Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the parish of Burslem, in the county of Stafford / by William Lee, Superintending Inspector.

  • Lee, William, 1774 or 1775-1853.
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the parish of Burslem, in the county of Stafford / by William Lee, Superintending Inspector. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Gwijdyr House, Wkilehall, November], 1849, My Lords and Gentlemkn, The inquiry at Burslera was opened in the Town-hall there on Wednesday, the 26th day of September last past, and was continued on that and the three following days, until 1 had inspected the whole of the parish,^ and had heard all persons who chose to give information touching the inquiry. Mr. Samuel Wooton proved that the public notices of the inquiry had been duly affixed, after which I explained the mode of conducting the investigation, and asked for the list, required by the 9th Regulation of the Board, of places where epidemic, endemic, and contagious diseases had occurred. This was fur- nished by Joseph Lowndes, Esq., Superintendent Registrar, and contained the following streets and places:—Hot-lane, Greetings- Flash, Twenty-row, Hole-house, Kiln-croft, Commercial-street, Bourne's-bank, Church-street, Back-hadderage, High-street, Fur- long-passage, Willett's-court, Back-sytch, Bag-street, Dale-hall, and Longport. Many complaints were made by the inhabitants present, of defective water-supply, want of drainage, and the existence of nuisances injurious to health, but not removeable under the Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention Act. Some of these complaints will be named hereinafter. Edward Challinor, Esq., solicitor, appeared on behalf of many of the inhabitants of the lordship of Abbey Hulton and the ville of Rushton Grange, both in the parish of Burslem, and objected to the application of the Pubhc Health Act to those places. He stated that he and his clients did not oppose the introduction of the Act into the township of Burslem, or the hamlet of Sneyd; but that Abbey Hulton was an agricultural district, having about 60 or 80 houses, and, with a few exceptions, the whole was the property of Mr. Sneyd. As far as drainage and the supply of water went. Abbey Hulton did not need them ; that sewerage could not be applied; and as to the drainage and sewerage of Rushtou Grange, which contained the village of Cobridge, very little, if anvj was requisite. There were no burial-grounds, the dead were brought to the parish church. Mr. Challinor then went on to state that the two places were healthy, and that there was nothing in the way of swamps or bogs to engender malaria or fever. The Nuisances Removal Act being put into operation would be quite sufficient for all purposes, as far as they were concerned. I thereupon explained such parts of the Public Health Act as answered the objections made; but as evidence was afterwards given in support of the omission of these places from the operation