British Leaders: John Snow, Edwin Chadwick and William Henry Beveridge

The work of these two men changed the contemporary views on how disease was spread. By solving the cholera mystery, they helped contribute to making the world safe for bigger cities. Over the next few years a lot of changes were made. Both the medical and public health establishments latched onto Snow’s waterborne theory and through one of the greatest feats in engineering history, London started the process of making an entirely new sewer system. This, along with other precautions such as boiling water that was suspected to be contaminated, brought an end to city-wide choleric outbreaks. Besides the improvements in sewage, the improvements of sanitary conditions all around greatly diminished the spread of disease and held a major part in making the modern city possible. Overall, it turned out that something that was once horrendous and deadly for a massive amount of people, eventually turned out to be helpful for the future of mankind. (Johnson)

A reviewer in the London Medical Gazette suggested that Snow find people living side by side with lifestyles similar in all aspects except of their water source. He made this suggestion because this would ensure that the neighbors breathe the same air and resemble each other more in variables other than the water source. This would guarantee that the water is the source, and not other factors that is causing the cholera.

In the early 19th Century the vast majority of housing for the working class was in a terrible condition, which were mainly due to overcrowding, poor ventilation and unsanitary environments. These issues lead to outbreaks of cholera on a number of occasions between the years 1813 and 1865. The Public Health Act was introduced in 1848, which required all local authorities to provide towns with hygienic sewage disposal and clean water supplies. Due to the presence of disease in slums, the Sanitary Reform Act was introduced in 1866. The act gave local authorities powers to inspect the cleanliness of homes in their district. (Naidoo and Wills, 2009). As stated by Berridge, Martin and Mold (2011), the Sanitary Reform Act aimed to address the problems with sewage, household waste and contaminated

Over the last century health and social care has changed and developed immensely with the implementation of the NHS and becoming a welfare state. Prior to this health care was only available to a minority of people, those who could afford it. In 1815 the old poor law was passed, it stated that each parish must look after its own poor and those who could not work were provided enough money to help them survive. By 1830 the poor law cost around £7 million, which came from taxing the middle and upper class, causing a sense of resentment towards lower class, unemployed people. In 1834 the new poor law was passed, its aim was to reduce the cost of looking after the poor. Workhouses helped with this, they provided clothes, food and healthcare in return for manual labour. Despite

Before the National Health Service (NHS) came into force in 1948, there was the Poor Law which was introduced in 1601 and was paid for by imposing property taxes. In 1834 the Poor Law Amendment Act was brought in and was designed to reduce the cost of looking after the poor, and to encourage poor people to work. In 1942 Sir William Beveridge unveiled the Welfare Foundations, the plan offered care to all from birth through to death. The NHS was established as a result of the 1944 White Paper. The 1946 NHS Act came into effect on the 5th July 1948, and was founded by Health Secretary Aneurin Bevan. 1962 saw the publication of the Porritt Report, which raised concerns about the NHS being separated into three parts – hospitals, general practices and local health authorities. Enoch Powell’s 1962 Hospital Plan approves the development of district general

He linked the common illness cholera to people whom drank from the wells. He observed those getting ill and which areas and pumps they drank from and recorded it on a map, he was then able to establish all those getting ill were in fact drinking from the same pump, and consequently in 1854 John Snow removed the handle of the Broad Street pump and ceased the epidemic of Cholera in Soho, London

In the early 1900’s medicine was making some steps closer into some great improvements for health and better understanding of the human body. Doctors with sufficient knowledge of the human body and cures for diseases and viruses were scarce. People were much more concerned with government and politics, than health and medicine, until one of the greatest and most grotesque lethal pandemics that’s struck the earth in human history. This pandemic the “Spanish Flu” spread so rapidly and had an extremely high mortality rate. This was caused by the close contact of humans and poor cleanliness and sanitation, and the host (virus) and the body taking harsh action

This created overcrowding, disease, and the need to build more shelters to accommodate everyone. This in part, was the reason cities such as Manchester grew so large. However, the living conditions of urban cities in Europe were utterly abysmal. Disease ran amok in the streets, infecting people quite easily. For example, the city of Paris had narrow streets and buildings practically stacked on top of one of each other, leading to the same problems that most European cities at the time had. According to Edwin Chadwick, public health reformer who authored Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Laboring Population of Great Britain, “Diseases caused or aggravated by atmospheric impurities produced by decomposing animal and vegetable substances, by damp and filth, and close and overcrowded dwellings, prevail among the laboring classes.” In this statement, Chadwick encompassed just about every problem with these large urban areas. He also provided the effects of the problems associated with the horrid living conditions, for instance the effect of education would be much more “temporary”, and the population would not be as influenced by morality. Edwin Chadwick was a socialist, which should definitely tip the reader

The Poor Law act 1601 was introduced and classified the poor into three groups, setting policies for each, the impotent poor, able bodied poor and persistent idler. It viewed poverty as the fault of the person, not their situation. Following industrialisation and a decrease in agricultural jobs, workers moved to factories working for low pay and in appalling conditions, but those needing employment outweighed the availability of such.

On the other end of the society scale, the working poor were working and living in unbearable conditions. There were no irrigation systems, running water or any way of preserving hygiene in the homes or the factories. The working poor lived in slums and tenements which were breeding grounds for diseases. In the book, “The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844” by Friedrich Engels, he states, “...at the end of the covered passage, a privy without a door, so dirty that the inhabitants can pass into and out of the court only by passing through foul pools of stagnant urine and excrement.” (page 78)1. This gives us a peek into the horrible unsanitary conditions that the working class were forced to endure while the business owners were living in beautiful mansions and summer houses.

Snow, a man from the modest home of a labourer, uncommon roots for the men in his profession, made exceptional discoveries which were found by using the most novel thinking and common surveyor’s techniques. He was the first to consider the waterborne theory of cholera and looked at the outbreak from a street and a birds-eye view which in the end allowed him to see the patterns of the outbreak. Whitehead was the local curate who had a first-hand look at the lives of those who were affected by this deadly pathogen. It was he who, spurred on by disprove Snow’s claims, found the crucial evidence that in the end solidified Snow’s theory. Farr was a man with a similar background to Snow, who collected much of the raw statistical data used by Snow to develop and then support his theory. Farr’s information also lead Snow to map out patterns of cholera deaths in the St. James region, creating the “Ghost Map”, an instrumental tool in the defense of his theory.

Another thing that was happening in the 1830s was the religious and cultural practices and the forbidden conducts; during this period it was notable that people were quarantine for epidemics, sexual prohibitions to minimize illness spread and dietary restrictions to minimize nutrition illnesses. The hygiene movement (1840 – 1870) brought, the sanitary conditions as the foundation for improvement. The contagion control (1880 – 1940) in which immunology and outbreak investigations began. Between the 1950s and mid-1980s, the

Prior to the Poor Law Amendment Act there was the Elizabethan Poor Law 1601 which was more generous towards the poor. It was becoming impossible for the government to sustain this law due to the growing costs. Statistics show that in 1802 the expenditure on poor relief was costing the government £4,078,000, this figure continued to

Oftentimes, the best leaders are those who are willing to step up and face the daunting tasks that no one else will. As Prime Minister of England during World War II, Winston Churchill’s leadership left a permanent mark upon history. Many believe that without him, the Allies would have lost the war. In the words of John C. Maxwell, “Leaders become great not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.” Churchill prided himself in having courage in all things and possessed the unique ability to provide others with courage also. He led the British empire through battle after battle tirelessly, saying, “Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.” To him, there was “no use saying ‘we are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.” Although it was almost certain that Britain would lose World War II, Churchill provided the willpower needed to stand against Germany and engendered a motivated and hardworking government, as well as an inspired nation.

The Poor Law was introduced because it was too much money to pay to look after the poor, so in hopes to take the poor off the streets and to stop money going to the poor the government introduced the law in 1834. The law was also put in place to embolden the poor to get back into work and support themselves, There was a law before 1834 called the "Old Poor Law" this was found to be insufficient because there was nothing in place to help the poor because even though they set up workhouses for the poor they didn't offer accommodation for the poor. There was an act passed in 1795 called "The Speenhamland System" which allowed employers to pay their workers exceptionally low wages during these years the middle and the upper classes were getting more angry because they were the ones paying for the poor who would avoid not going to or do any work.