Dates & Events

Question 1

When was the first cholera outbreak? How many died?

Answer 1

1832

6,536 deaths

Question 2

What was cholera thought to have been caused by at this time? Who was in support of this belief?

Answer 2

Cholera was thought to have been caused by bad air or miasma. This theory was supported by influential figures such as Florence Nightingale and Edwin Chadwick.

Link to LACK OF UNDERSTANDING

Question 3

What was the importance of the Great Reform Act of 1832?

Answer 3

• 1 in 5 men could now vote (including the middle classes)
• Large industrial towns such as Birmingham were better represented in Parliament due to the removal of rotten boroughs (places with a very small population, but the elected MP could influence how Britain was run) and more MPs elected for large industrial towns than elsewhere.

Question 4

What did the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 do?

Answer 4

It aimed to reduce the costs of looking after the poor in Britain as the upper and middle classes were resenting their taxes being raised in order to support the poor. ATTITUDES OF THE TIME

• Poor Relief was no longer offered
• The workhouse was the only available help, but the conditions were so bad only those who were really desperate would go to the workhouse

Question 5

Who wrote the Poor Law Commissioner’s Report and when?

Answer 5

Edwin Chadwick - 1842

Example of IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING

Question 6

What did the report do?

Answer 6

• Outlined the need for public health improvements such as: adequate sewage systems and a clean water supply provided by the government.
• Highlighted the financial savings, which could be made, as the labouring classes could not labour as well (at that time) due to their poverty and poor health

Question 7

Why did the Poor Law Commissioner’s Report have no immediate impact?

Answer 7

ATTITUDES OF THE TIME (laissez-faire): people believed those in poverty were in poverty because of their sinful behaviour, drunkenness and laziness, so there was no need for those with money or power to help them, as it was their own fault.

MONEY: the Conservative government rejected it as they believed it was too costly.

Question 8

What did the Public Health Act of 1848 do?

Answer 8

The act encouraged local boards of health to have a medical officer, provide sewers, get rid of cesspools, and improve water supplies. They also established a Central Board of Health to oversee the operation.

Question 9

Why did the Public Health Act of 1848 ultimately fail?

Answer 9

It was NOT COMPULSORY. Local boards of health were only set up when 1/10 of all rate-payers wanted it. This was unlikely as they were rich and unlikely to be using the appalling facilities that the Public Health Act was trying to improve, and it would cost them more money as taxes would increase (MONEY factor).

OR because 23 people out of every 1,000 were dying due to the poor Public Health.

London, Scotland and Ireland were excluded from the act.

Question 10

When was the second cholera outbreak? How many died?

Answer 10

1848-49

14,137 deaths in London

Question 11

When was the Smallpox Vaccinations Act and what did it do?

Answer 11

In 1853, smallpox vaccinations became compulsory for infants under 3 months

Question 12

Why was there so much opposition to the Smallpox Vaccinations Act of 1853?

Answer 12

• The vaccines were new and people didn’t trust them.

- Jenner couldn’t explain why it worked (LACK OF UNDERSTANDING) as Germ Theory had not yet been published.

Question 13

What was an issue with the Smallpox Vaccinations Act of 1853?

Answer 13

Although the act was compulsory, no-one was given the power to enforce it.

Question 14

When was the third outbreak of cholera?

Answer 14

The third outbreak of cholera, which led to John Snow’s investigation of the Broad Street pump occurred in 1853-54, causing 10,738 deaths in London.

Question 15

What did John Snow do in 1854? How?

Answer 15

John Snow made the link between cholera and the water supply, or more specifically: the water pump on Broad Street.

He made the link after noticing that those not drinking from the pump (such as: people from the workhouse or those working at brewery, as they had their own water supplies) were not being affected by cholera.

Question 16

What factor did John Snow’s discovery improve?

Answer 16

UNDERSTANDING

Previously, cholera was thought to of have been caused by bad air or miasma, but it was now known to be a waterborne disease, which meant preventing and treating cholera in the future would be easier as they had a better understanding of the disease. Still at this point it was difficult to explain WHY this was the case.

Question 17

What happened during the Great Stink of 1858?

Answer 17

In the summer of 1858, temperatures soared causing some of the Thames water to evaporate, revealing the banks lined with faeces and letting off an unbelievable stench

Question 18

What was the importance of the Great Stink?

Answer 18

The Great Stink was one of the first times the upper and middle classes (and particularly those in power) were affected by the poor public health in Britain.

At this time, illness was still believed to be caused by bad air, bad smells and miasma, meaning the MPs in the Houses of Parliament feared for their lives.

ATTITUDES OF THE TIME

Question 19

What happened as a consequence of the Great Stink after the MPs failed to counter-act the smell with various methods including dousing the curtains of Parliament in a mixture of chloride and lime?

Answer 19

They employed Joseph Bazalgette, who created the Herringbone Sewer System (1865-75), which transported raw sewage away from central London, making the Thames a clean river and source of water once more.

Question 20

What happened in 1864?

Answer 20

Germ Theory (Pasteur) was published.

The first proper UNDERSTANDING of the cause of disease. It also explained previous discoveries such as those of John Snow and Edward Jenner and explained the importance of public health in the future.

Question 21

What did Germ Theory say?

Answer 21

• The air contains living micro-organisms, which can cause decay.
• These microbes can be killed by heating (pasteurisation)
• Harmful germs can get into the body, grow rapidly, and cause disease.

Question 22

What was the importance of the 4th outbreak of cholera in 1866?

Answer 22

It meant John Snow’s theory was more widely acknowledged as the cholera outbreak hit an area of the east end of London, which was not connected to Bazalgette’s sewer system, whilst the rest of the city remained unaffected.

Question 23

What is the Second Reform Act of 1867 also known as?

Answer 23

The Leap in the Dark - Disraeli, Conservative

Question 24

Why is it often referred to as ‘The Leap in the Dark’?

Answer 24

Because they were giving the skilled working class men the vote who may make demands on the system or not vote for the Conservatives meaning they would lose power, hence it was a gamble. Disraeli, persuaded his supporters that the English working man would make limited demands on politicians - keep him housed, fed and clothed and he would vote Conservative for ever.

Question 25

What did the Second Reform Act do?

Answer 25

• Doubled the electorate in England and Wales so 2 million men could now vote.
• Redistributed 52 seats from the boroughs to the counties.

Although the working classes were given the vote, the middle classes still dominated the electorate.

Question 26

When was the Vaccinations Act? What did it do?

Answer 26

1871

Made sure the previous vaccinations act was enforced by appointing a vaccinations officer.

Question 27

In what year did Joseph Chamberlain become mayor of Birmingham?

Answer 27

1873

Question 28

What did he do during his time as mayor?

Answer 28

• Persuaded local authorities to buy local gas and water companies (1874)
• Implemented the Removal of the Slum Housing scheme under the Artisans Dwelling Act (1875)

Question 29

What was the opposition to the removal of the slum housing?

Answer 29

There was no provision in the Artisans Dwelling Act which ensured those made homeless would be re-housed. Chamberlain’s intention was to create a new “Parisian Boulevard” (Corporation Street) lined with blocks of modern dwellings. However, when it was built, the new street was composed of shops and office buildings.

Question 30

Quote from the Dart about the removal of the slum housing:

Answer 30

New Birmingham recipe for lowering the death rate of an insanitary area.
Pull down nearly all the houses and make the inhabitants move somewhere else.
‘Tis an excellent plan and I’ll tell you for why.
Where’s there no person living, no person can die.

Question 31

When was the second public health act?

Answer 31

1875, following a change in government from the Liberals to Conservatives.

Question 32

What did the second public health act do?

Answer 32

Brought together a range of acts and made them compulsory.

This is said to mark the end of the LAISSEZ-FAIRE ATTITUDE.

Question 33

What did local authorities have to do under the second public health act?

Answer 33

• Appoint Medical Officers in charge of Public Health
• Cover sewers
• Keep sewers in good condition
• Supply fresh water to their citizens
• Collect rubbish
• Provide street lighting
• Appoint Local Sanitary Inspectors who looked after slaughter houses and prevented contaminated food from being sold.

Question 34

What did the Third Reform Act of 1884 do?

Answer 34

Gave consistency across the UK as a whole, so their views were accurately represented in Parliament.

2 in 3 men now had the vote.

Question 35

When was Port Sunlight Model Village built?

Answer 35

1888

Question 36

What is a model village?

Answer 36

Definition: a village providing a high standard of housing, typically built by an employer for the workforce.

Question 37

What was Port Sunlight Model Village?

Answer 37

A model village built by the Lever Brothers to provide homes, education and entertainment for their workforce, in the form of:

800 houses
Schools
A community hospital
Church
Concert Hall
Swimming Pool
Art Gallery

Question 38

When were Booth and Rowntree’s reports published?

Answer 38

1889-1903

Question 39

What did Booth discover?

Answer 39

• 30% of London’s population was living in poverty.
• Booth and Rowntree both identified (independently) the main causes of poverty as being illness, unemployment and age - both the very young and the old were at risk of poverty, which went against the LAISSEZ-FAIRE ATTITUDE of the time

Question 40

What did Rowntree discover?

Answer 40

• That the same pattern applied to York (a smaller town), with almost half of the population were living in a state of abject poverty.
• 1 in 4 children were dying before the age of 1.

He concluded that “idleness, laziness and sinful behaviour” did not cause their poverty, which again went against the LAISSEZ-FAIRE ATTITUDE of the time.

Question 41

What did the second Boer War (1899-1902) reveal?

Answer 41

That many possible recruits were unfit due to poor health, with 1 in every 3 men being refused on medical grounds.

Question 42

What was set up in 1903 in response to the poor health of the working classes revealed by the Boer War?

Answer 42

The Committee of Physical Deterioration

Question 43

It is said that many of the Committee of Physical Deterioration’s recommendations formed the basis of the Liberal Reforms that followed. What did they recommend?

Answer 43

• Medical inspections in schools
• Free school meals for the very poor
• Training in mothering skills

Question 44

What are the three main Liberal Reforms?

Answer 44

1906 - Education (Provision of Meals) Act
1908 - Old Age Pension Act
1911 - National Health Insurance Act

Question 45

What are the three factors that stimulated the Liberal Reforms?

Answer 45

• The poor health in the Boer War
• Booth & Rowntree’s reports
• The growing presence of the Labour party who appealed to the working class voters