Edwin Chadwick and the poverty of statistics

Medical History

Volumn 46, Issue 1, 2002, Pages 21-40

  Hanley, James ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WINNIPEG   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; CAUSE OF DEATH; HISTORY; HUMAN; INFORMATION PROCESSING; LIFE EXPECTANCY; MORTALITY; SANITATION; SOCIAL CLASS; STATISTICS; UNITED KINGDOM;

CAUSE OF DEATH; DATA COLLECTION; GREAT BRITAIN; HISTORY, 19TH CENTURY; HUMANS; LIFE EXPECTANCY; MORTALITY; SANITATION; SOCIAL CLASS; STATISTICS;

EID: 0036359560     PISSN: 00257273     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0025727300068721     Document Type: Article

References (147)

1. Edwin Chadwick, Report on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of Great Britain, ed. M W Flinn, Edinburgh University Press, 1965. Unless otherwise noted, all Sanitary report page references are to Flinn's edition. On Chadwick, see S Finer, The life and times of Sir Edwin Chadwick, London, Methuen, 1952; R A Lewis, Edwin Chadwick and the public health movement, 1832-1854, London, Longmans, Green, 1952; A Brundage, England's "Prussian Minister": Edwin Chadwick and the politics of government growth, 1832-1854, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988; Christopher Hamlin, Public health and social justice in the age of Chadwick: Britain, 1800-1854, Cambridge University Press, 1998.
2. Edwin Chadwick, Report on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of Great Britain, ed. M W Flinn, Edinburgh University Press, 1965. Unless otherwise noted, all Sanitary report page references are to Flinn's edition. On Chadwick, see S Finer, The life and times of Sir Edwin Chadwick, London, Methuen, 1952; R A Lewis, Edwin Chadwick and the public health movement, 1832-1854, London, Longmans, Green, 1952; A Brundage, England's "Prussian Minister": Edwin Chadwick and the politics of government growth, 1832-1854, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988; Christopher Hamlin, Public health and social justice in the age of Chadwick: Britain, 1800-1854, Cambridge University Press, 1998.
3. Edwin Chadwick, Report on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of Great Britain, ed. M W Flinn, Edinburgh University Press, 1965. Unless otherwise noted, all Sanitary report page references are to Flinn's edition. On Chadwick, see S Finer, The life and times of Sir Edwin Chadwick, London, Methuen, 1952; R A Lewis, Edwin Chadwick and the public health movement, 1832-1854, London, Longmans, Green, 1952; A Brundage, England's "Prussian Minister": Edwin Chadwick and the politics of government growth, 1832-1854, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988; Christopher Hamlin, Public health and social justice in the age of Chadwick: Britain, 1800-1854, Cambridge University Press, 1998.
4. Edwin Chadwick, Report on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of Great Britain, ed. M W Flinn, Edinburgh University Press, 1965. Unless otherwise noted, all Sanitary report page references are to Flinn's edition. On Chadwick, see S Finer, The life and times of Sir Edwin Chadwick, London, Methuen, 1952; R A Lewis, Edwin Chadwick and the public health movement, 1832-1854, London, Longmans, Green, 1952; A Brundage, England's "Prussian Minister": Edwin Chadwick and the politics of government growth, 1832-1854, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988; Christopher Hamlin, Public health and social justice in the age of Chadwick: Britain, 1800-1854, Cambridge University Press, 1998.
5. Edwin Chadwick, Report on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of Great Britain, ed. M W Flinn, Edinburgh University Press, 1965. Unless otherwise noted, all Sanitary report page references are to Flinn's edition. On Chadwick, see S Finer, The life and times of Sir Edwin Chadwick, London, Methuen, 1952; R A Lewis, Edwin Chadwick and the public health movement, 1832-1854, London, Longmans, Green, 1952; A Brundage, England's "Prussian Minister": Edwin Chadwick and the politics of government growth, 1832-1854, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988; Christopher Hamlin, Public health and social justice in the age of Chadwick: Britain, 1800-1854, Cambridge University Press, 1998.
6. Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 219-54. For the Manchester-Rutlandshire comparison see p. 223. Chadwick calculated his measure, which does not correspond to the modern notion of "life expectancy", by adding up the ages of all who died and dividing the total by the number who died. Life expectancy, a very different measure from Chadwick's, is calculated from life tables constructed according to well-defined principles. These tables did not come into common use in England until the mid-1840s. See the discussion in D V Glass, Numbering the people: the eighteenth-century population controversy and the development of census and vital statistics in Britain, Farnborough, D C Heath, 1973, pp. 118-45.
7. Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 219-54. For the Manchester-Rutlandshire comparison see p. 223. Chadwick calculated his measure, which does not correspond to the modern notion of "life expectancy", by adding up the ages of all who died and dividing the total by the number who died. Life expectancy, a very different measure from Chadwick's, is calculated from life tables constructed according to well-defined principles. These tables did not come into common use in England until the mid-1840s. See the discussion in D V Glass, Numbering the people: the eighteenth-century population controversy and the development of census and vital statistics in Britain, Farnborough, D C Heath, 1973, pp. 118-45.
8. 'Report on the sanitary condition of the labouring classes', Q. Rev., 1842, 71: 417-53, p. 439; ' Mr. Chadwick's report on the sanatory condition of the labouring population of Great Britain', Br. for. med. Rev., 1843, 15: 328-46, p. 336; ' Influence of employments on public health', Lancet, 1842-3, ii: 657-61, on p. 661.
9. 'Report on the sanitary condition of the labouring classes', Q. Rev., 1842, 71: 417-53, p. 439; ' Mr. Chadwick's report on the sanatory condition of the labouring population of Great Britain', Br. for. med. Rev., 1843, 15: 328-46, p. 336; ' Influence of employments on public health', Lancet, 1842-3, ii: 657-61, on p. 661.
10. 'Report on the sanitary condition of the labouring classes', Q. Rev., 1842, 71: 417-53, p. 439; ' Mr. Chadwick's report on the sanatory condition of the labouring population of Great Britain', Br. for. med. Rev., 1843, 15: 328-46, p. 336; ' Influence of employments on public health', Lancet, 1842-3, ii: 657-61, on p. 661.
11. Neither Finer nor Brundage mention these data, though they comprised an entire chapter of the report. But see Lewis, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 44-5; W F Bynum, Science and the practice of medicine in the nineteenth century, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 71-2.
12. Neither Finer nor Brundage mention these data, though they comprised an entire chapter of the report. But see Lewis, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 44-5; W F Bynum, Science and the practice of medicine in the nineteenth century, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 71-2.
13. Properly constructed life tables require an enumeration of the number and ages of the living as well as the dying. Actuaries had been aware of this for some time, though in practice it proved difficult to construct life tables given the rudimentary state of vital statistics. See Glass, op. cit., note 2 above, pp. 120-3; John M Eyler, Victorian social medicine: the ideas and methods of William Farr, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979, pp. 68-74. Farr was Compiler of Abstracts in the General Register Office (GRO), the office that compiled statistics on births, deaths, and marriages in England and Wales, and was effectively chief national vital statistician.
14. Properly constructed life tables require an enumeration of the number and ages of the living as well as the dying. Actuaries had been aware of this for some time, though in practice it proved difficult to construct life tables given the rudimentary state of vital statistics. See Glass, op. cit., note 2 above, pp. 120-3; John M Eyler, Victorian social medicine: the ideas and methods of William Farr, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979, pp. 68-74. Farr was Compiler of Abstracts in the General Register Office (GRO), the office that compiled statistics on births, deaths, and marriages in England and Wales, and was effectively chief national vital statistician.
15. F G P Neison, On a method recently proposed for conducting inquiries into the comparative sanatory condition of various districts, with illustrations, derived from numerous places in Great Britain at the period of the last census', Q. J. statist. Soc., 1844, 7: 40-68; Michael Cullen, The statistical movement in early Victorian Britain: the foundation of empirical social research, New York, Barnes & Noble, 1975, p. 60.
16. F G P Neison, On a method recently proposed for conducting inquiries into the comparative sanatory condition of various districts, with illustrations, derived from numerous places in Great Britain at the period of the last census', Q. J. statist. Soc., 1844, 7: 40-68; Michael Cullen, The statistical movement in early Victorian Britain: the foundation of empirical social research, New York, Barnes & Noble, 1975, p. 60.
17. Cullen, op. cit., note 6 above, pp. 56, 58; Hamlin, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 99-100, 174-75.
18. Cullen, op. cit., note 6 above, pp. 56, 58; Hamlin, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 99-100, 174-75.
19. Fourth annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners, Parliamentary Papers [PP], 1837-38, XXVIII, appendix A, pp. 67-96; Fifth annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners, PP, 1839, XX, appendix C, pp. 100-6. These reports were also reprinted separately under the title Reports on the sanatory state of the labouring classes, as affected chiefly by the situation and construction of their dwellings, in and about the metropolis, London, W Clowes, 1839. Though Chadwick did not write the reports themselves, he in all probability wrote the preface and could have included in it whatever he wished.
20. Fourth annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners, Parliamentary Papers [PP], 1837-38, XXVIII, appendix A, pp. 67-96; Fifth annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners, PP, 1839, XX, appendix C, pp. 100-6. These reports were also reprinted separately under the title Reports on the sanatory state of the labouring classes, as affected chiefly by the situation and construction of their dwellings, in and about the metropolis, London, W Clowes, 1839. Though Chadwick did not write the reports themselves, he in all probability wrote the preface and could have included in it whatever he wished.
21. Fourth annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners, Parliamentary Papers [PP], 1837-38, XXVIII, appendix A, pp. 67-96; Fifth annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners, PP, 1839, XX, appendix C, pp. 100-6. These reports were also reprinted separately under the title Reports on the sanatory state of the labouring classes, as affected chiefly by the situation and construction of their dwellings, in and about the metropolis, London, W Clowes, 1839. Though Chadwick did not write the reports themselves, he in all probability wrote the preface and could have included in it whatever he wished.
22. These circulars are reprinted at the front of a new edition of Chadwick's report. See Edwin Chadwick, Report on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of Great Britain, with a new introduction by David Gladstone, London, Routledge/Thoemmes Press, 1997, pp. xi-xv.
23. This episode is fully described in Christopher Hamlin, 'Edwin Chadwick, "mutton medicine", and the fever question', Bull. Hist. Med., 1996, 70: 233-65, pp. 251-4; idem, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 121-42, to both of which I am indebted.
24. This episode is fully described in Christopher Hamlin, 'Edwin Chadwick, "mutton medicine", and the fever question', Bull. Hist. Med., 1996, 70: 233-65, pp. 251-4; idem, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 121-42, to both of which I am indebted.
25. W P Alison, 'Observations on the generation of fever', in Reports on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of Scotland, London, W Clowes, 1842, pp. 13-33 [hereafter the local reports shall be referred to as Local Reports (Scotland)]. On Alison, see Dictionary of National Biography, London, Smith, Elder, 1908-9 (DNB), vol. 1, pp. 290-2.
26. W P Alison, 'Observations on the generation of fever', in Reports on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of Scotland, London, W Clowes, 1842, pp. 13-33 [hereafter the local reports shall be referred to as Local Reports (Scotland)]. On Alison, see Dictionary of National Biography, London, Smith, Elder, 1908-9 (DNB), vol. 1, pp. 290-2.
27. "[T]he Sanitary Report came about not as an opportunity to take on the new and useful project of urban improvement, but to meet the immediate political need of discrediting powerful enemies." Hamlin, op. cit., note 10 above, p. 264; "The Sanitary Report is then an ideological manifesto, not an empirical survey of conditions affecting health." Idem, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 187.
28. "[T]he Sanitary Report came about not as an opportunity to take on the new and useful project of urban improvement, but to meet the immediate political need of discrediting powerful enemies." Hamlin, op. cit., note 10 above, p. 264; "The Sanitary Report is then an ideological manifesto, not an empirical survey of conditions affecting health." Idem, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 187.
29. Hamlin, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 103.
30. Neil Arnott, 'Remarks on Dr. W. P. Alison's "Observations on the generation of fever"', in Local reports (Scotland), op. cit., note 11 above, pp. 34-9. This report is dated 24 August 1840.
31. W P Alison and Robert Cowan both delivered papers opposed to the sanitary perspective. These papers were printed as W P Alison, 'Illustrations of the practical operation of the Scottish system of management of the poor', J. statist. Soc. Lond., 1840, 3: 211-57; R Cowan, 'Vital statistics of Glasgow, illustrating the sanatory condition of the population', ibid., pp. 257-92.
32. W P Alison and Robert Cowan both delivered papers opposed to the sanitary perspective. These papers were printed as W P Alison, 'Illustrations of the practical operation of the Scottish system of management of the poor', J. statist. Soc. Lond., 1840, 3: 211-57; R Cowan, 'Vital statistics of Glasgow, illustrating the sanatory condition of the population', ibid., pp. 257-92.
33. Neil Arnott, On the fevers which have prevailed in Edinburgh and Glasgow', in Local reports (Scotland), op. cit., note 11 above, pp. 1-12. The inspection is referred to on p. 8.
34. Poor Law Commission to General Register Office, 18 August 1840, Public Record Office (PRO), MH/19/191/3853.
35. The Sanitary report contains comparative data for over 25,000 deaths, but most of these data came from local informants. Chadwick's paper on metropolitan mortality which he appended to the supplementary sanitary inquiry into interment in towns in 1843 was, however, apparently based on GRO data. See 'A return of the average ages at which deaths and funerals occurred during the year 1839 to the several classes of society in the superintending registrar's districts of the metropolis', in A supplementary report on the results of a special inquiry into the practice of interment in towns, London, W Clowes, 1843, pp. 239-66. This appendix served as the basis for Chadwick's paper delivered to the Statistical Society of London in late 1843 in which he gave his justification for the average-age-at-death measure. See E Chadwick, On the best modes of representing accurately, by statistical returns, the duration of life, and the pressure and progress of the causes of mortality amongst different classes of the community, and amongst populations of different districts and countries', Q. J. statist. Soc., 1844, 7: 1-40.
36. The Sanitary report contains comparative data for over 25,000 deaths, but most of these data came from local informants. Chadwick's paper on metropolitan mortality which he appended to the supplementary sanitary inquiry into interment in towns in 1843 was, however, apparently based on GRO data. See 'A return of the average ages at which deaths and funerals occurred during the year 1839 to the several classes of society in the superintending registrar's districts of the metropolis', in A supplementary report on the results of a special inquiry into the practice of interment in towns, London, W Clowes, 1843, pp. 239-66. This appendix served as the basis for Chadwick's paper delivered to the Statistical Society of London in late 1843 in which he gave his justification for the average-age-at-death measure. See E Chadwick, On the best modes of representing accurately, by statistical returns, the duration of life, and the pressure and progress of the causes of mortality amongst different classes of the community, and amongst populations of different districts and countries', Q. J. statist. Soc., 1844, 7: 1-40.
37. For an indication of the labour involved, see Edwin Chadwick to [Clerk of the Guardians], 26 March 1841, PRO, MH/12/6843.
38. William Baker, On the sanitary condition of the town of Derby', in Local reports on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of England, London, W Clowes, 1842, pp. 162-82, p. 181; Charles Barham, On the sanitary state of Truro', in ibid., pp. 16-35, p. 27; Charles Barham to Poor Law Commission, 5 December 1840, PRO, MH/12/1528/12176a.
39. William Baker, On the sanitary condition of the town of Derby', in Local reports on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of England, London, W Clowes, 1842, pp. 162-82, p. 181; Charles Barham, On the sanitary state of Truro', in ibid., pp. 16-35, p. 27; Charles Barham to Poor Law Commission, 5 December 1840, PRO, MH/12/1528/12176a.
40. There is some confusion about this point. Flinn and Lewis noted that Lord Normanby ordered Chadwick to stop work on the inquiry, but Peter Mandler claims that there is no evidence of it. Whether the order was given or not, Chadwick ignored it. Flinn, 'Introduction', in Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 46; Lewis, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 39; Peter Mandler, Aristocratic government in the age of reform: Whigs and Liberals, 1830-1852, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1990, p. 177.
41. There is some confusion about this point. Flinn and Lewis noted that Lord Normanby ordered Chadwick to stop work on the inquiry, but Peter Mandler claims that there is no evidence of it. Whether the order was given or not, Chadwick ignored it. Flinn, 'Introduction', in Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 46; Lewis, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 39; Peter Mandler, Aristocratic government in the age of reform: Whigs and Liberals, 1830-1852, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1990, p. 177.
42. There is some confusion about this point. Flinn and Lewis noted that Lord Normanby ordered Chadwick to stop work on the inquiry, but Peter Mandler claims that there is no evidence of it. Whether the order was given or not, Chadwick ignored it. Flinn, 'Introduction', in Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 46; Lewis, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 39; Peter Mandler, Aristocratic government in the age of reform: Whigs and Liberals, 1830-1852, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1990, p. 177.
43. Edwin Chadwick to [Clerk of the Guardians], 26 March 1841, PRO, MH/12/6843. This letter was intended for Liverpool but Chadwick noted that it was to be sent to Bethnal Green and Whitechapel as well. See Chadwick to [Clerk of the Guardians], 18 May 1841, PRO, MH/12/6843 for additional letters to Bethnal Green and Strand.
44. The Clerk to the Kendal Guardians was pressed into service for additional data on the average ages at death of all classes within his district. Dr Robert Baker of Leeds was instructed to obtain data on working-class mortality in different districts of the same town, and the Reverend Whitwell Elwin of Bath, already engaged in an inquiry into the causes of pauperism, was co-opted at a very late date in the collection of data on intra-urban middle-class mortality. Edwin Chadwick to [Clerk of the Kendal Guardians], 5 November 1841, 20 November 1841, PRO, MH/12/13582/10852a; Baker to Chadwick, 10 November 1841, PRO, MH/12/15225; Chadwick to Baker, 11 December 1841, file 228, The Papers of Sir Edwin Chadwick, Manuscripts and Rare Books Room, University College London (hereafter Chadwick Papers); Chadwick to Elwin, 9 January 1842, 26 January 1842, file 694, Chadwick Papers. For Baker's evidence see Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 264; for Elwin's, ibid., pp. 234-6. For experts, see Griffith Davies, Guardian Assurance Office to Edwin Chadwick, 5 January 1842, file 589, Chadwick Papers; Chadwick to Charles Babbage, 3 June 1842, cited in Flinn, 'Introduction', in Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 54. An undated letter from the actuary James Mitchell to Chadwick almost certainly falls in the same period, see untitled memorandum, n. d., Box 67, folder "memoranda", Chadwick Papers.
45. Chadwick to [Clerk of the Guardians], 18 May 1841, PRO, MH/12/6843; Chadwick to Baker, 11 December 1841, file 228, Chadwick Papers; Chadwick to [Clerk of the Kendal Guardians], 5 November 1841, PRO, MH/12/ 13582/10852a; Chadwick to [Clerks of the Guardians of Bethnal Green and Whitechapel unions], 26 March 1841, PRO, MH/12/6843.
46. Lewis, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 44-5; untitled memorandum, n.d., box 45, Chadwick Papers. The outline consists of chapter headings under which Chadwick listed the examples with which he intended to illustrate his particular points.
47. It is not clear where Chadwick obtained the Manchester and Rutland data. I could not find a record of Chadwick's correspondence with Poor Law Guardians for these locales. As these data include deaths during 1840, they were probably not part of the Manchester Statistical Society's 1839 comparison of these two localities.
48. Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 223, 243. Chadwick recognized that rents were higher in Manchester, but there was no available index by which costs of living in different regions could have been meaningfully compared.
49. Ibid., pp. 263-4.
50. Ibid., pp. 227, 235.
51. Flinn, 'Introduction', in Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 37; Lewis, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 14-15. Even his contemporaries were suspicious of his objectivity. See, for example, the quotation from Dr Alfred Aspland cited in T S Ashton, Economic and social investigations in Manchester, 1833-1933: a centenary history of the Manchester Statistical Society, 1934, reprint ed., Fairfield, CT, Augustus M Kelley, 1977, p. 52; Hamlin, op. cit., note 10 above, pp. 259-60.
52. Flinn, 'Introduction', in Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 37; Lewis, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 14-15. Even his contemporaries were suspicious of his objectivity. See, for example, the quotation from Dr Alfred Aspland cited in T S Ashton, Economic and social investigations in Manchester, 1833-1933: a centenary history of the Manchester Statistical Society, 1934, reprint ed., Fairfield, CT, Augustus M Kelley, 1977, p. 52; Hamlin, op. cit., note 10 above, pp. 259-60.
53. Chadwick had noted in 1833 that disease often precipitated the labouring population into destitution, a position he maintained when he drafted the manuscript guidelines for his aborted inquiry into the "causes of pauperism" around 1839-40. In these guidelines, he again identified illness as one of the most important causes of involuntary pauperism. See Poor Law Commissioners, Extracts from the information received by His Majesty's Commissioners, as to the administration and operation of the poor-laws, London, B Fellowes, 1833, pp. 315-16; 'Memoranda of instructions for entering the causes of pauperism', Box 23, folder 1, Chadwick Papers.
54. Chadwick had noted in 1833 that disease often precipitated the labouring population into destitution, a position he maintained when he drafted the manuscript guidelines for his aborted inquiry into the "causes of pauperism" around 1839-40. In these guidelines, he again identified illness as one of the most important causes of involuntary pauperism. See Poor Law Commissioners, Extracts from the information received by His Majesty's Commissioners, as to the administration and operation of the poor-laws, London, B Fellowes, 1833, pp. 315-16; 'Memoranda of instructions for entering the causes of pauperism', Box 23, folder 1, Chadwick Papers.
55. Finer, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 161; Hamlin, op. cit., note 10 above, pp. 248-50; idem, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 108.
56. Finer, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 161; Hamlin, op. cit., note 10 above, pp. 248-50; idem, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 108.
57. Finer, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 161; Hamlin, op. cit., note 10 above, pp. 248-50; idem, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 108.
58. For Chadwick's study of Continental data, see Ann La Berge, 'Edwin Chadwick and the French connection', Bull. Hist. Med., 1988, 62: 23-41; idem, Mission and method: the early nineteenth-century French public health movement, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 291-9. I shall discuss the French data again below.
59. For Chadwick's study of Continental data, see Ann La Berge, 'Edwin Chadwick and the French connection', Bull. Hist. Med., 1988, 62: 23-41; idem, Mission and method: the early nineteenth-century French public health movement, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 291-9. I shall discuss the French data again below.
60. Robert Cowan, Statistics of fever and small-pox in Glasgow, Glasgow, John Clark, 1837, pp. 12-13. Cowan seemed to argue that the increase of fever was caused primarily by meteorological conditions and secondarily by the "habits of our population". For a discussion of Cowan's later work, see Hamlin, op. cit., note 10 above, pp. 257-8.
61. Robert Cowan, Statistics of fever and small-pox in Glasgow, Glasgow, John Clark, 1837, pp. 12-13. Cowan seemed to argue that the increase of fever was caused primarily by meteorological conditions and secondarily by the "habits of our population". For a discussion of Cowan's later work, see Hamlin, op. cit., note 10 above, pp. 257-8.
62. William Farr, 'Vital statistics; or, the statistics of health, sickness, diseases, and death' (1837), in Mortality in mid-nineteenth century Britain, ed. Richard Wall, London, Gregg International, 1974, p. 577. As Chadwick lobbied for Farr's appointment to the national statistical office it is unlikely that he was unfamiliar with his work. Farr suggested a similar conclusion in his first letter to the Registrar-General, published in mid-1839. See First annual report of the Registrar-General, PP, 1839, XVI, appendix, p. 78. For the comment in the Lancet see ' Causes of increased mortality in large cities', Lancet, 1837-8, ii: 630-3, on p. 631. Contemporary ambivalence on the relation between fever and destitution was also reflected in a substantial review of medical topography published in the British and Foreign Medical Review at the same time. See 'Medical topography and statistics', Br. for. med. Rev., 1838, 6: 1-28, pp. 9-13.
63. William Farr, 'Vital statistics; or, the statistics of health, sickness, diseases, and death' (1837), in Mortality in mid-nineteenth century Britain, ed. Richard Wall, London, Gregg International, 1974, p. 577. As Chadwick lobbied for Farr's appointment to the national statistical office it is unlikely that he was unfamiliar with his work. Farr suggested a similar conclusion in his first letter to the Registrar-General, published in mid-1839. See First annual report of the Registrar-General, PP, 1839, XVI, appendix, p. 78. For the comment in the Lancet see ' Causes of increased mortality in large cities', Lancet, 1837-8, ii: 630-3, on p. 631. Contemporary ambivalence on the relation between fever and destitution was also reflected in a substantial review of medical topography published in the British and Foreign Medical Review at the same time. See 'Medical topography and statistics', Br. for. med. Rev., 1838, 6: 1-28, pp. 9-13.
64. William Farr, 'Vital statistics; or, the statistics of health, sickness, diseases, and death' (1837), in Mortality in mid-nineteenth century Britain, ed. Richard Wall, London, Gregg International, 1974, p. 577. As Chadwick lobbied for Farr's appointment to the national statistical office it is unlikely that he was unfamiliar with his work. Farr suggested a similar conclusion in his first letter to the Registrar-General, published in mid-1839. See First annual report of the Registrar-General, PP, 1839, XVI, appendix, p. 78. For the comment in the Lancet see ' Causes of increased mortality in large cities', Lancet, 1837-8, ii: 630-3, on p. 631. Contemporary ambivalence on the relation between fever and destitution was also reflected in a substantial review of medical topography published in the British and Foreign Medical Review at the same time. See 'Medical topography and statistics', Br. for. med. Rev., 1838, 6: 1-28, pp. 9-13.
65. William Farr, 'Vital statistics; or, the statistics of health, sickness, diseases, and death' (1837), in Mortality in mid-nineteenth century Britain, ed. Richard Wall, London, Gregg International, 1974, p. 577. As Chadwick lobbied for Farr's appointment to the national statistical office it is unlikely that he was unfamiliar with his work. Farr suggested a similar conclusion in his first letter to the Registrar-General, published in mid-1839. See First annual report of the Registrar-General, PP, 1839, XVI, appendix, p. 78. For the comment in the Lancet see ' Causes of increased mortality in large cities', Lancet, 1837-8, ii: 630-3, on p. 631. Contemporary ambivalence on the relation between fever and destitution was also reflected in a substantial review of medical topography published in the British and Foreign Medical Review at the same time. See 'Medical topography and statistics', Br. for. med. Rev., 1838, 6: 1-28, pp. 9-13.
66. Official registration of births, deaths, and marriages was not introduced in Scotland until 1855. Prior to that time, however, Glasgow already had an impressive body of vital statistical data available on which the committee relied. Olive Checkland, 'Local government and the health environment', in Health care as social history: the Glasgow case, ed. Olive Checkland and Margaret Lamb, Aberdeen, The University Press, 1982, pp. 1-15, p. 1.
67. W H Sykes, Lord Sandon, G R Porter, J Heywood, W P Alison, and E Chadwick, 'Report of a committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science ... on the vital statistics of large towns in Scotland', Report of the twelfth meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science held at Manchester in June 1842, London, John Murray, 1843, pp. 121-204, on pp. 203-4. For statements of the sanitary position with respect to fever and destitution, see Thomas Southwood Smith, 'Report on some of the physical causes of sickness and mortality to which the poor are particularly exposed', in Fourth annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners, op. cit., note 8 above, p. 85; Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 210, 213.
68. W H Sykes, Lord Sandon, G R Porter, J Heywood, W P Alison, and E Chadwick, 'Report of a committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science ... on the vital statistics of large towns in Scotland', Report of the twelfth meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science held at Manchester in June 1842, London, John Murray, 1843, pp. 121-204, on pp. 203-4. For statements of the sanitary position with respect to fever and destitution, see Thomas Southwood Smith, 'Report on some of the physical causes of sickness and mortality to which the poor are particularly exposed', in Fourth annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners, op. cit., note 8 above, p. 85; Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 210, 213.
69. W H Sykes, Lord Sandon, G R Porter, J Heywood, W P Alison, and E Chadwick, 'Report of a committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science ... on the vital statistics of large towns in Scotland', Report of the twelfth meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science held at Manchester in June 1842, London, John Murray, 1843, pp. 121-204, on pp. 203-4. For statements of the sanitary position with respect to fever and destitution, see Thomas Southwood Smith, 'Report on some of the physical causes of sickness and mortality to which the poor are particularly exposed', in Fourth annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners, op. cit., note 8 above, p. 85; Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 210, 213.
70. See W P Alison, On the destitution and mortality in some of the large towns in Scotland', Q. J. statist. Soc., 1842, 5: 289-92, p. 290. Alison read this paper at the same BAAS meeting where the committee on Scottish vital statistics reported so it may be seen as his reply to the committee's conclusions.
71. In his August 1840 rebuttal of Alison, Neil Arnott agreed that "No one can doubt that the epidemic fevers ... in Ireland, particularly in the years of scarcity or famine, and in a less degree in Scotland ... spring from or are connected with the existing destitution". Arnott, 'Remarks', in Local Reports (Scotland), op. cit., note 11 above, p. 36. The determination not to ground sanitary reform on epidemics was in the later 1840s to have serious consequences on sanitarianism's credibility among physicians. See Margaret Pelling, Cholera, fever and English medicine: 1825-1865, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1978, pp. 46-80.
72. In his August 1840 rebuttal of Alison, Neil Arnott agreed that "No one can doubt that the epidemic fevers ... in Ireland, particularly in the years of scarcity or famine, and in a less degree in Scotland ... spring from or are connected with the existing destitution". Arnott, 'Remarks', in Local Reports (Scotland), op. cit., note 11 above, p. 36. The determination not to ground sanitary reform on epidemics was in the later 1840s to have serious consequences on sanitarianism's credibility among physicians. See Margaret Pelling, Cholera, fever and English medicine: 1825-1865, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1978, pp. 46-80.
73. On the developing methodology of social scientific research among French hygicnists, see La Berge, Mission and method, op. cit., note 33 above, pp. 49-81.
74. Mitchell to Chadwick, n.d., box 67, folder "Memoranda", Chadwick Papers. Mitchell was an advisor to several royal commissions in the 1830s and 1840s. See DNB, vol. 13, p. 516.
75. There is a discussion of the state of morbidity data in [E Chadwick], 'Life assurances', Westminster Rev., 1828, 9: 384-421, pp. 414-16. For analyses based on the available data, see Farr, 'Vital statistics', op. cit., note 35 above, pp. 573-80; FGP Neison, Contributions to vital statistics, 2nd ed., London, Simpkin, Marshall, 1846.
76. There is a discussion of the state of morbidity data in [E Chadwick], 'Life assurances', Westminster Rev., 1828, 9: 384-421, pp. 414-16. For analyses based on the available data, see Farr, 'Vital statistics', op. cit., note 35 above, pp. 573-80; FGP Neison, Contributions to vital statistics, 2nd ed., London, Simpkin, Marshall, 1846.
77. There is a discussion of the state of morbidity data in [E Chadwick], 'Life assurances', Westminster Rev., 1828, 9: 384-421, pp. 414-16. For analyses based on the available data, see Farr, 'Vital statistics', op. cit., note 35 above, pp. 573-80; FGP Neison, Contributions to vital statistics, 2nd ed., London, Simpkin, Marshall, 1846.
78. Alison claimed that two-thirds of fever patients were destitute but that less than one-fifth of the population was destitute, thereby illustrating the extent to which destitution facilitated the diffusion of fever. Leaving aside any potential bias caused by the problem of fever cases not treated at institutions and hence undetected, this claim required a relatively unambiguous identification of "destitution" among fever patients and a relatively accurate estimate of destitution among the population as a whole, both of which were very difficult to ascertain with a reasonable degree of precision. See W P Alison, Observations on the epidemic fever of MDCCCXLIII in Scotland, and its connection with the destitute condition of the poor, Edinburgh and London, William Blackwood, 1844, pp. 6-9, 62-4.
79. Mitchell to Chadwick, n.d., box 67, folder "Memoranda", Chadwick Papers.
80. M Trébuchet, 'Report on the labours of the "Conseil de Salubrité" of Paris, from 1829 to 1839', in Chadwiek, op. cit., note 9 above, pp. 409-23, p. 415. The passage is cited in Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 218. Chadwick's novelty lay in converting the Conseil's suggestion that insanitary dwellings were the source of the differential mortality into his own that insanitary physical circumstances generally were the problem, though the Conseil intended "dwellings" to be interpreted "in its widest acceptation" and they may thus have meant districts as well. See La Berge, 'Edwin Chadwick', op. cit., note 33 above, p. 34.
81. M Trébuchet, 'Report on the labours of the "Conseil de Salubrité" of Paris, from 1829 to 1839', in Chadwiek, op. cit., note 9 above, pp. 409-23, p. 415. The passage is cited in Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 218. Chadwick's novelty lay in converting the Conseil's suggestion that insanitary dwellings were the source of the differential mortality into his own that insanitary physical circumstances generally were the problem, though the Conseil intended "dwellings" to be interpreted "in its widest acceptation" and they may thus have meant districts as well. See La Berge, 'Edwin Chadwick', op. cit., note 33 above, p. 34.
82. M Trébuchet, 'Report on the labours of the "Conseil de Salubrité" of Paris, from 1829 to 1839', in Chadwiek, op. cit., note 9 above, pp. 409-23, p. 415. The passage is cited in Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 218. Chadwick's novelty lay in converting the Conseil's suggestion that insanitary dwellings were the source of the differential mortality into his own that insanitary physical circumstances generally were the problem, though the Conseil intended "dwellings" to be interpreted "in its widest acceptation" and they may thus have meant districts as well. See La Berge, 'Edwin Chadwick', op. cit., note 33 above, p. 34.
83. On Villerme's work see William Coleman, Death is a social disease: public health and political economy in early industrial France, Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1982, pp. 149-171; La Berge, Mission and method, op. cit., note 33 above, pp. 59-75. La Berge discusses Chadwick's inversion in 'Edwin Chadwick', op. cit., note 33 above, pp. 35-41.
84. On Villerme's work see William Coleman, Death is a social disease: public health and political economy in early industrial France, Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1982, pp. 149-171; La Berge, Mission and method, op. cit., note 33 above, pp. 59-75. La Berge discusses Chadwick's inversion in 'Edwin Chadwick', op. cit., note 33 above, pp. 35-41.
85. On Villerme's work see William Coleman, Death is a social disease: public health and political economy in early industrial France, Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1982, pp. 149-171; La Berge, Mission and method, op. cit., note 33 above, pp. 59-75. La Berge discusses Chadwick's inversion in 'Edwin Chadwick', op. cit., note 33 above, pp. 35-41.
86. Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 79; for manuscript quotes see untitled memorandum, n.d., box 45, Chadwick Papers.
87. Over the course of his dispute with Alison, Chadwick did not deny that the poor experienced much more sickness and premature death. In his view, however, this was jointly the product of structural imperfections in the housing market and legislative defects in the nuisance laws. He declined, that is, to interpret higher working-class mortality in terms of greater predisposition to disease caused by debilitated workers. On the "monopolistic" character of the housing market, see Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 295-7. In the context of the early 1840s, Chadwick could hardly have chosen a more politically charged term than "monopolist". On Chadwick and market imperfections, see G Kearns, 'Private property and public health reform in Eneland, 1830-1870', Soc. Sci. Med., 1988, 26: 187-99. For different interpretations of Chadwick's analysis of excess working-class mortality, see La Berge, 'Edwin Chadwick', op. cit., note 33 above, pp. 38-9; Hamlin, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 164-78, 201-7; Frank Mort, Dangerous sexualities: Medico-moral politics in England since 1830, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987, pp. 13-61.
88. Over the course of his dispute with Alison, Chadwick did not deny that the poor experienced much more sickness and premature death. In his view, however, this was jointly the product of structural imperfections in the housing market and legislative defects in the nuisance laws. He declined, that is, to interpret higher working-class mortality in terms of greater predisposition to disease caused by debilitated workers. On the "monopolistic" character of the housing market, see Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 295-7. In the context of the early 1840s, Chadwick could hardly have chosen a more politically charged term than "monopolist". On Chadwick and market imperfections, see G Kearns, 'Private property and public health reform in Eneland, 1830-1870', Soc. Sci. Med., 1988, 26: 187-99. For different interpretations of Chadwick's analysis of excess working-class mortality, see La Berge, 'Edwin Chadwick', op. cit., note 33 above, pp. 38-9; Hamlin, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 164-78, 201-7; Frank Mort, Dangerous sexualities: Medico-moral politics in England since 1830, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987, pp. 13-61.
89. Over the course of his dispute with Alison, Chadwick did not deny that the poor experienced much more sickness and premature death. In his view, however, this was jointly the product of structural imperfections in the housing market and legislative defects in the nuisance laws. He declined, that is, to interpret higher working-class mortality in terms of greater predisposition to disease caused by debilitated workers. On the "monopolistic" character of the housing market, see Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 295-7. In the context of the early 1840s, Chadwick could hardly have chosen a more politically charged term than "monopolist". On Chadwick and market imperfections, see G Kearns, 'Private property and public health reform in Eneland, 1830-1870', Soc. Sci. Med., 1988, 26: 187-99. For different interpretations of Chadwick's analysis of excess working-class mortality, see La Berge, 'Edwin Chadwick', op. cit., note 33 above, pp. 38-9; Hamlin, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 164-78, 201-7; Frank Mort, Dangerous sexualities: Medico-moral politics in England since 1830, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987, pp. 13-61.
90. Over the course of his dispute with Alison, Chadwick did not deny that the poor experienced much more sickness and premature death. In his view, however, this was jointly the product of structural imperfections in the housing market and legislative defects in the nuisance laws. He declined, that is, to interpret higher working-class mortality in terms of greater predisposition to disease caused by debilitated workers. On the "monopolistic" character of the housing market, see Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 295-7. In the context of the early 1840s, Chadwick could hardly have chosen a more politically charged term than "monopolist". On Chadwick and market imperfections, see G Kearns, 'Private property and public health reform in Eneland, 1830-1870', Soc. Sci. Med., 1988, 26: 187-99. For different interpretations of Chadwick's analysis of excess working-class mortality, see La Berge, 'Edwin Chadwick', op. cit., note 33 above, pp. 38-9; Hamlin, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 164-78, 201-7; Frank Mort, Dangerous sexualities: Medico-moral politics in England since 1830, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987, pp. 13-61.
91. Over the course of his dispute with Alison, Chadwick did not deny that the poor experienced much more sickness and premature death. In his view, however, this was jointly the product of structural imperfections in the housing market and legislative defects in the nuisance laws. He declined, that is, to interpret higher working-class mortality in terms of greater predisposition to disease caused by debilitated workers. On the "monopolistic" character of the housing market, see Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 295-7. In the context of the early 1840s, Chadwick could hardly have chosen a more politically charged term than "monopolist". On Chadwick and market imperfections, see G Kearns, 'Private property and public health reform in Eneland, 1830-1870', Soc. Sci. Med., 1988, 26: 187-99. For different interpretations of Chadwick's analysis of excess working-class mortality, see La Berge, 'Edwin Chadwick', op. cit., note 33 above, pp. 38-9; Hamlin, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 164-78, 201-7; Frank Mort, Dangerous sexualities: Medico-moral politics in England since 1830, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987, pp. 13-61.
92. For sympathetic discussions of the limitations of Villermé's analysis, see La Berge, Mission and method, op. cit., note 33 above, p. 72; Coleman, op. cit., note 46 above, p. 166
93. For sympathetic discussions of the limitations of Villermé's analysis, see La Berge, Mission and method, op. cit., note 33 above, p. 72; Coleman, op. cit., note 46 above, p. 166
94. Alison, op. cit., note 11 above, pp. 24-5; idem, op. cit., note 43 above, pp. 65-6.
95. Alison, op. cit., note 11 above, pp. 24-5; idem, op. cit., note 43 above, pp. 65-6.
96. On this relationship, see the comments by Anne Hardy, The epidemic streets: Infectious disease and the rise of preventive medicine, 1856-1900, Oxford, Clarendon Press 1993 pp. 280-9.
97. For a stimulating discussion of Alison's predispositionist medicine, see C Hamlin, 'Predisposing causes and public health in early nineteenth-century medical thought', Soc. Hist. Med, 1992, 5: 43-70; idem, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 52-66. See also John Pickstone, 'Dearth, dirt and fever epidemics: rewriting the history of British "public health", 1780-1850', in Terence Ranger and Paul Slack (eds), Epidemics and ideas: essays on the historical perception of pestilence, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 125-48; idem, 'Ferriar's fever to Kay's cholera: Disease and social structure in Cottonopolis', Hist. Sci., 1984, 22: 401-19.
98. For a stimulating discussion of Alison's predispositionist medicine, see C Hamlin, 'Predisposing causes and public health in early nineteenth-century medical thought', Soc. Hist. Med, 1992, 5: 43-70; idem, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 52-66. See also John Pickstone, 'Dearth, dirt and fever epidemics: rewriting the history of British "public health", 1780-1850', in Terence Ranger and Paul Slack (eds), Epidemics and ideas: essays on the historical perception of pestilence, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 125-48; idem, 'Ferriar's fever to Kay's cholera: Disease and social structure in Cottonopolis', Hist. Sci., 1984, 22: 401-19.
99. For a stimulating discussion of Alison's predispositionist medicine, see C Hamlin, 'Predisposing causes and public health in early nineteenth-century medical thought', Soc. Hist. Med, 1992, 5: 43-70; idem, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 52-66. See also John Pickstone, 'Dearth, dirt and fever epidemics: rewriting the history of British "public health", 1780-1850', in Terence Ranger and Paul Slack (eds), Epidemics and ideas: essays on the historical perception of pestilence, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 125-48; idem, 'Ferriar's fever to Kay's cholera: Disease and social structure in Cottonopolis', Hist. Sci., 1984, 22: 401-19.
100. For a stimulating discussion of Alison's predispositionist medicine, see C Hamlin, 'Predisposing causes and public health in early nineteenth-century medical thought', Soc. Hist. Med, 1992, 5: 43-70; idem, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 52-66. See also John Pickstone, 'Dearth, dirt and fever epidemics: rewriting the history of British "public health", 1780-1850', in Terence Ranger and Paul Slack (eds), Epidemics and ideas: essays on the historical perception of pestilence, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 125-48; idem, 'Ferriar's fever to Kay's cholera: Disease and social structure in Cottonopolis', Hist. Sci., 1984, 22: 401-19.
101. Even fifty years after the Chadwick-Alison controversy William Farr's assistant Noel Humphreys could still admit that "There is practically no really trustworthy information of the various rates of mortality in the actual populations of different social classes". See N Humphreys, 'Class mortality statistics', J. r. statist. Soc., 1887, 50: 255-92, p. 256. See the discussion of this issue in Simon Szreter, Fertility, class and gender in Britain, 1860-1940, Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 76-128.
102. Even fifty years after the Chadwick-Alison controversy William Farr's assistant Noel Humphreys could still admit that "There is practically no really trustworthy information of the various rates of mortality in the actual populations of different social classes". See N Humphreys, 'Class mortality statistics', J. r. statist. Soc., 1887, 50: 255-92, p. 256. See the discussion of this issue in Simon Szreter, Fertility, class and gender in Britain, 1860-1940, Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 76-128.
103. Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 232-3.
104. Fifth annual report of the Registrar-General, PP, 1843, XXI, 161-178; Eyler, op. cit., note 5 above, pp. 66-96.
105. Fifth annual report of the Registrar-General, PP, 1843, XXI, 161-178; Eyler, op. cit., note 5 above, pp. 66-96.
106. Second annual report of the Registrar-General, PP, 1840, XVII, appendix, 9-10. Though Farr did not explicitly describe his technique in this report, the only way he could have come up with an urban-rural life expectancy split of 13 years was through the proportional mortality data he cited. This method was again silently employed in the Third annual report of the Registrar-General, PP, 1841 (Session 2), VI, appendix, 20, where the difference in "mean duration of life" had increased to 17.
107. A stationary population is one in which the size and age structure are not changing.
108. For a discussion of the measures commonly used at the time, see Harald Westergaard, Contributions to the history of statistics (1932), reprint ed., New York, Agathon Press, 1968, pp. 153-61. There were, of course, published data sets available that were constructed according to sound principles but they were restricted to particular geographic locations or selected lives and hence, in Chadwick's view, of limited applicability. There is a survey of this work in the actuary Joshua Milne's article on 'Mortality, Human', in Encyclopedia Britannica, 7th ed., Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, 1842, vol. 15, pp. 513-61, on pp. 544-7.
109. For a discussion of the measures commonly used at the time, see Harald Westergaard, Contributions to the history of statistics (1932), reprint ed., New York, Agathon Press, 1968, pp. 153-61. There were, of course, published data sets available that were constructed according to sound principles but they were restricted to particular geographic locations or selected lives and hence, in Chadwick's view, of limited applicability. There is a survey of this work in the actuary Joshua Milne's article on 'Mortality, Human', in Encyclopedia Britannica, 7th ed., Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, 1842, vol. 15, pp. 513-61, on pp. 544-7.
110. It should be pointed out that the issue of age standardization that Chadwick disregarded was not a well-known problem; according one authority, Neison's description of it in 1844 is the first on record. See David Lilienfeld, '"The greening of epidemiology": sanitary physicians and the London Epidemioloaical Society (1830-1870)', Bull. Hist. Med., 1978, 52: 503-28, p. 509.
111. Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 232-3; idem, 'On the best modes', op. cit., note 18 above, pp. 8-10.
112. Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 232-3; idem, 'On the best modes', op. cit., note 18 above, pp. 8-10.
113. Cullen, op, cit., note 6 above, pp. 59-60; Chadwick, op. cit., note 18 above, pp. 8-10. Chadwick adopted this position in spite of advice from his actuarial correspondents. See James Mitchell to Chadwick, n.d., Box 67, folder "Memoranda", Chadwick Papers.
114. Cullen, op, cit., note 6 above, pp. 59-60; Chadwick, op. cit., note 18 above, pp. 8-10. Chadwick adopted this position in spite of advice from his actuarial correspondents. See James Mitchell to Chadwick, n.d., Box 67, folder "Memoranda", Chadwick Papers.
115. Chadwick knew he was fighting an uphill battle in seeking to arouse concern about working-class infant mortality rates. In part the persistent high rates themselves induced contemporaries to believe that they were inevitable, but the fact that these were working-class infants meant that there was no
116. Chadwick knew he was fighting an uphill battle in seeking to arouse concern about working-class infant mortality rates. In part the persistent high rates themselves induced contemporaries to believe that they were inevitable, but the fact that these were working-class infants meant that there was no influential constituency concerned about the problem. In an undated private memorandum Chadwick observed that when thirty children at the prestigious Westminster School came down with fever and six died there was a public outcry and a parliamentary inquiry. Yet, he wrote, "the children of the poor are scourged [?] without mercy or notice". See untitled memorandum, n.d., box 67, folder 3, Chadwick Papers. The episode to which Chadwick refers occurred in 1848 and was the subject of the Third report of the Metropolitan Sanitary Commission of that year. See PP, 1847-48, XXXII. Infant mortality rates did not become an object of serious theoretical or practical concern until later in the century. See the discussion in Szreter, op. cit., note 53 above, pp. 81, 91, 238-46; Vincent Knapp, 'Major medical explanations for high infant mortality in nineteenth-century Europe', Canadian Bull, med Hist., 1998, 15: 317-36.
117. In the paper in which he demolished Chadwick's average-age-at-death measure, Neison noted that the same objections applied to the use of crude death rates, such as Villermé and Farr had used, as indices of comparative salubrity. See Neison, op. cit., note 6 above, p. 51.
118. For some examples of professional use, see G C Holland, The vital statistics of Sheffield, Sheffield, J H Greaves, 1843, p. 128; H Gavin, Sanitary ramblings, being sketches and illustrations of Bethnal Green (1848), reprint ed., London, Cass, 1971, pp. 106-7; Stevenson Macadam, 'Introductory lecture at the Medical School, Surgeons' Hall', Edinb. med. J., 1864, 10: 514-26, p. 520. For lay use, see James Hole, The homes of the working classes, with suggestions for their improvement (1866), reprint ed., New York Garland, 1985, p. 17.
119. For some examples of professional use, see G C Holland, The vital statistics of Sheffield, Sheffield, J H Greaves, 1843, p. 128; H Gavin, Sanitary ramblings, being sketches and illustrations of Bethnal Green (1848), reprint ed., London, Cass, 1971, pp. 106-7; Stevenson Macadam, 'Introductory lecture at the Medical School, Surgeons' Hall', Edinb. med. J., 1864, 10: 514-26, p. 520. For lay use, see James Hole, The homes of the working classes, with suggestions for their improvement (1866), reprint ed., New York Garland, 1985, p. 17.
120. For some examples of professional use, see G C Holland, The vital statistics of Sheffield, Sheffield, J H Greaves, 1843, p. 128; H Gavin, Sanitary ramblings, being sketches and illustrations of Bethnal Green (1848), reprint ed., London, Cass, 1971, pp. 106-7; Stevenson Macadam, 'Introductory lecture at the Medical School, Surgeons' Hall', Edinb. med. J., 1864, 10: 514-26, p. 520. For lay use, see James Hole, The homes of the working classes, with suggestions for their improvement (1866), reprint ed., New York Garland, 1985, p. 17.
121. For some examples of professional use, see G C Holland, The vital statistics of Sheffield, Sheffield, J H Greaves, 1843, p. 128; H Gavin, Sanitary ramblings, being sketches and illustrations of Bethnal Green (1848), reprint ed., London, Cass, 1971, pp. 106-7; Stevenson Macadam, 'Introductory lecture at the Medical School, Surgeons' Hall', Edinb. med. J., 1864, 10: 514-26, p. 520. For lay use, see James Hole, The homes of the working classes, with suggestions for their improvement (1866), reprint ed., New York Garland, 1985, p. 17.
122. John Graunt, Natural and political observations mentioned in a following index and made upon the bills of mortality (1662), reprint ed., New York, Arno Press, 1975, pp. 73-6; Thomas Malthus, An essay on the principle of population (1798), reprint ed., New York, Norton, 1976, pp. 46, 52, 67-8, 113; Adolphe Quetelet, A treatise on man and the development of his faculties (1842), reprint ed., Farnborough, Gregg International, 1973, pp. 27, 31, 37-8; Francis Bisset Hawkins, Elements of medical statistics (1829), reprint ed., Canton, MA, Science History Publications, 1989, pp. 10, 35.
123. John Graunt, Natural and political observations mentioned in a following index and made upon the bills of mortality (1662), reprint ed., New York, Arno Press, 1975, pp. 73-6; Thomas Malthus, An essay on the principle of population (1798), reprint ed., New York, Norton, 1976, pp. 46, 52, 67-8, 113; Adolphe Quetelet, A treatise on man and the development of his faculties (1842), reprint ed., Farnborough, Gregg International, 1973, pp. 27, 31, 37-8; Francis Bisset Hawkins, Elements of medical statistics (1829), reprint ed., Canton, MA, Science History Publications, 1989, pp. 10, 35.
124. John Graunt, Natural and political observations mentioned in a following index and made upon the bills of mortality (1662), reprint ed., New York, Arno Press, 1975, pp. 73-6; Thomas Malthus, An essay on the principle of population (1798), reprint ed., New York, Norton, 1976, pp. 46, 52, 67-8, 113; Adolphe Quetelet, A treatise on man and the development of his faculties (1842), reprint ed., Farnborough, Gregg International, 1973, pp. 27, 31, 37-8; Francis Bisset Hawkins, Elements of medical statistics (1829), reprint ed., Canton, MA, Science History Publications, 1989, pp. 10, 35.
125. John Graunt, Natural and political observations mentioned in a following index and made upon the bills of mortality (1662), reprint ed., New York, Arno Press, 1975, pp. 73-6; Thomas Malthus, An essay on the principle of population (1798), reprint ed., New York, Norton, 1976, pp. 46, 52, 67-8, 113; Adolphe Quetelet, A treatise on man and the development of his faculties (1842), reprint ed., Farnborough, Gregg International, 1973, pp. 27, 31, 37-8; Francis Bisset Hawkins, Elements of medical statistics (1829), reprint ed., Canton, MA, Science History Publications, 1989, pp. 10, 35.
126. Milne, 'Mortality, Human', op. cit., note 58 above, pp. 544-7. According to Milne, Richard Price composed one of the earliest tables on the probability of life in town and country in his Observations on reversionary payments (1771). In the mid-1830s the actuary Thomas Rowe Edmonds published a series of mortality studies in the Lancet, one of which included theoretical life tables for cities and villages: On the mortality at Glasgow, and on the increasing mortality in England', Lancet, 1835-6, ii: 353-9, p. 358. On Edmonds and his influence on Farr, see Eyler, op. cit., note 5 above, pp. 74-7, 108-9, 196-7.
127. Milne, 'Mortality, Human', op. cit., note 58 above, pp. 544-7. According to Milne, Richard Price composed one of the earliest tables on the probability of life in town and country in his Observations on reversionary payments (1771). In the mid-1830s the actuary Thomas Rowe Edmonds published a series of mortality studies in the Lancet, one of which included theoretical life tables for cities and villages: On the mortality at Glasgow, and on the increasing mortality in England', Lancet, 1835-6, ii: 353-9, p. 358. On Edmonds and his influence on Farr, see Eyler, op. cit., note 5 above, pp. 74-7, 108-9, 196-7.
128. Milne, 'Mortality, Human', op. cit., note 58 above, pp. 544-7. According to Milne, Richard Price composed one of the earliest tables on the probability of life in town and country in his Observations on reversionary payments (1771). In the mid-1830s the actuary Thomas Rowe Edmonds published a series of mortality studies in the Lancet, one of which included theoretical life tables for cities and villages: On the mortality at Glasgow, and on the increasing mortality in England', Lancet, 1835-6, ii: 353-9, p. 358. On Edmonds and his influence on Farr, see Eyler, op. cit., note 5 above, pp. 74-7, 108-9, 196-7.
129. Hawkins, op. cit., note 65 above, p. 10; Quetelet, op. cit., note 65 above, pp. 37-8; [William Rathbone Greg], An enquiry into the state of the manufacturing population: and the causes and cure of the evils therein existing, London, J Ridgway, 1831, p. 6; Chadwick had used the same strategy in the 1833 Royal Commission on the employment of children in factories. For a discussion, see Hamlin, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 99-100.
130. Hawkins, op. cit., note 65 above, p. 10; Quetelet, op. cit., note 65 above, pp. 37-8; [William Rathbone Greg], An enquiry into the state of the manufacturing population: and the causes and cure of the evils therein existing, London, J Ridgway, 1831, p. 6; Chadwick had used the same strategy in the 1833 Royal Commission on the employment of children in factories. For a discussion, see Hamlin, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 99-100.
131. Hawkins, op. cit., note 65 above, p. 10; Quetelet, op. cit., note 65 above, pp. 37-8; [William Rathbone Greg], An enquiry into the state of the manufacturing population: and the causes and cure of the evils therein existing, London, J Ridgway, 1831, p. 6; Chadwick had used the same strategy in the 1833 Royal Commission on the employment of children in factories. For a discussion, see Hamlin, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 99-100.
132. Hawkins, op. cit., note 65 above, p. 10; Quetelet, op. cit., note 65 above, pp. 37-8; [William Rathbone Greg], An enquiry into the state of the manufacturing population: and the causes and cure of the evils therein existing, London, J Ridgway, 1831, p. 6; Chadwick had used the same strategy in the 1833 Royal Commission on the employment of children in factories. For a discussion, see Hamlin, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 99-100.
133. Second annual report, op. cit., note 56 above, appendix, p. 10; Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 233-4. The assumption of invariably high urban mortality was widely though not, I would stress, universally held among statisticians and medical writers. Farr and Chadwick are noteworthy as they attempted a statistical refutation of this assumption using the data of urban insalubrity.
134. Second annual report, op. cit., note 56 above, appendix, p. 10; Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 233-4. The assumption of invariably high urban mortality was widely though not, I would stress, universally held among statisticians and medical writers. Farr and Chadwick are noteworthy as they attempted a statistical refutation of this assumption using the data of urban insalubrity.
135. First annual report, op. cit., note 35 above, appendix, pp. 76-81.
136. 'The registrar-general's report on births, deaths, and marriages in England', Br. for. med Rev., 1840, 9: 344-59, p. 359.
137. On the healthy districts, see Eyler, op. cit., note 5 above, pp. 71-2; Simon Szreter, 'The GRO and the public health movement', Soc. Hist. Med, 1991, 4: 435-63, pp. 438-40. For an earlier use of the same concept, see William Lee, Summary of experience on disease, and comparative rates of mortality, London, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1851, pp. 57-63.
138. On the healthy districts, see Eyler, op. cit., note 5 above, pp. 71-2; Simon Szreter, 'The GRO and the public health movement', Soc. Hist. Med, 1991, 4: 435-63, pp. 438-40. For an earlier use of the same concept, see William Lee, Summary of experience on disease, and comparative rates of mortality, London, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1851, pp. 57-63.
139. On the healthy districts, see Eyler, op. cit., note 5 above, pp. 71-2; Simon Szreter, 'The GRO and the public health movement', Soc. Hist. Med, 1991, 4: 435-63, pp. 438-40. For an earlier use of the same concept, see William Lee, Summary of experience on disease, and comparative rates of mortality, London, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1851, pp. 57-63.
140. First annual report, op. cit., note 35 above, appendix, p. 80. This strategy is explicit in the Second annual report, op. cit., note 56 above, appendix, p. 11.
141. First annual report, op. cit., note 35 above, appendix, p. 80. This strategy is explicit in the Second annual report, op. cit., note 56 above, appendix, p. 11.
142. Untitled memorandum, n.d., box 45, Chadwick Papers; Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 234-6.
143. Chadwick, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 80, 422.
144. In the final version of the Sanitary report, Chadwick reorganized some of this material and thus partially obscured what had been a very deliberate attempt to highlight the insalubrity of rural districts. For manuscript quotes, see untitled memorandum, n.d., box 45, Chadwick Papers.
145. Henry Rumsey, On certain fallacies in local rates of mortality', Trans. Man. statist. Soc., 1871-2: 17-39. In this paper, ironically, Rumsey praised Chadwick's efforts to isolate the class determinants of disease and death. For the controversy over crude mortality rates as indices of comparative mortality, see John M Eyler, 'Mortality statistics and Victorian health policy: program and criticism', Bull. Hist. Med., 1976, 50: 335-55; Graham Mooney, 'Professionalization in public health and the measurement of sanitary progress in nineteenth-century England and Wales', Soc. Hist. Med. 1997, 10: 53-78.
146. Henry Rumsey, On certain fallacies in local rates of mortality', Trans. Man. statist. Soc., 1871-2: 17-39. In this paper, ironically, Rumsey praised Chadwick's efforts to isolate the class determinants of disease and death. For the controversy over crude mortality rates as indices of comparative mortality, see John M Eyler, 'Mortality statistics and Victorian health policy: program and criticism', Bull. Hist. Med., 1976, 50: 335-55; Graham Mooney, 'Professionalization in public health and the measurement of sanitary progress in nineteenth-century England and Wales', Soc. Hist. Med. 1997, 10: 53-78.
147. Henry Rumsey, On certain fallacies in local rates of mortality', Trans. Man. statist. Soc., 1871-2: 17-39. In this paper, ironically, Rumsey praised Chadwick's efforts to isolate the class determinants of disease and death. For the controversy over crude mortality rates as indices of comparative mortality, see John M Eyler, 'Mortality statistics and Victorian health policy: program and criticism', Bull. Hist. Med., 1976, 50: 335-55; Graham Mooney, 'Professionalization in public health and the measurement of sanitary progress in nineteenth-century England and Wales', Soc. Hist. Med. 1997, 10: 53-78.