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example, were disproportionately represented: there were always two, and
in three of the years three, among the members. Again, the representation
of builders soon rose similarly to either two or three in every year.
In 1866 and 1867 there was the striking situation of two thirds of the
Board's membership being drawn from men of these two occupations. Critics
of the Board, and there were many in these two years, were not slow to
apply the simile of too many cooks to the confused state in which the
Board of "experts" found itself. An important feature, too, was the
gradual emergence from the common run of members of a small number of
long service men: men whose continued membership extended over ten or
twelve years and far exceeded the average. Their seniority soon raised
them in influence above their fellows and their foibles and conceits and
personal differences of opinion did much to militate against the smooth
and efficient conduct of the Board's business The evidence in support
of these charges lies not in the discreet and formal minute books, but in
the files of the Tottenham and Edmonton Weekly Herald, which within a
couple of years of its establishment in 1861 was printing verbatim what
was said at the meetings, not excepting asides and innuendoes, so that
even today we can recreate the atmosphere of the meetings and the moods
of almost every member. Under this fine focus two from among the inner
circle of long term men, our old friend Dr William Hall and a Mr. Edward
Clarke, builder and contractor, seem to warrant brief biographical notes,both
because they shared the honour of the longest continuous membership
during this period, namely, fourteen years and because they stood out as
such exceptional and contrasting influences in the council chamber and
were at one time the leaders of opposed groups on certain vital issues.
Dr. Hall we have already met as one of the founders of the Local
Board, as Tottenham's first, though very temporary, medical officer of
health and as Parish Medical Officer under the Poor Law an office which
he retained for the astonishing period of sixty years Add that he was
Divisional Surgeon of the Metropolitan Police for only a fractionally
shorter period and certifying surgeon under the Factory Act for nearly
fifty years and it becomes clear that Dr Hall, quite apart from his connection
with the Local Board, was an unusual force in the parish and one
of its greatest public servants. The obituary notice which appeared on
his death on March 8th, 1901, summarised the balance of his public appointments
as "doctor to all the Friendly Societies in the parish, to both the
Fishmongers' and the Printers' Asylums and to the Royal Masonic Institute
for Boys," His membership of the Board commenced in 1860 - after an unsuccessful
candidature for a vacancy in 1857 - and was continuous, with
a spell of six years as chairman, until 1874. As a chairman he was undeniably
weak and was dubbed by the press "leader of the blundering party."
But it was honest blundering and in the Board's darkest days such public
confidence as it retained was largely owing to his immense personal influence
and popularity in the parish. Dr. Hall stood out at all times
as the champion of the parish poor and his warm support of the Board from
its earliest days was unquestionably a reflection of his close observa
tion of sanitary conditions in the poorer parts of the parish in the