Dr. Parsons's report to the Local Government Board on the recent prevalence of "fever" in the Bedlingtonshire urban sanitary district, and on the general sanitary condition of that district / [H. Franklin Parsons].

  • Parsons, H. Franklin (Henry Franklin), 1846-1913.
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. Parsons's report to the Local Government Board on the recent prevalence of "fever" in the Bedlingtonshire urban sanitary district, and on the general sanitary condition of that district / [H. Franklin Parsons]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    OFFICIAL COPY. Dr. Parsons’s Report to the Local Government Board on the recent Prevalence of “ Fever ” in the Bedlington- shire Urban Sanitary District, and on the general Sanitary Condition of that District. George Buchanan, Medical Department, January 21st, 1890. The Bedlingtonshire urban district comprises the portion of the Northum- General berland coal field lying between the rivers Wansbeck on the north and Blyth description, on the south. On the east it is bounded by the North Sea, and on the west it adjoins the municipal borough of Morpeth, and the parish of Stannington in the Castle Ward Union. It has an area of 8,436 acres. The surface forms a plain sloping eastward to the sea ; the rivers occupy narrow steep valleys, and are tidal in the lower part of their course. The geological structure consists of a bed of boulder clay overlying the coal measures; the harder sandstones of the older rock here and there protruding through the clay and appearing on the surface. Within the district are the town of Bedlington, and a number of outlying hamlets separated by spaces of open country. The inhabitants, with the exception of those engaged in agriculture and the necessary trades and professions, are exclusively employed in coal mining: they numbered 14,510 in 1881, but their number fluctuates greatly from year to year, according as prosperity or depression prevails in the coal trade: at the present time the population is estimated at 16,000. The town of Bedlington consists of a single broad street running east and Bedlington west, with some shorter streets and yards leading out of it on the north town* side. In some of these the houses are closely crowded together with very scanty back space, and with little facility for the circulation of air around them to carry away the effluvia from the unpaved and filthy yard surfaces, untrapped drain openings, and huge privy middens, which exist too commonly in their neighbourhood. The houses in Bedlington belong to various owners; many of them are old; and subletting or letting in flats is frequent. In the outlying hamlets the houses as a rule belong to the colliery pro- Colliery prietors, the miners living in them rent free. The colliery houses are built in hamlets, long rows, each row having at the back a broad common courtyard, at the farther side of which the privies and ashpits are placed. The colliery houses usually contain, on the ground floor, two good sized rooms—each, say, 16 feet square—one of which is occupied by night as well as by day, and two bedrooms above, of similar area, but of less height. The pitmen’s families, however, are usually large, and it is not uncommon for an unmarried brother LONDON: PRINTED FOR HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE, PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. And to be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from EYRE and SPOTTISWOODE, East Harding Street, Fleet Street, E.C.; and 32, Abingdon Street, Westminster, S.W.; or ADAM and CHARLES BLACK, 6, North Bridge, Edinburgh ; or HODGES, FIGGIS, & Co., 104, Grafton Street, Dublin. 1890. Price Sixpence. No. 50. Lj.{ IvCOaUcH 1 oLBHARY ioeneral Collection* +P S i ytr A • * i 1