‘A Paradise of Invalids’

Medical Tourism and the Climate of Prejudice in Nineteenth-century Madeira

Abstract

Nineteenth-century Madeira was a popular destination for wealthy British people suffering from consumption and other pulmonary ailments. A rich store of sources from the period provide first-hand accounts of invalids on the island or offer special advice for the invalid traveller. After positioning medical travel within the context of contemporary science about climate, health and acclimatization, this article will provide a brief account of existing sources related to medical travel to Madeira. This article then examines this material for what it reveals about contemporary ideas about the Madeiran climate upon health, as well as cultural interaction between the British and the island. In particular, the article will trace how writing about Madeira conforms or diverges from popularly held views about the southern European climate and southern European people, as well as what resonance such views may have in the present.