[Sanitary inquiry : - England. : Local reports on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of England, in consequence of an inquiry directed to be made by the Poor Law Commissioners. Presented to both Houses of Parliament, by command of Her Majesty, July, 1842].

Great Britain. Poor Law Commissioners.

Date:: [1842]

Credit: [Sanitary inquiry : - England. : Local reports on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of England, in consequence of an inquiry directed to be made by the Poor Law Commissioners. Presented to both Houses of Parliament, by command of Her Majesty, July, 1842]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

29/830 (page 7)

$of Kenwyn, St. Mary, and St. Clement respectively. I here beg to acknowledge the kindness of those gentlemen in assisting my inquiries. To Mr. Spry I am especially indebted for valuable in- formation, and also for his zealous co-operation in the procuring a written statement of a permanent nature of the existing sewerage of Truro, the knowledge of which was, till, within ihese few weeks, almost dependent on the memory and life of one aged man. This Table of sickness is divided into two portions, the first comprising the period from March 25th, 1839, to the end of that year; the other embracing the entire year 1840. The months in which me- dical attendance commeuced, the sexes, and the parishes in which the cases occurred, and likewise their workhouses, are distinguished. It would be rather beside our present object to trace the progress and decline of the several classes of disease through the seasons in each parish. The most remarkable points bearing directly on this inquiry, and on the Table already considered, are the de- cidedly greater number of cases of small-pox in 1839 (when it was epidemic), and offever in 1840, in the parish of St. Mary ; of the former there are 50 cases in St. Mary's, and only six in the two other parishes together ; and of the latter, 50 in St. Mary's, 24 in Kenioyn, and 17 in St. Clement's. Of the cases of small- pox, 38 occurred in September. It may be wrorth remarking, that of the small-pox cases in St. Marys, 30 were males and 20 females, while of the fever cases in the same parish, 14 only were males and 36 females. In 1840 there was a prevalent disorder of the digestive organs, and the parishes fared in this instance nearly alike, leaving the workhouses out of sight. The whole number attended was 72, whilst, in the three quarters of 1839 it was only 14. In 1840 -Kenwyn had 27; St. Mcfi-ys, 22; and St. Clement's, 23. From Sr. Mary's workhouse 16 cases are reported; and from that of St. Clement's, 68. Of those in the town, 23 occurred in September, and of those in the workhouses, 34. The disease was considered by the medical officer, Mr. Paull, to owe its origin in the St. Clement's workhouse to a peculiar en- demic influence. However this may be, it was clearly very pre- valent elsewhere. The cases might probably be classed under the head of fever without violence ; but, judging from my own expe- rience of the season, I have preferred placing them where they stand. The sexes were affected with these disorders in the pro- portion of 27 males and 45 females in the town, and 35 males and 49 females in the workhouses. The excess of female patients in the whole year was remarkable, being 123 females and 74 males in town, and 65 females and 43 males in the houses. In 1839 the numbers were 83 females and 71 males in the former, and 19 females and 7 males \n the latter. We may now proceed to localize more accurately the sickness and mortality which have hitherto been only apportioned to the tWee parishes at large. Tables 4, 5, and 6 exhibit the pauper sickness and mortality from fever, small-pox, and acute diseases of the respiratory and digestive organs in the parts of Truro in the$