public health

• up to 250 people shared one toilet
• up to 10 people might share one room

why were conditions so poor?

• houses could not be built fast enough to cope with people arriving from countryside
• no building regulations
• no proper drainage
• no clean water
• 'jerry' built
• back to back houses
• cheap poor quality material
• drains usually open ditches
• cesspits would overflow
• water pumps were often contaminated

• population quadrupled 1801 - 1901
• urban population rose from 25% in 1801 to 75% in 1901
• laissez faire attitudes of governement
• rich thought it was the fault of the poor
• poor expected filthy conditions
• towns had complicated rules and regulations
• rate payers did not want to pay for improvements
• people did not understand what caused disease

• symptoms - vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, skin turns blue
• 1831 - 13,000 people died in 3 months
• no agreement on how it spread

How was the problem solved?

• John Snow found link between polluted water and disease
• investigated 500 deaths near to a water pump in Broad St.
• Snow ordered removal of pump handle
• no new cases

• series of reports in 1830s and 40s brought problems to attention of well-off
• people began to realise 'they were living on a dungheap'
• Edwin Chadwick wrote Report on the sanitary Conditions of hte Labouring Population of Britian which horrified people
• collection of proper statistics for births and deaths began - showed high death rates

BUT

change still very slow to come even though there was another serious cholera outbreak in 1844

• set up a General Board of Health
• 
• the Board could create local Boards of Health if 10% of population asked for it or the death rate was above 23 per 1,000
• Boards could control water supplies, cemeteries, sewage and drainage

BUT

• Act made little difference
• could not force towns to improve
• General Board of Health closed down
• one sixth of the population was covered by local boards of health
• many slum dwellers had no water supply
• if there was a water supply people couldn't always afford it
• open sewers still ran down street

• Sir John Simon - chief medical officer for London
• proved death rates could be lowered if the water supply was clean
• rubbish collected from streets
• cesspools drained

Other Acts

• sanitary act 1868 - forced local authorites to appoint sanitary inspectors
• local government board 1871 - set up to oversee all local public health services

• every area had to have a medical officer and sanitary inspector
• councils given powers to build sewers, drains and public toilets
• refuse had to be collected
• water supply controlled
• local authorities could disinfect houses if someone had caught an infectious disease

The Housing Act 1868

• landlords had to keep houses in good repair
• council could force landlords to repair houses

The Artisans' Dwelling Act 1875

• local authorities had power to clear areas of bad housing
• building regs for new houses

Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890

• authorities could demolish slums and build council houses

• local authorities did not like asking ratepayers to pay towards better housing for the poor
• government did not provide money to build council houses
• housing in slums not replaced - more overcrowding
• back to back houses continued to be built

Octavia Hill

• bought and repaired slums in London
• tenants taught importance of cleaning

George Cadbury

• built model village of Bournville - gardens, leisure facilities - taller children

William Hesketh Lever

• model village - Port Sunlight

Joseph Chamberlain Mayor of Birmingham

• bought 40 acres of factories and slums - moved factories to suburbs and built decent housing