General Board of Health

Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmental health risks including slaughterhouses and ensure the proper supply of water to their districts. Local boards were eventually merged with the corporations of municipal boroughs in 1873, or became urban districts in 1894.

The first local boards were created under the Public Health Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c.63). The aim of the act was to improve the sanitary condition of towns and populous places in England and Wales by placing: the supply of water; sewerage; drainage; cleansing; paving, and environmental health regulation under a single local body. The act could be applied to any place in England and Wales except the City of London and some other areas in the Metropolis already under the control of sewer commissioners.

The Act was passed by the Liberal government of Lord John Russell, in response to the urging of Edwin Chadwick. This was supported by reports, from local branches of the Health of Towns Association (formed in 1844), of poor and insanitary conditions in many UK cities.

The act created a General Board of Health as a central authority to administer the act. There were three commissioners:- the president of the board being the First Commissioner of Her Majesty's Woods and Forests, Land Revenues, Works and Buildings, the other two members being appointed by warrant. The board was originally to be dissolved after five years, but acts of parliament were passed annually allowing for its continuation. Chadwick was appointed a Commissioner, and the Board was strongly associated with him. In 1852, Edward Gotto was employed to carry out the national General Board of Health Survey.

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