public health

• From 1750, the industrial revolution meant that towns and cities grew rapidly as many people left rural areas in search of work in the new factories
• The increase of people led to:

  • Poor quality housing being built quickly
  • overcrowding, as housing was built very close Together to accommodate as many people as possible
  • overcrowding within houses as families could only afford to live in one room
  • unhygienic conditions with few toilets, sewers running into rivers and no rubbish collection
• public Health Act of 1848

  • After the threat of another cholera outbreak
  • set up national board of health
  • was temporary, and celebrated when ended because of the lezzaiz -faire attitude, which was when councils beleived the government should leave them Alone
  • only one -third acted on at least some of the suggestions therefore public health didn't massively increase
• public health Act 1848

  • set up a national board of health
  • Not required
  • only one third acted on at least some of the suggestions
  • therefore public health improved slowly
• Public Health Reforms, 1860-75


  • The Sanitary Act, 1866
  • The Artisans Dwelling Act, 1875
  • The Public Health Act, 1875
• The Sanitary Act, 1866

  Town councils had to employ people to inspect water supplies, drainage and sewerage
• The Artisans Dwelling Act, 1875


  Councils could demolish what inspectors decided was 'slum" housing and build better homes in their place
• The Public Health Act, 1875


  • Local authorities had to appoint medical officers to monitor health
  • Local authorities had to appoint sanitary inspectors to carry out regular inspections on public health facilities
  • Local authorities were given more powers to raise taxes to provide and maintain clean water supplies, build and maintain sewers and drains, and remove rubbish from the streets
• The 'Great Stink' of 1858 in London was caused by hot weather making the sewage in the River Thames smell terrible. Lack of proper sewers and drainage had ground Britain's capital to a halt- the smell was so bad that even Parliament could not meet.
• Pasteur's germ theory (published in 1861) proved the beliefs of Edwin Chadwick and John Snow, and more people understood and accepted the link between unhygienic living conditions and disease.
• The cholera outbreak of 1866 was more severe in those towns that had not acted on the suggestions of the Public Health Act of 1848 to improve water supplies and sewers and to collect rubbish.
• In 1867 working-class men were given the right to vote. Around half of those who could vote were now working class, many of whom lived and worked in areas of towns and cities where conditions were terrible and disease was rife. For the first time, politicians had to try to improve the lives of the poor in order to win their votes.
• An unprecedented number of laws on public health were passed, including the Sanitary Act of 1866, and the Artisans Dwelling Act and the Public Health Act of 1875.
• Some local authorities had begun improving public health provision before 1875, such as the huge new system of sewers built throughout London which were completed by 1875 and slum housing in Birmingham being knocked down.
• The significance of the Public Health Act, 1875


  • For the first time, some measures were made compulsory for all parts of the country, such as all local authorities having to appoint sanitary inspectors to make regular checks. This meant local authorities had to improve sanitation or they would fail the inspections.
  • It proved that people's attitudes had changed, with more people accepting that national and local government should improve public health and more people being willing to pay for this through increased taxes.