford or Cambridge degree (as opposed to any other) kept them from membership. In short, they were not "one of us".
Probably around 1610-20 Peter the Elder came-upon the idea of the forceps. The midwife, usually an uneducated and untrained local woman, with more knowledge of farmyard anatomy than human, was present at births, but when great difficulties arose they were forced to call in the services of a man-midwife. This is where the Chamberlin secret came to be so useful, and profitable. The forceps, wraped in cloth to prevent them rattaling, were brought into the chamber in a large box, which was placed under the bed-clothes. All onlookers were sent from the room, and even the patient was blind-folded. In this way the forceps could be used without anyone seeing.
Peter the Elder attended to Queen Anne, wife of James I, and later Henrietta-Maria, wife of Charles I, but it appears that his nephew, also called Peter was present at the birth of Charles II. This Peter was Dr. Peter Chamberlin, who by his early twenties had obtained doctorates from Oxford, Cambridge and Padua. After a number of attempts he was granted membership to the Royal College of Physicians. After the Restoration Charles II appointed him Physician in Ordinary, refering to him as "present at Our happy birth, and therefore one of Our first servants".
Earlier Dr. Peter had his own troubles with the College. In 1634 he proposed the forming of a company to train and licence midwives. This time a Chamberlin was accused of practacing medicine below his position, as midwifery was considered "being more properly the work of a surgeon",. He was also accused of using "instruments of iron".
Dr. Peter's son Dr. Hugh was made custodian of the family secret. In 1670 he visited Paris and offered to sell it for 100,000 crowns. Unfortuneately, the test he was put to was a twenty-eight year old cripple with ricketts, whose baby was facing the wrong way, a chalange even today. Not surprisingly both mother and child died and the secret was not purchased. By 1690 Dr. Hugh was living in Amsterdam and it appears he finally sold the secret here.
After his death, Dr. Peter's wife placed a number of family heirlooms in a hidden area in the loft of their Essex house. Amongst these items were three pairs of forceps, a fourth pair of rather crude construction (believed to be an early version) and other instruments including a vectis. They lay forgotten until 1813 and now are part of the Royal College of Obstetrics. The pair on offer here are very similar to the crude pair discovered in the loft.
The Chamberlins were Hugenot refugees who settled in England following the Battle of Jarnae in 1569. Dr. William Chamberlin came to England with his family that summer. Two of his sons, Peter the Elder and Peter the Younger followed their father, but as surgeons, not physicians. They were members of the Barber-Surgeons Company, but both fell foul of their Company and the Royal College of Physicians, for overstepping their marks. At this time only physicians were allowed to prescribe medecines, Barber-Surgeons having the more "menial" tasks of blood-letting, tooth-pulling, administering ennemas and, in extreme cases, attending to births. These excessive restrictions would have frustrated the brothers as they had been trained in "physicks" by their father from youth, and only the lack of an Oxford or Cambridge degree (as opposed to any other) kept them from membership. In short, they were not "one of us".
Probably around 1610-20 Peter the Elder came-upon the idea of the forceps. The midwife, usually an uneducated and untrained local woman, with more knowledge of farmyard anatomy than human, was present at births, but when great difficulties arose they were forced to call in the services of a man-midwife. This is where the Chamberlin secret came to be so useful, and profitable. The forceps, wraped in cloth to prevent them rattaling, were brought into the chamber in a large box, which was placed under the bed-clothes. All onlookers were sent from the room, and even the patient was blind-folded. In this way the forceps could be used without anyone seeing.
Peter the Elder attended to Queen Anne, wife of James I, and later Henrietta-Maria, wife of Charles I, but it appears that his nephew, also called Peter was present at the birth of Charles II. This Peter was Dr. Peter Chamberlin, who by his early twenties had obtained doctorates from Oxford, Cambridge and Padua. After a number of attempts he was granted membership to the Royal College of Physicians. After the Restoration Charles II appointed him Physician in Ordinary, refering to him as "present at Our happy birth, and therefore one of Our first servants".
Earlier Dr. Peter had his own troubles with the College. In 1634 he proposed the forming of a company to train and licence midwives. This time a Chamberlin was accused of practacing medicine below his position, as midwifery was considered "being more properly the work of a surgeon",. He was also accused of using "instruments of iron".
Dr. Peter's son Dr. Hugh was made custodian of the family secret. In 1670 he visited Paris and offered to sell it for 100,000 crowns. Unfortuneately, the test he was put to was a twenty-eight year old cripple with ricketts, whose baby was facing the wrong way, a chalange even today. Not surprisingly both mother and child died and the secret was not purchased. By 1690 Dr. Hugh was living in Amsterdam and it appears he finally sold the secret here.
After his death, Dr. Peter's wife placed a number of family heirlooms in a hidden area in the loft of their Essex house. Amongst these items were three pairs of forceps, a fourth pair of rather crude construction (believed to be an early version) and other instruments including a vectis. They lay forgotten until 1813 and now are part of the Royal College of Obstetrics. The pair on offer here are very similar to the crude pair discovered in the loft.