In the book I’m reading, set in Ireland in 1859, the nurse takes all the patients measurements in inches. The nurse is from England and studied under Florence Nightingale. Is this a mistake an American author made, or did they use inches then in England?
I know vaguely why the US ended up with imperial, but I know nothing else about the development of the differences. The book got me thinking about how different countries ended on different systems.
Thanks in advance!
It definitely isn't a mistake, British subjects in the 19th century would have been much more familiar and comfortable taking imperial measurements than metric ones. After all, the empire that imperial measurement's got their name from is of course the British empire!
In fact a modern British nurse would possibly still take a patient's measurements using imperial feet and inches (I don't actually know what NHS policy is on this is, so I wouldn't be that surprised if they now use metric instead).
For less formal things like a person's height and weight the UK still has a preference for imperial measurements (though unlike in the US, we use stones and pounds for weight, instead of just pounds). We also still give distances in miles and yards, measure speed in miles per hour, and buy beer and milk by the pint.
Metric is however used quite a bit in the UK as well, petrol and diesel are priced by the litre (but fuel economy is still miles per gallon...), our food packaging always have weights in grams or kilograms, and weather forecasts give the temperature in centigrade. Younger(ish) generations like my own are also quite familiar with the metric system in general, having been taught to use them at school.
Regarding the history of imperial vs metric, I wouldn't claim to be an expert but in short the metric system was pushed by the French successfully to most of the world whereas Britain and some of it's former colonies have stubbornly clung onto the imperial system.
This BBC article from a few years ago gives a reasonable summary on Britain and it's relationship with the metric system: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16245391
Yes, we would have used inches then.
Imperial (FYI some Imperial units are different to US units) were the predominant system up until the 1970s, really. And even then it wasn't until the 80s that things had mostly moved over to metric.
Even today, we aren't fully metric. Speed limits and road signs are in miles and yards, drinks are in pints, and trousers are sold with waist measurements in inches. And most people will know their height in feet and inches (and weight in stones).
I wouldn't be able to tell you how tall or heavy I am in centimeters/meters/kilos, for example. And i'm young.
I would always use metric for measuring things though in work etc..., unless I was being informal (i.e. telling the barber to take an inch off my hair)
Source: Brit