The Epidemic of 1837-40 in England.

The smallpox epidemic of 1837-40 was already in full force at Liverpool, Bath and Exeter when the mortality returns began to be made on 1st July, 1837, under the new Registration Act. Whether or not the contagion travelled from Ireland or the west of Scotland, the epidemic in England began in the west and south-west, and reached the Eastern counties last. The following table shows its rise and progress at selected places in the several quarters, beginning with the third quarter (July-September) of 1837[1158]:

1837 1838 1839
3rd qr 4th qr 1st qr 2nd 3rd qr 4th qr 1st qr 2nd qr 3rd qr 4th qr
Liverpool 375 132 32 24 18 36 11 29 75 138
Bath 154 18 15 1 1 2 1 25 17 30
Exeter 88 131 6 — 2 — — — — —
Bristol 21 74 72 44 4 7 6 — — —
Clifton 16 32 49 27 7 — — — 1 7
London 257 506 753 1145 1061 858 364 117 65 60
Manchester 23 98 127 120 111 180 94 40 33 53
Birmingham 34 55 85 86 66 47 26 12 7 10
Sheffield 14 14 27 36 22 12 9 3 4 —
Leeds 4 11 29 69 134 197 74 55 30 15
Newcastle 16 17 66 11 — 23 54 24 39 25
Abergavenny and
Pontypool		 13 85 102 50 22 21 22 30 26 10
Merthyr Tydvil 9 54 160 91 10 3 18 16 12 —
Weymouth,
Bridport, and
Beaminster		 4 19 92 31 8 4 10 9 2 —
Plymouth 10 15 11 14 37 48 9 8 1 —
Taunton — 7 66 40 4 3 — — — —
Leicester 43 5 3 2 3 3 9 21 5 15
Norwich 1 — — — — 17 180 204 10 7
Lynn etc. — 1 2 10 7 4 127 81 6 —
Ipswich — — 2 6 38 95 23 — 1 —
Bury St Edmunds
etc.		 1 3 30 24 2 3 — — — —
Woodbridge etc. 4 9 27 16 5 11 10 2 — 4

The epidemic having begun in the west and south-west in the summer of 1837, spread in the winter of 1837-38, all through the hills and valleys of Wales, causing high mortalities around Abergavenny, Pontypool, Merthyr Tydvil and other towns in the first quarter of 1838, as well as in the rural parishes. It was not until the end of 1838 that the contagion spread widely over the Eastern counties. The epidemic in Norwich was again short and sharp, like that of 1819, most of the 418 deaths falling within six months of winter and spring, just as most of the 530 deaths in 1819 fell within six months of summer and autumn. The population in 1821 was 50,288, and in 1841, 62,344; the increase was only 1228 between 1831 and 1841, so that the smallpox of 1839 fell upon a stationary population, whereas that of 1819 had fallen upon a rapidly increasing one. In the autumn of 1839 and throughout 1840, a second outburst of smallpox took place in the towns where the epidemic had started two years before, namely, Liverpool, Bath, Bristol, Clifton, etc[1159].

But the smallpox of 1840, which produced more deaths than that of 1839, was mostly centred in the Lancashire manufacturing towns, where also the mortality from scarlet fever was enormous. The circumstances of the working class in Lancashire at this time have been described in the chapter on fevers. The following shows the large proportion of smallpox deaths that fell in 1840 to the North-Western or Lancashire registration division.

Smallpox Deaths, 1840.

1st qr 2nd qr 3rd qr 4th qr
England and Wales 2071 2476 2274 3613
Of which in the N.-W.
Division (Lancashire)		 1046 986 533 590

The epidemic continued in the manufacturing towns into 1841; in the more rural registration divisions of England it had almost ceased in 1839. From the 1st July, 1837 (beginning of registration) until the 31st December, 1840, the epidemic smallpox in England and Wales caused 41,644 deaths. In 1838 it eclipsed both measles and scarlatina as a cause of death among children; but in 1840 scarlatina gained the leading place and kept it.