Page 24 - Smallwood Hospital

Redditch Heritage Smallwood Hospital

water was contaminated all the drains in the vicinity would be properly sewered, and all the
bog-holes cemented. 50

In August 1875 Mr. Page told the Local Board that there were cases of typhoid fever in
buildings at the corner of Wellington Street, where the water supply was polluted. The Board
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gave instructions that this should be seen to. By August 1878 typhoid fever appeared again
in the district and again the Local Board agreed to the removal of nuisances mentioned by
Mr. Page. 52

Other illnesses

Newspapers often noted diseases and illnesses prevalent in a district. It was reported, for
example, that in October 1875 Mr. Page, the Medical Officer for Redditch, told the Local
Board that during that month the death rate was 18.36 per thousand, as 11 deaths had been
registered. Of those who died seven were under one year, and three were from zymotic
diseases. Whooping cough and measles had been prevalent. The quarterly report showed the
estimated population to be to be 7,222, and there were 26 deaths. Half of those who had died
were under five years of age, and zymotic diseases had been very prevalent. Mr. Page said
the infant mortality was great, and half of it was from preventable causes – diarrhoea and
improper feeding. The latter was ascribed to the women working in factories, and not paying
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due attention to their infants.

At Redditch Petty Sessions, in September 1878, fines were inflicted in three cases upon
people who had been guilty of acts of carelessness, endangering the public health by
favouring the spread of scarlet fever in the district. In one case a woman had left an infected
house without disinfecting her clothes. In another case, a laundress, who had a scarlet fever
patient in her house, had sent home clothes without disinfecting them. In the third case a
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father had let his child with scarlet fever to be in the streets without proper precautions. By
March 1879 scarlet fever had decreased in the Redditch district, 55 per cent of the deaths
being due to bronchitis. 55

Page’s Second annual report on the sanitary condition of ... Redditch, for the year ... 1875
gave a detailed analysis of the incidences of diseases and their outcomes in 1875. There were
24 cases of deaths from zymotic diseases in 1875. In order of their relative frequency they
were: whooping cough, infantile diarrhoea, croup, scarlatina, measles, and puerperal fever.
Rachitis (rickets) ‘caused 13 deaths, 11 Males and 2 Females, all as would be expected in
infancy under 5 years of age’. During the year there were 18 deaths due to phthisis
(tuberculosis) which was ‘the commonest cause of death in the District’. There were ‘two

50
Worcester Journal 8 November 1873.
51
Worcester Journal 14 August 1875.
52
Worcester Journal 17 August 1878.
53
Worcester Journal 9 October 1875.
54
Worcestershire Chronicle 21 September 1878.
55
Worcester Journal 8 March 1879.

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