Letter to the Rt. Hon. Sir George Grey ... / from Charles Purton Cooper ; with papers respecting the sanitary state of part of the parish of St. Giles in the Fields, London.

  • Charles Purton Cooper
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Letter to the Rt. Hon. Sir George Grey ... / from Charles Purton Cooper ; with papers respecting the sanitary state of part of the parish of St. Giles in the Fields, London. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    with a new-born infant in one corner, the infant born in this room with all its inhabitants present, and a dead child at the further end ; in this room have I twice seen such a scene (and from my experience I can say that it is no uncommon occurrence in these places). The yard of this house contains a privy, and is in so disgust- ing a state that I will not attempt to describe it. At the back of Church Lane, on St. Giles’s side, is a row of houses known as Kennedy’s Court, which must, I imagine, have been overlooked by the Times reporter, it being ten times more vile and disgusting than Car- rier Street, and, as might have been expected, not a single house in it escaped the cholera, each one of them having lost some of its inhabitants. I took the following account of No. 8, Church Lane, very recently, therefore I can vouch for its correctness, and it may be taken as a very fair sample of these houses generally. In the yard, which is merely a narrow passage about 4 feet wide, are four rooms. The two lower ones are about 10 ft. square, 6 ft. 4 in. high, and are so dark that you can scarcely see daylight in them. The two upper rooms are smaller. The four contain twenty-three regular inhabitants. The rent of the lower ones is 2s. 6r/. per week each, of the upper, 2s. 3c?. each. The first floor, 13 ft. by 11 ft. 4 in. and 7 ft. 6 in. high ; rent 3s. per week ; contains eighteen men, women, and children. Second floor same size as first; rent 3s. per week ; fifteen men, women, &c. Third floor 13 ft. by 11 ft. 4 in., 6 ft. high ; rent 3s. per week ; twenty-four men, women, &c. The parlour 10 ft. square; rent 3s. per week; twelve men and women. Thus making a total of ninety-two inhabitants, and producing a rental of £55 18s. per annum. The house is destitute of furniture, and has no water or convenience of any kind.
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