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Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health—1897
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(4) That the attention of Government be drawn to the defect in the law which
prevents the inclusion of such buildings as those in Gun Street being registered and
inspected under the Tenement Bye-laws with respect to houses let in lodgings ; and
which permits huge aggregations of small tenements to exist in the shape of so-called
"model'' and "industrial" dwellings
29th June 1897.
(The suggestions made in above Report have not yet been carried out.)
(copy.)
Bridge House,
30, Borough Road,
London, S.B.
Febuary, 1st, 1897.
To the Chairman of the
Local Government Board,
Dear Sir,
Will you permit me to call the attention of your Board to the very disgraceful and
dangerous state of the tenements of King James Street, Southwark. I may say that
I was requested to go and see the state of a building called Sussex House situated in
King James Street and must say that I never saw buildings in such a filthy and
disgusting state, and I feel quite sure that unless something is done in this district by
the way of a House to House inspection that we shall have an outbreak of fever or
Smallpox. If you refer to the death rate of this parish, you will find it very high,
and having regard to the excessively high rates I think it nothing short of a public
scandal that this state of affairs should be allowed to exist.
I may say that I have for years been trying to get our Vestry to deal with these
terrible hot beds of disease but, if it is possible, matters seem to go from bad to worse.
I can assure you, Sir, as a resident in this parish of nearly forty years standing that
scores of respectable ratepaying families are being driven out of this parish every month.
As a large ratepayer I should like to ask your Board to make an independent
sanitary survey of the following places, viz:—Sussex House. King James Street, Gun
Street, Flint Street, Hill Street, Borough Road, Market Sireet, Borough Road, Gray
Street, Waterloo Road, Pontypool Place, in fact, I would take any gentleman that liked
to go with me, and undertake to show him places in this parish that are simply a disgrace
to civilization.
I would also like to call the attention to an urinal at the Obelisk Cab Rank that
has been, and still is, a disgrace to this Parish, robbing and disgusting scenes being
enacted every night, which will be borne out by every resident within sight of this place.
I am, Sir,
Yours faithfully,
(Signed) C. J. EDWARDS.