Cardiff in the 19th Century: Public Health

19th Century Cardiff

Transport

• Glamorgan Canal:
  • Opened in 1794.
  • Enabled coal transportation from Merthyr Tydfil mines to Cardiff docks.
• Taff Railway:
  • Opened in 1841.
  • Linked Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil.

Docks

• Bute West Dock:
  • Built in 1839 by the Marquis of Bute.
• East Dock:
  • Built in 1855.
• Roath Basin:
  • Built in 1874.
• Roath Dock:
  • Built in 1887.
• Cardiff's prominence:
  • By 1901, Cardiff was the largest coal exporting port globally.

Population Growth

• Population increase:
  • From 1,871 in 1801 to 164,333 in 1901.
  • Became the largest town in Wales by 1901.
• Migration:
  • Workers migrated from Italy, Germany, India, and Somalia.

Economy

• Coal Exchange:
  • Cardiff's Coal Exchange set the price of coal for the British market.
• Industries:
  • Iron-making, steel-making, shipbuilding, rope-making, brewing, milling, and paper manufacturing.

Public Health Concerns

• Reasons for rapid growth leading to public health issues:

  • Lack of regulation and planning:

    • Poor quality housing without ventilation, drainage, and adequate water supply.
    • No regulation over construction.
    • Narrow streets filled with rubbish and raw sewage.

  • Poor sanitation:

    • Overcrowding in areas like Herbert Street, Stanley Street, Love Lane, Mary Anne Street, and Little Frederick Street.
    • Primitive sanitation systems with raw sewage flowing through streets.

  • Overcrowding:

    • Chronic overcrowding due to lodgers to afford rent.
    • Poor diet weakening disease resistance.
    • Rapid disease spread due to dense population.

  • Mortality rate:

    • Between 1842 and 1848, Cardiff's mortality rate was 30 per 1,000, compared to the UK average of 20 per 1,000.

  • Poor water supply:

    • Polluted water contributing to disease outbreaks.
    • Cholera outbreaks in 1849 and 1854 were the most devastating.

Diseases

• Typhoid:
  • Bacterial infection spread through contaminated water and food.
  • Often resulted in death.
• Cholera:
  • Infectious disease spread through contaminated water.
  • High mortality rate with violent vomiting and diarrhea.
  • Wales experienced outbreaks in 1832, 1849, 1854, and 1866.
• 1849 Cholera Outbreak in Cardiff:
  • First recorded case on May 13.
  • Greatest number of deaths between June and September.
  • Last case in November.
  • 396 deaths (206 men and 190 women).
• Management Attempts:
  • Town divided into three districts on May 26 by the Board of Guardians.
  • Committee appointed on June 8 to manage the outbreak.
  • Officers visited houses to check for illness and order cleaning.
  • Town further divided into seven districts with medical officers appointed.
  • Dispensaries opened to give out remedies.
• Social Impact:
  • Rise of anti-Irish sentiment, blaming the Irish community for the spread.
  • Other blamed factors included increased drunkenness and irresponsible spending habits of the poorer classes.
• Other outbreaks:
  • 1854: 225 deaths.
  • 1866: 76 deaths.
  • 1893: 3 deaths, due to improvements in water supply and sewers.

Attempts at Improving Public Health

• Dr. Henry James Paine:
  • Local GP who investigated the 200 deaths resulting from the 1847 typhoid outbreak.
  • Linked high death rate to unsanitary conditions.
  • Findings initially ignored, requiring government legislation for change.
• Public Health Act 1848:
  • Allowed towns to set up a Local Board of Health.
  • Responsible for sewers, drains, water supplies, refuge and sewage systems, burial grounds, parks, and public baths.
• The Rammell Report, 1850:
  • Thomas Rammell identified health concerns – open sewers, unclean water supply, poor quality housing, overcrowding.
  • Recommendations:
    • Safe water supply.
    • Drainage and sewage system.
    • Refuse collection.
    • Better quality housing.
• Dr. Henry J. Paine as Medical Officer of Health:
  • Appointed in 1853, served until 1889.
  • Implemented Rammell recommendations.
    • New sewage and drainage system completed by 1856.
    • Hospital ship, HMS Hamadryad, set up in Tiger Bay for ill sailors.
    • Inoculation against smallpox encouraged.
    • By-laws passed to stop waste being tipped into the River Taff.
• Supply of Clear Water:
  • Cardiff Waterworks Act of 1850.
  • Laying of mains water pipes and building of a pumping station at Ely.
  • Reservoir constructed at Llanishen.
• Town Infirmary:
  • 1823: Dispensary set up to provide medical aid to the poor.
  • 1837: Glamorgan and Monmouth Infirmary and Dispensary opened for the poor.
  • 1883: New hospital built, extended in 1894.
  • 1885: Renamed ‘Cardiff Infirmary’.
• Public Baths and Wash Houses:
  • 1862: Cardiff Baths Company opened facilities in Guildford Street.
  • Contained swimming pools, hot water baths, and a Turkish bath.
  • Later taken over by the Cardiff Corporation.
• Improvements public health:
  • Public Baths and Wash Houses Act, 1846 - Cardiff Corporation took over the running of the town baths in the early 1870s.
  • Public Health Act, 1848 - This caused Cardiff to set up a Local Board of Health and appointed a Medical Officer – Dr Henry J Paine.
  • Rammell Report, 1850 - This highlighted the need for change.
  • Sanitary Act, 1866 - This forced local authorities to supply safe drinking water.
  • Cardiff Corporation opened public parks – Roath Park in 1894, Victoria Park in 1897, Cathays Park in 1897. In 1859 it opened the Cathays Cemetery and the public library in 1861.