public health

• medieval: coventry

  • 1421: mayor’s proclamation required that every man clean the area of the street in front of their house or pay a 12p fine.
  • 1421: all latrines over the Red Ditch [a local stream] were ordered to be removed, to allow free flowing water and to prevent flooding. Attempts were made to stop local stables and butchers throwing waste into the River Sherbourne, again to prevent flooding. 

  → shows active intervention from the mayor and the corporation of coventry when faced with the complaints of residents. 
• medieval: coventry

  • Coventry’s council banned waste disposal in the River Sherbourne 9 times between 1421 and 1475. 

  → suggests that the action was ignored or the action worked, and a few people returned to the old ways and people complained, so the council took action again. 
• medieval: coventry

  • The council organised the use of specific places for particular types of waste:
  • a dunghill outside the city limit. 
  • a pit in the Little Park Street Gate.
  • a muckhill near New Gate
  • a pit at Poodycraft. 
• medieval: coventry

  • The council also specified waste disposal locations. Dunghills and cesspits were placed around the perimeter of the town. 
• medieval: coventry

  • Waste collections services were recorded from 1420, when William Oteley was allowed to collect 1p from every resident or shop for his weekly street cleaning and waste removal services. This waste was sold to farmers. 
• medieval: coventry

  CHANGE: Coventry council clearly listened to the complaints of the residents about the dirtiness of the streets, overgrowing waste and throwing waste into rivers. The council understood that there was a link between dirtiness and illness. 
• early modern

  Henry VII:

  • Recognised the menace from slaughterhouses and passed a law forbidding them within cities and towns.
• early modern

  Henry VIII:

  • 1532: passed an act of parliament giving towns and cities the power to impose a tax in order to build sewers. 
  • 1547: people were banned from going to the toilet in the courtyards of Royal Palaces.
• early modern

  • Samuel Pepys: recorded that his wife would not allow him on the bed until he had bathed. 

  → shows that people understood the link between dirt and not being clean and getting disease. 
• early modern

  • 1666: after the great fire of London, they made the streets wider when rebuilding them, and insisted that houses were made of tiles and slate roofs, which some argued made it cleaner. 
• early modern

  • 1690: there was another act passed to pave and clean the streets of London
  • In the following years, more acts were passed to remove dung, clean common stairways, and not allow pigs in dwelling houses.

  → could suggest that the streets weren’t paved and cleaned when they were rebuilt after 1666 and action was not taken or was ignored. 
• early modern

  CHANGE: some action was taken, there was a clear link established between dirtiness, which was solved with taking baths and being clean, and disease. 

  CONTINUITY:  acts had to be passed after the first act, showing that action was not effectively taken or people ignored it [possibly because it wasn’t pushed hard enough].
• modern

  Impact of industrialisation:

  • People had to live close to their place of work, which meant more people living closer to each other. 
  • There were very few building regulations.
  • 1842: the average age for the death of a labourer’s family in rural Rutland was 38, manchester was 17.
• modern

  • The supply of gas, water and electricity was controlled by private companies, who wanted to make a profit, so the wealthier areas had good supplies, but the poorer areas were not served well. 
  • This was because of the ‘laissez-faire’ policy, as a result of the lack of the government’s involvement in working conditions, living conditions and transport, working-class housing was very poor. 
• modern

  Edwin Chadwick:

  • Member of the Poor Law Commission, set up as a consequence of the Poor Law Reform Act of 1834. 
  • He was convinced that more people were poor because of ill-health rather than idleness. 
  • 1842: he published ‘report on the sanitary conditions of the labouring population’ 
  • He was a key influence in setting up the Health of Town Association in 1844, which led to the first public health act of 1848. 
• modern

  1848 public health act:

  • Caused by the cholera epidemic of 1848, which killed over 52,000 people in england. 
  • This act allowed local councils to improve health conditions if they wished and if they were prepared to pay for it 
  • Encouraged local boards of health to appoint a medical health officer. 
  • But more acts followed [1866 Sanitary Act, 1875 Artisans Dwellings Act]

  → showing that the Public Health Act 1848 wasn’t effective.
• modern

  1875 public health act:

  • Covered sewerage, drains, water supply, housing and disease. 
  • Forced councils to take action. 
• modern

  Factors that led to the public health act 1875:

  • New voters [working class men were given the vote in 1867, more needs of the working class were heard]
  • William Farr proved that there was a link between unhealthy living conditions and high death rates. 
  • Weakening of the laissez-faire, the government could no longer leave important public health measures to individuals or councils. 
• modern

  • Leeds: medical officer appointed in 1866, 1870: a local firm got a court order to prevent sewage being pumped into the river. 1874: had its first sewage purification system works. 
  • Cities began to compete with each other to be the cleanest → vastly improving public health across the country, not in specific cities.    
• modern

  Saltaire:

  • Owned 5 mills/factories by 1850. 
  • A model village for his 4,000 workers with schools, lecture halls and churches. 
  • Tried to persuade the council to do something to improve the living and working conditions in Bradford. 
  • Claimed it was to help his workers lead healthy and virtuous lives. 

  → could argue that he wanted to increase the productivity of his workers to make more money. 

  • Proved that streets and pollution [produced by mills] negatively affected public health
  • Set an example of what the public health of a town should be like. 
• modern: 19th century

  CHANGE: The public health act of 1875 greatly improved public health because it forced councils to take action. Saltaire set an example of what the public health of a town should be like. 

  CONTINUITY: many acts were passed for everything, showing that change was not effectively taken the first time and needed to be passed multiple times. 
• modern

  • 1899: Boer War, many volunteers were medically unfit for service which showed the poor standards of health of working-class young men. 
  • 1889: Charles Booth’s report ‘Life and Labour of People’ found that 35% of Londoners lived in abject poverty [cannot afford essentials].
• modern

  • 1897+98: Rowntree’s report ‘York: Poverty, a study of Town Life’. 50% of working class people lived in poverty. 
  • 1913: Maude Pember Reeves’ report found that working class women went without food to feed their families. 

  → showed the horrible poverty that many many working-class people lived in, because of their poor health, caused by bad living and working conditions. 
• modern: 20th century reports

  → this number of reports showed that the public health was terrible, if many people need to make reports about poverty and poor public health across the country. 
• modern

  World War 1+2:

  • 1919 Housing Act

  → promised to build 500,000 homes ‘fit for heroes’

  • They built 1 million houses by 1939, but they were expensive and many working-class people couldn’t afford them, when they were the ones who needed them the most. 
  • The Blitz in WW2 led to the destruction of most homes, so the need for them increased. 
  • Clement Atlee’s government built 1 million homes post-ww2, but it was still not enough, 
• modern

  • 1956 + 1968 Clean Air Acts

  → encouraged householders throughout the country to change from coal fires to cleaner gas and electricity, and burn smokeless fuels. 

  • Dec 1952: Killer Smog in London, killed over 12,000 people and made 100,000 people ill. 
  • Environment Protection Act [1990] and Clean Air Act [1993] focused on greenhouse gases and aimed to limit factory and car emission. 
  • Up to 27,000 people still die each year from the impact of pollution. 

  → the multiple clean air acts could show that change was not taken. 
• modern: 20th century

  CHANGE: many reports were made, causing the government to take action. More houses were built but they were expensive and the Blitz ruined them all. 

  CONTINUITY: multiple acts were passed for clean air, showing the severity of the pollution, and the lack of change taken rapidly.