19th Century Public Health
Most British towns in the 19th century were deadly places to live and work, but why were they so dangerous to people’s health?
Firstly and most significant was the rapid growth in the population, towns were not doubling in size some increased tenfold in a matter of years. This had a knock-on effect. Housing was poorly constructed, too close and cramped and cheaply made. Secondly of the growing population many more than previously were moving to live in new Industrial towns. For the first time more people lived in towns and cities than in rural areas. Thirdly the infrastructure of towns and cities could not cope – there was little or no sewerage system to carry away waste which festered in and around homes. Fourthly polluted towns were made worse by factories and mills which belched out fumes and toxic waste from processes of manufacture. Lastly the low wages, long hours and dangerous work was the final nail in the working class coffin. Towns did vary as did the experience of different groups and classes.
In the 19th century there were many killer epidemics in large industrial towns and cities that were overcrowded.
Typhoid – spread through dirty water
Typhus – caused by body lice drinking blood.
Cholera – prevalent killer in 19th C passed on via water contaminated by sewage of cholera sufferers
TB – lung disease of people in dirty, damp conditions
Smallpox – poor diet and living conditions caused this deadly scarring disease.
LINKS | 19th C Industrial Revolution: Public Health | Chadwick | Public Health Acts | Snow & Cholera |
LINKS | 20th C: Philanthropists | Wartime | The Liberals | The NHS | Bevan | Beveridge | Anatomy | Surgery |