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 Edmonton / by William Ranger, Superintending Inspector.

  • Ranger, William, 1800-1863.
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 Edmonton / by William Ranger, Superintending Inspector. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    future prevention of the least inundation of the adjacent lands, and for securincT proper outfalls for the drainage of the uplands and viilac^es, a* well as to the removal of obstacles to their proper discharge. -n t i • i u That'this has not liitlierio been provided for, will,_l think, be evident upon a review of the powers that have from time to time been delegated to the Trustees by Parliament, and passed in and subsequent to the 13th of Elizabeth, c. 18, for .bringing the Lea to the north side of the city of London. In the 3rd Henry VL, c. 5, 1425, the Commissioners were authorized to retain persons to reform the river running from Ware to the Thames; again, 9th Henry VI., c. 9, 1431, to scour and amend the River Lea in the counties of Essex, Hert- ford, and Middlesex. Under this last Act, a commission was granted in 1440 to Sir Ralph Cromwel, Knt., and others, to •remove all the shelves in the river, and in 1476, 16th Edward IV., Sir Thos. Wisewyke, Knt., and nine others, were directed to view and order the repair of all the banks, &c., upon the Lea. (Dugd. Fens, fol. 81.) The next legislative enactment affecting this river took place in the 12th of Geo. II., when an Act was obtained For ascer- taining, preserving, and improving the Navigation of the River Lea from the town of Hertford to the town of Ware, and for pre- serving and improving the said River from the said town of Ware to the°New Cut or River made by the Mayor, Commonalty, and Citizens of London, and for enabling the Governor and Company of the New River the better to supply the Cities of London and Westminster and the Liberties and Suburbs thereof with good and wholesome Water. By this statute the navigation was defined, and 60 trustees were appointed by name, exclusive of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Recorder of London, the members for Middlesex and for the city of Westminster, the members for Essex and the borough of Colchester, those for the county of Hertford and the borough of Heriford, and the Mayor of Hert- ford, all for the time beins. And although this Act determined various disputes which had long existed, and defined the draught or quantity of water to be supplied out of the Lea for the use of the New River, it was soon found to be insufficient to answer the purposes for which it was intended ; and amongst other matters, that of a divided jurisdiction (the government of the New Cut, vested in Ihe lord mayor, commonalty, and citizens of London, by the Act of Elizabeth, still remained in them exclusively), upon one and the same navigation, was productive of great inconve- nience. In 1766 the trustees consulted Messrs. Smeaton and Yeomans, and in the following year, 7th of Geo. III., another Act was obtained, For improving the Navigation of the River I^ea from the town of Hertford to the River Thames, and extend- ing the said Navigation to the Flood-gates belonging to the Town Mill in the said town of Hertford. By this enactment upwards