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Sanitary Offices,
Town Hall, Hackney,
May, 1876.
To the Board of Works for the Hackney District.
Gentlemen,
Having now acted as Medical Officer of Health for
this District for a period of twenty years, I propose not only
laying before you the usual sanitary statistics for the year just
passed, but also a summary of the work which has been performed
in my department since I held office, and, as far as
possible, the vital statistics of the District since the year 1840,
as a standard for future reference.
When I first took office the sanitary staff was small, and
had to administer two Acts of Parliament only; but since then
many other Acts have been passed, which have created new
duties and consequently very much additional work, so that it was
necessary for several new officers to be appointed. The Act of
1866 introduced an additional element in sanitation, which
accounts for the very great increase in the number of nuisances
abated in that year, and for every subsequent year up to the
present time; but as these and many other matters in connection
with the past will be more fully mentioned in a subsequent
part of this report, I merely refer to them now, and shall pass
them by to discuss the usual statistics and sanitary events of
the past year.
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