The following extract from Mr. Hodgkins, the medical officer of Bilston, in the Wolverhampton Union, describes the condition of the population of a colliery district:—
“Bilston, like Wolverhampton, has not been visited by fever to any extent since the cholera in 1832. The awful destruction which then occurred swept off many of those subjects who might afterwards have been victims of fever; in fact Bilston was, after the cessation of cholera, nearly free from disease of any kind for several months. Influenza has occasionally visited us and swept off a few. Small-pox a few years ago was prevalent, but not very fatal, although many children from negligence on the part of the parents are not vaccinated. Scarlet fever has appeared sometimes, but only in straggling cases. The occupations of the poorer classes are chiefly colliers, labourers, &c., great members of the latter being Irish. The houses of those applying for parochial medical relief which I have visited have been dirty and crowded, the habits of the working classes here being generally improvident and dirty, many parties forming heaps of filth close to their doors; and here, as in Wolverhampton, I am afraid it would require the interference of the law to effect any permanent good. Some years ago a large culvert was carried down the principal street which has made a great improvement in that part, but much yet remains undrained. I would mention a place in High-street especially, near to a court, crowded with Irish, there is a pool of green stagnant water or mud continually; another place called the Berry, behind the King’s Arms Inn, and a third in a court in Temple-street, where there appears to be a drain which has been choked up, the stench from which is intolerable.”
Dr. Edward Knight gives the following description of the sanitary condition of the town of Stafford:—
“During the year ending September 29th, 1839, there have been in the fever-wards connected with the Stafford County General Infirmary 76 cases of fever, of which number 10 have died, and the remaining 66 were discharged cured. The far greater part of these cases commenced in the town of Stafford, some being brought to the infirmary in a dying state, which gives a greater rate of mortality. Although the fever-wards are well arranged, and every comfort and attention provided for the patients, there is a general dislike on the part of the poor to be removed to them from their own houses, except in cases of actual necessity.
“Owing to this, and the filthy state of those parts of the town occupied exclusively by the lower classes, as the ‘Broad-eye,’ ‘Back-walls,’ &c., we have generally more or less of infectious diseases during the autumn and winter months in each year, and although such diseases do not extend their ravages to the more respectable inhabitants, the above form but a very small portion of the cases which occur.
“These parts of the town are without drainage, the houses, which are private property, are built without any regard to situation or ventilation, and constructed in a manner to ensure the greatest return at the least possible outlay. The accommodation in them does not extend beyond two rooms; these are small, and, for the most part, the families work in the day-time in the same room in which they sleep, to save fuel.
“There is not any provision made for refuse dirt, which, as the least trouble, is thrown down in front of the houses, and there left to putrefy. The back entrances to the houses in the principal streets are generally into these, the stabling and cow-houses, &c., belonging to them, forming one side of the street, and the manure, refuse vegetable matter, &c., carried into the street, and placed opposite to the poorer houses; so that they are continually subjected to the malaria arising from that, in addition to their own dirt.
“The sedentary occupation of the working classes (shoemaking being the staple trade of the town), their own want of cleanliness and general intemperance, form, also, a fruitful source of disease. One-half of the week is usually spent in the public-houses, and the other half they work night and day to procure the necessary subsistence for their families. There is a great want of improvement in the moral character of the poor; they can obtain sufficient wages to support their families respectably, but they are improvident and never make any provision against illness. A local Act for the improvement of the town empowers the commissioners to remove nuisances; but no notice is ever taken. The situation of Stafford also offers every facility for an efficient drainage; it is nearly surrounded by a large ditch, in which there might be a running stream of water, well calculated to remove all impurities; but it is always choked up, and in a stagnant state. The river ‘Sow’ is also close to the town. There are not any sewers even in the principal streets, the water being carried off by open channels. In the Lunatic Asylum, which closely adjoins the town, and averages 250 patients, great attention is paid to cleanliness, and we never have any infectious diseases.”
In the month of December, 1839, an application was made to the Board for advice and aid to meet the emergencies created by an epidemic which had broken out in the parish of Breadsall in the Shardlow union (Derbyshire). Mr. Senior, the Assistant Commissioner for the district, accompanied Dr. Kennedy to the spot where the fever was prevalent, and that report[[2]] may be submitted to attention, as containing a picture of the habits of a large proportion of the population of that part of the country, and an exemplification in a group of individual cases of the common causes and effects of such calamities on the labouring population.
The report from Dr. Baker, of Derby, and Mr. Senior’s report, comprising the returns from the medical officers of Nottingham, Lincoln, and other rural and town unions within his district, pourtray the sanitary condition of a large proportion of the population included in them.