View report page

35
but no repairs were done to the premises, and the Sanitary
Authority then made an Order under the Housing of the
Working Classes Act, 1890, "for the demolition of the
premises .... in consequence of the same not
having been rendered fit for human habitation and being
dangerous or injurious to the health of the inhabitants of
the neighbouring houses."
The owners of the property appealed against this order
to the Court of Quarter Sessions, who decided that the
premises were then dangerous or injurious to the health
of the surrounding population, but under Section 33 of the
Act the words "dwelling house" meant an "inhabited"
dwelling house in accordance with the definition contained
in Section 29.
At the request of the Vestry of St. George-the-Martyr,
a case was stated for the decision of the Queen's Bench
Division of the High Court on the point of law then
raised. That Court decided that the words "dwelling
house "under Section 33 applied not only to an "inhabited"
but also to an uninhabited dwelling house (a decision
which we consider of great importance), but remitted the
case to Quarter Sessions "for re-hearing and determination
for the purpose of ascertaining whether the whole of
the five houses above mentioned or some and what part
of any or all of them is dangerous or injurious to the
health of the public."
But in the meantime the owners had removed the
water-closets and sealed up the drains, and when the
case came on for hearing they alleged that there was then
no nuisance and that the buildings were mere ruins.
The Chairman of the Court of Quarter Sessions visited
the premises in company with a Medical Officer of Health
and a Surveyor chosen by himself, and the Court of
Quarter Sessions decided that there was then no nuisance
to the inhabitants of the neighbouring buildings, nor
C 2