“In one room in Swan Court, having one window, seven persons slept—a man and his wife, the daughter aged 24 in consumption lying in bed, and four younger children; the cubic contents of the room were 910 = 130 cubic feet to each person.
“In Bell Court four persons occupied a room with 94 cubic feet each.
“In three rooms in Hayes Court, each 10 × 8 × 8 feet; each with only one window opening into a narrow court; each occupied by eight persons = 80 cubic feet to each person.”
The Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras (1865) described some of the consequences of the conversion of a house, built originally for one family, into one inhabited by several families:—
“… At present these families occupy usually a single room only in a house of six or eight rooms adapted for only one family. The water supply is inadequate, and at some distance from the upper rooms, and there is but one closet, one dust bin, one coal cellar, and one wash house for the whole. No one is responsible for the cleanly condition of the closet, the water tank, the single staircase, the basement, the areas, and the yard, or for emptying the dust bin.”
One of the worst forms of overcrowding was when it resulted in what was described as “indecent occupation.” For instance, as reported (1861) by the Medical Officer of Health for Whitechapel:—
“In a room in Windmill Court there slept the mother, two adult daughters, and two adult sons.
“In another room in the same court, a man and his wife, the daughter aged 16, and three adult sons.”
In 68 instances the rooms were “indecently occupied,” that is to say, adult brothers and sisters, or a father and daughter slept in the same room.