1.7-1.9 Industrial Britain

• Why were Industrial towns and cities overcrowded and what was the effect on peoples health?

  • cause

  -> migration from countryside to cities for work

  -> housing quality was poor and rent was high

  -> families often lived in one room

  • effect

  -> was not enough privies - human waste overflowed onto streets

  -> diseases like tuberculosis were common due to damp walls
• Why in Industrial towns and cities was there no help for poor and what was the effect on peoples health?

  • cause

  -> richer people ran town councils - didn't want to raise taxes

  -> government believed in 'laissez faire' - don't interfere in people lives

  • effect

  -> working-class men given vote in 1867

  -> no free healthcare, doctors and medicine had to be paid for meaning poor peoples health got worse
• Why in Industrial towns and cities was disease common and what was the effect on peoples health?

  • cause

  -> until 1861 germs were unknown

  -> many drank dirty water

  -> people lived close together

  -> tuberculosis, influenza, typhoid, typhus and cholera were very common

  • effect

  -> disease spread quickly

  -> low life expectancy

  -> infant morality (death) was high
• What was housing like in the Industrial period?

  • cheapest - rented cellar with no ventilation and damp

  • back-to-back housing was cheap and poorly constructed, family had one room upstairs and down

  • lack of fresh air led to chest infections and lung diseases
• What was water like in the Industrial period?

  • companies sourced water from rivers, streams and ponds

  • it was dirty, unhealthy and contained cholera and typhoid

  • link between dirty water and disease not made till later on
• What was waste like in the Industrial period?

  • cheap industrial housing couldn't cope with amount of human waste

  • privies built up - either overflowing or eventually being emptied

  • over 10 families would share a privy

  • better sewers were built - emptied into sources where water companies collected 'fresh' water
• What was diet like in the Industrail period?

  • high in carbohydrates for long hours of labour

  • potatoes, bread, beer and tea (beer was cheaper)

  • difficult to get fruit and vegetables which lead to malnutrition

  • no government regulation of food quality - lots of families ate adulterated food

  • cheap meat available occasionally to poor - bad quality sometimes from diseased animal
• When was the Industrial period?

  1750-1900
• When were the cholera epidemics?

  • 1831-32

  • 1848

  • 1854

  • 1865-66
• What were the beliefs about cholera in the 1830s?


  • miasma

  • punishment for sins

  • connections between dirt and disease made
• What were the beliefs about cholera in 1848?



  • Chadwick produced 'Sanitary Report' which shocked public about health
• What were the beliefs about cholera in 1854?


  • Dr Snow proved cholera was waterborne, evidenced by the pump by his surgery
• What were the beliefs about cholera in 1866?


  • Snow's ideas widely accepted

  • Pasteur proved germs caused disease
• What were the national and local government responses in the 1830s (industrial period)?


  • national

  -> central boards of health

  -> study diseases abroad

  -> national day of fasting, humiliation and prayers (2nd March 1832)

  • local

  -> buring tar, lavender and rosemary in street to purify air

  -> clearing rubbish from streets to stop smell

  -> seperate hospitals and graveyard to stop contamination

  -> health boards gave advice to monitor spread of cholera
• What were the national and local government responses in 1848 (industrial period)?


  • national

  -> public health act set up the general board of health

  -> encouraged local councils to set up health boards to clean towns

  • local

  -> public health act didn't force change

  -> town leaders - change is to expensive

  -> local ratepayers resented increase in tax to pay for act
• What were the national and local government responses in 1854 (industrial period)?



  • national

  -> laissez faire continued

  -> general board of health abolished
• What were the national and local government responses in 1866 (industrial period)?



  • national

  -> sanitary act made local councils responsible for sewers, water supply and street cleaning

  -> sewers limited the impact of cholera epidemic

  • local

  -> Bazalgette's sewer system (1865) revolutionised public health
• How did the germ theory help change ideas about disease?

  • government started to abandon laissez faire attitude

  • miasma belief replaced with germ theory - dealing with disease easier, importance of cleanliness was accepted

  • research on dieases helped make good waste management such as changing from midden privy (toilet with hole underneath) to pail privy (toilet with removable bucket)
• What were reasons for the adulteration of food act, when was it made and what progess and limitation did it have?

  • reasons

  -> no laws to protect against unhealthy food

  • date

  -> 1860

  • progess

  -> first law to prevent contamination of food

  -> provided food analysts

  -> blow to laissez faire

  • limitations

  -> only 7 food analysts appointed

  -> no compulsory inspections

  -> act soon ignored
• What were reasons for the Bazelgette's sewer system, when was it made and what progess and limitation did it have?

  • reasons

  -> London sewers overflowed - 'Great Stink' in 1858

  • date

  -> 1865

  • progess

  -> 1300 miles of sewers built

  -> some sewers took waste to treatment plant

  -> spread of waterborne disease was prevented
• What were reasons for the sanitary act, when was it made and what progess and limitation did it have?

  • reasons

  -> cholera outbreak started

  -> make local authorities responsible for health

  • date

  -> 1866

  • progess

  -> forced local authorities to provide fresh water, sewers and waste disposal

  -> all houses connected to main sewer

  -> defined 'overcrowding'

  -> if local authorities didn't take action, billed by central government

  -> blow to laissez faire

  • limitations

  -> act clumsily worded

  -> to slow to be put into operation
• What were reasons for the sale of food and drugs act, when was it made and what progess and limitation did it have?

  • reasons

  -> some basic food quality problems

  • date

  -> 1875

  • progess

  -> improved quality of basic foods

  -> introduced harsh sanctions for food adulteration

  -> local authorities given power to seize unhealthy food
• What were reasons for the replacement public health act, when was it made and what progess and limitation did it have?

  • reasons

  -> working-class men could now vote - views had to be listened to

  • date

  -> 1875

  • progess

  -> local councils forced to clean up towns, provide clean water, drains and sewers

  -> medical officers had to be appointed by local councils

  -> sanitary inspectors also had to be appointed by local councils