Politics and public health in inter-war Plymouth

With Dr Mike Sheaff, Visiting Research Fellow University of Plymouth

Dr Austin Nankivell became Plymouth’s Medical Officer of Health in 1925. Four years later the Conservatives lost control of the city council. An extraordinary period of change followed. From birth control to cancer services, and from child welfare clinics to establishing a municipal hospital, the city was at the forefront of radical progress in health care. This changed in 1932. With austerity policies in the ascendant, Conservatives regained control of the council, and Dr Nankivell was imprisoned for ‘gross indecency’. This talk, focusing on synergies between political and professional roles during his tenure, also considers connections between subsequent political conflicts and the criminal allegations against him.

Image credit: The Herald (The Duke & Duchess of York opening the new Mount Gould Hospital with Dr Nankivell in May 1932)

Host or Publisher The Arts Institute