London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Bethnal Green 1855

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Bethnal Green, Parish of St. Matthew ]

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in the 1000,—that of the Model Dwellings reached in each
1000—7 only. Gentlemen, I have ventured, en passant, to
touch on these matters because it is one of my privileges, as
well as my duties, in the situation that I have now the honor
to hold, "to point out the most efficacious mode of checking
and preventing the spread of contagious or epidemic disease,"
and because I believe there is no other plan so efficacious or
cheap of increasing the comfort, the utility, the length of
life of the poor.
Arrangements for the Burial of the Dead.
Since the closure of the Burial Grounds, the Victoria Park
Cemetery has become the great graveyard of Bethnal Green,
and of other places besides. It is easily reached, and has, in
some parts plenty of room. But in the pauper divisions,
the practice of piling coffin upon coffin, and of barely separating
one pit from another deserves deep condemnation. In
the more crowded portions, no vegetation enlivens the gloom
nor helps to appropriate the gases evolved. It scarcely contains
12 acres of ground. "We alone—on the estimates of
Mr. Simon and Dr. Waller Lewis—require a much larger
space. To bury in perpetuity—the one says, there should be
half an acre to each 1000 living; the other, 18 acres at least
to every thousand who die in a year.
Lodging Houses.
The Registered Common Lodging Houses are 12, and
accommodate 176 persons. The names of the Keepers, the
situations of the Houses, and the numbers for which they are
licensed, I have ascertained from the Police.
Slaughtering Places.
There are upwards of 50 butchers who kill, but as some
kill sheep or pigs only, and those in their kitchens, the