AGAR TOWN, ST. PANCRAS. 
 
 RETURN to an Order of the Honourable The House of Commons, 
 
 UNI 
 
 dated 2 June 1851; -for, 
 
 SEP 18.1916 
 
 COPY “ OF A 
 
 REPORT 
 
 LATELY MADE TO THE BOARD OF HEALTH, 
 
 IN REFERENCE TO THE 
 
 SANITARY CONDITION 
 
 OF 
 
 AGAR TOWN, ST. PANCRA S " 
 
 (Sir Benjamin Hall.) 
 
 Ordered , by The House of Commons, to be Printed , 
 13 June 1851. 
 
 388, 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 State of the Metropolis in 1848-49 - - • - - 3 
 
 Improvements - -- -- -- -- 4 
 
 Inspection of Agar Town, St. Pancras ----- 6 
 
 Inspection of Church-lane, St. Giles’s ----- 9 
 
 Inspection of Jacob’s Island, Bermondsey - - - 10 
 
 Inspection of “ The Potteries,” Kensington - - - - 11 
 
 Inspection of Jennings’ Buildings, Kensington - - 12 
 
 Inspection of Tindal’s Buildings, Gray’s-inn Lane - -14 
 
 Occurrence of Ague in St. Giles’s - - - - - -16 
 
 Examination of the Model Lodging Houses of London - - 17 
 
 Enumeration of these Establishments - - - - - 18 
 
 Description of Establishments - - - - - -19 
 
 Evidence of Inmates - -- -- -- -25 
 
 State of Health in the Model Lodging Houses 27 
 
 Moral Results.33 
 
 General Remarks - -- -----35 
 
 Instances of Neglect - - - - - - - - 36 
 
 Plans for Amelioration of Sanitary Evils - - - - 38 
 
 Neglect of these Plans --------40 
 
 Benefit of Sanitary Improvements - - - - - 41 
 
 Appendix containing Evidence ------ 44 
 
'in^rn FM.CvaCj, 
 
 C\i 
 
 &7(ov 
 
 PUBLIC HEALTH ACT 
 
 (II & 12 Viet. cap. 63.) 
 
 REPORT on the Present State of certain Parts of the 
 Metropolis, and on the Model Lodging Houses of 
 London ; by R . D. Grainger , Esq. 
 
 nr t j i i Highgate, 31 May 1851. 
 
 My Lords and Gentlemen, 
 
 In consequence of the General Board of Health having 
 received communications respecting the occurrence, in a 
 crowded and neglected part of the metropolis, Church-lane, 
 ht. Giles s, of an unusual form of disease, namely, intermittent 
 fever or ague (See Appendix for evidence of Dr. Pidduck 
 and Mr. Lloyd), I was requested to inspect that district, and 
 also certain other localities, with the view of ascertaining what 
 was their present sanitary condition, and whether any and 
 what improvements had been effected by the local authorities 
 since the attack of cholera. It was also the request of the 
 General Board that I should visit all the model lodging-houses 
 in order to ascertain the comparative health of the inmates 
 in their present as contrasted with their former habitations 
 the charge for rent, and other similar circumstances. 
 
 State of the Metropolis in J 848-49.—Before entering on 
 the more immediate matter of this Report, I beg to remind 
 the General Board what was the actual condition of the more 
 populous districts of London, as disclosed in the various 
 Keports of the Medical Inspectors employed during; the 
 epidemic cholera of 1848-49. The uniform evidence of 
 every medical man engaged during that period, whether as 
 an inspector, visitor, or poor-law surgeon, showed that, in 
 all parts of the metropolis, the dwellings of the industrious 
 classes were in a most deplorable condition; that they were 
 filthy, unwholesome, and neglected ; that they were deficient 
 in all the arrangements demanded by decency, comfort, and 
 health; that there were in many localities houses utterly 
 unfit for human habitation ; that the water supply was mise¬ 
 rable, both as to quantity and quality, the privies foul and 
 
 A 2 overflowing, 
 
 S3 * 
 
 f 
 
 P 3993^ 
 
4 
 
 Repo? t on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 overflowing, and the scavenging grossly neglected ; and that, 
 as the direct consequence of all this, there was extreme 
 misery, sickness, and mortality. 
 
 The Report of the General Board of Health on the epidemic 
 cholera abounds in proofs that this is a faithful picture of the 
 poorer parts of London ; and to that document I would refer 
 for the detailed illustration of the position here advanced. 
 
 The localities to which I have more particularly directed 
 my attention are the following: 
 
 1. Agar-town, St. Pancras. 
 
 2. The district of St. Giles’s, adjoining what was, before 
 
 the erection of New Oxford-street, the Rookery, 
 consisting of Church-lane, &c. 
 
 3. Jacob’s Island, Bermondsey. 
 
 4. The Potteries, Kensington. 
 
 5. Jennings’-buildings, Kensington. 
 
 I have likewise examined the condition of Tindal’s-build- 
 ings and Pheasant-court, Gray's-Inn lane, and various other 
 localities. The evidence I have obtained is appended to the 
 present Report. 
 
 Improvements. —From the information I have received, it 
 appears that in some of the localities improvements, more or 
 less extensive, have been effected. 
 
 Church-lane , St . Giles's. —Mr. Robinson, clerk to the 
 Board, states that the directors of the poor have made fre¬ 
 quent representations to the Commissioners of Sewers, urging 
 the necessity of improving the drainage of Church-lane. 
 
 The following is an extract from the Report of the Sanitary 
 Committee, appointed 4th September 1849 : 
 
 “ Directors’ Minutes. 
 
 « 
 
 “18 September 1849. 
 
 Resolved , 
 
 “ That the powers of this Board, and of the Paving 
 Board, though diligently put in force for the removal 
 of nuisances, are inadequate to ameliorate to any con¬ 
 siderable extent the unwholesome condition of Church- 
 lane. 
 
 “ That the prevailing pestilence has there been frequent 
 and virulent and fatal in more than an ordinary de¬ 
 gree, so that in 23 out of 28 houses there 61 persons 
 have been attacked, the disease proving fatal in 45 
 cases. 
 
 “ That 
 
Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis . 5 
 
 “ That the obvious unwholesomeness of these dwelling 
 places is mainly to be attributed to want of drains 
 and sewerage. 
 
 “ That the circumstances of the case be communicated 
 to the Commissioners of Sewers, and that they be 
 respectfully requested to exert what powers they may 
 have for providing or enforcing the providing of the 
 requisite drains and sewers. 
 
 “ This communication was acknowledged by E. H. Wool- 
 rych, esq., the secretary to the Commissioners, stating the 
 proceedings that had then already been taken by the Court 
 of Commissioners, and intimating that their solicitor was 
 about to serve the requisite notices with a view to the effect¬ 
 ing of sanitary improvements in the locality in question. The 
 Committee therefore trust that the early removal of some of 
 the evils pointed out may confidently be relied upon.” 
 
 Mr. Robinson states that “ the Commissioners have made 
 sewers, and are providing a supply of water and pipes, so 
 that each house shall be provided with a separate water- 
 closet.” On visiting the district I found that a tank had 
 been erected at the top of Church-lane by the Commissioners 
 of Sewers ; and the agent of one of the landlords stated they 
 had been required to provide a water-closet for each house, 
 which was to be supplied from the tank alluded to. When 
 this improvement shall have been completed, it will be a 
 vast benefit to this densely populated neighbourhood. At 
 present there are many houses without privies ; and the con¬ 
 sequence is, that in some of the courts excrement lies about 
 on the surface, and some of the few privies that are provided 
 are in a most foul condition, polluting the atmosphere 
 around. 
 
 It also appears from Mr. Robinson’s statement, that several 
 owners of houses in Church-lane, and parts adjoining, have 
 been summoned for neglecting to keep their houses in a 
 proper state. Mr. Lloyd, the resident surgeon of the Blooms¬ 
 bury Dispensary, states that there has been some improve¬ 
 ment as to internal cleansing by the landlords; but he adds, 
 “ it is totally insufficient.” The street cleansing is also 
 better performed. Some houses were shown to me, in 
 which cleansing had been done by the landlord. An agent 
 of one of the landlords informed me that water is about to 
 be laid on upon the plan of constant supply. 
 
 Jacob's Island .—An improvement is contemplated in this 
 notorious place which, when effected, will certainly consti- 
 
 a 3 tute 
 
6 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 tute one of the most important ameliorations which it would 
 be possible to accomplish in any individual district of the 
 metropolis. From the statement, for which I am indebted 
 to Mr. Martin, the medical officer of the locality, it appears 
 that the Commissioners of Sewers are negotiating with the 
 owner of the mill stream for its purchase, with the view of 
 filling it up. Within the last two years, the owners of several 
 houses have supplied water to their tenants; and I w T as in¬ 
 formed at the time of my visit, that pipes w T ere being laid 
 down in Gutteridge-place. These improvements Mr. Martin 
 attributes to the public inquiries instituted of late years, and 
 which brought before the public the enormous evils existing 
 in this locality. 
 
 Potteries .—Some improvements are in progress in this 
 hitherto much neglected part of Kensington. The Commis¬ 
 sioners of Sewers have lately made sewers ; but, according 
 to Mr. Frost, the medical officer of the district, the Commis¬ 
 sioners will not allow the houses to be drained into the 
 sewers, because no water is laid on, so that at present, owing 
 to the w r ant of control over the water supply, the provision 
 of sewers has led to no benefit. It further appears, that no 
 gully-holes have been constructed, owing to the bad state of 
 the roads, another illustration of the evils inflicted on the com¬ 
 munity by the existence of conflicting authorities. 
 
 A few houses have been supplied with water; and I was 
 informed by one of the tenants, that the owner of the houses 
 on one side of Heathfield-street was repairing and improving 
 them, and also was about to provide a supply of water. Gas 
 has likewise been laid on. 
 
 In Agar-town, St. Pancras, the water supply has been im¬ 
 proved, most of the houses having now as much as is wanted. 
 There are some few houses altogether unprovided. Para¬ 
 dise-court, St. Pancras-road, has also been supplied with 
 water, owing to the representations of Mr. Hull, late In¬ 
 spector of Nuisances. 
 
 I have, in the preceding lines, enumerated all the improve¬ 
 ments of any importance which have been communicated to 
 me in the course of the present inquiry. I now proceed to 
 describe the results of my own inspection of the localities in 
 question. 
 
 Agar Town, St. Pancras. —This district has the aspect 
 of one of the most neglected parts of the metropolis; from 
 the appearance of the roads, it might indeed be supposed 
 that one was suddenly transported to the poorest locality of 
 
 some 
 
Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. 7 
 
 some decayed country town. In many places the roads are 
 in deep ruts, filled in the winter with mud and filth; in 
 various directions are large heaps of dry mud, which have 
 evidently been long accumulated ; here and there were de¬ 
 posits of manure, either lying by the side of the road, or 
 within the small enclosures belonging to the cottages, all 
 adding to the contamination of the atmosphere and general 
 discomfort. During the winter months, and after continued 
 wet weather, these roads must be in a most deplorable state 
 of filth, constituting a serious nuisance to the inhabitants; 
 one respectable woman whom I questioned, said, “ Oh ! it is 
 nothing now, but in the winter it is awful;” In Winches¬ 
 ter-terrace, there is a serious nuisance demanding imme¬ 
 diate rectification ; it consists of a long, open, stagnant ditch, 
 lying by the side of the wall which bounds the station of the 
 Great Northern Railway. Into this ditch the drains of the 
 opposite houses empty themselves, and as these carry off the 
 overflow from the cesspools, at least in those instances into 
 which I inquired, the most offensive effluvia are given off. 
 The inhabitants, many of whom are of a superior class, made 
 great complaints of the state of this ditch, and the drainage 
 connected with it. One young woman said that at times 
 “ the smell was dreadful.” Another person, who had resided 
 there five years, says, “ the drain goes under the house, and 
 communicates with the cesspool; it goes into the open ditch ; 
 they are greatly annoyed by it; the smell is much worse 
 since the railway wall was built; on Sunday last the smell 
 was so bad all day that they could scarcely bear it; it was 
 enough to knock them down; some of the other houses are 
 worse than her own ; they formerly lived in one, and were 
 obliged to leave owing to the smell; her landlord is anxious 
 to do all he can.” 
 
 The wall of the Railway Company was built last summer; 
 and yet nothing has hitherto been done to relieve the inhabi¬ 
 tants from the evils to which they are exposed, not only in 
 consequence of the poisonous effluvia of this huge cesspool 
 driving into the houses whenever the windows and doors are 
 opened, but from the constant ingress of the foul air into the 
 interior of the dwellings by the drains. One fact struck me 
 as illustrative of the insurmountable obstacles which the 
 poor when left, as in this instance, to their own efforts, en¬ 
 counter in their attempt to relieve themselves from these 
 and similar evils: a decent woman, with several children, 
 being anxious to obviate the overpowering stench, informed 
 me she was in the habit of allowing as much water as pos- 
 
 a 4 sible 
 
8 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 sible to run into the house drain; now this drain communi¬ 
 cated with the privy, and the direct consequence of the 
 better supply of water lately given to this neighbourhood, 
 was, by thus diluting the soil and carrying it into the open 
 ditch, to aggravate the mischief to this poor woman and to all 
 her neighbours. It is obvious that so long as this open ditch 
 or cesspool remains, so long will the inhabitants suffer in 
 their health and comfort. 
 
 Within a recent period another serious nuisance has been 
 added in the shape of a lay-stall or dust-yard, which has 
 been opened in Cambridge-place, within 30 or 40 yards of 
 the fine new Industrial School belonging to the workhouse. 
 On my first visit, 1 observed in this yard the usual collection 
 of dust, vegetable refuse, pigs, &c.; and, after the interval 
 of a month, the various processes of unloading, sorting, and 
 sifting the refuse were actively going on. The time and the 
 place of establishing this decided nuisance are worthy of a 
 passing notice. During the prevalence of cholera several in¬ 
 stances occurred both in London and the provincial towns, 
 showing that lay-stalls are dangerous to the public health 
 during the presence of a great epidemic, as they are known 
 to medical men to increase in ordinary times the amount of 
 fever and other sickness ; so decided was the conviction of 
 this truth, that in some localities attempts were made by the 
 local authorities to obtain by legal means the suppression of 
 such establishments ; and in the case of the Paddington lay- 
 stalls, a verdict was obtained by the guardians against the 
 owners. If such depots of town refuse be generally noxious 
 in inhabited neighbourhoods, they become much more so 
 when located in the vicinage of large public establishments. 
 And yet two years after the occurrence of cholera, and 
 after the Legislature have placed in the hands of the 
 guardians ample powers for the suppression of such great 
 nuisances, as if to demonstrate the uselessness of such machi¬ 
 nery, a lay-stall is opened (l was informed within the last 
 two months) beneath the very walls of a large metropolitan 
 workhouse, and within a stone’s throw of a new training and 
 industrial school with probably 200 children. 
 
 The existing state of things in Agar Town is the more 
 remarkable, because by the exertions of an active inspector 
 of nuisances, appointed in 1849, much good was effected. 
 Mr. Holl, registrar of births and deaths, and who held the 
 office of inspector of nuisances for a few months, says that by 
 his exertions a great improvement was effected ; that he re¬ 
 ceived many applications from persons complaining of nui¬ 
 sances ; 
 
9 
 
 Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis . 
 
 sances ; that in many instances pigs were removed, the magis¬ 
 trates always granting the necessary order ; and that he still 
 continues to receive, more than 12 months after his services 
 were discontinued, applications and complaints of nuisances, 
 which he is unable to remove. Mr. Holl states, that the bad 
 parts of the district, Agar Town, Paradise-court, &c., are in 
 as bad a state as ever ; and that the drainage and filth remain 
 as formerly: the improvement as to the supply of water to 
 Paradise-court has already been noticed. 
 
 Church-lane, &c., St. Giles’s. —Accompanied by Mr. 
 Lloyd, house-surgeon of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, I visited 
 on April 24 last, George-street, New-street, Church-lane, 
 Carrier-street, and the various courts and alleys connected 
 with them. We entered a large number of houses and ques¬ 
 tioned numerous persons as to the actual condition of their 
 dwellings, and of the district generally. The result of these 
 inquiries, and of my own observations, induce me to state, 
 that at the time of my visit, there was scarcely any apprecia¬ 
 ble improvement in the sanitary state of the locality. 
 
 Scavenging .—The scavenging is performed in a most in¬ 
 sufficient manner. In a small back yard in New-street 
 I observed a large dust-bin or midden quite full of dust, 
 vegetable refuse, &c. : it is used by several houses, and is not 
 emptied more frequently than once in three or four weeks. 
 At the top of a narrow alley in Church-lane I saw an old 
 hole full of excrement, and sickening to the smell. In this 
 alley are four small dark huts, or single rooms, black with 
 filth, crowded with children and adults. In one of these 
 hovels, in which I could not stand upright, was a poor woman 
 cowering over a few embers in the cold stage of ague, a girl 
 with fever, and, standing at the door, a man who was attacked 
 with typhus last January, had been three months ill in the 
 workhouse, and although discharged, was still ill and ailing, 
 and his eye-sight so much affected from the fever that he 
 cannot go up any scaffolding, and consequently is unable to 
 get work. 
 
 The scavenger cleanses Church-lane, &c. daily. The peo¬ 
 ple state he does not go into the alleys and courts, and will 
 only remove the dust, &c., when it is placed in the street. 
 They have complained that “ the dust and filth are un¬ 
 bearable,” but the scavenger says in reply, “ it is no business 
 of his to go into the courts/’ In Church-street I found a 
 scavenger at work, who stated that “ he goes into all the 
 courts in Church-lane where there is a thoroughfare-and 
 
 where 
 
10 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 where there is room for a wheel-barrow ; that there are some 
 courts where he does go daily, and even three or four times 
 a day ; that he makes no demand for this ; that he does not 
 go into the passages, having no orders to do so ; to do this 
 would require another man ; takes out about three cart-loads 
 daily from the lane ; is employed by the parish.” This man 
 added there were three houses in Carrier-street which had 
 been lately done up, but that no dust-bins had been provided. 
 As to the streets, the paving is in some of them in a bad 
 state, there being holes and inequalities filled with filthy 
 water, thus adding to the general discomfort. 
 
 Many of the houses in the district are at present un¬ 
 provided with privies ; in other instances the supply is totally 
 inadequate to the large number of persons. 
 
 Water Supply .—The supply of water is most defective ; 
 many of the houses have no supply at all; others obtain 
 water from pumps, and some from pipes. Those who have 
 no supply either get water from the neighbouring pumps, 
 which thus, it is affirmed, are rendered unequal to supply 
 those who have a right to use them (as in the case of New- 
 street) ; or they have to buy it, or obtain it from public- 
 houses, the landlords of which require beer or spirits to be 
 purchased in return. 
 
 Interior of the Dwellings.—- Having entered many of the 
 houses, I can fully confirm the statement of Mr. Lloyd, the 
 surgeon, that although some lime-washing has been done, 
 “ it is totally insufficientsome of the rooms and staircases 
 were black, and appeared as if they had not been properly 
 cleansed for years. The ventilation is also most defective, 
 and the rooms enormously crowded, so that the atmosphere 
 within them is most offensive. In one room of a house in 
 George-street, where two children had lately had typhus, 10 
 people sleep at night; the allowance for each being according 
 to measurement, 120 cubic feet for each; a space utterly 
 incompatible with health. I saw other rooms much more 
 crowded, containing 18 or 20 people. 
 
 In this district there has been of late years a large amount 
 of ague, to which l shall subsequently refer. 
 
 Jacob’s Island. — The existing condition of this miserable 
 district is most deplorable, and, with the exception of some 
 of the houses having been supplied with water, all remains 
 in the state described in the Report of the Board of Health 
 on Cholera. 
 
 On 
 
Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. 11 
 
 On the 1st day of my visit (April 28, 1851), the water in 
 the mill-stream was low, so that the muddy banks were 
 uncovered to a considerable extent. Many privies overhang 
 the stream, and I saw a large quantity of excrement lying on 
 the mud ; the water was filthy and green, and poisonous gas 
 was bubbling up on the surface. I found on this and a sub¬ 
 sequent visit, that many of the poor are still compelled to use 
 and even drink this horribly polluted water; others obtain a 
 supply from the public-houses, or from the charitable supply 
 provided through the instrumentality of Mr. Walshe, who 
 acted as medical inspector during the cholera. Some of the 
 poor people stated that on complaining to their landlord of 
 the want of a proper supply, they were told that the water of 
 the ditch was good enough for them. 
 
 Some of the houses are in a filthy condition, and require 
 thorough lime-washing and cleansing. 
 
 The state of health of the locality is unsatisfactory. Mr. 
 Martin, the medical officer of the district, had a decided case 
 of Asiatic cholera about a fortnight before my inspection ; 
 and at the same time there were eight or nine cases of 
 diarrhoea. Five deaths from scarlet fever had also taken place 
 in two houses in Williams-square within the few preceding 
 weeks. It will also afford some idea of the fearful state of 
 this place to state, that Mr. Martin pointed out to me one 
 spot from which, in 1849, he could see nine houses, in each of 
 which there was a cholera corpse. It is certain that until 
 the tidal ditch, with all its concomitant evils, be removed, 
 and a sufficient supply of good water be provided, the health 
 of the inhabitants will suffer severely. 
 
 “The Potteries,” Kensington. — With the exception of 
 the somewhat improved water supply, I found on visiting the 
 Potteries, that the sanitary condition is as defective as in 
 1849. My examination fully corroborates the statement of 
 Mr. Frost, the medical officer of the district, who says “ the 
 pigs remain, but in diminished number; ‘ the Ocean ’ 
 remains in the same state as formerly ; and the process of fat 
 boiling is continued as usual: on the whole, the sanitary 
 state of the Potteries is quite as bad, if not worse, than it was 
 before the cholera; indeed, the whole parish remains unim¬ 
 proved.I found the roads in a very bad condition, full of 
 deep holes and ruts, with so much mud as to render some 
 parts scarcely passable. 
 
 Standing by the side of the National School, I found the 
 stench arising from “ the Ocean ” most oppressive ; the water 
 
 is 
 
1 2 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 is saturated with putrid organic matter, proceeding partly 
 from the numerous pig-styes which empty their contents into 
 the pond, and partly from the many dead animals which are 
 thrown into it. I counted the bodies of 12 pigs, and the 
 schoolmaster informed me he had seen 20 dead animals at 
 one time in “ the Ocean.” This person stated, that owing 
 to the foul effluvia they could not open the school-room 
 windows which face the water, when the wind blew from that 
 direction. 
 
 Water Supply .—The water supply is still most defective ; 
 many of the houses having none, so that the inhabitants are 
 compelled to buy it of a person who has a pump. One poor 
 woman stated that she paid Is. 8 d. a quarter, and that it 
 was a great drag to carry it home. Another woman said, 
 that they had the w r ater delivered to them, and that having 
 also a pony they paid as much as Is. a week. 
 
 Jennings’-buildings, Kensington. —I beg to call the 
 notice of the General Board to the evidence of Mr. Woodcock, 
 the unpaid district visitor of Jennings’-buildings, appended to 
 the present Report, as it places in a strong but not exagge¬ 
 rated point of view the miserable and neglected condition of 
 this place. Accompanied by Mr. Woodcock, I carefully 
 inspected the district on May 8th. I found the few public 
 dust-bins which are provided overfull, and according to the 
 statement of several of the poor people they had not been 
 emptied for nearly three weeks. In one place I saw a large 
 heap of refuse vegetable matter lying in the roadway opposite 
 the houses ; and on a subsequent visit (May 12th) (when 
 I was accompanied by Mr. Baillie Cochrane, m.p., and two 
 other gentlemen), the heap still remained. 
 
 State of the Houses .—According to Mr. Woodcock many 
 of the houses are in a very filthy state, and want lime-wash¬ 
 ing and cleansing ; and this I found to be the state of several 
 that I entered. The total population of the buildings, accord¬ 
 ing to Mr. Gorham, the registrar, was, at the taking of the 
 present census, 848 ; the number of houses 68, giving an 
 average of 12^ to each house. Some of the houses were 
 found to be much crowded: thus in one house with four 
 rooms there were 23 persons, in another 23 persons, of whom 
 12 were in one room. As the rooms are sub-let and occu¬ 
 pied by a succession of lodgers, there is no doubt that occa¬ 
 sionally, and especially in the winter, the overcrowding much 
 exceeds what is here recorded. 
 
 Water 
 
13 
 
 Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. 
 
 Water Supply .—The supply of water is most defective ; 
 many of the houses are unprovided, the inhabitants either 
 having recourse to public pumps, the water of which is hard, 
 and sometimes fails, or begging a supply from their neigh¬ 
 bours. The women make great complaints, and one, having 
 several children, estimated her loss, owing to the hardness of 
 the water, and the consequent expenditure for soap and soda, 
 at 6 d. weekly, or 1 /. 6 s. per annum. 
 
 State of the Privies .—It is impossible, by any description, 
 to convey an idea of the horrible condition of the few privies 
 that are provided for this large population. Many of the 
 houses are altogether unprovided ; one young married woman 
 said there was no privy for the house where she lived, and 
 consequently she was obliged to use the common convenience 
 described below, adding that “ it was a shameful thing.” 
 Another person said he lived in Cooper’s gardens; that there 
 was a privy for the back rooms, but that it was locked up, 
 and he had a front room. Some time since it appears a 
 public privy was provided ; but owing to gross neglect, it is 
 in a most disgraceful state, the whole area being, at the time 
 of my visit, covered deeply with excrement, and emitting so 
 foul a stench as nearly to induce vomiting. To this place 
 there is no outer door, and in this horrible state men, women 
 and children are compelled to resort to it in common. Mr. 
 Woodcock may well say this place “ is a disgrace to any 
 civilized community.” In another part was a second privy, 
 open, and in a most foul condition ; in other courts and roads 
 excrement was lying about, producing altogether a most 
 loathsome appearance, and poisoning the atmosphere with 
 that peculiar stench which, when permanently present, is 
 always accompanied with a large amount of disease and mor¬ 
 tality. 
 
 On the whole, the state of these buildings is as bad as it 
 was in 1849, a conclusion confirmed by Mr. Guazzaroni, the 
 medical officer of the district. The inspector of nuisances 
 was dismissed a year ago, and yet, whilst he was in office, 
 the condition of the place was, according to the experience 
 both of the surgeon and of Mr. Woodcock, the district visitor, 
 decidedly improved. The latter, in a letter, says, “ The 
 deaths from cholera in the buildings were about 30 during 
 the short time it was there ; it was wonderful, after medical 
 skill had exhausted itself, to see how soon the disease abated 
 when the houses were limewashed, the sewers and privies 
 cleaned, and the locality washed by the parish engine.” 
 
 Mr. 
 
*4 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 Mr. Woodcock states that he has made representations to the 
 local authorities, advising that the houses should be lime- 
 washed, and other necessary improvements effected, but 
 without success : he adds, “ What is wanted is constant super¬ 
 vision ; if a complaint is made, the place is cleansed for a 
 time, and then again neglected.” 
 
 This district affords a very instructive example of the 
 benefit attending suitable sanitary arrangements. In the 
 immediate vicinity of Jennings’-buildings, indeed, as to posi¬ 
 tion forming a part of them, is a row of houses having a good 
 supply of water, and provided with all proper conveniences; 
 they are inhabited by English workmen, laundresses, &c. 
 During the cholera not one of these people died, nor was 
 there any serious case ; and the registrar states there is no 
 comparison as to the amount of mortality, few persons having- 
 died since the houses were erected. 
 
 Tindal’s-buildings and Pheasant-court, Gray’s-inn- 
 lane. —Tindal’s-buildings, Pheasant-court, and the courts 
 adjoining, were notorious, during the cholera, for their filthy 
 state, and for the ravages of the epidemic. The records of 
 the London Fever Hospital show that these localities still 
 remain the nests of pestilence, whilst my inspection demon¬ 
 strates that all the causes indicated by the medical officers in 
 1849 as giving intensity to cholera, remain to develop, if 
 not to originate, the attacks of typhus. From the register 
 of admissions into the London Fever Hospital, it appears that 
 from February 18th to May 31st, no less than 67 cases of 
 fever have been removed into the hospital from the courts 
 in Gray’s-Inn-lane alone; eleven being from one house in 
 Pheasant-court, and the applications for admission continue 
 to occur daily. 
 
 On visiting Tindal’s-buildings, two poor but respectable 
 women assured me, that within two months as many as 20 
 cases of fever had occurred in the house next to where they 
 lived, and that for one fortnight patients were being removed 
 daily to the workhouse and Fever Hospital. Almost in¬ 
 credible as this statement may seem, it does not surpass what 
 happened in 1849, when in one house in Tindal’s-buildings, 
 according to the evidence of the medical officer, not fewer 
 than 15 or 20 cases of cholera occurred. On visiting this 
 court I found that to a superficial observer the place might 
 seem to have been improved ; the court was flagged, and, as 
 high as the first floor, the outside walls had, at least in the 
 upper half of the buildings, been whitewashed ; but in the 
 interior of the houses all was foul and filthy. The following 
 
 description 
 
Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. 15 
 
 description may be taken as a specimen, though it is by no 
 means one of the worst; indeed this dwelling is one of a some¬ 
 what better class, occupied by tenants who comparatively may 
 he called permanent, and who are somewhat limited as to num¬ 
 bers. The interior generally is dirty, and requires efficient 
 limewashing; the privy, as is usual in these Buildings, is 
 placed in the cellar; on descending the stairs afoul privy 
 stench was perceived, and which must pervade the house; 
 the floor of the cellar, being beneath the level of the main 
 sewer, cannot be drained, and, to rectify this, the occupier 
 has dug a hole, close to the water-butt, to receive the filthy 
 liquid, and which he can only get rid of by baling. In one 
 corner of the cellar laid a heap of dust, cabbage-leaves, and 
 other refuse, at least half a cart-load in amount, and which, 
 owing to the neglect of the dustmen, had been accumulating 
 since Christmas. From the privy a short drain leads directly 
 into the main sewer, and, as there is no trap or other con¬ 
 trivance, the foul sewer air must be constantly pouring into 
 the house ; close to this horrible privy stands the water-butt, 
 for the supply of 20 persons, uncovered and open at the top, 
 and thus allowing the water to absorb the poisonous gases 
 incessantly escaping at the privy; the butt itself is so de¬ 
 cayed that the water leaks away, to remedy which defect, as 
 the landlord will do nothing, the poor woman of the house 
 has provided a small old tub. The removal of refuse appears 
 to be systemutically neglected ; at least in every house that I 
 entered here, and in Pheasant-court adjoining, there was a 
 heap of dust, vegetable matter, &c., and which the poor 
 people informed me the dustmen, though urgently requested, 
 would not remove. All the houses are crowded, some in¬ 
 ordinately so, as many as 20 persons having been known to 
 sleep in a single room on straw and shavings; it is in these, 
 the lowest class of common lodging-houses, where typhus 
 especially prevails, as cholera did in 1849 . Even in this 
 miserable place, where some attention has been paid to 
 sanitary precautions, the amount of sickness has diminished ; 
 thus, a certain house was for a time kept in a cleanly state 
 and excessive crowding prevented, when, as I was assured 
 by one of the neighbours, the fever was prevented, whilst, 
 on a change of landlords occurring, all being allowed to 
 relapse into filth and over-crowding, fever and sickness re¬ 
 appeared. The result of my inspection reveals the source of 
 the prevalence of fever in these courts, and shows that 
 essentially they remain in the same condition as in 1849 , 
 when the medical officer thus described them : “ They are 
 
 in 
 
16 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 in a very iilthy state; the houses have a bad stench; they 
 are inhabited by the refuse of society, and are the lowest 
 class of common lodging-houses; nothing short of closing 
 them would be of service.” 
 
 Intermittent Fever in St. Giles’s. —The attention of 
 the General Board of Health has been called by Dr. Pidduck, 
 physician of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, to the large amount 
 of ague that has occurred in Church-lane, St. Giles’s. From 
 the evidence of Dr. Pidduck and of Mr. Lloyd, appended to 
 this Report, it is evident that, in some instances, the indi¬ 
 viduals attacked had not quitted London ; so that, in these 
 cases, the disease was generated on the spot. It further 
 appears that, although occasional cases of ague have been 
 seen at the Bloomsbury Dispensary for at least 14 years, the 
 number has decidedly increased during the last three years, 
 younger persons also having suffered. No person is known 
 to have died of an attack. Many persons who, in the autumn, 
 have been engaged in hop-picking, potato-digging, &c., in 
 Kent and Essex, and who then escaped the fever, have been 
 attacked five or six months subsequent to their return to 
 St. Giles’s. Mr. Lloyd says, “ The cases occur in the worst 
 class of houses ; all of them come from Church-street, George- 
 street, Ivy-lane, and other streets adjoining; these are all 
 close together ; he could throw a net over the whole affected 
 locality.” This is an important circumstance, and indicates 
 that the cause of this ague is, as usual, endemic. Dr. Pidduck 
 inclines to the opinion, that the increased quantity of vege¬ 
 table food used by the poor of this district may be connected 
 with the occurrence of this fever. 
 
 The fact of ague thus originating in the centre of London 
 is important, and should command attention. Dr. Watson 
 says, “ In Sydenham’s time they (agues) were very frequent 
 and very fatal indeed in this metropolis. James I. and 
 Oliver Cromwell both died of ague contracted in London. 
 At present we seldom see them ; except in 1827,1 have never, 
 since I have been in practice, known ague to be at all pre¬ 
 valent here. This comparative freedom from malaria is 
 mainly owing no doubt to the improved character of the 
 draining and sewerage.” From the few inquiries I have had 
 an opportunity of making, it would appear that intermittent 
 fever still originates in London more frequently than is gene¬ 
 rally suspected. When inspecting the district of Saffron-hill 
 two years ago, Mr. Whitfield, one of the surgeons of Holborn 
 Union, stated to me that in former years, when Fleet-ditch 
 
 was 
 
17 
 
 Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. 
 
 was uncovered higher up than at present, in the direction of 
 Cold Bath-fields and Bagnigge Wells, ague was of frequent 
 occurrence; but that since the ditch had been covered over, 
 he rarely or never saw any cases of ague that had originated 
 in the neighbourhood itself, though imported cases, especially 
 among the hop-pickers, were common. Mr. Hunt, a gentle¬ 
 man in practice in Bedford-square, attended a well-marked 
 case in a man of 80, residing in Coleman-street, City, and 
 who had not been out of London. Mr. Martin, of Bermond¬ 
 sey, has seen, especially during the last three years, many 
 cases of imperfect ague and brow ague in persons who had 
 not quitted the locality: there are some few marshy places 
 within half a mile of this gentleman’s district. Mr. Marson, 
 the resident surgeon of the Small-pox Hospital, states that 
 some cases occurred when the Regent’s Park was made, and, 
 subsequently, in that district. He also says that there were 
 several attacks among persons resident in the vicinity, when 
 the St. Katherine’s Docks were excavated. Mr. Pilcher had 
 a case of true ague in a young man, living in King William- 
 street, City, but who had been all day at the London Docks. 
 I have been informed that Dr. Hue mentioned formerly in 
 his lectures, that ague prevailed in the vicinity of Grays’-Inn- 
 lane. 
 
 The general inference from these limited instances is, that 
 ague, when it does occur in London, arises in badly drained 
 and damp localities, and is obviated by the removal of these 
 causes. 
 
 As there are two model lodging-houses in the immediate 
 vicinity of Church-lane, namely, in George street and Streat- 
 ham-street, it was important to ascertain if any of the inmates 
 had suffered from the intermittent fever which has prevailed 
 so immediately around them. On inquiring of the super¬ 
 intendents, I was informed that not a single case of ague 
 or typhus had occurred among the inmates, amounting to 
 343. 
 
 Examination of the Model Lodging-houses of London .— 
 The model buildings of London consist of three different 
 classes as to the persons who are received : the first kind are 
 those where provision is made for families; the second for 
 lodging single men ; and the third for single women and 
 widows. Even in this bare enumeration one of the most 
 fundamental improvements effected by these admirable insti¬ 
 tutions is incidentally noticed, the due and proper separation 
 of the sexes, distinct establishments being provided for each ; 
 
 388 . B whilst 
 
l 8 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 whilst in the common lodging-houses of London and other 
 towns, all are huddled together without attention to age or 
 sex. 
 
 The establishments actually in operation, all of which, with 
 one exception, I have visited, are as follows: 
 
 1. George-street, Bloomsbury, for 104 single men. 
 
 2 . Sti 'eatham-street, Bloomsbury, for 48 families. 
 
 3. The Model Buildings, Bagnigge Wells, for 23 fami¬ 
 
 lies and 30 aged women. 
 
 4. The Renovated Lodging-house, 2 , Charles-street, 
 
 Drury-lane, for 82 single men. 
 
 5. Metropolitan Buildings, Old Pancras-road, for 110 
 
 families. 
 
 6. Metropolitan Buildings, Albert-street, Buxton-street, 
 
 Spitalfields, for 60 families and for 234 single 
 
 men. 
 
 7. Soho Chambers, Great Compton-street, Soho, for 123 
 
 single men. 
 
 8. An establishment in Westminster, which I have not 
 
 visited. 
 
 The four first establishments belong to the Society for 
 Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes ; the fifth 
 and sixth belong to the Metropolitan Association for Improv¬ 
 ing the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes ; the seventh 
 was established, as I was informed, by the rector of the parish 
 and some private gentlemen ; and the eighth was founded, I 
 believe, by Lord Kinnaird. In addition to the above, the 
 Thanksgiving Model Buildings, Portpool-lane, Gray’s-inn- 
 lane, for 20 families and 128 single women, with a public 
 washhouse, is nearly completed by the first named society ; 
 whilst the second association have taken 12 houses in Pelham- 
 street and 10 in Pleasant-row, Mile End Town, and, having 
 improved them, have let them to families, all the dwellings 
 being occupied. 
 
 It is obvious that, with reference to the present inquiry, 
 the classes of inmates which afford the most trustworthy data 
 for comparison are those who are permanent tenants, that is, 
 the families and aged women ; as the single men (at present 
 no young single women are lodged) come under the head of 
 nightly lodgers, they change too frequently to give certain 
 results. As the value of these comparative investigations 
 must further depend on the number of individuals comprised 
 in them, it is proper to give the number of these permanent 
 inmates, as ascertained at the date of my visit: 
 
Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. ly 
 
 
 ADULTS. 
 
 CHILDREN. 
 
 total. 
 
 Metropolitan Buildings, Old Pancras- 
 road ------ 
 
 219 
 
 362 
 
 581 
 
 Streatham-street, Bloomsbury 
 
 100 
 
 140 
 
 240 
 
 Metropolitan Buildings, Albert-street 
 
 117 
 
 144 
 
 261 
 
 Model Buildings, Bagnigge Wells - 
 
 76 
 
 80 
 
 156 
 
 Total permanent Inmates - 
 
 512 
 
 726 
 
 1,238 
 
 As in the lodgings for single men, although there are fre¬ 
 quent changes, yet many of the inmates remain for a con¬ 
 siderable period, it may be proper to give the average num¬ 
 bers they contain : 
 
 Single Men. 
 
 George-street, Model Lodging-house - - 103 
 
 Charles-street, Drury-lane, ditto 82 
 
 Soho Chambers - - - - - 120 
 
 Metropolitan Chambers, Albert-street - 120 
 
 Total Single Men - 425 
 
 Sketch of the Model Establishments for Families. —In order 
 properly to appreciate the importance of this inquiry, a brief 
 description of the model establishments and of the advantages 
 they secure to the industrious classes is requisite. The tene¬ 
 ments provided for families consist of sets of rooms, and 
 comprise the following accommodation : 
 
 1. A separate entrance. 
 
 2. A sitting-room, provided with a range, having a fire¬ 
 
 place, boiler and oven; and a cupboard or two. 
 
 3. One or two sleeping-rooms. In Streatham-street 
 
 there is, in addition, a closet for a bed out of the 
 sitting-room. 
 
 4. A scullery, containing a sink, a meat-safe (separately 
 
 ventilated), a coal-closet, a dust-shaft, a water- 
 cistern, a water-closet. 
 
 5. The use of a washhouse and drying-ground. The 
 
 Albert-street establishment has baths. 
 
 The accompanying plan, showing two sets of apartments 
 
 b 2 in 
 
20 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 in the establishment at Albert-street, will serve to illustrate 
 the descriptive details. 
 
 PLAN OF TWO DWELLINGS FOR FAMILIES. 
 
 A A, Flues for vitiated air. 
 
 BB, Ranges with boiler and oven. 
 
 CC, Closets. 
 
 DD, Sinks supplied with water from a cistern 
 over the coal closets. 
 
 EE, Spaces for soil, gas and water pipes. 
 FF, Meat safes. 
 
 G, Dust shaft. 
 
 The rents vary from 5 s. to 65. a week. The tenants of these dwellings 
 have the use of the baths and washhouses at moderate charges, also of the 
 library and reading-room. 
 
 The above dwellings for families, and also the building for single men, 
 are the property of the Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwell¬ 
 ings of the Industrious Classes, which is incorporated by Royal Charter. 
 
 All these places are ventilated by openings into the chim¬ 
 ney, and through the outer walls, guarded by gratings, and 
 capable of being closed at will ; in Streatham-street the 
 water-closet is ventilated by perforated glass ; in Albert-street 
 flues for vitiated air are constructed at the back of the chim¬ 
 neys of the sitting-rooms, but without communicating with 
 them, and an opening leads from the top of the sitting-room 
 into the flue or duct. With the exception of the Bagnigge 
 Wells Buildings, where, owing to peculiar circumstances, the 
 ordinary and more economical construction by flats was 
 
 departed 
 
Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. 21 
 
 departed from, the entrance to the separate sets of apartments 
 is usually by common staircases ; in Streatham-street the 
 approach is by an open gallery, and each set has an entrance 
 lobby. The buildings are lofty, have sash windows, and 
 present an imposing appearance. 
 
 Although it is the wish of the societies to interfere as little 
 as possible with the inmates, it is obvious that, for the 
 common good of all, some regulations are required. The 
 following are the rules for the Metropolitan Buildings, Old 
 Pancras-road: 
 
 1 . The rents to be paid in advance, and will be received 
 on the Saturday evening after six o’clock, or at any hour on 
 the Monday till 10 o’clock p.m. 
 
 2 . No arrears of rent will be allowed. 
 
 3. The stair and passage leading to the apartments must 
 be cleaned and whitened every Saturday, and swept every 
 day during the week. This shall be done by the respective 
 tenants alternately, or a charge of 4 d . will be made for clean¬ 
 ing the same. 
 
 4. The windows of the apartments must be kept in perfect 
 repair as far as regards the glass, and no flower-pots be 
 exposed at the outside without sufficient protection; neither 
 shall any clothes or unsightly objects be exposed. 
 
 5. The children will not be allowed to play on the stairs, 
 in the passages or drying ground. 
 
 6 *. Complaints having been made that clothes’-lines are 
 hung in the drying ground before the parties owning them 
 are actually ready to use them, it must be understood that 
 this will not be allowed, and that they can only be put out 
 when actually required for use. They must also be taken in 
 as soon as done with. 
 
 7. No carpets, mats, &c., can be allowed to be beaten or 
 shaken after 10 o’clock in the morning. 
 
 8 . Drunken or disorderly tenants will receive immediate 
 notice to quit. 
 
 9. All chimneys in constant use, will be swept at least 
 once every three months, and for this, a charge of 4 d . per 
 chimney will be made, to be paid to the collector. 
 
 I proceed shortly to consider these arrangements, so far as 
 they bear on the present inquiry. And first as to the mode 
 of entrance: although there is a staircase common to several 
 sets of rooms, the provision for cleaning and whitening it, 
 secures perfect cleanliness; and as the work is shared in 
 common, it is not onerous on individuals; thus in Albert- 
 
 b 3 street, 
 
22 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 street, each tenant cleans two flights of stairs, consisting of 
 1G steps, once a fortnight. The common staircases leading 
 to the rooms of the poor are, on the contrary, in the crowded 
 parts of London, always black, dark, often dilapidated, 
 usually narrow and winding, and in some instances, as I have 
 seen in the late inspection, defiled by excrement or other 
 filth. The separate entrance is essential to privacy and com¬ 
 fort, and is much esteemed by the inmates, forming as it 
 does, each set of rooms into a separate house. It was pleas¬ 
 ing to observe that in many instances the tenants had pro¬ 
 vided brass knockers and door-plates. 
 
 Sitting Room. —The living or sitting-rooms are all com¬ 
 fortable, though of course varying according to the size of 
 the apartments, and the means of the tenants: many that I 
 saw were nicely papered ; superior fire-irons, prints, book¬ 
 cases, and various ornaments, are not uncommon : in one 
 room, I observed the large engraving of the trial of Strafford ; 
 in another, a series of medallions; many have flowers at the 
 windows; in short, I saw many sets of chambers let for 5 s. 
 or 6 5 . a week, and occupied by mechanics earning their 
 daily bread, in which ladies and gentlemen might be well 
 satisfied to dwell. The provision of the range enabling the 
 mother to bake, and supplying abundance of hot water, is 
 greatly valued ; it is rare in ordinary lodgings to find a range 
 
 even when the rent is much higher ; thus Mrs.-, now in 
 
 Streatham-street, had previously a second floor, for which 
 they paid 18/. a year, but there was no range, only a 
 stove. 
 
 Sleeping Apartments. —The bed-rooms are clean, light, 
 and airy, and not only allow of the separation of the sexes, 
 but by preventing or lessening overcrowding at night, power¬ 
 fully contribute to the maintenance of health. At present, 
 the ventilation is effected either by perforated plates opening 
 externally, or into the sitting-room. As the renovation of 
 the vitiated air of bed-rooms is even more important than 
 that of day-rooms, it would be desirable in future to make 
 air ducts leading from each into such flues as those at Albert- 
 street, which, lying behind the chimneys of the sitting- 
 rooms, are always active: the application of hollow bricks 
 would allow of this arrangement with little or no extra ex- 
 pense. 
 
 Scullery. —The conveniences connected with the scullery 
 secure to a family vast advantages, among the first of which 
 is the ample supply of water ; it is not onlv the supply^itself, 
 
 but 
 
Jgar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis . 23 
 
 but the mode of it which the tenants so highly value. Even 
 among very respectable families, who so often live in apart¬ 
 ments on the first and second floors, where no servant is 
 kept, the fatigue and inconvenience of carrying up all the 
 water, and taking down all the slops, is greatly felt; in the 
 model lodgings the water is forced to the highest rooms, 
 and the dust shaft carries off all refuse. An observant visitor 
 will be struck with the cleanly aspect of the children, owing 
 to the free use of water : one of the tenants said they had a 
 large tub, where all the family in succession thoroughly 
 washed themselves every morning, a thing in itself of great 
 importance as to the maintenance of health and vigour. But 
 in addition to these great advantages, this supply enables 
 each family to have a clean water-closet, a provision, the 
 importance of which, in regard to health, it is impossible to 
 overrate In all the reports to the Board of Health, to what¬ 
 ever part of the United Kingdom they relate, the bestial 
 state of the privies and their noxious influence on the health 
 and morals of the people, are placed by the inspectors in a 
 prominent point of view. In the metropolis, the evils spring¬ 
 ing from this source are inconceivable to those who are per¬ 
 sonally unacquainted with the dwellings of the industrious 
 classes ; not only is the state of the privies utterly incom¬ 
 patible with decency, but, as I have ascertained by ample 
 medical evidence, the direct and express cause of a large 
 amount of sickness, and especially of low fever. In support 
 of this position, I may state, that in London, and other large 
 towns, it has been observed by the medical attendants of the 
 poor, that there is always more disease, and particularly fever, 
 in those houses which in a court or alley are, all other cir¬ 
 cumstances being the same, nearest to the common privies. 
 In the model buildings, all this degradation and suffering 
 are obviated by the provision of proper w'ater-closets. 
 
 The only other point requiring notice in this brief 
 sketch, is the provision for the removal of refuse. There is 
 nothing which leads to more discomfort among the poor of 
 London, than the difficulty, or rather impossibility, which 
 they experience in procuring the efficient services of the 
 dustmen and scavengers: many courts and alleys, in spite of 
 the entreaties of the poor inhabitants, are never visited at all 
 by these officials; in none is the scavenging and cleansing 
 performed with that care and efficiency which health and 
 comfort demand. The consequence is, as every one may 
 ascertain by ocular proofs, that in all parts of London, the 
 narrow arid crowded courts are strewed with animal and 
 
 b 4 vegetable 
 
24 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 vegetable refuse; bye corners are made depots for every 
 species of tilth ; and frequently large accumulations take 
 place in the cellars and interior of dwellings. The dust 
 shaft in the scullery, and systematic emptying of the general 
 receptacle, entirely obviate these repulsive evils in the model 
 establishments. 
 
 Lodging-Houses for Single Men .—The kind of accommo¬ 
 dation provided for single men may lie gathered from the 
 follow mg paper and woodcut, published by the Metro¬ 
 politan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the 
 industrious Classes:— 
 
 The Coffee Room, Metropolitan Chambers, Albert- 
 street, Mile Knd New Town. 
 
25 
 
 Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. 
 
 “ Beds in separate compartments, with locker for clothes, 
 under lock and key. 
 
 Large coffee-room. 
 
 Reading-room and library. 
 
 Kitchen, with use of cooking utensils, and separate meat- 
 safe under lock and key ; or, the option of obtaining pro¬ 
 visions at moderate charges at a cook’s-shop on the pre¬ 
 mises. 
 
 Baths and washhouses. Warm bath, 3 d., cold bath, 1J dA 
 
 Rent. —Such being the nature of the accommodation, the 
 next important consideration is the question of rent. The 
 societies engaged in this philanthropic object, although not 
 seeking pecuniary advantages for themselves, have well per¬ 
 ceived, that if the system of providing comfortable and suit¬ 
 able dwellings for the poor is to become general, capitalists 
 must find in their returns a sufficient remuneration for em¬ 
 barking their money in the undertaking; they have, there¬ 
 fore, in every instance, whether in the case of families or single 
 lodgers, fixed the rent on a remunerating scale. The weekly 
 payments, paid in advance, for families vary according to 
 the number of rooms from 3 s. to 7 s., whilst single men and 
 women pay from Is. 6 d. to 3 s. 6 d. weekly. The evidence 
 appended to this Report, taken indifferently, amply shows 
 that the tenants obtain in these establishments all the ad¬ 
 vantages enumerated for the same sum or even less than they 
 formerly paid for inconvenient and unhealthy dwellings; a 
 few extracts will here suffice to prove this, and also to show 
 the estimation in which the industrious classes hold these 
 institutions. 
 
 Mrs.-.* Has been here ( Old Pancras-road) more 
 
 than three years; rents three rooms; pays 4 5. 6 d.; she 
 likes all the arrangements very much, except that she wants 
 the use of a washhouse. (Note. This inconvenience is 
 about to be obviated, the directors having taken a piece of 
 ground adjoining for the purpose of erecting washhouses for 
 these metropolitan buildings.) Lived formerly in lodgings ; 
 had two rooms; paid 5 s.; had to go down stairs for water; 
 the privy was foul; they were greatly annoyed by a place at 
 the back where paunches were prepared for tripe, and where 
 butchers, having no place of their own, slaughtered animals; 
 
 the 
 
 * It may be proper to state that in each case the evidence was taken down 
 by myself at. the time; the names of the informants are not published, as 
 such a procedure might have given offence. 
 
2 6 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 the smell owing to this was very bad, and the maggots 
 crawled about, so that when she went into their back yard 
 to wash she was prevented, and was obliged to give it up; 
 when they lived in those lodgings, although the smells were 
 so bad, they did not so much mind it; but after they had 
 been here some time she called to see her old landlady, and 
 found the smell so bad she could not bear to remain ; thinks 
 if there were another establishment it would be filled ; has 
 five children; all the family have good health. 
 
 Mrs.-. Has been here ( Old Pancras-road) three 
 
 years; has two rooms and scullery ; rent 3 5.; finds all very 
 convenient; the range, the boiler, and the water laid on ; 
 has heard every one say they like the place, especially those 
 who have families; the arrangements save her a great deal 
 of trouble ; she has everything at hand, and has no occasion 
 to go down stairs, except when going out; the baker, 
 butcher, milkman, &e., all call at her door. Before she 
 came had a cottage with two rooms about same size as those 
 she now occupies; paid 4 s. 6 d .; it was a court in Pancras- 
 road with nine cottages; there were two waterbutts sunk in 
 the ground ; the water was sometimes very foul; once they 
 found a dead cat in one of the butts; there was one privy 
 for all the nine houses; it was in a very foul state and very 
 unpleasant for females; knows many people in different 
 parts of London ; they complain of the bad smell from the 
 drains, privies, &c.; “ it is enough to knock you down ; it is 
 really dreadful in some of the houses and lodgings where 
 she goes; she and her family have had good health since 
 they have been here.” 
 
 Mrs.- (Streatham-street). Has three rooms in this 
 
 establishment, rent 7 s. ; formerly had a second floor, with two 
 good sized rooms, and a third, not large enough for a bed ; 
 paid 18 /. a-year; had to carry up all the water; there was a 
 privy, no water-closet; had no range ; bakes now ; the range 
 warms the room well; had another set of rooms just as above 
 near Red Lion-square ; paid 20/. a year; that is the common 
 rent there ; the rooms here are fresher and cleaner; used to 
 put out her washing because her health was not good; she 
 and her family have all been much better since they have 
 been here; has now excellent health. 
 
 Mrs.- (Streatham-street). Has three rooms; rent 65.; 
 
 could not get as good as these with all the accommodation 
 for less than 10 5. 
 
 Mr.- {Albert-street). Has three rooms in the area, 
 
 pays 4 5. 8 d .; formerly had a small house with three rooms, 
 
 rent 
 
2 7 
 
 Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. 
 
 rent 45,; finds this much better, and that it is better to pay 
 8 ^/. more; before he came here he had always bad health 
 every summer ; has never had such good health as since he 
 has been here, his friends remarked this; owing to bad 
 health he had got behindhand ; since he has been here he 
 gets on better because he can work better, has more 
 strength; many of the houses about here are tumble-down 
 places; the privies are filthy; here the water-closet is a 
 great comfort. 
 
 Mrs.- ( Albert-street ). Has three rooms, rent 5s. 6c/., 
 
 “ likes them very much because they are clean, quiet, and to 
 yourself. If you are in lodgings and you clean the place, 
 other lodgers may notlikes these rooms better than a small 
 house; had one with four rooms and a kitchen, rent 7 5.; 
 she bakes her own bread ; in lodgings there is no range ; 
 they have always plenty of water, and where there is a family 
 this is very handy ; in lodgings you have to carry all the 
 water up and the slops down ; they live at the top of the 
 buildings ; does not mind this, because she has little need to 
 go down stairs. 
 
 Mr.-( George-street ). Is a mechanic and a single man ; 
 
 pays 25 . 4 d. a week; has been here four months ; lodged 
 18 months at Paddington, at a clean respectable lodging 
 house; slept in a room with two beds, each with two persons ; 
 paid 4 d. a night; knows a public-house at Paddington where 
 as many as 40 persons have slept, each paying 4 d. ; some 
 two, some three in a bed ; likes this place, and thinks no 
 reasonable man can object to the rules. 
 
 Mr.-( George-street ). Is a tailor; has been here three 
 
 years; likes it very much; there is every convenience, all 
 that a man can wish. 
 
 A. B. -( Charles-street , Drury-lane, Renovated Lodging 
 
 House). Came here last week from Dorsetshire to seek fora 
 place ; likes this much ; it is clean and comfortable. 
 
 Note. —In this establishment I saw an elderly man in the 
 coffee room, making drawings for sale; he was a poor artist, 
 and had been at this place for a considerable time. 
 
 State of Health in the Model Buildings. — In the course of 
 my visits I took every opportunity of ascertaining the health 
 of the inmates, both by questioning them and by information 
 furnished by the superintendents. The general result is 
 most gratifying, and proves beyond the possibility of doubt, 
 
 that 
 
28 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 that, these establishments expressly constructed and arranged 
 to secure the health of the industrious classes, have fully 
 answered the hopes and expectations of their benevolent 
 founders. The inmates questioned uniformly stated that they 
 and their families had good health, and several among them 
 added that their health had improved since becoming tenants. 
 
 All the superintendents state that the health of the esta¬ 
 blishments has been extremely good, and that the amount of 
 sickness was remarkably small; they also state that the 
 mothers have repeatedly said that their families had improved 
 in health since becoming inmates. 
 
 The establishment at Bagnigge Wells has been open about 
 five years; that in Old Pancras-road was opened in January 
 1848; Albert-street, towards the end of May 1850; and 
 Streatham-street, June 24,1850. At the time of my visiting 
 these establishments the total inmates was as follows :— 
 
 Old Pancras-road - - - 
 
 Bagnigge Wells - 
 Streatham-street - 
 Albert-street - 
 
 Total - 
 
 INMATES. 
 
 ADULTS. 
 
 CHILDREN. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 219 
 
 362 
 
 581 
 
 76 
 
 80 
 
 156 
 
 100 
 
 140 
 
 240 
 
 117 
 
 144 
 
 261 
 
 512 
 
 726 
 
 1,238 
 
 Some deduction must be made from these numbers as 
 regards Albert-street, the rooms of which filled rather 
 slowly; in order to arrive at an average of inmates, the 
 amount of weekly rent has been assumed. With respect to 
 Streatham-street, it was fully occupied in less than two 
 months. I believe that 175 may be fairly assumed as the 
 mean average of 12 months in the former, and 180 for the 
 latter establishment. According to this estimate, there will 
 have been in the last 12 months, in the four houses, with 
 permanent inmates, a population of 1,082. The deaths for 
 the last 12 months, according to the statement of the super¬ 
 intendents, are shown in the following table, to which a 
 column for low fever is added : — 
 
Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis . 29 
 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 FEVER 
 
 CASES. 
 
 
 ADULTS. 
 
 CHILDREN. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 Old Pancras-road - 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 — 
 
 Bagnigge Wells 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Streatham-street 
 
 - 
 
 5* 
 
 5 
 
 — 
 
 Albert-street - 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 — 
 
 Total - - 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 11 
 
 
 Thus it appears that out of a population consisting of 
 mechanics, workmen, porters, a few clerks, &c.,and amounting 
 to 1,082, the deaths have been about 1 per cent, in the year; 
 the general average mortality of England, including all ranks 
 in life, is somewhat more than two per cent, per annum, or 
 more than double that of the four above-mentioned insti¬ 
 tutions. 
 
 In the Old Pancras-road buildings, the deaths from 
 January 24, 1848, to May 31, 1851, a period of three years 
 and four months, amount to 38. For some time there was a 
 defect connected with the water-closets, causing an effluvium, 
 which the tenants had remarked ; this was rectified, and the 
 health of the inmates has since improved. If allowance be 
 made for the establishment not being full at the commence¬ 
 ment by striking off the first four months, and if the average 
 number of inmates for the remaining three years be taken at 
 550, instead of the full number 571, which is probably below 
 the truth, the annual average mortality will be somewhat 
 more than 2 per cent, on the inmates.f The mortality in 
 
 England 
 
 * Of these, three were nurse infants brought into the establishment. 
 
 f At first view, this mortality may seem high, especially as compared 
 with that of similar metropolitan establishments. It arises from the greater 
 proportion of children resident in these buildings; 28 out of the 38 deaths 
 having occurred among children under 10 years of age. In 1841, the 
 number of children under 10 years of age living in the metropolis was 
 424,811, or 21*7 per cent, of the total population; the mortality among 
 these children on an average of seven years being 5*2 per cent. In the 
 Metropolitan Buildings, the number of children was 362, or 62*3 per cent, 
 of the inmates: but the mortality among these children was only 2*5 per 
 cent., so that if the children in these buildings had suffered in the same 
 proportion as the mass of children in the metropolis, the deaths would have 
 amounted to 56 instead of 28. A more decisive test of the salubrity of the 
 establishment could scarcely be imagined. 
 
30 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 England and Wales, among all classes was, in 1847, 24 per 
 cent, upon the population ; whilst the annual average mor¬ 
 tality in the four years 1838-41, was in towns 2*7, and in 
 the country 1*9 per cent, of the population. 
 
 Absence of Fever .—It is one of the best established facts of 
 vital statistics, that fever is the surest test of the sanitary 
 condition of a town or locality, and that it affords at the same 
 time the most accurate measure of the amount of preventible 
 disease; on these grounds therefore, reliable and illustrative 
 evidence has a peculiar value. It was ascertained some few 
 years ago by the excellent and accurate researches of Dr. 
 Duncan, the present Officer of Health of Liverpool, that 
 in the part of that city consisting of the parish of Liverpool, 
 there were about 7,000 cases of fever annually, or 1 in 25 of 
 the working population, an amount which has since, owing 
 as it is believed to the improvements effected by the Local 
 Sanitary Act, been much reduced. 
 
 That these low fevers abound in all the poorer parts of 
 London is familiar to every practitioner acquainted with 
 these localities. In my notice of Tindal’s-buildings and 
 Pheasant-court, it is stated that there were in the London 
 Free Hospital on 1st May 1851, nine cases of fever which 
 had been brought out of those notorious fever nests; and 
 that in one house 20 cases of fever had occurred in two 
 months. In those courts the atmosphere is poisoned by the 
 effluvia from foul and neglected privies, from dust heaps, 
 filth and overcrowding ; in short from all the causes known 
 to give intensity to tophus. 
 
 From the evidence J have received, it appears that in six out 
 of seven of these model establishments, including the lodging- 
 houses for single men, and containing about 957 persons, 
 there has not been a single case of typhus since they were 
 opened ; whilst in the Metropolitan Buildings, which has 
 been opened upwards of three years, and has an average popu¬ 
 lation of about 550, there has been but one death from low 
 fever ;* so that out of a total of 1,507 persons, one case only 
 of typhus has occurred since these institutions were pro¬ 
 vided specially to test the value of sanitary arrangements. 
 
 N o w, 
 
 * On a careful examination of this exceptional case, the evidence appears 
 decisive that it was not really a case of fever. The disease commenced 
 with the symptoms of severe bronchitis or influenza, in the progress of 
 which symptoms of low fever came on, an occurrence which is so very 
 common, that the Fever Hospital appropriates a separate ward for the re¬ 
 ception of this class of cases. 
 
3i 
 
 Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis, 
 
 Now, if for the sake of illustration, the 1,507 of the work¬ 
 ing population of the model buildings, several of which are 
 situated in the most crowded and unhealthy parts of London, 
 and where, as in Church-lane, fever prevails, be contrasted 
 with the working population of Liverpool, about 60 cases of 
 low fever ought to have occurred annually, and yet there 
 has been but one case from the beginning. It is difficult to 
 conceive of any evidence more significant than this, or more 
 calculated to demonstrate the supreme importance of sanitary 
 principles. 
 
 One intelligent tenant mentions a curious proof of the 
 general good health of the inmates : he says, that a drnggist, 
 concluding that as at the Pancras-road Buildings a large 
 number of families were collected together, it would be a 
 good speculation to open a chemist’s shop in the immediate 
 neighbourhood; this he did, but in 15 months the under¬ 
 taking turned out such a complete failure that it was aban¬ 
 doned, and the house was converted into a provision shop. 
 
 The unusually low rate of mortality here manifested in 
 regard to the past 12 months would not of course be main¬ 
 tained on an average of years; but the facts connected with 
 the establishment in Pancras-road, which has been open 
 upwards of three years, including, it must be recollected, the 
 period of the great cholera epidemic, during which 1 7,673 
 of the inhabitants of the metropolis were carried off, indicate 
 that the proportion of deaths where full and efficient sani¬ 
 tary arrangements are actually put into operation, may, even 
 in the midst of London, be as low as in the most favoured 
 parts of the country. 
 
 In a document published in 1845, by the Metropolitan 
 Health of Towns’ Association, I ventured to use this lan¬ 
 guage : 
 
 “By the universal introduction of perfect drainage; by a 
 system of impermeable sewers, through which all the excreta 
 of a crowded population may be innocuously conveyed to 
 their destination in the country, there to enrich the earth 
 and to stimulate it to a production rivalling that of the 
 Tropics without its penalties ; by the construction of streets 
 with a surface impenetrable to moisture, yet safe for traffic, 
 and which could therefore be daily washed and dried again 
 as effectively and rapidly as a marble hall; by a supply of 
 water, pure, constant, and unlimited, borne along every 
 thoroughfare, and introduced into every dwelling ; by the 
 erection of houses according to the most advanced principles 
 of art and science, where the poor man would find in the pro¬ 
 vision 
 
32 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 vision of baths, of water-closets, and of a perfect ventilation, 
 comforts which are now the imperfectly obtained luxuries of 
 wealth ; in fine, by the appliances of a knowledge matured 
 far beyond the boundaries of our present limited conception ; 
 the sanitary condition of the great centres of commerce will 
 doubtless, in the progress of time, rival, if it do not exceed, 
 that high standard of health which we now regard as the 
 exclusive blessing of our rural districts.”* 
 
 The results hitherto obtained from the model lodging- 
 houses have gone far to realize, within the brief period of six 
 years, the anticipations thus expressed in 1845. 
 
 That with such advantages as those provided for the tenants 
 of these establishments, there should be a strong desire on 
 the part of the labouring classes to avail themselves of them, 
 especially among married persons with families, is not sur¬ 
 prising. Mr. Wood, the Secretary of the Society for Im¬ 
 proving the Condition of the Labouring Classes, has informed 
 me, that the Streatham-street buildings were filled in two 
 months after they were finished, and that after receiving 
 more than 200 applications for the 48 sets of rooms, the 
 clerk told the people it was useless to apply further. 
 Similar statements were made by the superintendents of 
 the other establishments, with the exception of that in Albert- 
 street, where, although the rooms occupied by families are, 
 with a few exceptions, full, those for single men are yet but 
 partly occupied. 
 
 It is of course obvious that it will be difficult, perhaps 
 impossible, to raise the sanitary condition of the existing 
 poorer class of dwellings in this and other great cities to the 
 above standard. But it is certain, and matured plans, as 
 will be subsequently shown, have been devised by com¬ 
 petent authorities for the purpose, that the condition of all 
 existing dwellings could at an expense which, spread over a 
 term of years, would be burdensome neither to the landlord 
 nor to the tenant, be so much ameliorated as to relieve the 
 industrious classes from the larger part of the misery they 
 at present endure; whilst as regards all houses hereafter 
 to be erected, it is certain, with the various appliances now 
 possessed, that efficient sanitary provisions, such as those 
 existing in the Model Buildings, might be secured without 
 interfering with the successful investment of capital. 
 
 An 
 
 * Unheahhiness of Towns ; its Causes and Remedies ; being a Lecture de¬ 
 livered at the Royal Institution, Liverpool, and the Athenaeum, Manchester; 
 by R. D. Grainger, Esq. London, 1845. 
 
Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. 33 
 
 An objection is sometimes urged, that the habits of some of 
 the lowest classes of the population are so debased, that even 
 if suitable arrangements were provided, their utility, owing 
 to this cause, would be greatly diminished. I believe this 
 opinion to have no real foundation; that some difficulties 
 would be experienced at first; that careful supervision would 
 be required, is doubtless true; but from the urgent and 
 almost clamorous representations which are made, even by 
 the inhabitants of the most miserable localities, respecting 
 the present wretched condition of their dwellings, and the 
 deep wishes expressed for relief, I feel assured that if an 
 ample supply of water, dust-bins, water-closets, &c. were 
 provided ; if the houses were properly cleansed and venti¬ 
 lated, and if due supervision of the whole arrangements 
 were provided, that the labouring classes, even the lowest, 
 would be infinitely elevated in their position, physical and 
 moral. 
 
 Moral Results of Model Buildings .—Among those who 
 are well acquainted with the poor, the clergy, religious 
 visitors, medical practitioners, &c., there is a profound 
 conviction that so long; as the industrious classes are allowed 
 to remain in their present physical debasement, all efforts 
 made to raise them in the scale of intellectual and moral 
 being must be attended with great difficulty, and in many 
 cases, be entirely defeated. At the first public meeting 
 of the Metropolitan Sanitary Association, the president, 
 the Bishop of London, thus expressed himself: “ Moral and 
 social degradation and extreme filth and wretchedness are 
 intimately connected, and something must be done to miti¬ 
 gate the intensity of the latter, before they could attempt, 
 with any hope of success, to remove the former. It was 
 admitted on all hands, that if we desired to raise the poorer 
 classes in the scale of social order, civilization and moral 
 dignity, to elevate them to that state which becomes reason¬ 
 able beings, accountable agents and servants of God, we 
 must begin by removing those causes which kept them in 
 the very depths of poverty and misery : we must do some¬ 
 thing to remedy those evils which were caused by the present 
 unnatural state of society, and by the crowding together of a 
 rapidly increasing population in cities and towns.” * 
 
 Testimony 
 
 * First Report of ihe Metropolitan Sanitary Association. Second 
 Edition, p. 10 . 
 
 388 . 
 
 c 
 
34 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 Testimony of the same character witli respect to the manu¬ 
 facturing districts of the north, was lately given on a public 
 occasion by the Bishop of Ripon; and in the course of the 
 present inquiry, individuals personally acquainted with the 
 poor, expressed in similar terms. The Rev. W. H. Ibotson, 
 the incumbent of St. James’, Notting Hill, says, “ the 
 sanitary state of the Potteries, which is in his district, is 
 very defective; and as a consequence of the physical degra¬ 
 dation, the people are debased as to their morals, and obsti¬ 
 nately refuse all improvement. He formerly spent much 
 time in the locality, and his curate does so at present; but it 
 is all in vain, and most discouraging ; the people love dark¬ 
 ness as they love filth.” Mr. Woodcock, a respectable trades¬ 
 man of Kensington, and an unpaid district visitor, to whom 
 great credit is due for the strenuous efforts he has made to 
 improve the physical and moral condition of the population 
 of Jennings’ Buildings, says, (t It is impossible to expect 
 any improvement in the moral and religious condition of the 
 people so long as the physical state continues to be so 
 degraded ; this is his strong feeling.” 
 
 The experience of the Model Buildings is most satisfac¬ 
 tory, and affords a practical illustration of the truth of these 
 opinions. The various superintendents state that misconduct 
 among the inmates is very rare : thus Mr. Candland, of the 
 Pancras-road Buildings, which have been open upwards of 
 three years, states that “ the adults are sober and well-con¬ 
 ducted ; only four cases of misconduct, all drunkenness, have 
 occurred since the opening.” Mr. Cunnington, of Streat- 
 ham-street, says, “ That although in the beginning three 
 dismissals took place on account of intoxication, that at pre¬ 
 sent the tenants are all very well conducted ; there is no 
 trouble, no annoyance as to management.” 
 
 Mr. Ware, of Albert-street, says, “ The inmates are gene¬ 
 rally very well conducted.” Those who have had an oppor¬ 
 tunity of visiting these establishments, and of seeing the neat 
 and well-ordered apartments, often ornamented with book¬ 
 cases, prints and flowers, would anticipate no other results 
 than those here recorded. It is proper to add, that although 
 the majority of the inmates belong to the class of superior 
 mechanics, there are many of the humbler ranks; and that 
 although misconduct renders the offender liable to dismissal, 
 the families and lodgers are not selected in the first instance. 
 Thus Mr. Wood, secretary of the Society for Improving the 
 Condition of the Labouring Classes, states, that when the 
 Streatham-street Buildings were opened, the tenants were 
 
 admitted 
 
Agar Town , and other pai'ts of the Metropolis , 35 
 
 admitted for the most part according* to the order of their 
 applications, not by selection. 
 
 Even as regards the lodging-houses for single men, with a 
 changing population, there is distinct evidence to show an 
 improved tone of feeling. Mr. W. Taylor, George-street, 
 after stating that “ there are but few cases of misconduct, 
 has little or no difficulty in managing the establishment/' 
 adds, “ in many instances, men who when they first came 
 were negligent as to cleanliness, have greatly improved in 
 this respect; others who indulged in drink, and some so 
 much so that he thought he must have discharged them, 
 have reformed, and indeed become among the best of the 
 lodgers : the inmates generally retain their situations ; many 
 are depositors in savings banks; has known several who have 
 married and done well; does not recollect a case where mat¬ 
 ters turned out otherwise/’ 
 
 A respectable person who has been four years at the Reno¬ 
 vated Lodging House in Charles street, Drury-lane, says, 
 “ Several of the lodgers since they have been here have im¬ 
 proved in their habits and manners, which he attributes to 
 the well-ordered arrangements of the establishment, and the 
 example set by other of the lodgers who had been in a better 
 state of life; the lodgers of the lower class do not use bad 
 language, or misconduct themselves : the general conduct of 
 the lodgers at present is very respectable indeed ; some are 
 day labourers, others mechanics, some sell various articles 
 in the streets, &c., some are coachmen, and others seeking 
 situations.” 
 
 Among other proofs of the well-ordered habits of the 
 numerous inmates, may be mentioned the remarkably small 
 amount that has been lost by defaulters. Thus the Metro¬ 
 politan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the In¬ 
 dustrious Classes have received 4,387/., and I have been 
 informed at the office, that 10 /. would cover the loss arising 
 from non-payment of rent. The Society for Improving the 
 Condition of the Labouring Classes had received, up to 
 31st December 1850, from their several establishments, a 
 total of 5,193 l .; and according to Mr. Wood, the secretary, 
 not more than 20 /. has been lost by defaulters. 
 
 The evidence of Mr. C. D., a person of superior education 
 and intelligence, on the advantages of Model Lodging 
 Houses, is well worthy of attention .—{See Appendix, p. 51.) 
 
 ■} 
 
 General Remarks. — The uniform evidence received 
 from the Poor Law medical officers of the metropolis during 
 
 c 2 the 
 
36 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 the prevalence of cholera, testifies both to their profound con¬ 
 viction of the evils inflicted on the health of the labouring 
 classes by causes susceptible of removal by sanitary measures, 
 and to their willingness to co-operate with the guardians in 
 effecting the ameliorations so urgently demanded. For the 
 express purpose of facilitating the application of such reme¬ 
 dial measures, the Legislature in 1849 amended “ the Act 
 for the Removal of Nuisances and Prevention of Contagious 
 Diseases; ” and, among other provisions, empowered the 
 guardians to avail themselves of the services of their medical 
 officers to insure the removal of nuisances; to prevent the 
 accumulation of filth; to cleanse, whitewash and purify the 
 interior of dwellings ; to remove swine ; and, generally, to 
 remove or abate causes injurious to health. The inspection 
 of the several localities noticed in the preceding pages, 
 together with the evidence 1 have received, has convinced 
 me that up to the present time scarcely any real improvement 
 has been effected in respect to their sanitary condition. 
 
 As instances of neglect, the Potteries and Jennings’-build- 
 ings, in the parish of Kensington, and Tindal’s-buildings 
 and Pheasant-court, in the Holborn Union, may be selected. 
 In all of these localities cholera was very destructive in the 
 late epidemic ; in the Potteries there were in a population of 
 about 1 , 000 , 21 deaths ; in Jennings’-buildings, the popula¬ 
 tion of which, as taken at the present census, was 848, the 
 deaths amounted to 30 ; whilst in one house in TindaPs- 
 buildings no fewer than 15 or 20 cases of cholera occurred. 
 The sanitary condition of all these places was described by 
 the medical officers in 1849 as being most deplorable ; and 
 yet on examining them in 1851, 1 found in all directions 
 accumulations of filth and refuse, owing to the neglect of 
 scavenging ; the privies filthy, neglected, and often over¬ 
 flowing ; the houses in their interior dirty and offensive, 
 and, owing to such a state of things, the people miserable, 
 and suffering from preventible disease. 
 
 The case of the Potteries is particularly important, as 
 demonstrating the vast evils following the neglect of sanitary 
 precautions, and the impossibility of rectifying them in the 
 existing state of the law. 
 
 It appears from the evidence of Mr. Frost, the surgeon of 
 the district, that although, as usually happens, after the 
 ravages of a great epidemic, the total deaths in 1850 were 
 somewhat less than usual, the infantile mortality was so great 
 that the average age at death was only 10 years and a frac¬ 
 tion, thus indicating even a worse state of things than in the 
 
 three 
 
37 
 
 Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. 
 
 three years 1846, 1847 and 1848, when the average age at 
 death was 11 years and 7 months. This is almost an unex¬ 
 ampled sacrifice of life; in 1841-42, when Liverpool was 
 the most unhealthy town in the kingdom, the average age 
 at death among the operatives was 16 years, whilst among 
 the gentry it was 43 years, the labouring classes thus losing 
 27 years of existence as compared with those above them; 
 but in the Potteries, the inhabitants who died last year lost, 
 on the same calculation, nearly 33 years. 
 
 It is due to the medical officer of the district to point out 
 that he is not responsible for the neglect which has led to 
 these enormous evils; he has, with his colleagues, made 
 several representations to the Kensington Board of Guardians 
 on the causes of the mortality in the Potteries, but no efficient 
 steps have been taken for their removal; and the consequence 
 is, that although Mr. Frost “ sees the evils, he has given up 
 all attempts to rectify them.” In connexion with this sub¬ 
 ject, and as indicating the present defective state of the law, 
 it may be stated that there is in the vicinity of the Potteries 
 a local Sanitary Association, the honorary secretary of which 
 made application to Mr. Painter, the magistrate, to put a 
 stop to the process of fat-boiling, which is carried on in the 
 Potteries, and powerfully contaminates the atmosphere. The 
 magistrate stated, he could not act unless the subject was 
 brought before him officially, that is, by the guardians. So 
 here is an instance in which the medical officer, the party 
 named in the amended Nuisances’ Removal Act, certifies 
 that fat-boiling is injurious to health ; the magistrate, it is 
 presumed, is ready to act, as he has done in other cases of 
 nuisance ; but the guardians refusing to act on the surgeon’s 
 certificate, the connecting link is wanting, and the case 
 breaks down. 
 
 The case of Agar Town, St. Pancras, where a decided 
 nuisance has been lately established, affords another illustra¬ 
 tion of the inefficiency of the present machinery. 
 
 In the course of this inquiry, the gross neglect of the sca- 
 vengering was repeatedly brought before my notice by the 
 poor inhabitants. The densely populated state of the alleys 
 and courts of the metropolis, and the occupation of so many 
 of the inhabitants, who are itinerant vendors of fish, shell¬ 
 fish, vegetables and fruit, demand, as the first condition of 
 health and comfort, that the refuse of so large a number of 
 human beings should be promptly and regularly removed ; 
 and yet, as the foregoing statements prove, these are precisely 
 the places which are specially and, as it would appear, sys- 
 
 c 3 tematically 
 
38 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 tematically neglected, the custom being for the dustmen to 
 leave the heaps till large accumulations have been made, and 
 to neglect the small back courts and interiors of the houses 
 altogether. One of the immediate results of the appointment 
 of official inspectors of nuisances would be to relieve the poor 
 from this enormous evil, and at the same time to obviate one 
 of the most powerful causes of epidemic and infectious dis¬ 
 eases. 
 
 In connexion with this continued existence of all the great 
 sanitary evils which afflict the poorer parts of the metropolis, 
 it is necessary to state that comprehensive and matured 
 plans for the removal of most of them, and the efficiency of 
 which has not been questioned, have long been prepared by 
 competent and responsible officers. In the official docu¬ 
 ments of the Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers, among 
 other important recommendations relating to various parts 
 of the metropolis, plans for the improvement of the following 
 localities, the present condition of which I have already 
 described, have been published. 
 
 1 . Report of Mr. Gotto, Assistant-surveyor to the Com¬ 
 missioners of Sewers, for the sanitary improvement of Jen- 
 nings’-buildings, Kensington; dated April 25th, 1849. 
 
 2 . Report on Church-lane and Carrier-street, St. Giles’s, by 
 Mr. Gotto; July 7th, 1849. 
 
 3. A preliminary Report on the “ Potteries,” Kensington, 
 by Mr. Lovick, Assistant-surveyor; 12 th March 1849. 
 
 4. Appendix to Report on Drainage of Potteries, by 
 Messrs. Austin, Lovick and Cresy; October 1849. 
 
 The scope of these plans, and the mode of putting them 
 into practical operation, may be gathered from the following 
 extracts taken from the recommendations contained in that 
 of Mr. Gotto, on Jennings’-buildings :— 
 
 1 . “That the old sewers and gullies be destroyed and 
 abandoned ; that a new system of tubular glazed stoneware 
 main sewer pipe be laid down, and that the expense of this 
 work be defrayed out of the district sewers rate. 
 
 2 . “ That the existing necessaries and dust-bins be re¬ 
 modelled, new necessaries and dust-bins constructed, and the 
 house-drains laid with glazed stoneware pipes into the main 
 sewer pipes described above ; that the expenses thus incurred 
 be paid by the owners as an improvement rate for 20 years. 
 
 3. “ That the whole of the above works, when in operation, 
 be placed under the charge of the flap-man of the district. 
 
 4. “ That 
 
39 
 
 Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis . 
 
 4. “That it be represented to the Board of Guardians and 
 to the Paving Board that the public safety demands this 
 place should have their peculiar attention and care; and 
 that under their directions the street paving, repairing, 
 sweeping, washing, and removal of dust and solid refuse 
 should be constantly and unremittingly performed. 
 
 5. “And, finally, I have to recommend that the necessary 
 forms of notices be prepared by the solicitor, and presented 
 to the next court ; and that when these are ready and 
 approved, the works be carried out.” 
 
 In Mr. Gotto’s plan, the following were the provisions for 
 maintaining the new necessaries in a cleanly and proper 
 condition : “New necessaries for the use of, and belonging 
 to, a certain number of houses, are proposed to be constructed 
 of hollow bricks, as being cheaper, lighter, and stronger than 
 brick-work. Ventilation will be provided by louvre boards 
 in door panels ; and light, by laying rough plate glass to 
 form the roof. A continuous tank of stoneware, similar to 
 the egg shape invert of a sewer, will be laid under the whole 
 length of the seats, with a good fall, at the lowest part of 
 which a valve is placed to flush out the contents through six- 
 inch pipes into the main sewer pipe ; an overflow is also pro¬ 
 vided, so as to admit of the water standing at a certain 
 height. 
 
 The necessity and expense of a water cistern is avoided. 
 This simple arrangement will be constructed in such a way 
 that the whole may be under the control of the flap-man at 
 present employed on the district, whose duty it will be to 
 turn on the water into the tank under the seat, and at 
 the same time, to flush away its contents into the main sewer 
 pipes. This operation will be performed once a day, or more 
 frequently in cases of emergency. The stopcock for the water 
 supply, and the valve for the discharge, will be accessible 
 only to him, and thus will be removed daily, by suspension in 
 water, that which now accumulates in a very short time, 
 produces dangerous consequences, is a fruitful source of dis¬ 
 ease and misery, and requires at short intervals an expen¬ 
 sive and disgusting mode of removal.” 
 
 It appears from Mr. Gotto’s report, that the facilities for 
 introducing these comprehensive improvements are unusually 
 great; he says, “ few places in the metropolis can be selected, 
 possessing the same local applicabilities, where the drainage 
 is more defective, and such improvement more eminently 
 required. 
 
 C 4 “Or 
 
40 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 “ Or where greater facilities are afforded for the introduc¬ 
 tion of a tubular system of drainage. 
 
 64 And for advantageously organizing the arrangements 
 for distributing the expense to be paid by the parties indi¬ 
 vidually benefited, over a series of years.” 
 
 Mr. Gotto estimates that the probable cost would be as 
 follows :— 
 
 For the whole of the works proposed to be defrayed by the 
 district sewers rate 261 l. ; besides this, there would be a 
 charge for each house of 4 /. 6 s. 5 d ., or if the works are 
 done by the Commissioners of Sewers, this would be reduced 
 to 2/. 17 s. 6 d. per house. “ If the principle of distribu¬ 
 tion of the expenses over a term of years (say 20) be adopted, 
 then, instead of an immediate outlay of 4 /. 6 s. 5 d. per 
 house, if the owners do the work, an average improvement 
 rate of only 4 s. 5 \ d. per annum would be required, or 
 about 1 d. per week per house.” 
 
 This report of Mr. Gotto is dated April 1849, so that 
 ample time has elapsed Tor the execution of the works re¬ 
 commended. Mr. Grant, one of the surveyors of the Com¬ 
 missioners of Sewers, having been asked within what time 
 Jacob’s Island, comprising an area of 50 acres, occupied by 
 upwards of 1,300 houses, might be placed in a good sanitary 
 condition, supposing that he had an order of the Court of 
 Sewers for the execution of the combined works of water 
 supply and drainage requisite for the purpose, replied, “ In 
 from three to four months.” It appears, that upon the 
 change of the first consolidated commission, several of these 
 important works were suspended, or were no longer effec¬ 
 tively prosecuted, and among the rest those relating to 
 Jennings’-buildings. It may be presumed that, if the cause 
 of the delay were any insufficiency of the existing powers, 
 the Legislature would earlier have remedied them; and 
 that the requisite works might have been obtained by 
 the efficient exercise of the compulsory process against the 
 owners. From whatever cause the obstruction to the execu¬ 
 tion of the measures elaborated by the Metropolitan Sani¬ 
 tary Commission originated, the effects, as the facts stated 
 in the present report show, have been most disastrous. On 
 the other hand, no one acquainted with the subject can 
 doubt that if these combined and efficient improvements 
 had been put into operation, that a vast amelioration would 
 have been wrought out in this most miserable and degraded 
 locality. If in Jennings’-buildings the improved drainage, 
 
 necessaries, 
 
4 * 
 
 Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. 
 
 necessaries, and dust-bins had been provided ; if “the whole of 
 the above works, when in operation/’ had been “ placed under 
 the charge of the flap-man of the district;” if “the street 
 paving, repairing, sweeping, washing, and removal of dust 
 and solid refuse” had been “constantly and unremittingly 
 performed;” if all this had been done, it would have been 
 impossible to have found, as I did find, at least a waggon 
 load of refuse lying in one street immediately in front of the 
 houses ; to have seen the few dust bins overfull, and remain¬ 
 ing, as the inhabitants stated, unemptied for three weeks ; to 
 have been shown the single public necessary that had been 
 provided, and to which men, women and children were 
 compelled in common to resort, covered in all directions by 
 excrement, and exhaling such horrible effluvia as to induce 
 sickness on approaching it, and so to poison the atmosphere 
 as to prove a nuisance even to the houses in the High-street of 
 Kensington ; it would, in fine, have been impossible for these 
 buildings to have remained, as they do remain, a disgrace to 
 the Metropolis, a nest for every form of destructive disease, 
 and a glaring instance of the impossibility of raising the 
 standard of morality in the midst of physical debasement. 
 
 Fortunately, we have not to rest either on bare speculations 
 or on mere assertions, as to what would have been the result 
 if these contemplated, but unrealized ameliorations had been 
 effected. It has been proved in the Report of the General 
 Board of Health on the Epidemic Cholera, that in the 
 Metropolis every efficient sanitary improvement has been 
 followed, as directly as cause arid effect, by a corresponding 
 decrease of sickness and mortality. There is no exception to 
 this rule; it applies to the courts, alleys, and houses occupied 
 by the industrious classes ; it applies to public institutions of 
 every kind ; to prisons, to hospitals, to lunatic asylums, and 
 above all to the establishments specially erected to test the 
 value of sanitary principles—to the model lodging-houses of 
 this Metropolis. In my report on Epidemic Cholera, it was 
 shown that out of 795 persons, inmates of these model build¬ 
 ings, only one had been attacked by the disease; whereas 
 among the population of London generally, one person in 75 
 was attacked. In the present report, more precise and ex¬ 
 tended results are given with respect to the amount of 
 general sickness and mortality in these admirable and elevat¬ 
 ing institutions, which, although they are susceptible of 
 further improvement, combine most of the requisites for 
 securing the health and comfort of the labouring population 
 —an ample supply of water, a water-closet, a contrivance for 
 
 the 
 
42 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 the immediate removal of dust and refuse, sufficient, clean, 
 and well-ventilated apartments. 
 
 Having carefully considered all the facts that have come 
 before my notice in the course of this inspection, I feel bound 
 to state that, according to my experience, resting as it does 
 on a large body of medical and other evidence, the public 
 health in London will never be essentially improved, so long 
 as in the absence of a general and effectual measure, so many 
 of the principal provisions designed for that object are left to 
 the administration of the Board of Guardians. The experi¬ 
 ence of the last three years has unmistakenly proved that 
 these authorities, either owing to the private interests which 
 prevail among them, to the want of the necessary knowledge, 
 or to the pressure of other duties, are totally unfitted to super¬ 
 vise and enforce the ameliorations demanded for the well¬ 
 being of the industrial classes. It is in vain that the Poor 
 Law surgeons have pointed out the sources of epidemic dis¬ 
 ease in the courts and alleys of the metropolis; it is in vain 
 that the official Reports of the General Board of Health have 
 established by a mass of facts that has never been equalled 
 and remains unassailed, the great principle that these dis¬ 
 eases, decimating, as they incessantly do, the poor, are capa¬ 
 ble of great diminution, if not with respect to some of them, 
 entire eradication; it is in vain that the Legislature has 
 provided means which, if not in all respects adequate to what 
 the vastness of the evii demands, would at least, if zealously 
 and fairly administered, work great amendment. All these 
 things have been done, and yet the general experience ob¬ 
 tained during the cholera, and the partial information acquired 
 by the present inspection, proclaims to all who do not wil¬ 
 fully close their eyes against the reception of truth, that 
 speaking of the metropolis generally, the sanitary enactments 
 of the Nuisances and Contagious Diseases Act have remained, 
 and continue to remain, a dead letter. 
 
 It may further be affirmed, as the fixed conviction of all 
 who are actually familiar with the deplorable condition of 
 the poor and crowded districts of London—of the clergy, of 
 religious visitors, of medical men, that to rescue the labour¬ 
 ing classes from their profound physical debasement, to save 
 them and their children from lingering sickness and pre¬ 
 mature death, to lessen crime, to diminish the poor-rates, 
 and to raise the standard of morality and religion, zealous, 
 sustained, and enlightened sanitary measures are indispensa¬ 
 ble. According to the existing system, when exceptionally 
 any efforts are made, they are prompted by the alarm of 
 
 some 
 
43 
 
 Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis . 
 
 some great outbreak of disease, or of some temporary pressure 
 of public opinion ; some of the more palpable of the evils are 
 for the time removed, and then the unwonted activity sub¬ 
 sides, and all relapses into what may be correctly termed the 
 normal condition, filth, misery, and disease. 
 
 It is not wished by these remarks to affirm that no efforts 
 have been made by the local authorities in any part of the 
 metropolis; one such instance came to my knowledge during 
 the present inspection, and has been already noticed. 
 
 There is also one other point to which I deem it right to 
 allude, the deep feeling of dissatisfaction, namely, which 
 prevails among the inhabitants of the neglected courts and 
 alleys of London. Although there are exceptions, especially 
 in such a case as the Potteries, where the supposed interests 
 of the inhabitants are connected with the preservation of the 
 existing evils, the poor as a body are vividly impressed with 
 the misery they endure, and with the sacrifice of health which 
 results from the foul and unwholesome condition of their 
 dwellings and the courts around them. No one ever visits 
 these afflicted localities with the view of ascertaining their 
 actual condition, without being overwhelmed with statements 
 and complaints from the unfortunate inhabitants illustrative 
 of their sufferings, and of their urgent desire to receive 
 efficient relief. 
 
 I cannot close this Report without tendering my thanks 
 to Mr. Gatcliff, honorary secretary of the Metropolitan 
 Association for Improving the Dwellings of the Industrious 
 Classes; and to Mr. Wood, secretary of the Society for 
 Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes, for the 
 facilities they afforded me in the prosecution of my inquiries. 
 To the several superintendents I am likewise indebted for 
 much valuable information. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 
 My Lords and Gentlemen, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 R. D . Grainger. 
 
 Appendix 
 
44 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 Appendix and Evidence. 
 
 Kensington , Jennings Buildings. —May 8, 1851. Mr. 
 JVoodcock , High-street, Kensington.—Is district visitor of 
 Jennings’-buildings. Knows the place well, and constantly 
 visits it. There have been some other visitors, ladies, &c.; 
 bnt they have given it up, owing principally to the solicita¬ 
 tion at their private residences. The system of visitation 
 was brought into operation by the Archdeacon Sinclair; 
 before it, the place was in an awful state, only one privy for 
 the whole buildings. 
 
 At present the condition of the buildings is most filthy and 
 neglected. There is a great want of proper privies, many of 
 them are in a very filthy and disgusting state. The smell is 
 most offensive; perceives it in his own garden, which abuts 
 on the buildings. There is one public privy, which is in a 
 most disgusting state ; it is a disgrace to any civilized com¬ 
 munity. Owing to the want of privies, the people, in some 
 parts, throw excrements into the streets. Some of the houses 
 have no privies at all. There are some dust bins ; but these 
 are not emptied sufficiently often, and are not in sufficient 
 number for so large a population. At this time they are 
 overfull. 
 
 In the streets and courts there are heaps and accumulations 
 of mud, vegetable refuse, &c.; the water also, in these places 
 being obstructed by the accumulations, collects in the gut¬ 
 ters. 
 
 There is no inspector of nuisances at present. While he 
 continued in office the buildings were kept in a much better 
 state, the filth was swept away frequently, and occasionally 
 the parish engine washed out the place. What is wanted is 
 a constant supervision. If a complaint is made, the place is 
 cleansed for a time, and then again neglected. 
 
 Many of the houses are in a very filthy state, and want 
 lime-washing and cleansing. Some are greatly overcrowded ; 
 has known 13 or 14 persons in one small room. 
 
 It is impossible to expect any improvement in the moral 
 and religious condition of the people so long as the physical 
 state continues to be so degraded ; this is his strong feeling. 
 Has made representations to the local authorities, but without 
 success. Advised that the houses should be lime-washed and 
 kept in proper order, and other necessary improvements. 
 
 “ The 
 
Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis . 45 
 
 “ The Potteries ,” Kensington .—April 26, 1851. The Rev. 
 W. H. Ibotson , Norland-square.—Is incumbent of St. James’, 
 Notting-hill. The sanitary state of the Potteries, which is in 
 his district, is very defective; and as a consequence of the 
 physical degradation, the people are debased as to their 
 morals, and obstinately refuse all improvement. He formerly 
 spent much time in the locality, and his curate does so at 
 present; but it is all in vain and most discouraging—the 
 people love darkness as they love filth. 
 
 In his house they experience the inconvenience of the 
 Potteries ; after rain in warm weather a disagreeable smell is 
 perceived. His house is about 600 or 700 yards from the 
 Potteries. Is a member of the Local Sanitary Association. 
 Repeated efforts have been made to get rid of the nuisance, 
 but unavailingly, as the guardians will not act. The property 
 is deteriorated owing to this nuisance. 
 
 C. M. Frost , Esq.—Is the medical officer of the district of 
 Kensington parish in which “ the Potteries” is situated. 
 The pigs remain, but in diminished number. The “ Ocean” 
 remains in the same state as formerly. The process of fat¬ 
 boiling is continued as usual. There is a Local Sanitary 
 Association in the district, and an application was made 
 through their honorary secretary to Mr. Painter, the magis¬ 
 trate, to put a stop to the fat-boiling; but he stated that he 
 could not act unless the subject were brought before him 
 officially, that is, by the guardians. The guardians refused 
 to act on his (Mr. Frost’s) certificate; they will only do so 
 on the application of two householders complaining of the 
 nuisance, and these will not come forward, as they are either 
 interested or intimidated. 
 
 The Commissioners of Sewers laid down sewers in the Pot¬ 
 teries about two months ago ; but they will not allow the 
 houses to be drained into them, because no water is laid on ; 
 nor will they allow gulley-holes to be made, because the 
 roads are in such bad order. If the parish would repair the 
 roads then the gulley*holes would be made. 
 
 The Grand Junction Water Company have supplied a few 
 houses with water, and they would proceed if the owners 
 would pay. 
 
 Gas has been laid on in the Potteries. 
 
 On the whole, the sanitary state of the Potteries is quite 
 as bad, if not worse, than it was before the cholera ; indeed, 
 the whole parish remains unimproved. In Uxbridge-street 
 is attending five children in one family with typhus; there 
 is a foul privy adjoining the next house, common to five 
 
 houses. 
 
46 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 houses. The privies in Camden-place are foul; there is 
 much sickness and fever there, owing, in his opinion, to this 
 cause ; never knew so much sickness as there was a month 
 ago. In Camden-place there are several houses of which the 
 lower rooms are unfit for habitation. In Peel-street is a 
 house enormously crowded with Irish, and fever always pre¬ 
 vails in it. It is vain to attempt the removal of these great 
 nuisances, as he has no power, and the guardians will not 
 act. He sees these evils, but has given up all attempts to 
 rectify them. One great defect of the Nuisances and Con¬ 
 tagious Diseases Act is the want of a penalty for the removal 
 of a nuisance ; this renders the Act inoperative. As an 
 instance, he would mention the case of a man living in 
 Rabbit-row 7 ; he kept one or two pigs, and the magistrate 
 having given an order for their removal, w 7 hich was in this 
 instance effectual, the gentlemen who had exerted themselves 
 to obtain the removal, as a matter of charity, and to prevent 
 him being a loser, gave the man 2 a part of which he laid 
 out in buying another pig, which he still keeps. 
 
 Church-lane, fyc.,St. Giles's.— April 24, 1851. Evidence 
 of Dr. Pidduck, Physician to the Bloomsbury Dispensary.— 
 Has lately visited the district adjoining the Rookery, the 
 principal part of which place was removed to make room for 
 New Oxford-street. In the part now remaining, with the 
 exception that the street is better cleansed, there has been no 
 general improvement in the sanitary condition; the state of 
 the dwellings and courts is as bad as formerly. There has 
 been a change in the diet of the poor in this district; less 
 animal and more vegetable food is consumed, owing, as he 
 thinks, to the fact that the amount of bad meat, &c., now 
 sold is less than formerly, greater efforts having been made 
 to prevent the sale of food unfit for use. Thinks that the 
 decrease of putrid fevers which has taken place, and the 
 increase of intermittent fevers of late years, may be owing to 
 this change of diet. It is certain that since the Rookery 
 w r as pulled down the typhus and petechial fever formerly 
 prevalent has greatly decreased; and yet some of the worse 
 parts yet remain. There has been a large amount of inter¬ 
 mittent fever in the district. He has made express inquiries 
 and has ascertained that some of these patients had not been 
 out of London. Saw yesterday a case of ague in a person 
 who had not been out of the district. Has paid considerable 
 attention to the influence of polluted water in inducing inter¬ 
 mittent fever, and published observations on “ Malaqua” in 
 the “ Lancet ” four or five years ago. Was led to the con¬ 
 clusion 
 
47 
 
 Agar Town, and other parts of the Metropolis. 
 
 elusion that ague might be caused merely by persons drink- 
 ing the water of a marshy district. 
 
 Influence of Stables .— Has seen much sickness in families 
 living over stables; pulmonary diseases prevail in these 
 dwellings, especially among the children and young persons. 
 
 Church-lane, fyc., St. Giles's. —Evidence of W. W. Lloyd, 
 Esq., Resident Surgeon of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 24 
 i\pril 1851.—There has been some improvement as to inter¬ 
 nal cleansing by landlords, but totally insufficient. The 
 scavenging is also better done since the cholera ; formerly 
 heaps accumulated in Church-lane ; at present it is swept 
 daily. There are in the district many common lodging- 
 houses which are in a very bad state ; the stairs and walls 
 are very dirty ; these houses are in a shocking state, owing 
 to the want of privies and drainage. Saw, last week, the 
 passages strewed with excrement; there is a want of scaveng¬ 
 ing, and consequently there is a great quantity of refuse, 
 especially in the back yards, which are made a kind of depdt 
 of fecal and vegetable matter. In going into these houses is 
 obliged, owing to the stench, to go first of all and open the 
 window ; the people who live in these dwellings actually 
 stink, owing to the foetid atmosphere in which they live. 
 Some of the common lodging-houses have been improved ; 
 others not at all. Occasional cases of ague have occurred 
 during the whole time he has been attached to the dispen¬ 
 sary, 14 years; formerly there were few cases, but during 
 the last three years there has been a decided increase ; never 
 recollects so many cases. The disease also now attacks per¬ 
 sons of all ages, as young as 12 ; this was not so formerly. 
 Many persons who have been working some time previously 
 in the marshy districts of Kent and Essex, hop-picking, pea¬ 
 picking, &c., are attacked; but some cases have originated 
 in the district, occurring in persons who have not been out 
 of London at all; is certain of this point. The cases occur 
 in the worst class of houses ; all of them come from Church- 
 street, George-street, Ivy-lane, and other streets adjoining; 
 these are all close together ; could throw a net over the whole 
 affected locality. Has known no fatal case of ague; but 
 some of the persons go away, and the result is not known. 
 In some the health is affected by the fever; grown-up men 
 and women come to the dispensary year after year with it. 
 The duration of the illness is, on an average, about 10 days; 
 during this time the people attacked usually discontinue 
 their work. Typhus has of late years much decreased in 
 
 this 
 
4 S 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 this district, and has been replaced by ague. But continued 
 fever still occurs ; saw two cases of it in a common Irish 
 lodging-house ; he saw here in one small room nine persons, 
 and the two children lying ill with the fever. His experience 
 leads him to conclude that the neglected sanitary state of the 
 district is the cause of the large amount of fever now pre¬ 
 valent. 
 
 Mr. Robinson , Clerk to the Guardians of St. Giles’s.—Fre¬ 
 quent representations have been made by the guardians to 
 the Commissioners of Sewers, urging the necessity of improv¬ 
 ing the drainage of Church-lane. The Commissioners have 
 made sewers, and are providing a supply of water and pipes, 
 so that each house shall be provided with a separate water- 
 closet. Several owners of houses in Church-lane and parts 
 adjoining have been summoned by the guardians for neglect¬ 
 ing to keep their houses in a proper state. There is a sepa¬ 
 rate Paving Board, which has the superintendence of cleans¬ 
 ing the streets and courts. 
 
 Jacob's Island , Bermondsey. —April 28, 1851. C. Martin , 
 esq., medical officer of the district, and registrar of births 
 and deaths.—Improvements are contemplated at Jacob’s 
 Island. The Commissioners of Sewers are negotiating with 
 the owner of the mill stream for its purchase, with the view 
 of tilling it up; the Commissioners for the improvement of 
 Bermondsey are to contribute towards the expense. Within 
 the last two years, the owners of several houses have supplied 
 water to their tenants from the Water Company. This 
 amelioration is unquestionably due to the public inquiries of 
 late years. Some of the inhabitants of Jacob’s Island still 
 use and drink the water of the tidal ditch. Has seen, espe¬ 
 cially during the last three years, many cases of imperfect 
 ague, shivering, brow-ague, &c.; the latter is occasionally 
 severe, and has occurred in persons who have not quitted the 
 locality. There are some few swampy places within half a 
 mile of this district, but they do not suffer from ague more 
 than elsewhere. In 1849, saw from one of the worst spots of 
 Jacob’s Island, nine houses, in each of which at the time 
 there was a cholera corpse. Had a decided case of cholera 
 here about a fortnight ago ; the man recovered; there was 
 no bile or urine. Has eight or nine cases of diarrhoea in the 
 island at present. Some of the people are much demora¬ 
 lized. There are hawkers of fish living here, and occasion¬ 
 ally, when they have not sold all their stock, these people 
 put the fish which remain into the filthy ditch to keep them 
 moist till the next day. 
 
Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. 49 
 
 Agar Town , St. Pancras. —May 9, 1851. Mr. Roll: Is 
 registrar of births and deaths of the district. He was ap¬ 
 pointed in 1849, by the guardians, inspector of nuisances for 
 the whole parish of St. Pancras ; a second inspector was also 
 appointed for a short time. His own appointment closed in 
 January 1850. During the time he held the office, was 
 actively engaged in the removal of nuisances, and promoting 
 cleausing, and by these means, a great improvement was 
 effected. He received many applications from persons com¬ 
 plaining of nuisances, &c. In most cases, by conciliatory 
 conduct, he was able to induce the landlords to rectify the 
 evil; in some few cases, had to proceed before the magis¬ 
 trates. In many instances, pigs were removed; found no 
 difficulty in effecting this, the magistrates always granting 
 an order for removal. Whilst in office, found the Nuisances 
 Removal Act sufficient. General satisfaction was given, 
 and even the landlords, when the subject was properly ex¬ 
 plained, were willing to improve. Since he ceased to act as 
 inspector, he has continued to receive applications from per¬ 
 sons complaining of nuisances, but he could not assist them. 
 There is no real inspector of nuisances at this time, nor any 
 means of removing nuisances. 
 
 The bad parts of this district, Agar-town, Paradise-court, 
 &c., are in as bad a state as ever; the drainage and filth 
 remain as formerly. The open ditch in Winchester-terrace, 
 receives the drains from the houses opposite. One improve¬ 
 ment has been effected in Paradise-court, where, owing to his 
 representations, water has been supplied to the houses. 
 
 Finds that there is more sickness and mortality in the 
 filthy parts of his district, where the sanitary state is neg¬ 
 lected. Made an inquiry into the deaths of different parts 
 of the district, and found that, proportionally, the deaths 
 were much higher in the parts just noticed ; there is consider¬ 
 able infantile mortality, and much sickness. 
 
 Metropolitan Buildings , St. Pancras-road.— Mr. Candland: 
 Is collector. Number of sets of chambers, 110. 
 
 Classes and Rent. 
 
 1. One large room, with conveniences, namely, a scul¬ 
 lery, a cistern for water, coal-box, water-closet, 
 dust shaft, and sink, and kitchen range, 3 s. per 
 week. 
 
 388 . 
 
 D 
 
 2. Two 
 
50 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 2. Two rooms, with same conveniences, according to 
 size, 35., 35. 6 6/., 45., 4 5. 3</., 4s. 6 d ., and 55. 
 per week. 
 
 3. Three rooms, from 45. 6 d. to 65. 6d. per week. 
 
 Total inmates—Men, 108 ; women, 111 ; children, 362 : 
 581. 
 
 This rather less than average. 
 
 A registry of sickness and deaths has been kept since 
 August 6, 1849. 
 
 No cholera occurred. 
 
 From August 6, 1849, to May 31, 1851, the deaths 
 amount to 24. 
 
 From May 30, 1850, to May 30, 1851, 4. 
 
 Deaths under five years, 10. 
 
 Low fever, 1. 
 
 Total cases of sickness from August 6, 1849, requiring 
 medical advice, 37. 
 
 Sickness from June 1, 1850, to May 30, 1851, 8. 
 
 The inmates are very healthy. Has often heard the 
 mothers say that their families were more healthy since they 
 have been here. Many have expressed their satisfaction 
 with the establishment, and that they have more conveniences 
 than they had elsewhere. Some who had left have returned, 
 finding the accommodation better. 
 
 As to rank of life, the inmates consist principally of well- 
 ordered mechanics, such as carpenters, painters, jewellers, 
 compositors, printers, &c. ; some few clerks, collectors, &c. 
 The adults are sober and well conducted ; only four cases of 
 misconduct, all drunkenness, have occurred since opening. 
 
 All the chambers are occupied excepting three sets; 
 sometimes they are quite full, and obliged to refuse applica¬ 
 tions. If it were not that sometime is occupied in cleaning 
 the vacated chambers, they would always be full. 
 
 The dust is removed regularly twice a-week ; they have to 
 pay 15 . per week, because, by contract, the dustmen are only 
 required to come once a-week. 
 
 Mrs.-: Has three rooms ; pays 45. 6 d. a week. Has 
 
 eight children. They are comfortable here, or they should 
 not have remained ; has been here three years. At first they 
 suffered in their health, which they attributed to a bad smell 
 from the water-closet. This defect has since been removed, 
 and their health has very much improved since; there is 
 now no smell, or anything to complain of. Before she came 
 
 here 
 
Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis . 5.1 
 
 here had a small house ; knows that they could not have so 
 many comforts elsewhere as at this place. 
 
 Mrs.-: Has been more than three years ; rents three 
 
 rooms; pays 4,?. 6cl. She likes all the arrangements very 
 much, except that she wants the use of a wash-house; she 
 goes to the public wash-house in the Hampstead-road. Lived 
 formerly in lodgings in this neighbourhood ; had two rooms; 
 paid 5s.; had to go down stairs for water ; the privy was foul; 
 they were greatly annoyed by a place at the back where 
 some people prepared paunches, &c., for tripe, and where 
 butchers, having no place of their own, slaughtered animals; 
 the smell, owing to this, was very bad, and the maggots 
 crawled about, so that when she went into the back yard to 
 wash, she was prevented, and was obliged to give it up. 
 When she lived in these lodgings, although the smells were 
 so bad, they did not so much mind it; but after they had 
 been some time at the Metropolitan Buildings, she called to 
 see her old landlady, and found the smell so bad she could 
 not bear to remain. She thinks if there were another esta¬ 
 blishment like this, it would be filled. Has five children; 
 all the family have good health. 
 
 Mrs.-: Has been here three years; has two rooms 
 
 and scullery; rent, 3s. Finds all very convenient; the 
 range, the boiler, and the water laid on : “ has heard every 
 one say they like the place, especially those who have 
 families.” The arrangements at this place save her a great 
 deal of trouble ; she has everything at hand and has no 
 occasion to go down stairs except when going out; the baker, 
 the butcher, milkman, &c., all call at her door. Before she 
 Came here, lived in a small house or cottage with two rooms, 
 of about the same size as those she now occupies ; this was 
 in a court, St. Pancras-road; paid 45. 6d ; there were no 
 back windows. In the court there were nine cottages; and 
 for these there were two water-butts sunk in the ground; the 
 water was sometimes very foul; on one occasion they found 
 a dead cat in one of the butts. There was one privy for all 
 the nine houses; it was in a very foul state and very un¬ 
 pleasant for females. Knows many people living in different 
 parts of London ; they complain of the bad smell from the 
 drains, privies, &c.: “ it is enough to knock you down; it is 
 really dreadful in some of the lodgings and houses where 
 she goes.” Thinks those people would be glad to have such 
 establishments as these. She and her family have had good 
 health since they have been here. 
 
 d 2 
 
 Mrs. 
 
52 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 Mrs.-: Has three rooms; pays 45. 6d. ; has three 
 
 children. She likes everything except that there is no 
 copper for washing; used to go to Hampstead-road baths and 
 wash-houses; we found it too far, and could not go on with 
 it; they want baths and wash-houses for this establishment ; 
 both she and her husband would be glad to pay for the use 
 of them. 
 
 {Note. —These rooms are beautifully neat; the sitting- 
 room nicely papered, with good furniture, framed 
 medallions on the walls, books, &c.; this set of rooms 
 is quite sufficient for any gentleman.) 
 
 Mrs.-: Has three rooms; pays 6s. 6d. Everything 
 
 is so convenient that she would rather have these rooms than 
 a separate house, as they are let. One great thing is the 
 abundant supply of water; they have a large tub, and they 
 all use it, her husband, self, and children, every morning to 
 wash. She has lived formerly in a separate house and also 
 in lodgings ; would rather live here ; owing to circumstances, 
 they left the establishment for a time, but they came back 
 again because they preferred rooms like these. Has three 
 children ; all the family have good health : “ never want the 
 doctor.” 
 
 Mr. C. D.: Is a clerk in a public office ; rents three rooms 
 in the Model Buildings, Old Pancras-road ; pays 5 5. 3 d. a 
 week, or 13/. 13 5. per annum. Thinks the rent is too high 
 for the accommodation. 
 
 Iiis apartments are at the top of the house, which he pre¬ 
 fers, as they are quieter and more airy. 
 
 In some of the sets of chambers, the water-closet opens 
 into the sitting-room ; this is an objectionable plan. By 
 proper management, and especially by the free use of water, 
 all smell from the closet is prevented. The dust-shaft is a 
 source of annoyance, owing to the upward draught; this is so 
 great, that in the winter the little iron flap plays up and 
 down; and sometimes on throwing down ashes, dust will 
 return ; thinks this defect might be rectified by a valve open¬ 
 ing downward, allowing the dust, &c. to pass, but preventing 
 all return. 
 
 As far as his means of observation extend, and he has 
 made inquiries, the health of the inmates is very good. There 
 has been no epidemic or contagious disease in the buildings; 
 his own family has had good health since residing here. 
 One circumstance which indicates the good health of the in¬ 
 mates came to his knowledge: a friend of his, a chemist and 
 
 druggist 
 
Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis. 53 
 
 druggist, thought that as there were so many (110) families 
 living in the buildings, it would be a good speculation to 
 open a druggist’s shop in the vicinity ; he took a house in 
 Pratt-street, directly opposite the establishment, where he 
 remained 15 months; but he found the undertaking so un¬ 
 profitable that he left, having found a successor, who also soon 
 quitted, and the place is now converted into a provision shop. 
 
 Viewing the establishment as a whole, it presents many 
 advantages. Among these are— 
 
 1. The entire seclusion afforded to each family; this 
 relates to the separate entrance, by which each set of rooms 
 are as quiet and distinct as if they consisted of a separate 
 house in a street; to the possession of a separate water-closet; 
 and to the distinct water supply. 
 
 2. The ample water supply. 
 
 3. The provision of a water-closet instead of a privy. 
 
 4. The facility for the removal of the dust and refuse. 
 
 It is a moral good, that the mother of the family having so 
 little occasion to quit her rooms, that constant intercourse 
 and communication or gossiping, which, under the ordinary 
 arrangements, so often leads to quarrelling, is entirely pre¬ 
 vented. Each family is distinct; and he has often remarked 
 in his staircase that the doors are always closed. The 
 inmates are very well ordered and conducted. The staircase 
 is quiet, as it is against the rules for children to play there, 
 and the people in this respect are a police to themselves, all 
 being by them kept quiet. The staircase is maintained in a 
 very clean state, the tenants sharing the work in common. 
 
 Metropolitan Buildings , Albert-street .—Mr. Ware, Super¬ 
 in ten dent. 
 
 Sets of rooms for families, 60. Let, at this time, 52. Rent, 
 from 5 s. to 6 s. a week. 
 
 Lodgings for single men, accommodate 234. On average, 
 at this time, about 120. Rent, 35. a week. 
 
 The families consist of— 
 
 Men ----- 58 
 
 Women ----- 59 
 
 Children - - - - 144 
 
 Total - - - 261 
 
 Single men - - - - 120 
 
 Attendants and families - 7 
 
 Total - - - 388 
 
 The 
 
54 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 The establishment has been opened for families 12 months, 
 and for single men a year and a half. 
 
 The numbers,both of familiesand single men,have gradually 
 increased; the department for families progresses more favour¬ 
 ably than for single men ; the families have mostly remained ; 
 those who have left, for the most part have done so because 
 they were about taking houses or shops. The tenants (fami¬ 
 lies) are mechanics, warehousemen, custom-house officers, 
 &c. There have been no deaths in the chambers, and very 
 little sickness. The families are very healthy ; there has 
 been no typhus or low fever. One woman has died and one 
 child, 15 months, from measles: the former was aged 60. 
 The inmates are generally well conducted, and pay pretty 
 regularly. 
 
 Collects the rents of the 12 houses in Pelham-street, and 
 10 houses in Pleasant-row, Mile End Town. The Associa¬ 
 tion has had these from October 1st last. All the houses are 
 let. The Pleasant row houses have been drained and cleansed. 
 The number of inmates is not limited. 
 
 Mrs.-: Has three rooms; pays 55. 6d .; likes them 
 
 very much, because they are clean and quiet, and to your¬ 
 self; if you are in lodgings, and you clean the place, others 
 may not; likes these better than a small house; had one 
 near here with four rooms and a kitchen ; rent was 7 5 . In 
 lodgings you have to carry all the water up, and the slops 
 down. Finds the rooms pleasant, they are well ventilated ; 
 she lives at the top ; does not mind this, because she has 
 very little need to go down. She bakes her own bread ; in 
 lodgings there is no range. They have always plenty of 
 water, and wdien there is a family it is very handy. Her 
 family is very well. The common stairs are cleaned in turn ; 
 some will not do this. 
 
 Mr. —: Is a shoemaker. Has three rooms in area. 
 Formerly had a small house with three rooms; paid 4 5. 
 Here pays 45. 8 d. Finds this much better, it answers his 
 purpose better to pay 8 d. more; has always before had bad 
 health every summer; has never had such good health as 
 since he has been here ; his friends have noticed it. Many 
 of the houses are tumble-down places, the privies are filthy. 
 Here the w 7 ater-closets is a great comfort, &c. From bad 
 health he has got behindhand ; since he has been here, gets 
 on better, has more strength. 
 
 Streatkam - 
 
55 
 
 Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis . 
 
 Streatham-street. —May 31, 1851. Mr. Cunnington l Su¬ 
 perintendent. Opened in June 1850. 
 
 Number of families, 48. 
 
 Each set has two or three rooms. 
 
 Rent for two rooms, 45. and 5 s. per week. 
 
 Rent for three rooms, 6 s. per week. 
 
 There are three houses with larger rooms, at 7 5. 
 
 Inmates, about 240 ; of these 140 were children. 
 
 All the apartments were occupied as soon as they were 
 finished ; several changes have taken place, three owing to 
 intoxication. There have been more applications than could 
 be supplied ; thinks there are at this time as many as would 
 fill another house as large as this. Those who apply say they 
 wish to come because they have heard the apartments are 
 more airy, and with better accommodation altogether; they 
 complain of many things in their present lodgings, of the 
 filthy state, of the want of all convenience, of the exorbitant 
 rent; has known a man pay 45. for a moderate sized room, 
 with no conveniences ; for 45. here he would have two 
 rooms, a scullery, water-closet, water-cistern, and a supply 
 every morning; a dust-shaft; a range with an oven and 
 boiler ; the use of a wash-house and drying ground ; for this 
 id. per hour is paid ; hot water ad libitum , the use of utensils 
 being provided; the children have the use of a play-ground. 
 All the rooms are ventilated. 
 
 The tenants are principally mechanics, printers, carpenters, 
 carvers and gilders, &c. ; a few clerks, &c. They are all 
 very well conducted ; there is no trouble, no annoyance as to 
 management. Among the adults, no deaths have taken 
 place; two young infants of the tenants, and three more 
 infants have died. There is very little sickness among the 
 inmates ; there was an attack of scarlatina in the winter, 
 four children; they wanted no medical assistance. There 
 has been no typhus or ague. Coals are supplied at a fixed 
 price by the society. 
 
 Mrs.-: Has three rooms; rent Is. ; formerly had a 
 
 second floor, with two good-sized rooms, and a third not 
 large enough for a bed room ; paid 18 /. a year ; had to carry 
 up the water ; there was a privy, no water-closet; had no 
 ranges; bakes now ; range warms the room well; used to 
 put her washing out, because her health was not good ; she 
 and her family have been all much better since they have 
 been here; she has now excellent health. Had another set of 
 
 rooms 
 
56 Report on the Sanitary Condition oj 
 
 rooms just the same as above; paid 20 /. a year; this in a 
 street near Red Lion-square; that is the common rent in that 
 neighbourhood. The rooms here are fresher and cleaner. 
 
 Mrs.-: Has three rooms ; rent 6 s. ; could not get as 
 
 good as these, with all accommodation, for less than 10 s. 
 In King-street, near, they asked, for a kitchen and two par¬ 
 lours, 9s.; the two parlours were little larger, if at all, than 
 her present rooms; the kitchen was underground ; there 
 was a range, and water laid on. Has good health, and her 
 children. 
 
 Model Buildings , Bagnigge Wells. —Mrs. Davies , wife of 
 collector. There are 23 sets of rooms for families, consisting 
 of two or three rooms each. 
 
 Rent of two rooms is 3 s. 6d. 
 
 Three rooms, 6s. 
 
 There is a sink to each ; water laid on ; and water-closet; 
 a separate entrance. There is, for the families, one common 
 wash-house and a drying ground ; so that all the washing is 
 done here. The set of rooms, or houses, are all full; has 
 many applications for houses from mechanics, &c. There 
 are few’ changes; several families have been here from 
 opening, about five years. There are continual expressions 
 of satisfaction from tenants. 
 
 There are 30 single rooms for aged females ; rent is Is. 4 d. 
 a week; always full. They express themselves grateful for 
 the comforts they enjoy. They have a separate washing- 
 house. 
 
 Has been here 12 months in June; there have been no 
 deaths since ; there has been no case of fever. Has only 
 known one case of sickness; this w r as a bad cold among the 
 children of one of the families. The people are w^eli con¬ 
 ducted, clean, sober, and industrious; has only had one 
 cause of complaint on this head. 
 
 Mrs.-: Has two rooms; rent 35 . 6d.; has six chil¬ 
 
 dren ; health of the family is pretty good. The set of rooms 
 is on the first floor; but they have a separate entrance door 
 and staircase. There is a small room, or scullery, where the 
 sink is, and also water-closet; has a range, a water-closet, 
 and water laid on. Her rooms have back windows, “even 
 in the water-closet.” She has a place provided for coals, 
 which will hold half a ton ; this is the quantity they buy, 
 
Agar Town, and other parts of the Metropolis. 57 
 
 and she finds a saving by this ; in former lodgings had no 
 place for keeping coals, and so was obliged to buy them by 
 the hundred, which is a dear way. lias been in these 
 buildings five years ; has always lived in London. Formerly 
 had two rooms in Margaret-street, Bagnigge Wells-road ; 
 the rooms were less than those she now has ; paid 5 s. 6d .; 
 had no range ; there was no scullery or back kitchen as there 
 is here ; there was a water-butt; the privy was in the yard ; 
 there were bad smells. In her present apartments the water- 
 closet adjoins scullery; but they prefer it to having one 
 detached, and in common with two or three sets of rooms, 
 because it is kept to themselves ; and having plenty of water 
 there are no bad smells. The water being laid on is very 
 convenient; as she lives up stairs, this saves carrying water. 
 Has more convenience here than when she paid 5 s. Gd. It 
 would be a great convenience if they could have a small 
 fireplace in the scullery, because, in the summer, the sitting- 
 room becomes so hot with the range ; has been obliged to go 
 down stairs and sit at the door owing to the heat. They are 
 annoyed by the privies of the adjoining houses, they are 
 close under their windows ; but this they cannot complain 
 of, because they do not belong to this establishment. There 
 is a washhouse provided, and also a drying place. 
 
 Mrs*-: Has a distinct house with three rooms; rent 
 
 fis ; there is a small yard at the back, where her husband 
 has some flowers ; he is fond of them, and attends to them 
 when he conies in in the evening. Before they came here 
 had lodgings; paid 4s. 6d. for two rooms on the second 
 floor; there was no range or other convenience ; she had to 
 carry all the water up, and all the slops, &c., down stairs. 
 Finds their present house much more comfortable. 
 
 (Note. —This and the adjoining houses, which are 
 separate residences, have a very neat appearance ; they 
 have knockers, and are neatly kept.) 
 
 Mrs.-: Is a widow, and occupies a single room ; pays 
 
 Is. Gd. There is a wash-house and a drying place. Before 
 she came here lived in a single room, and although it was 
 upstairs, paid 3s. for it. She had then to go into the yard 
 for water; and there was no place for washing except the 
 room. 
 
 Mrs. --: Is a widow ; pays 1 s. 6 d.; formerly has paid 
 
 2 s. for a single room, and that at the top of the house. 
 
 388. E Renovated 
 
58 
 
 Report on the Sanitary Condition of 
 
 Renovated Model Lodging-house, Charles-street, Drury- 
 lane , opened May 1847.—Mr. Henry Aldell, Superintendent. 
 
 No. of beds 82. 
 
 Generally full. 
 
 Charge, by week 2 s., or fortnight 4 s. 
 
 For this charge they have soap for personal washing, and 
 salt. The people wash a good deal. 
 
 Nightly lodgers are received. Many (25) have been here 
 two and three years. 
 
 Some of the lodgers do not like it to be known that they 
 live here ; these are persons who have been in better circum¬ 
 stances ; does not hear of any objection among mechanics as 
 to the name; they have their letters directed to the house. 
 The lodgers are mechanics, travellers and persons from the 
 country. There is very little sickness; the doctor very sel¬ 
 dom has occasion to come ; considering the time the house 
 has been opened, it can hardly be said there is any sickness. 
 There have been three deaths from opening; one, an old 
 man, from age ; a second was a man who had been here a 
 week ; he died suddenly, in half an hour, from a kind of a 
 fit; the third person did not die here; he was taken to the 
 infirmary ; he was ill when he came to the house. There 
 has been no death the last two years. There has been no 
 case of fever. Has often had more applications than there 
 were beds, as many as a dozen. Has no difficulty in keeping 
 up proper order; if the inmates do not behave themselves 
 they are not allowed to remain : this has not often happened. 
 
 Mr.-: Has been an inmate of the house in Charles- 
 
 street, with occasional intervals of absence, from the opening, 
 four years ago. Has been engaged hi improvements in 
 mechanics. Considering the amount of payment, the accom¬ 
 modation is good. Several of the lodgers have been there 
 nearly as long as himself; they like the place, and say it is 
 convenient and comfortable. Several since they have been 
 here have improved in their habits and manners, which he 
 attributes to the well-ordered arrangements of the establish¬ 
 ment, and the example set by others of the lodgers who had 
 been in a better state of life; there are rules posted up as to 
 conduct and language, and some have been dismissed, and 
 this may have operated ; but whatever is the cause, the 
 lodgers of the lower class do not use bad language or mis¬ 
 conduct themselves ; the general conduct of the lodgers at 
 present is very respectable indeed. Some are dav labourers, 
 
 others 
 
Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis . 59 
 
 others mechanics, some selling various articles in the streets, 
 &c. ; some are grooms, coachmen, and others seeking situa¬ 
 tions. The general health of the inmates is very good. 
 There is always plenty of water for washing; the rooms are 
 kept clean, but the bed-rooms require more ventilation; in 
 the morning, some of the rooms with low ceilings are close 
 and oppressive on going into them after they have been 
 occupied. 
 
 Model Lodging-house, George-street, opened May 1848.— 
 Mr. IV . Taylor, Superintendent. Average number of lodgers, 
 102. Total beds, 103. Per bed per night, 4 d. 
 
 The beds are always occupied, the vacancies being filled 
 immediately. There must be one or tv^o occasionally empty 
 for a time, because at the end of the week perhaps there are 
 some who cannot pay their rent, and so are discharged. 
 During the last 12 months, as appears from the register, the 
 numbers have always been 102 and 103. There are always 
 more applications than vacancies, five or six to one. Some 
 of the lodgers have been here since the opening, others two 
 years. They seldom change, except when the men go into 
 the country or some distant part of the town. Some few 
 have been dismissed ; . intemperance and filthy habits are 
 the two principal causes ; the men leave with reluctance. 
 There are but very few cases of misconduct; has little or no 
 difficulty in managing the establishment. 
 
 The lodgers consist of mechanics of different trades, gen¬ 
 tlemen’s servants out of employ, persons coming from the 
 country seeking employment, and some few persons of a 
 higher class, having a small income, as clerks, decayed 
 tradesmen, and there are several Irish, about 20 per cent. 
 
 There is very little sickness among the inmates, not more 
 than two cases in six months. Cases of a serious character 
 are sent to an hospital. There have been only two deaths in 
 the house since the opening. There has been no case of fever 
 since the opening, nor any case of ague. The surgeon has 
 not been here for the last three or four months. In many 
 instances men who, when they first came were negligent as 
 to cleanliness, have greatly improved in this respect; others 
 who indulged in drink, and some so much so that he thought 
 he must discharge them, have reformed, and indeed become 
 among the best of the lodgers. The inmates generally retain 
 their situations; many are depositors in savings’ banks. Has 
 known several who have married and done well; does not 
 recollect a case where matters turned out otherwise. 
 
 Mr. 
 
60 Report:—Agar Town , and other parts of the Metropolis . 
 
 Mr.-—: Is a tailor, lias been here three years ; likes it 
 
 very much, there is every convenience a man can wish for. 
 
 Mr.-: Is a mechanic; pays 25. 4 d. a-week ; has been 
 
 here four months; lodged 16 months at Paddington, at a 
 clean and respectable lodging-house; slept in a room with 
 two beds, each with two persons; paid there 4 d. a night; 
 likes this place, and thinks no reasonable man can object to 
 the rules. Knows a public-house at Paddington where as 
 many as 40 persons have slept, each paying 4 d.\ some of 
 the beds had two, and others three people in each. 
 
 Mr.-: It is a pity there are not more model houses, 
 
 as there are more applicants than can be accommodated. 
 
 Soho Chambers. —The Superintendent states they can ac¬ 
 commodate 125 lodgers and 3 attendants. At this time 
 there are six vacancies, next week they expect to be full. 
 The charge is 35 . 6d. per week. They are let by the week, 
 and paid in advance. There is a separate enclosure round 
 the beds. There is a common kitchen, a coffee-room, sitting- 
 room, and reading-room ; in the winter these are very much 
 occupied, at present not, because the lodgers walk out, kc. 
 There are not many mechanics (20), principally clerks, 
 drapers’ assistants, persons with small independence, artists, 
 town travellers, &c. Has heard several of them say that they 
 have paid as much as 6 s. and 75 . a week for lodgings, not 
 so comfortable altogether as these. There is a cold bath 
 without charge. There has been very little sickness, the 
 health has been very good ; one person died a fortnight since 
 from consumption, he had been here five weeks, and was 
 waiting to go to the hospital. This is the only death. 
 
AGAR TOWN, ST. PAN C R AS. 
 
 PRESENT STATE OF CERTAIN PARTS 
 
 METROPOLIS, 
 
 AND ON THE 
 
 MODEL LODGING HOUSES OF LONDON; 
 
 BY 
 
 R. D. GRAINGER, Esq. 
 
 
 
 ,—.——i—. J 
 
 Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed , 
 13 June 1851.