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28
In June, 1885, a letter was received from the Local
Government Board, asking for the Vestry's'observations on
a Report published by the Mansion House Council on the
Dwellings of the People with reference to the insanitary
condition of a number of houses in Clerkenwell. The
condition of No. 7, Baynes Court was about this time
engaging the attention of the Vestry and the Local Government
Board, and the Vestry invited the Local Government
Board to hold an enquiry into the sanitary condition of
these premises "and any other tenement houses or premises
in the Parish which they may deem fit." The matter was
transferred from the Local Government Board to the Home
Secretary, who appointed Mr. D. Cubitt Nichols as such
Inspector, and at the request of the Home Secretary, two
members of the Vestry, Mr. W. Robson and Mr. J. J. Goode,
were appointed to act with him. Mr. Nichols' Report will
be found as an Appendix to this Report. The Report itself
sets out in full detail the action taken by the Vestry, the
Mansion House Council, and the other parties concerned,
and it is therefore unnecessary to recapitulate it here, but
it is only fair, after the serious charges made against the
members of the Vestry by Sir Charles Dilke and others, of
subordinating proper administration to their private ends,
that the paragraph in Mr. Nichols' Report should be entered
here in which he says that although he thinks it most desirable
some additional sanitary precautions should be
adopted, he does not consider the Parish to be in a bad
sanitary condition.
Upon the Report being laid before the Vestry it was
referred to a Special Committee for consideration.
Cholera.—During the summer and autumn of 1885, the
Vestry again took every precaution against a visitation of
cholera, which, however, happily did not reach this
country, though it prevailed to a considerable extent on
the continent, especially in Spain.
By order, ROBERT PAGET,
Vestry Clerk.