Report to the General Board of Health on a supplemental inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the township of Bilston, situated within the municipal borough and union of Wolverhampton, in the county of Stafford / by Robert Rawlinson, Superintending Inspector.

  • Rawlinson, Robert, 1810-1898.
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report to the General Board of Health on a supplemental inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the township of Bilston, situated within the municipal borough and union of Wolverhampton, in the county of Stafford / by Robert Rawlinson, Superintending Inspector. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    15/38 (page 13)
    )lera and other epidemic diseases always begin their ravages, and, when ce they get into a jjlace like Bilston, they do not leave it until lar^e mbers of the population are swept off. ^ ' It is a comparatively pure stream until it enters the town, where houses vies, and other buildings are closely erected on both sides, over it, and 0 it, for the owners of property adjoining claim to the middle of the )ok, which here becomes a stagnant pool of mud and iilfh ; and as the e stands, the only remedy that I can suggest is to divert the stream, and ivey It underneath an adjoining street, and fill up the present course To effect this, although I shall not be individually benefited by it yet n the amount of mischief it creates, I am quite willing, as one of the jest ratepayers, to contribute my whole portion of rate to this purpose 1 1 believe most of the other iron and coal masters, who are the large ipayers, have consented to do the same ; and when this is efi'ected. and loper outiet for the sewerage is secured, the course will be clear for an ctual system of drainage and other sanitary improvements.'' \lr. C. G. Brown made the following statement : — The banks of the brook are densely crowded with houses, in nearly a]] ^hich the cholera raged most fearfully, and in one of which it first made ippearance. The water which feeds the engines and boilers connected with an ortant ironwork in the neighbourhood of the town is taken in its foetid lition from the brcok, whence it eventually passes into an open rvoir, trora which, in consequence, there continually arises a most isive vapour. ^ An efi-ortwas made in the summer of the present year to abate the ■ance arising from this cause, by the summary means pointed out by the f^Z ^^TT\ ^i' the justices thinking that the n?t„l N not authorize them to ad udicate in a cafe of such osecut'e £ m'h^'^ ^'^ '^^ gentleman owning the reservoir .i^r Th^t . '''.u ^''^ unpolluted, this nuisance would cease h/nnU aggneved rather than the injuring party. brook-course has been sold to the owners of the adjoining properties some of them have bu.lt into it. whilst others have built m^erTt thus inally obstructing the free passage of its waters. ' ^ATER-SUPPLY.-With respect to the present water-supply, LmSJd- 'P'^ ^'^ increasing it, Mr. William DDlSd b7lJl''n!fH^r'w?'''f ^««nfy supply of water; what we have ra was Company, but during the time the •nti^^elvwiS^ f ''.^^'l '^^ September lalt the supply iTeafly !o oTd^sttsr^' P^^*^^^ ^^^^^^^ winch' s^«mwrn'''°^''i^^''' f^r^'^ *° purchase the Dudley Company's s, and supply ourselves with water from other sources. r. Hen. G. Brown said,— ^v'wTterwnftc^P''^ inefficiently supplied with water by the ;fnl 1 f 9™P^y ; to enaUe the local Board to obtain an rchas^t'l^ W^'^'^ ^■^^'''•^ t° compulsory powers InoTi ^'f J^nd P'pe-s of the Dudley Waterworks Comp iny, so iton Waterworks Company or any other source. le difficulties of treating for a full supply of water are thus u Dy Mr. C. 6r. Brown;—•