Page 8 - The Health OF Redditch

The Health Of Reditch

was feared that in some cases sufficient precaution had not been taken, and that, at least in one
instance, a person had been buried alive.

The 21st•March•was•set•apart•as•a•day•of•humiliation•and•prayer,•and•later,•a•town’s•meeting
was called, and some cottages in the Old Hop Gardens, near the Old Railway Station, were used
as a kind of hospital for the sick. However, the people were not satisfied, and the town petitioned
the Government for instructions how they were to act, and a reply was returned, advising the
formation of a Local Board of Health. This was at once done, a dispensary was
opened•at•Hall’s,•the•grocer,•and•anyone,•night•or•day,•could obtain medicine free. Young Mr.
Pratt, the surgeon, was in constant attendance here, and administered to the wants of the people.
Throughout the summer the pestilence raged, and most families suffered from it; in some instances
as many as three died. I have been looking over a private list which I jotted down at the time,
and I find the names of fifty persons I know who succumbed to the pestilence.

It was not until the autumn that the disease abated, and the 14th December was appointed a day
of heartfelt thanksgiving that this scourge had disappeared. During its existence there was great
religious excitement. Special services were held in the chapels, and many of the most vicious
characters of the town became changed men, and for years sustained the principal offices of their
churches. I must here pay a tribute to the ministers of the town, who, seemingly careless of
themselves, were ever ready to give help when needed, and at the bedside of the dying, and in
the families of the dead, were to be found exercising their holy functions.

Establishing a local Board of Health

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On the 8 September, 1832 the Worcester Herald announced the arrival of cholera in Redditch.
A public parish meeting was held to discuss having a Board of Health to prevent the spread of
cholera, but the meeting was not well attended. Perhaps people thought that
there•would•be•no•opposition•to•a•Board•as•it•was•a•‘measure•which•had•for•its•end•...•the
relief of the afflicted - the•preservation•of•the•healthy,•and•the•good•of•all’.• However, the
majority at the meeting decided against a Board being set up. About six farmers, probably
‘fancying• themselves• free• from•danger’,• claimed•the• right• of• voting• according• to•the•rate
assessment which gave some of them four to six votes, so that the majority of votes were
opposed•to•the•establishment•of•a•Board•of•Health.• The•‘respectable•inhabitants•of•Redditch’
wrote to Lord Aston and the Earl of Plymouth asking for advice and assistance, and the letter
was•signed•by•‘almost•every•respectable•inhabitant•of•the•place’.

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The Earl of Plymouth contributed £50 and Lord Aston gave £20 for a cholera fund. Others
followed•this•‘liberal•example’.• William•Hemming,•Messrs.•Bartleet,•and•Messrs.•Milward
contributed £10 each, Messrs. Field and Mr. Reading gave £5, Mr. Perks and Mr. Williams,
£2..10s[shillings], Mr. Fowkes, Mr. T. Field, Messrs. Holyoake, Mr. J. Holyoake, and Mr.
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Cresswell, £2. Other donations for the cholera fund followed in the next few weeks. A reporter
heard from a trusted source that the Earl of Plymouth asked the Rev. J. Clayton to draw upon
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him for any amount that might be required for the assistance and relief of the afflicted. On
29 September the Worcester Herald stated that the Lords of the Privy Council

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Worcester Herald 8 September 1832.
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Worcester Journal 13 September 1832.
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Worcester Herald 22 September 1832

Page: 8 of 26 Angela Webster