Public health officer reports

Our archive collection houses various documents left over from the previous district councils prior to the borough being established in 1965 - such as all the annual public health officer reports.

William Ranger's report from 1849 (Reference: U/UBH/1/1) was commissioned under the Uxbridge Board of Health, first appointed in 1840, as part of a public enquiry into better understanding the situation of the standard of health in the district.

Ranger's report found that outbreaks of cholera were mainly located in Paradise Row, George Street, Common Road and Morten's Yard.

The report was also one of the first of its kind in Uxbridge that looked into the overcrowding problems of the lower classes and how such living conditions led to detrimental infant mortality rates.

He discovered that a lot of children would unfortunately die prematurely and nearly 30% would die before reaching their first year.

These annual reports were not just for the medical practitioners.

They helped pushed for a better system to be undertaken throughout the district. These reports assisted in getting the leaders of the district to give better attention to the living conditions of the district and those that were suffering as a result.

They pushed and advocated for better vaccinations, housing, water supply and even cleaner conditions for slaughterhouses.

The medical reports are a jump into a recent past. Just flicking through the pages of one report can open your eyes into seeing how things have changed and improved for all of us over such a short period.