Dr. Ballard's report upon an acute specific disease, characterised by a peculiar diarrhoea, epidemic among persons who had partaken of refreshments provided at a sale on the Duke of Portland's estate, at Welbeck, Notts. / [Edward Ballard].

  • Ballard, Edward, 1820-1897.
Date:
1881
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. Ballard's report upon an acute specific disease, characterised by a peculiar diarrhoea, epidemic among persons who had partaken of refreshments provided at a sale on the Duke of Portland's estate, at Welbeck, Notts. / [Edward Ballard]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    THE ROYAL SOCIETY for the Promotion OF HEALTH > LIBRARY Dr. Ballard’s Report upon an Acute Specific Disease, cha¬ racterised by a peculiar Diarrhoea, Epidemic among Per¬ sons who had partaken of Refreshments provided at a? Sale on the Duke of Portland’s Estate, at Welbeck Notts. WLXXCOS&iS LIBRARY General Collectio Geouge Buchanan, Medical Department, February 2, 1881, On Tuesday, June 15, 1880, and ou the succeeding days up to Saturday' 19th, there was an extensive sale of timber and machinery on the estate of the Duke of Portland, at Welbeck, Notts. Partly for business and partly to see a remarkable place, people from all parts of Nottinghamshire and from the neighbouring counties of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire, as well as from Bedfordshire, and probably even more distant localities, flocked to Welbeck. On Thursday I7tli and Friday 18th it is estimated that from 1,500 to 2,000 people were present. The numbers were much smaller on the 15th and 16th. On these four days the sale was held in the timber yard adjoining the new stables and office buildings, but on Saturday the 19th at Norton brickyard, about two miles distant from them. On the 19tli the attendance was comparatively small. For the accommodation of the visitors refreshments were provided on the spot, each day, by the proprietress of an hotel with a large trade at Mansfield, and many persons partook of them. Of those who thus partook, a large number residing over a very wide area, were subsequently taken ill, some slightly and some severely, and two of those attacked died from their illnesses. Some fragments of the food sup¬ plied at the sale were, moreover, taken away and distributed to five poor families (four in Mansfield and one in Worksop) ; members of these fami¬ lies (who had not been at the sale) were similarly attacked with illness,' and two of these persons also died. Coroner’s inquests were held in respect of two of the above deaths. I was instructed by the Board to attend one of these inquests, and generally to investigate the nature of the outbreak of illness and its cause. The inquiry was commenced on July 7, immediately on receipt of my instructions, and was continued up to July 30. The illnesses were generally attributed to the refreshments partaken of at the sale. +P Refreshments provided.—These consisted of the following articles :—Cold boiled hams, cold baked or roasted beef, cold beefsteak pie, mustard and salt, bread and cheese, pickles and Chutnee sauce. The drinkables were bottled and draught beer, spirits, gingerbeer, lemonade, and water. Source and preparation of refreshments.—The hams were what are known as “ American hams,” the mode of preparing which in this country is described in my first Deport on Trade Nuisances (Supplement to Sixth Annual Deport of the Local Government Board, p. 159). Seven hams altogether were sent to Welbeck. Six were purchased of a tradesman in Mansfield, and cooked in the hotel kitchen ; but one was purchased ready cooked from a coffee tavern in Mansfield. As respects this seventh ham, I learn that it was cured and dried in America, and had been supplied to the coffee tavern by a different tradesman. The six purchased from the first-mentioned tradesman had been made on his premises* out of six legs of salted American pork, forming part of a consignment of five boxes (each containing about 5 cwt.) which lie had received from a merchant in Hull about April 24. The six hams did not all come out of the same box of pork. When the order for six hams was given on June 11, only three could be supplied, which had been <e washed” about 10 days previously; and then the tradesman opened a fresh * The process, as conducted here, consisted in washing ” the pork in cold water to remove the excess of salt, and then hanging up in a chamber, Avhere a good fire is kept, for the purpose of drying. The drying occupies generally about three days. Q 3714. Wt. 12762. A [~ HISTORICAL