Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the townships of Alnwick and Canongate, in the county of Northumberland / by Robert Rawlinson, Superintending Inspector.
- Robert Rawlinson
- Date:
- 1850
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the townships of Alnwick and Canongate, in the county of Northumberland / by Robert Rawlinson, Superintending Inspector. Source: Wellcome Collection.
80/89 page 69
![Appendix (A). The information contained in this Appendix was furnished to me during the inquiry by Mr. William John Carr, clerk to the Board of Guardians, after I had intimated a wish to recommend the application of the Act to the union. The number of nuisances reported to the guardians will show that some form of permanent work is necessary in the villages, and all experience is favourable to a judicious consolidation of power and knowledge, especially where works of a similar character require to be repeated.. And in house-drainage a man of practical experience will lay down more cheaply the necessary tile-drains and traps than could be accomplished by the uneducated labour of any single village. Report on the Villages in the Union, with Remarks and Observations. The application of the Public Health Act to the townships of Alnwick and Canongate (from whence the petition has been sent) will be of great benefit to those places ; but if it is limited to them, its utility will be much narrowed, whereas its extension to the whole of the Alnwick union (of which these townships form part) will be pro- ductive of incalculable benefit. Besides the town of Alnwick, the union contains several villages ; some of which would be greatly benefited by a well-directed system of sewerage and a supply of water, and by the supervision of a local Board of Health. This will appear from the following account of the measures taken by the guardians of the union to enforce the sanitary provisions of the Nuisances Removal Act of 1S48. Immediately after the passing of that Act the guardians caused handbills to be distributed to every house in the union, acquainting the occupiers with its provisions, enjoining attention to them, and ex- pressing the determination of the guardians to enforce them whenever the necessity arose. They also caused their medical and relieving officers to make inspections of the several houses and yards, in con- junction with police officers, and from time to time to report the result of their visits to the] guardians. Much was done in cleansing and in the removal of pigsties voluntarily by the inhabitants, but much more was left undone. When it was found that no attention was paid to remonstrances of the officers of the union and police officers, prosecutions under the Nuisances Act were instituted, and under the orders of the magistrates the causes of complaint were removed. For a time these proceedings had a good effect, but they were quickly forgotten, and the places once made clean and wholesome soon again became as filthy as befote. These proceedings were attended with an expense to the union of 781. Ss. 6d., and of 34/. 17s. to the parties proceeded against, making a toLal of 113/. 5s. <5d. To recur to legal proceedings as often as the necessity required would have entailed a very considerable expense, without the root of the evil being affected. The evil lies in the want of proper convenience for the removal of the offal of die houses, and cannot be remedied under the provisions of](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20423469_0087.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
