Letter 2952

Drake informs Sloane that she was surprised ‘to receive a summons from yr Honour’ble board’. She does not understand why the College of Physicians is interfering with her practice since she only treats those ‘among my own sex and Little Children’. She believes she was summoned by the College after a customer’s husband complained of the price, even though he knew the cost beforehand. The man then accused her of giving his wife poison. Drake’s son, James, wrote to Sloane to defend his mother. See: Sloane MS 4047, fol. 42. Judith Drake (fl. 1696-1723) was a writer and medical practitioner. She published several works and edited those of her husband James Drake, a political and medical writer (Bridget Hill, ‘Drake, Judith (fl. 1696–1723)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37370, accessed 24 July 2014]).