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Eradicating Filth: Public Health in Victorian Times Wolverhampton | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | At the Crown Inn, Caribee Island (sometimes spelt Carribee or Carabbee) lived John Bennett the landlord, his wife Susannah, his son John Robert, two servants and six other people - 11 people in total; and at Number 8 Caribee Island lived Michael McHale, an Irishman, with his wife Catherine and thirteen other people - 15 people in total. With so many living in one house it is not surprising that disease spread quickly, often claiming large numbers of lives.
In response to the Chadwick Report, Wolverhampton sent a petition to the General Board of Health signed by a tenth of the rated inhabitants of Wolverhampton as required by the Public Health Act (1848), for an inquiry into the state of Wolverhampton, Bilston, Wednesfield and Willenhall. The result was the Report to the General Board of Health: 1849. Robert Rawlinson, the author, took evidence from various people and also inspected the area himself. Mr Edward Banks, Architect, gave evidence of many streets with only surface drains, and where under drains did exist they were inadequate.
Extract from Rawlinson Report, page 19 (L614) He goes on to give evidence of inhabitants having to have soil tanks to take the contents of their water closets, which in a number of cases were neglected and oozing liquid manure!
Extract from Rawlinson Report, page 19 (L614) Robert Rawlinson also personally inspected Wolverhampton where he found middens, pig-sties and open stagnant ditches. He found further evidence of overcrowding with an average of 9 or more people per household. He came upon privies "so disgustingly filthy" that they were unfit for use, and when he inspected the area of Caribee Island he found "ruinous cottages" with no drains or sewers or even a water supply. A medical gentleman accompanying Mr Rawlinson described the area as a complete "fever nest".
Extract from Rawlinson Report, page 21 (L614) Robert Rawlinson's report was eventually produced in 1849 and was entitled "Report to the General Board of Health on a Preliminary Inquiry into Sewerage, Drainage, and the Supply of Water, and the Sanitary Conditions of the Inhabitants of the Borough of Wolverhampton, and the Townships of Bilston, Willenhall, and Wednesfield." The report made a number of recommendations and outlined that Wolverhampton was an unhealthy place to live, and liable to epidemic and endemic diseases. He reported that excess disease could be traced to closed and confined courts, overcrowded tenements, want of sewers, privy conveniences, and a scarcity of good water. Reports such as this helped to put public health on the local agenda and following a report by the Borough of Wolverhampton General Purposes Committee in September 1850 the roles of various committees were decided, including the Health of Towns Committee and the Streets and Sewerage Committee.
© Copyright. Wolverhampton City Council, 2002
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