From the “wooden world” to “London in miniature”

In 1756, Charlotte Bristowe Browne arrived in Albany and witnessed the looming Seven Years’ War. In nearby Fort Frederick, she is to reconfirm her position as Matron at the military hospital of the 44th and 48th British regiments. While marching from fort to fort, Browne keeps track of her route in a private diary, which traces her observations of the then-lethal environment of the British American colonies. Moreover, it allows for glimpses into Browne’s daily routine as an appointed Matron, first of General Braddock’s and later Lord Loudoun’s military hospitals. Incidentally, then, it provides insight into the North American colonial space by offering brief notes on the colonial environment and the organization of medical services. This chapter will discuss Charlotte Browne’s diary as a primary reading to access information on what it was like to be a woman in the North American theatres of the Seven Years’ War.