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IntroductionThe role of central government in public health was a contentious issue in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as it was often felt that such issues should be left to local government. However, the Privy Council believed that it was necessary to establish Boards of Health in the early 19th century when faced with potential and real epidemics in 1805-06 and 1831-32.
Some investigations into public health were undertaken by the Poor Law Commission set up in 1834 (and its successors) and some of their investigations were published as part of an open debate on public health. These enquiries led to a further, more extensive survey, published as Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population 1842 (1). The Royal Commission on the Health of Towns was appointed in 1843 but it was another five years before the passing of the Public Health Act 1848 which established a temporary General Board of Health. By 1870 there were over 700 authorities working under the public health and local government legislation along with uncoordinated poor law and registration authorities operating within their boundaries. In small towns and rural areas parish vestries, boards of guardians, highways boards and other bodies all had a hand in public health matters. It was not until 1919 that a Ministry of Health was established. For the record:Medical records before 1834 Some medical treatment of the poor was organised and paid for by the parish vestry. Contracts with local doctors can be found in the records of the vestry from at least the 18th century. For these records you should begin your research at the appropriate county record office. These records are also found in local borough record offices and in some cases still kept by the parish church. Check the indexes of the National Register of Archives to see where these records may be held. Medical records after 1834
From 1834 this local approach to the health of the labouring poor was extended through the poor law unions. There are many examples of medical agreements between doctors and poor law guardians in MH 12. A key series of records containing correspondence on local health, under the several Public Health and Local Government Acts passed between 1848 and 1871, can be found in MH 13. These records include
We hold a microfiche copy of series of local reports to the General Board of Health made between 1848 and 1857. The reports cover over 400 towns and villages in England and Wales and provide information on:
Other, less expected topics, such as employment, descriptions of land use and a brief historical introduction - sometimes going back several centuries - can also be found in these records. 
Records in MH 32 will also provide you with a wide variety of material on public health. This series contains the correspondence of the Assistant Poor Law Commissioners and Inspectors. They cover a host of subjects and can include:
Useful links
Footnotes1. E. Chadwick, Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain, 1842 (reprint, Edinburgh U.P., 1965). |
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