Report to the General Board of Health on a memorial from the ratepayers against application of the Public Health Act to Northallerton / by William Ranger, Superintending Inspector.

  • Ranger, William, 1800-1863.
Date:
1851
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report to the General Board of Health on a memorial from the ratepayers against application of the Public Health Act to Northallerton / by William Ranger, Superintending Inspector. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    e a iii •rvi ! jtVect those improvements for which they were originally framed, they have, in some degree at least, served as substitutes for he more practical and stringent enactments of the Public Health A-ct. Northallerton, however, is wholly destitute of any Local Improvement Act, and, save the Poor Law Guardians, there is no public body of any kind to attend to the condition of the streets ‘“'1 or dwelling houses, or to take any steps for the improvement of '3etlie general sanitary condition of the town. This is, in my opinion, a very sound reason why the Public Health Act should ^ be put in force in the district, and a Local Board elected to ad- -'iniinister it. I refrain from quoting from the Report isolated cases of sick- Xo! ness, over-crowded dwellings, or offensive and unhealthy localities ; but the following e.xtracts, relative to the defective privy and sewer accommodation, will, as I have already said, prove, that to remedy such deficiencies more powerful means must be found than those contained in the Nuisance Removal Act;— Mr. Hodgson, surgeon, stated— “ I have resided in the town 40 years. The privy and cesspool system are exceedingly had, and the situation of the privies prejudicial to health, as well as tending to preclude the people from acting upon principles of common decency. These privies, with open soil-pits, are in some cases directly in front of the houses, and in others they are placed under the sleeping-rooms. A privy well placed forms the excep- tion, rather than the rule.^^ Mr. surgeon and medical officer to the Union, stated,— “ The privy system is highly offensive, fluid excrement flows upon the surface, and soaks into the ground, as well as into the walls in several cases. In one instance the occupiers of a house are even without a privy, and the situations of those that do exist are very objectionable. “ It is the practice generally with the poorer class to keep pigs near their dwellings, and they continue to do so, notwithstanding typhus of a malignant type has prevailed amongst them, particularly in Atkinson’s Yard, Smith’s Yard, New Row, Pearson’s Yard, Body’s Yard, Plunter’s Yard, and Broad’s Yard. Every effort has been made to remedy the existing state of things, but they have been unsuccessful.” With respect to the state of the drains and sewers, the Rev. T. StewaH, M.A., Vicar of Northallerton, forwarded me the fol- lowing written communication, at the time the enquiry was held: “ Being unable to attend and give evidence with regard to the matters of your enquiry, I ani anxious to draw your attention to two points amongst the rest, if it is permitted me to do so in writing. “ 1st. There is the open drain, which runs from (he east side of the town to the west, receiving into itself the sewers of many public and ])riva(e buildings in its passage, and then winding sluggishly through the fields for a considerable distance, till it meets a larger stream and IS absorbed into it. This was originally the bed of a small stream Iroin the hills on one side of the town, and still a little water trickles 111 ii 0*