Public Health Act

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Jessica Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London)

Domains

Legislation (Bills, Acts, Laws ...)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1848

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Largely due to Edwin Chadwick's

Report . . . on an Enquiry into the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain

(1842), the Act established a General Board of Health which had the authority to establish local Boards of Health and to investigate sanitary provision in particular districts. These changes led to a progressive amelioration in the supply of clean water, effective sewage systems and refuse disposal, and the prevention and cure of epidemic diseases. Edwin Chadwick had waged a campaign for “the sanitary idea” throughout the 1840s, supported by Charles Dickens and Charles Kingsley, and became one of the Commissioners of the Board (1848-54); he was knighted in 1889.

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

107 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Public Health Act". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 February 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=4908, accessed 06 May 2024.]

Save this article