Report to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State For the Home Department, from the Poor Law Commissioners, on an Inquiry Into the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain; With AppendicesChadwick, Edwin
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Report to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State For the Home Department, from the Poor Law Commissioners, on an Inquiry Into the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain; With Appendices
Chadwick, Edwin
Housing -- Great Britain; Public health -- Great Britain
“Amidst what population have you inquired from house to house?—Amidst
a portion of the population of Manchester, viz. Pendleton, having a
population of about 10,000; I visited every house. In like manner I
went through Branstoun, Engleton, and Hambleton, in Rutlandshire,
being a rural population of upwards of 1,000, and Hull, having a
population of nearly 40,000, exclusive of Sculcoates, Ashton, and
Dukinfield. I also went over for the purpose of checking an inquiry
into the state of the population of those towns, which had been
previously made by another party. In Liverpool I did not go from house
to house; I went into a considerable number of the houses amidst the
poorer districts. In certain districts of Manchester, though not for
the Statistical Society, I did the same. In Birmingham I made many
memoranda, and, as far as my limited time would permit, I visited a
portion of the population. In York, containing a population of 26,000,
I went into every street and court, visiting occasionally, to obtain a
general idea of the condition of the inhabitants. York included 23
parishes of small extent, all which I visited.
“What did you find to be the condition of the tenements in the rural
districts as compared with the towns you examined?—In Branstoun,
Egleton, and Hambleton, being in a rural district, the houses are low,
never exceeding two stories; many of them are thatched, and nearly all
are built of stone. To each a garden is attached, which is generally
of sufficient dimensions to supply the family with vegetables. As
there are no cellars, most of the houses have a small dairy or
store-room attached, which, however, has not been counted in reckoning
the number of rooms in each house. Forty-one per cent. of the
dwellings in Branstoun, and 51 per cent. in Egleton and Hambleton I
found to be “_well furnished_.” In Manchester and Salford 52 per
cent., and in the Dukinfield district 61 per cent., had that
character. The proportion reported to be _comfortable_ in each
district were:—
“In Branstoun 50 per cent.
Egleton and Hambleton 65 per cent.
Manchester, &c. 72 per cent.
Dukinfield 95 per cent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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