Chapter 18 - Social developments 1832-46 Flashcards
What was the population of Britain (excluding Ireland) in 1801?
10.9 million
What was the population of Britain (excluding Ireland) in 1851?
20.8 million
What was the estimated population of Ireland in 1801?
5.2 million
How many towns in Britain contained over 200,000 people by 1831?
Around 60
Approximately what proportion of the population lived in urban areas by 1846?
Almost half
Where did the wealthy middle classes tend to live by the mid-19th century?
Suburbs
Where did the wealthier working class (i.e. trades and crafts people) tend to live by the mid-19th century?
Terraced houses not far from the city or town centre
Where did most of the urban working classes live by the mid-19th century?
Shoddily-built, overcrowded back-to-back terraces or tenements, often in one room. These tended to be near industrial centres, with all the associated pollution
What urban conditions were ideal for the spread of disease during the early to mid 19th century?
Inadequate and overcrowded housing, dirty streets, inadequate and often infected water supplies, lack of sanitation (such as shared privies)
What two towns had old districts known for being rife with disease in the mid 19th century?
York and Glasgow
Out of a population of 28,000, how many cases of Cholera were there in Exeter in 1832?
1200
What are 4 examples of endemic infectious diseases in industrial towns by the mid 1800s?
- Typhus
- Whooping Cough
- Measles
- Dysentery
Approximately what percentage of children died before their 5th birthday in urban areas by the mid 19th century?
50%
What sanitary problem did high death rates and infant mortality among the labouring poor cause in the mid 19th century?
Lack of burial sites causing unsanitary burials unless more cemeteries were built
For how long had mortality rates been falling before they rose again in the 1830s and 1840s?
Since 1750
What are 3 examples of grand projects commissioned in city centres in the 1830s?
- Birmingham Town Hall (1834)
- Edinburgh’s Royal Institution (1836)
- Liverpool Medical Institution (1837)
How did city centres benefit and develop in the mid 19th century?
Culturally, via the construction of grand buildings, museums and public parks
What improvement in transport for the lower classes came in 1844?
The Parliamentary Train
What problem did a lack of transport cause the labouring classes in the mid 19th century?
Meant that they had to live near to factories they worked in, causing overcrowding
Who were transport services in towns aimed at in the mid 19th century?
The more well-to-do who could afford them
How much did the incomes of agricultural workers fall by in the early decades of the 19th century?
Around 30%
What factors could be argued to have offset the fall in rural workers’ wages over the first few decades of the 19th century?
Easier access to fresh food than urban dwellers, health benefits of outdoor work, less pollution, provision of tied housing
What was tied housing?
Where housing was provided on the condition of the person continuing work for the provider
How did some urban dwellers supplement the low amount of outdoor poor relief?
Via handouts from charities
What was a problem with the provision of poor relief for people who moved to urban areas?
You were only entitled to poor relief in the parish of your birth
Why were people less able to cope with periods of hardship and/or wage loss in urban areas than they had been in rural ones?
Because there was no longer the close network of family and friends who could have supported them in the event of a crisis
How were crime levels affected by the problems of urbanisation?
They increased, in part because they were less likely to be noticed or dealt with in a busy city
What report did Edwin Chadwick publish in 1842?
‘The Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population’
