Report of the Health of London Association on the sanitary condition of the metropolis; : being a digest of the information contained in the replies returned to three thousand lists of queries, which were circulated amongst clergymen, medical men, solicitors, surveyors, architects, engineers, parochial officers, and the public.

  • Health of Towns Association (London, England)
Date:
1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Health of London Association on the sanitary condition of the metropolis; : being a digest of the information contained in the replies returned to three thousand lists of queries, which were circulated amongst clergymen, medical men, solicitors, surveyors, architects, engineers, parochial officers, and the public. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    face, or of matters in solution and suspension through the sewers, are simple engineering questions, the suc¬ cess of which,’ in the words of Mr. Smith, of Deanston, ‘ is certain, while the cost can be estimated on known data.’ The wealthiest and most populous parish in the Metropolis —Marylebone—is an example of the imperfect manner in which these questions are solved in the present state of the law. The parish, on an area of about 1,490 acres, had 14,169 inhabited houses, and 138,161 inhabitants, in 1841. The annual value of property rated for the relief of the poor in the same year was £815,279—£57 to each house. Yet a considerable part of the parish is without sewers, or any direct open communications with the sewers. It is said, though the information on this head is imperfect, that half the houses in the parish have cesspools, many of which remain unemptied from year to year. The vestry, under the Local Act, is empowered ‘ to nominate persons to carry out the dust, dirt, cinders, or ashes; yet no effectual arrangements are made for the removal of decaying animal and vegetable matters—the ‘filth’ and ‘noxious matters’ which are really prejudicial to health. The contracts only apply specifically to ‘ashes,’ which are innoxious. 897 persons died in the parish last quarter. The condition of other parishes may be conjectured from this specimen.” In the district of All Souls, Marylebone, containing a popula¬ tion of 27,000, the mortality is one in 28; in London gene¬ rally, one in 39.* [8.] In the evidence collected on the sanitary con¬ dition of the labouring classes by the Poor- * Can the existing administrative body in Marylebone, by themselves, carry out an effective system of sewerage ? for unless the parish be comprised in one level, it will be impossible. Mr. Edward Joseph, one of the district registrars in Marylebone, states, that the drainage in the unhealthy streets, courts, and houses is in some very bad, and in others it is middling. The inhabitants complain of the inefficiency of the supply of water, and that the streets, courts, and houses, are anything but cleanly. “ Callmell-building,” Mr. Joseph says, “is a narrow court, being about 22 feet in breadth, the houses are three stories high, surrounded and overtopped by the adjacent buildings ; the drainage is carried on by a common sewer running down the centre of the court, the receptacle for slops, &c., from the houses on both sides. The lower apartments, especially the kitchens, which are underground, are damp, and badly ventilated—light and air being admitted through a grating, on a level with the court. At all times, but especially so in warm weather, most offensive effluvia are perceptible everywhere.” Mr. Geo. H. Bachhoffner, another of the registrars in Marylebone, says that the cleanliness in some places in his district is very deficient. See Fifth Annual Report of the Registrar General.