Egremont-street of the lowest prostitutes and thieves. Both streets
are on elevated ground, with good surface drainage, sufficiently wide
and commodious, and might easily be preserved in a decent state; but
all manner of disgusting refuse is thrown out of doors, and but seldom
removed by the scavengers. In Nottingham-street there are eight or
nine lodging-houses. Lodging-keepers have commonly three or four
houses, for each of which they pay 2_s._ 6_d._ per week. The following
is a description of one of them, and may serve as an _instar
omnium_:—The keeper of the lodging-house rented four of these small
tenements. One room, common to the whole of the inmates, who amounted
to 30, including the children, served both as kitchen and
sitting-room. This room was crowded when I visited it in company with
the chief police-officer, Mr. Solomons, with not less than 17 people
covered with filth and rags. In the largest of the sleeping-rooms, 16
feet by 10 feet, by 7 feet high, there were six beds, five on
bedsteads and one on the floor, to accommodate twelve people of both
sexes, besides children. Each person paid 3_d._ per night. Those who
could afford more could be accommodated with a small room with one
bed. * * * In a word, the streets in this neighbourhood have for many
years been an intolerable nuisance to the town at large. They are the
resort of tramps, begging impostors, thieves, and prostitutes of the
lowest description, who daily and nightly take their rounds through
the town.”
The following account of the lodging-houses in Manchester is from the
report of _Dr. Baron Howard_:—
“The pernicious effects resulting from the vitiation of the atmosphere
by the congregation of many persons in a confined space are lamentably
illustrated in the common _lodging-houses_ of the poor; the crowded,
dirty, and ill-ventilated state of which is, I conceive, without doubt
one of the most prolific sources of fever in Manchester. To those who
have not visited them, no description can convey anything like an
accurate idea of the abominable state of these dens of filth, disease,
and wretchedness.
“The great prevalence of fever in these houses during the severe
epidemic of 1837–38 attracted the especial notice of the Board of the
House of Recovery, who passed and transmitted the following resolution
to the churchwardens on the 3d of January, 1838:—‘It appearing that a
great number of cases of fever originates in the common lodging-houses
of the poor of the town, the Board begs to suggest to the
churchwardens and sidesmen the desirableness of appointing proper
persons to inspect the same, in order to prevent, as far as possible,
by cleanliness and ventilation, the increase and spread of this
malady.’ In consequence of this suggestion the parochial authorities
did immediately cause some of the most filthy of these establishments
to be cleansed and whitewashed; but it is evident that temporary
exertions of this kind, however praiseworthy, are quite inadequate to
effect much permanent improvement.
“In some of these houses as many as six or eight beds are contained in
a single room; in others, where the rooms are smaller, the number is
necessarily less; but it seems to be the invariable practice in these
‘keepers of fever beds,’ as the proprietors were styled by Dr.
Ferriar, to cram as many beds into each room as it can possibly be
made to hold; and they are often placed so close to each other that
there is scarcely room to pass between them. The scene which these
places present at night is one of the most lamentable description; the
crowded state of the beds, filled promiscuously with men, women, and
children; the floor covered over with the filthy and ragged clothes
they have just put off, and with their various bundles and packages,
containing all the property they possess, mark the depraved and
blunted state of their feelings, and the moral and social disorder
which exists. The suffocating stench and heat of the atmosphere are
almost intolerable to a person coming from the open air, and plainly
indicate its insalubrity. Even if the place be inspected during the
day, the state of things is not much better. Several persons will very
commonly be found in bed; one is probably sick, a second is perhaps
sleeping away the effects of the previous night’s debauch, while
another is possibly dozing away his time because he has no employment,
or is taking his rest now because he obtains his living by some night
work. In consequence of this occupation of the room during the day,
the windows are kept constantly closed, ventilation is entirely
neglected, and the vitiated atmosphere is ever ready to communicate
its poisonous influence to the first fresh comer whom habit has not
yet rendered insensible to its effects, an exemption which seems to be
in some degree acquired by habitual exposure, and which accounts for
the immunity frequently enjoyed by the keepers themselves of these
houses, whilst their lodgers are attacked in succession. This
circumstance, which was particularly noticed by Dr. Ferriar, I have
often observed. Where cellars are occupied as lodging-houses, the back
room is generally used as the sleeping apartment; and as this has
often no window, and can only receive air and light through the door
opening into the front room, the utter impossibility of ventilation
renders the ravages of infectious fevers particularly destructive when
they once find entrance.
“The beds and bedding, being seldom washed or changed, are generally
in the most filthy condition, and consisting usually of those porous
materials to which contagious vapours are especially liable to attach
themselves, the danger of sleeping in them may be well conceived. Even
if a bed has been occupied by a fever patient who has died, or been
removed, it is often immediately used by fresh lodgers, without having
undergone any purification.
“The disgraceful state of these lodging-houses has been dwelt upon at
some length, because I consider their evils of a most serious and
extensive nature, and I feel quite satisfied they are the most
malignant _foci_ of infectious fevers in Manchester. Indeed it is my
decided opinion that the vitiation of the atmosphere by the living is
much more injurious to the constitution than its impregnation with the
effluvia from dead organic matter; and certainly all I have observed
in Manchester induces me to consider the ‘human miasms’ generated in
overcrowded and ill-ventilated rooms as a far more frequent and
efficient cause of fever than the malaria arising from collections of
refuse and want of drainage. I have been led to this conclusion from
having remarked that fever has generally prevailed more extensively in
those houses where the greatest numbers were crowded together, and
where ventilation was most deficient, although the streets in which
they are situated maybe well paved, drained, and tolerably free from
filth, than in those where there was less crowding, notwithstanding
their location in the midst of nuisances giving rise to malaria. This
inference is also supported by the fact of the higher relative
proportion of fever to other diseases which has been shown to exist in
the collegiate church district, where the number of crowded
lodging-houses and confined courts, the closely compacted state of the
buildings, the narrowness of the streets, and consequent density of
the population and absence of ventilations, are most remarkable.”
_Mr. John Rayner_, medical officer of the Stockport union, gives the
following account of the lodging-houses in that town:—
“The lodging-houses in these districts, which are principally occupied
by the Irish labourers, are for the most part very much crowded, and
are in a remarkably filthy states. The beds and bedding are not only
loathsome to the sight but are extremely offensive to the smell, and
are so closely packed that several families may occupy the same room,
each bed containing several persons. In such places the married and
single often repose together, and the beds are so arranged, that in
some instances there is not room for a person to walk between them. I
have seen seven persons in the same bed, and last week removed to the
infirmary a case of rheumatic fever, with translation of the disease
to the heart, from a bed which every night contains _eight_ persons. I
have generally found that the lower order of Irish labourers occupy
the most filthy districts, and that wherever they _colonize_, misery
and wretchedness is sure to abound. They are the most common
applicants for medical relief at our charity.”
“I lately had a case of inflammation of the absorbments of the legs,
from a trifling injury to the foot, in an Irish boy, who was living in
a dark, damp cellar, about four yards square, in which were two beds.
The height of the ceiling was not more than six feet, and yet _seven_
persons laid in it, together with a few rabbits. One of the beds had
to be removed from the wall on account of its extreme dampness, and so
dark was the dwelling at mid-day, that I had to make use of a candle
whilst inspecting him.”
The following is the description of the lodging-houses at the next
stage, by the relieving officer of the Macclesfield union:—
_Mr. James Bland_, medical officer of the Macclesfield union,—
“I beg to observe that the lodging-houses are a fruitful source of
fever. The persons renting these tenements showed greater resistance
than others in having their houses properly whitewashed at the time
the epidemic cholera appeared. The vagrants who visit these houses are
frequently attacked with fever: exposed during the day to the
inclemency of the seasons, with their imperfect covering, ragged
clothes, and naked feet, at night thrust into a room perhaps of 16 or
20 square yards, having perhaps five or six beds and three individuals
in a bed, married and single, male and female, to all appearance
indiscriminately lodged. When a case of illness occurs, the
lodging-house keeper is most importunate and clamorous in demanding
relief from the town; and when obtained, it is quite a question
whether it will really be applied to the wants of the sufferer. I have
never any confidence that the remedies given will be administered to
the patient.”
The further stages of the lodging-houses on the northern roads are thus
described in the reports:—
_Mr. Nicholas Oliver_, the medical officer of Durham, thus describes the
lodging-houses in that town:—
“One fruitful source of generating and propagating contagious diseases
is to be found in those common lodging-houses where vagrants and
mendicants, or any one whatever, whether healthy or diseased, are for
a trifling sum provided with lodgings. I have known 40 persons half
clothed, lodged in one of those wretched dwellings, three or four
lying in one bed upon straw, and only a single counterpane to cover
them, which is never changed. Excrementitious matter was allowed to
accumulate and be about the rooms in all directions, the stench being
most revolting. In the beginning of summer fever of a typhoid type
occurred in this house and affected a number of the inmates, but being
in the other district, they came under the care of the other medical
attendant.”
The medical officer of the Teesdale union gives the following
description of the houses in that stage:—
“In this court there are eight common lodging-houses, and the number
of lodgers sometimes amounts to 100; at this time it is 50: eight or
ten sleeping in a room, upon the most unwholesome straw. The buildings
are in general good; but the wretched and filthy state of the houses
can scarcely be conceived. From this part many of our applications
arise. It is, indeed, a source of physical and moral disease.”
_Mr. Gilbert Ward_, the medical officer of the Tynemouth union,
describes the lodging-houses there as sources of disease, of which one
example may suffice:—
“In a low, damp, dirty, ill-ventilated, miserable hovel, kept by the
most filthy people I ever beheld, containing four beds seldom changed,
and which I have witnessed filled with beggars of the lowest
description, there have been the following cases:—A son and daughter
died, another son and daughter had the disease, and the mother had two
attacks, all within a period of 18 months. This family, in consequence
of their filthy habits, was removed to the workhouse, but could not be
induced to remain; and they again returned to their old quarters, and
were afflicted as above described.
“The constable has several times visited these houses, to endeavour to
prevent the nuisance of so many congregating in them; but his efforts
have hitherto been ineffectual.”
_Sir John Walsham_ thus exemplifies the descriptions he has received of
the lodging-houses in Newcastle:—
“There is a considerable number of lodging-houses in Newcastle, some
of the rooms of which are frequently occupied by from 15 to 20 persons
each. In these houses the most deplorable scenes of profligacy and
depravity are met with, both sexes being crowded together in a manner
injurious to both health and morals.
“A medical gentleman told me, in Stockton, this morning, that in the
common lodging-houses where travelling vagrants are frequently
attacked with fever, &c., and in many cases die, the beds are the very
next night occupied by fresh inmates, who of course are infected with
the same disorder.”
And one of the relieving officers for the same town says:—
“I have frequently had occasion to complain to the magistrates against
the lodging-houses taking in so many lodgers; but the law in this
respect is so defective that they could render me no assistance. On a
Sunday last July, I went to see a man (a travelling musician) who was
very ill of the small-pox, and died a few days afterwards. The house
contained four small rooms, and was situated in a back yard, in a very
narrow, confined, dirty lane. There were 40 people in the house, and
they were not all in that lodged there. Four months ago I went into a
room in the same yard; the room was very dirty; it was 9 feet broad by
15 feet long, and contained four beds, in which slept two men, four
women, and thirteen children. I found in one of the beds two children
very ill of scarlet fever; in another, a child ill of the measles; in
another, a child that had died of the measles the day before; and in a
fourth, a woman and her infant, born two days before; and the only
space between the four beds was occupied by a tinker, hard at work.”
The lodging-houses in Scotland are similarly characterized. _Dr. Scott
Alison_ states that,—
“There are many regular lodging-houses in Tranent, perhaps from 15 to
20, in which paupers, vagrants, and a few labouring people live. The
people reside there for a considerable time. I have known colliers in
employment to live in these houses. They are crowded at all hours, but
more especially at night. Men, women, and children live and sleep in
the same apartment. In one of them I have seen an apartment, about 18
feet long and 10 feet wide, which contained four beds made up
constantly; and when the house was ‘throng,’ another was added to the
number. The lodging-houses are the head-quarters for beggars. The
people go about during the day pursuing their avocations, and return
home at night to regale themselves with their earnings. These people
lie in bed till very late, and, if visited in the forenoon, may be
seen sitting beside the fire, roasting herrings or frying meat. They
live well amidst their wretchedness.”
In the report of _Mr. James Cameron_, surgeon of Tain, there occurs the
following description of the lodging-houses in that part of Scotland:—
“There are three lodging-houses in Tain, which are chiefly occupied by
beggars and hawkers. These places are kept in the filthiest condition
imaginable: I have been credibly informed that the bed-clothes used in
one of these houses have not been washed for the last five years!
Summer being the season when these people are generally abroad, these
low lodgings are then often crowded to excess. During the week-days
the beggars and hawkers perambulate the country, returning on Saturday
night. They frequently, especially when collected in large numbers,
drink to excess; and their conduct on such occasions is riotous and
disgusting in the extreme. The general charge for such lodgings is
2_d._ per head for the night, with an ample allowance of whisky to the
landlords by way of perquisite. These individuals are unfortunately
the means of introducing infectious diseases, such as fever,
small-pox, measles, &c.”
In Edinburgh and Glasgow, as the confluence of vagrants, and especially
of Irish vagrants, becomes greater, such receptacles become more
numerous and crowded, and the evils attendant upon them more intense.
The injury done to the health of the public in general, and to the
health of portions of the operative classes, by the generation or
propagation of disease in such places, forms only one part of the evils
which call for interference by preventive measures. These evils appear
to require for their correction powers to be put in operation by the
concurrent exertions of the officers charged with sanitary measures, or
the prevention of disease; of the officers charged with the
administration of relief to destitution and the prevention of mendicity,
and of the officers charged with the protection of the public peace and
the prevention of crime. Further, to complete the view of the chief
evils arising from these receptacles, we may refer to the report and
evidence for the state of them, collected by my colleagues and myself,
on the inquiry as to the state of crime, under the Constabulary Force
Commission on the state of the lodging-houses in respect to crime:—
Ҥ35. We found only few of the magisterial divisions from which we
obtained information that were not seriously afflicted by the
existence of such receptacles, and in any arrangements for the
prevention of crime within the rural districts the means of
suppressing or controlling the common lodging-house must have a
prominent place. The trampers’ lodging-house is distinct from the
beer-shop or the public-house, or any licensed place of public
accommodation: it is not only the place of resort of the mendicant,
but of the common thief; it is the ‘flash-house’ of the rural
district; it is the receiving-house for stolen goods; it is the most
extensively-established school for juvenile delinquency, and commonly
at the same time the most infamous brothel in the district.
The magistrates of the division of Warwick state—
“‘That in the borough of Warwick such houses are both numerous and a
very general receptacle of petty offenders. Here the common vagrants
and trading beggars assemble in great numbers at nightfall, or take up
their quarters for very many days, making the lodging-house the common
centre from whence they issue in the morning, traverse their several
beats, and return at night. It is not unfrequent for such vagrants to
make the immediate neighbourhood their regular walk even for some
weeks, changing their beats, which are carefully arranged among
themselves, and only quitting their quarters to avoid detection in
some petty pilfering, or because, from becoming too well known, they
can no longer successfully impose on the public in the quarter they
have so long frequented.’
“The magistrates of the Chelmsford division state:—
“‘There are several lodging-houses in the town of Chelmsford where in
the course of the year it is supposed upwards of 2000 trampers or
vagrants resort. The greater number of these persons shelter
themselves from apprehension and punishment under the Vagrant Act, by
professing to be match-sellers. This is made a cloak for begging alms,
and the pretext for going from house to house, and pilfering, as
opportunity offers. The lodging-houses at Chelmsford are made the
centre of a kind of circuit which these people make almost
periodically.
“‘The system of lodging-houses for travellers, otherwise trampers,
requires to be altogether revised: at present they are in the practice
of lodging all the worst characters unquestioned, and are subject to
no other control than an occasional visit of inspection from the
parish officers, accompanied by the constables, whose power of
interference, if they have a legal right of entry, does not extend to
some of the most objectionable points connected with those houses, as
they can merely take into custody such persons as they find in
commission of some offence. The state in which those houses are found
on the occasion of such visit proves how much they require
interference. The houses are small, and yet as many as thirty
travellers, or even thirty-five, have been found in one house; fifteen
have been found sleeping in one room, three or four in one bed, men,
women, and children promiscuously. Beds have been found occupied in a
cellar. It is not necessary to urge the many opportunities of
preparing for crime which such a state of things presents, or the
actual evils arising from such a mode of harbouring crowds of low and
vicious persons.’”
In our First Report we observed, that—“The mischiefs of these migratory
streams of depredators and vagrants, and other bad characters, is not
confined to the crimes which they commit, though those must be extremely
extensive to furnish such numerous hordes with the means of subsistence;
these characters, experienced in the crimes and vices of the criminal
associations of the larger towns from whence they sally forth, form such
large proportions of the population of the gaols in the rural districts,
as are stated in the return of prisoners in Knutsford gaol. The other
portion of the inmates of the gaol, chiefly agricultural labourers,
natives of the country, confined for misdemeanours, may in such
receptacles be considered pupils in these normal schools of crime, to
learn and carry back to the rural villages the knowledge and the
incitement to felonious practices.”
It appears that, on the several grounds of public expediency, for the
preservation of the public health, and for the preservation of the
public peace, all common lodging-houses,—all places which are open for
the reception of strangers, travellers, and wayfarers by the night, and
houses laid out and provided for numbers of lodgers, should be subjected
to regulations for the protection of the inmates as well as the public
at large. This appears, indeed, to be consistent with the ancient police
of the country. By narrowing the definition of the places for which
licences were rendered necessary to those where spirits or fermented
liquors are sold to be drunk on the premises, (as if a revenue were the
only proper object of their government,) it appears that there has been
a mischievous dereliction of the ancient and sound policy of the law
which subjects the “victualler” as well as the keeper of the hostel,
inn, or lodging-house to responsibilities for the protection of the
inmates, and the convenience of the inhabitants in the neighbourhood
where such houses may be situate. The common lodging-house keeper is in
fact an inferior victualler, but evading the licence and the
responsibilities of the victualler, by sending out for the fermented
liquors which are consumed by the lodgers.