Commonplace 182 George & Eugenics' Little Brother, Phrenology. PART ONE
George's father was a man of many parts, and something of a lover of science inasmuch as he ran a chemist's shop and published modest, but significant works on botany. The shop was one of several in the centre of Wakefield, so competition will have been fierce. Maybe this is why Mr Gissing Snr also dabbled in being a wine merchant, offering as broad a retail experience as possible to the sort of customer with money to spend, maybe even hoping to attract a certain demographic, posher than the average pleb who drank beer.
George was always snotty about people who ran or worked in shops, probably because the prospect of one day having to take on the chemist's shop himself terrified him. Maybe this is why he was so driven to get a useful education. It's a sort of northern England working class cliche for children to dread the thought of having to be coal miners or mill hands like their parents, so they work like mad to get to university (or turn to crime - maybe George's original approach haha) to 'better' their chances. Go and have a look at Peter Flannery's tv series Our Friends In The North click if you want to know more.
The role of the dispensing chemist was not what we would recognise today. In the UK in the 1850s, a bid to restrict chemist's shops selling the lethal element arsenic over the counter was hampered by the fact that there was no official definition of what a chemist was (that is, the sort of person who sold medicines, not the laboratory kind). Arsenic, like mercury, is a toxic substance that could in those days be sold as a curative and added to all manner of quack treatments, sold to gullible consumers who might buy in good faith from a potentially unscrupulous person setting themselves up as an expert on cures and treatments when what they really were, was a shopkeeper. So, as a result of the 1851 Arsenic Act, professional standards were introduced to monitor the role of the dispensing chemist.
In 1861, The United Society of Chemists and Druggists was formed to establish a professional body to oversee the trade. Everyone already practising as a chemist was allowed to join, but the Society had no power to insist on the acquisition of specialist knowledge leading to a qualification, and so shopkeepers could join on the same level as those who had studied at university. In fact, these untrained shopkeepers were entitled to sit on the Society's Council, and it wasn't until 1864, with the Pharmacy Act, that a register was set up to monitor the activities and skills of chemists freely selling in their shops what were poisons and heavy metals. Clearly, anyone who wanted to compete in the market had to offer the very best in professionally recognised skills and standards - and a fine range of table wines haha.
Mr Gissing Snr was a man who wanted to make his mark on Wakefield, not from behind a shop counter, but on the mean streets, ankle deep in muck (it was said of some northern towns that pigs were let to roam about to eat the filth of the streets - which was a wicked lie. Pigs are clean-living from choice and have quite delicate digestive systems). Local politics called and found Thomas Gissing ready, willing and able, but what lay in store for Gissing Jnr Number One Son? In October 1870, in an attempt to find the answer to that, he took thirteen-year old George to be examined by Professor Blackburne, renowned expert phrenologist, Wakefield resident and father of Joseph Henry Blackburne aka The Black Death, one of the most celebrated chess players of all time.
Information about Professor Joseph Blackburne comes from a very interesting (if somewhat niche) book about his son: 'Joseph Henry Blackburne - A Chess Biography' by TD Harding (pub McFarland and Company Inc of Jefferson, North Carolina August 2015 and available to download through google play). It's a fascinating read, even if you aren't interested overmuch in chess. More proof that the Douglas Adams Theory of Interconnectedness rules: Prof. Blackburne was living in Chorlton-on-Medlock when his chess champion son JH was born - George lived in the same part of Manchester when he was at Owens College and his GP, Adolphe Wuhltuch had two sons Victor Lionel and Julius, who both went on to be chess champions in Yorkshire (they get a mention here click in the annals of Yorkshire Chess History). Victor Lionel payed against The Black Death more than once. And in 1870, JH Blackburne played a series of games in Baden-Baden organised by Ivan Turgenev, who later employed George to write about British life for the publication Vyestnik Evropy click.
Back to Joseph Blackburne the phrenologist. He was born in Leeds in around 1818 and many of the extended Blackburne family lived in Huddersfield and Wakefield. By 1838 he was living in Manchester and marrying a local girl there. Joseph started out as a book-keeper with a sideline in painting miniature portraits, but when this failed to provide for his growing family, he began looking to diversify. It seems many Victorians turned their hand to whatever they could to make a go of things, ever setting themselves up as experts which, of course, some were. Those without the benefit of an expensive education had to make their way as best they could. Joseph attended meetings of the Phrenological Society held at the Manchester Mechanics' Institute click and a second career was born. Phrenology was one of the 'new' branches of science so beloved of the likes of the Positivists. It sought to quantify human characteristics and present them as 'types', but as with the equally new sciences of sociology and psychology, falls short of providing any testable evidence to support those claims.
Joseph was a committed teetotaller and delivered lectures on the topic and held support meetings at the Middleton Temperance Hall when it opened in 1847, as reported in the Manchester Courier and the Manchester Times. He also toured England and Ireland with his temperance talks, taking The Black Death with him. There is a correlation between the performance of any medical procedure - I'm stretching that term to include phrenology here - just as there is in exhibition-level activities like world-class chess. The Black Death will have picked up some pointers from his father whose customers will have expected a certain amount of hocus-pocus flim-flam in the quasi-scientific examination, head measuring and translating figures into predictions. Medicine on any level requires a belief in magic (from both sides of the deal), and the style with which consultations and treatments are delivered can make the difference between a subject believing in a cure and finding some amelioration for their condition and a doubting Thomas who goes on to waste away from despair and fear.
Those who sought to explain the mysteries of alcoholism latched on to phrenology's promise of the possibility of being able to predict anyone who might be susceptible to addiction simply by determining personality traits divined by measuring the shape and features of the head and applying the basic rules of phrenological. By recognising those who were vulnerable to addiction, a warning could be given to prevent the destructive effects of , for example, alcohol and keep the potential alcoholic on the straight and narrow. We nowadays recognise that genetic predisposition towards addictive vulnerability is a more or less proven fact, so phrenology, though using the wrong parameters, did point in a direction that gave the addict some explanation as to why self-control was sometimes of little use.
On 19th August 1850 Joseph advertised in the Manchester Times:
George's father was a man of many parts, and something of a lover of science inasmuch as he ran a chemist's shop and published modest, but significant works on botany. The shop was one of several in the centre of Wakefield, so competition will have been fierce. Maybe this is why Mr Gissing Snr also dabbled in being a wine merchant, offering as broad a retail experience as possible to the sort of customer with money to spend, maybe even hoping to attract a certain demographic, posher than the average pleb who drank beer.
George was always snotty about people who ran or worked in shops, probably because the prospect of one day having to take on the chemist's shop himself terrified him. Maybe this is why he was so driven to get a useful education. It's a sort of northern England working class cliche for children to dread the thought of having to be coal miners or mill hands like their parents, so they work like mad to get to university (or turn to crime - maybe George's original approach haha) to 'better' their chances. Go and have a look at Peter Flannery's tv series Our Friends In The North click if you want to know more.
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| Instruments for measuring the head. |
In 1861, The United Society of Chemists and Druggists was formed to establish a professional body to oversee the trade. Everyone already practising as a chemist was allowed to join, but the Society had no power to insist on the acquisition of specialist knowledge leading to a qualification, and so shopkeepers could join on the same level as those who had studied at university. In fact, these untrained shopkeepers were entitled to sit on the Society's Council, and it wasn't until 1864, with the Pharmacy Act, that a register was set up to monitor the activities and skills of chemists freely selling in their shops what were poisons and heavy metals. Clearly, anyone who wanted to compete in the market had to offer the very best in professionally recognised skills and standards - and a fine range of table wines haha.
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| George?? |
Mr Gissing Snr was a man who wanted to make his mark on Wakefield, not from behind a shop counter, but on the mean streets, ankle deep in muck (it was said of some northern towns that pigs were let to roam about to eat the filth of the streets - which was a wicked lie. Pigs are clean-living from choice and have quite delicate digestive systems). Local politics called and found Thomas Gissing ready, willing and able, but what lay in store for Gissing Jnr Number One Son? In October 1870, in an attempt to find the answer to that, he took thirteen-year old George to be examined by Professor Blackburne, renowned expert phrenologist, Wakefield resident and father of Joseph Henry Blackburne aka The Black Death, one of the most celebrated chess players of all time.
Information about Professor Joseph Blackburne comes from a very interesting (if somewhat niche) book about his son: 'Joseph Henry Blackburne - A Chess Biography' by TD Harding (pub McFarland and Company Inc of Jefferson, North Carolina August 2015 and available to download through google play). It's a fascinating read, even if you aren't interested overmuch in chess. More proof that the Douglas Adams Theory of Interconnectedness rules: Prof. Blackburne was living in Chorlton-on-Medlock when his chess champion son JH was born - George lived in the same part of Manchester when he was at Owens College and his GP, Adolphe Wuhltuch had two sons Victor Lionel and Julius, who both went on to be chess champions in Yorkshire (they get a mention here click in the annals of Yorkshire Chess History). Victor Lionel payed against The Black Death more than once. And in 1870, JH Blackburne played a series of games in Baden-Baden organised by Ivan Turgenev, who later employed George to write about British life for the publication Vyestnik Evropy click.
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Joseph was a committed teetotaller and delivered lectures on the topic and held support meetings at the Middleton Temperance Hall when it opened in 1847, as reported in the Manchester Courier and the Manchester Times. He also toured England and Ireland with his temperance talks, taking The Black Death with him. There is a correlation between the performance of any medical procedure - I'm stretching that term to include phrenology here - just as there is in exhibition-level activities like world-class chess. The Black Death will have picked up some pointers from his father whose customers will have expected a certain amount of hocus-pocus flim-flam in the quasi-scientific examination, head measuring and translating figures into predictions. Medicine on any level requires a belief in magic (from both sides of the deal), and the style with which consultations and treatments are delivered can make the difference between a subject believing in a cure and finding some amelioration for their condition and a doubting Thomas who goes on to waste away from despair and fear.
Those who sought to explain the mysteries of alcoholism latched on to phrenology's promise of the possibility of being able to predict anyone who might be susceptible to addiction simply by determining personality traits divined by measuring the shape and features of the head and applying the basic rules of phrenological. By recognising those who were vulnerable to addiction, a warning could be given to prevent the destructive effects of , for example, alcohol and keep the potential alcoholic on the straight and narrow. We nowadays recognise that genetic predisposition towards addictive vulnerability is a more or less proven fact, so phrenology, though using the wrong parameters, did point in a direction that gave the addict some explanation as to why self-control was sometimes of little use.
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| George, to a 'T'???? |
LIKENESSES. - J. BLACKBURNE Miniature Painter & Practical Phrenologist, 40, King-street, Manchester. From the very liberal patronage with which the artist has been honoured, he has induced to PROLONG HIS STAY within this city, and has REMOVED from No 10, King-street to the more convenient rooms at No 40, opposite the Old Exchange, where numerous likenesses of popular ministers, &c in the city,and others, may be seen. Terms moderate, - Open from nine am till eight pm.
Another ad:
J. BLACKBURNE, Artist and Practical Phrenologist, 40, King-street, Manchester still continues to take PERFECT LIKENESSES in every style, suitable for all kinds of frames, cases, lockets, brooches, &c, at prices from One Shilling upwards. Numerous specimens of well-known Ministers and others to this city may be seen at the artist's rooms. Open from ten a, till eight pm. - NB Phrenological Registers (so important to all wishing to know themselves) for One Shilling with a full analysis of character, from 2s 6d.
By 1851, Joseph was describing himself in the census of that year as 'Practical Phrenologist, Miniature Painter'. Still situated in Manchester until mid-1852 when he took his show on the road to the major seaside towns:
MR. BLACKBURNE the Phrenologist and Artist, 40, King-street, Manchester, has returned from Scarboro' to the above Gallery, where he has been liberally patronised for faithful Miniatures, Portraits, and Phrenological Examinations. LIKENESSES faithfully copied in every style. Phrenological Registers, 1s.
In 1855, Joseph added a line in daguerreotypes to his repertoire, which reflected the rise of the popularity of photography and the threatened obsolescence of the portrait miniature. By 1856, he described himself as 'photographic artist' and in 1858, he was simply 'photographer' for a while, then back to photographer and practical phrenologist. with no mention of the paintings.
This fluctuation in fortunes and the ever-changing tide of his career shows a man not afraid to respond flexibly to the demands of a fickle public. Following trends, then ditching them, responding confidently with what the public wanted led him to finally settle on phrenology as his main source of income, which was a good move as it was resource-light and with no great financial overheads, unlike photography or the work of an artist. We have in the 1861 census a mention that he was a 'Practical Phrenologist' - all mention of photography and miniatures gone.
For some time, Joseph augmented his income with stints as a travelling salesman, as reported in the 1861 census. He was already travelling around the country on phrenological business so it made sense to add a bit of business to it. By 1865, the family was living in London, and Joseph was appearing at the Chelmsford Temperance Society: On Monday evening last, Mr Blackburne, practical phrenologist of London, delivered a lecture in the hall of the Chelmsford Literary Institution, and, owing to the inclemency of the weather, there was a thin attendance. Subject - 'Why Teachers and Preachers should be Teetotallers. The lecture was supported by some excellent life-size portraits, painted by Mr Blackburne, of many eminent men, and also of some great criminals, including the murderer Muller, who was recently executed. (Franz Muller was hanged for what was the first murder on a British train click.)
Poor pickings in London forced Joseph back to the north and he relocated to Wakefield in the late 1860s. It was in 1870 that he examined George. In the 1871 census, Joseph was living in Wakefield and working as a phrenologist. There is also another 'Interconnectedness' moment here: it seems Joseph's Aunt Mary married a Joseph De Trosier who took her to Batley (near Wakefield) to run a chemist's shop, before moving to run a similar venture in Wakefield. Possibly Mr Gissing Snr knew Mr De Trosier through work connections. What a small world it is.
By 1875, Joseph had taken his family to live in Scarborough. In his usual way, he advertised his services, this time in the York Herald:
TRIPS TO SCARBORO' VISIT PROF. BLACKBURNE'S PHRENOLOGICAL GALLERY, 22, Newboro'-st. Portraits (life-size) of HW Beecher, the late Prof. Wells of New York, the Ven. Archdeacon Blunt and 400 others may be seen - free to visitors.
In 1874, Joseph wrote 2 booklets. 'The Baby; How to Save it: Advice to Mothers by Joseph Blackburne, Phrenologist' but I can't find a copy. I think we can deduce what it was about. And 'Helps To Progress Physiologically and Phrenologically Considered. Again, no sign of a copy. But the rise in literacy after the 1870 Education Act led to a boom in self help books so maybe these were riding the crest of that wave.
He still toured, spreading the word, and in the Middlesborough Daily Gazette, sometime in December 1875:
THE GOOD TIME COMING. PROFESSOR BLACKBURNE, the great Phrenologist from Scarborough, will LECTURE THIS EVENING at the Borough Hall, Stockton, Admission free, reserved seats 6d.
From 1877, in the Leamington Spa courier:
Professor BLACKBURNE, the well-known phrenologist, who has been lecturing at the Music Hall during the week, announces that he intends to continue the course next week.
At some time, Joseph returned to the north west of England, where in 1899, he died, in Southport, that seaside town so beloved by George when he was at Owens College. The probate record listing:
BLACKBURN (sic), Joseph, of the Promenade, Southport, Lancashire, phrenologist, died 6th February, 1899. Probate Liverpool 17 February to Maria Blackburn (sic) widow. Effects £111.8s.
(Blackburn was the original spelling - Joseph added an 'e' early in his career, no doubt to distinguish him from the common-or-garden Blackburns.)
Not a huge fortune to leave to his family, but considering the precariousness of his career and the uncertain times in which he lived, not a bad sum. Joseph deserves to be remembered for a lifetime dedicated to Phrenological study; he must have genuinely believed it to be a force for good.
JOIN ME IN PART TWO TO CONSIDER THE DARK SIDE OF PHRENOLOGY
Another ad:
J. BLACKBURNE, Artist and Practical Phrenologist, 40, King-street, Manchester still continues to take PERFECT LIKENESSES in every style, suitable for all kinds of frames, cases, lockets, brooches, &c, at prices from One Shilling upwards. Numerous specimens of well-known Ministers and others to this city may be seen at the artist's rooms. Open from ten a, till eight pm. - NB Phrenological Registers (so important to all wishing to know themselves) for One Shilling with a full analysis of character, from 2s 6d.
By 1851, Joseph was describing himself in the census of that year as 'Practical Phrenologist, Miniature Painter'. Still situated in Manchester until mid-1852 when he took his show on the road to the major seaside towns:
MR. BLACKBURNE the Phrenologist and Artist, 40, King-street, Manchester, has returned from Scarboro' to the above Gallery, where he has been liberally patronised for faithful Miniatures, Portraits, and Phrenological Examinations. LIKENESSES faithfully copied in every style. Phrenological Registers, 1s.
In 1855, Joseph added a line in daguerreotypes to his repertoire, which reflected the rise of the popularity of photography and the threatened obsolescence of the portrait miniature. By 1856, he described himself as 'photographic artist' and in 1858, he was simply 'photographer' for a while, then back to photographer and practical phrenologist. with no mention of the paintings.
This fluctuation in fortunes and the ever-changing tide of his career shows a man not afraid to respond flexibly to the demands of a fickle public. Following trends, then ditching them, responding confidently with what the public wanted led him to finally settle on phrenology as his main source of income, which was a good move as it was resource-light and with no great financial overheads, unlike photography or the work of an artist. We have in the 1861 census a mention that he was a 'Practical Phrenologist' - all mention of photography and miniatures gone.
For some time, Joseph augmented his income with stints as a travelling salesman, as reported in the 1861 census. He was already travelling around the country on phrenological business so it made sense to add a bit of business to it. By 1865, the family was living in London, and Joseph was appearing at the Chelmsford Temperance Society: On Monday evening last, Mr Blackburne, practical phrenologist of London, delivered a lecture in the hall of the Chelmsford Literary Institution, and, owing to the inclemency of the weather, there was a thin attendance. Subject - 'Why Teachers and Preachers should be Teetotallers. The lecture was supported by some excellent life-size portraits, painted by Mr Blackburne, of many eminent men, and also of some great criminals, including the murderer Muller, who was recently executed. (Franz Muller was hanged for what was the first murder on a British train click.)
Poor pickings in London forced Joseph back to the north and he relocated to Wakefield in the late 1860s. It was in 1870 that he examined George. In the 1871 census, Joseph was living in Wakefield and working as a phrenologist. There is also another 'Interconnectedness' moment here: it seems Joseph's Aunt Mary married a Joseph De Trosier who took her to Batley (near Wakefield) to run a chemist's shop, before moving to run a similar venture in Wakefield. Possibly Mr Gissing Snr knew Mr De Trosier through work connections. What a small world it is.
By 1875, Joseph had taken his family to live in Scarborough. In his usual way, he advertised his services, this time in the York Herald:TRIPS TO SCARBORO' VISIT PROF. BLACKBURNE'S PHRENOLOGICAL GALLERY, 22, Newboro'-st. Portraits (life-size) of HW Beecher, the late Prof. Wells of New York, the Ven. Archdeacon Blunt and 400 others may be seen - free to visitors.
In 1874, Joseph wrote 2 booklets. 'The Baby; How to Save it: Advice to Mothers by Joseph Blackburne, Phrenologist' but I can't find a copy. I think we can deduce what it was about. And 'Helps To Progress Physiologically and Phrenologically Considered. Again, no sign of a copy. But the rise in literacy after the 1870 Education Act led to a boom in self help books so maybe these were riding the crest of that wave.
He still toured, spreading the word, and in the Middlesborough Daily Gazette, sometime in December 1875:
THE GOOD TIME COMING. PROFESSOR BLACKBURNE, the great Phrenologist from Scarborough, will LECTURE THIS EVENING at the Borough Hall, Stockton, Admission free, reserved seats 6d.
From 1877, in the Leamington Spa courier:
Professor BLACKBURNE, the well-known phrenologist, who has been lecturing at the Music Hall during the week, announces that he intends to continue the course next week.
At some time, Joseph returned to the north west of England, where in 1899, he died, in Southport, that seaside town so beloved by George when he was at Owens College. The probate record listing:
BLACKBURN (sic), Joseph, of the Promenade, Southport, Lancashire, phrenologist, died 6th February, 1899. Probate Liverpool 17 February to Maria Blackburn (sic) widow. Effects £111.8s.
(Blackburn was the original spelling - Joseph added an 'e' early in his career, no doubt to distinguish him from the common-or-garden Blackburns.)
Not a huge fortune to leave to his family, but considering the precariousness of his career and the uncertain times in which he lived, not a bad sum. Joseph deserves to be remembered for a lifetime dedicated to Phrenological study; he must have genuinely believed it to be a force for good.
JOIN ME IN PART TWO TO CONSIDER THE DARK SIDE OF PHRENOLOGY
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