Health and the Industrial Revolution
In the 19th century, urban populations grew rapidly. The health of the population as a whole, and methods used to prevent disease and keep people healthy. conditions were poor and this contributed to the spread of diseases such as cholera, typhus and typhoid.
Watch animated summary of medical progress in the 19th century.
Industrialisation
From 1750, there was a movement of people from rural to urban areas due to the The process that transformed manufacturing from handmade to machine-made, mass-produced goods using water, steam and coal power transported by canal, rail and steamship. Britain was the first country to have an Industrial Revolution. Goods were being made in factories powered by steam, instead of in peoples鈥 homes. People needed to move to where there was work, and this was in the new factories in urban areas. This led to towns and cities growing quickly in size. The table below shows the rapid increase in the size of some cities between 1801 and 1901.
| City | Population in 1801 | Population in 1901 |
| London | 1,090,078 | 5,567,591 |
| Greater Manchester | 334,013 | 2,125,441 |
| Birmingham | 60,882 | 245,216 |
| Glasgow | 46,779 | 571,615 |
| City | London |
|---|---|
| Population in 1801 | 1,090,078 |
| Population in 1901 | 5,567,591 |
| City | Greater Manchester |
|---|---|
| Population in 1801 | 334,013 |
| Population in 1901 | 2,125,441 |
| City | Birmingham |
|---|---|
| Population in 1801 | 60,882 |
| Population in 1901 | 245,216 |
| City | Glasgow |
|---|---|
| Population in 1801 | 46,779 |
| Population in 1901 | 571,615 |
Housing and sanitation
Factory owners often built cheap houses for their workers. Back-to-back houses were double rows of houses. Each house was joined to others at both sides and at the back. terraced housing was common, with families living in a single room. There was a lack of clean running water, proper sanitation and A series of underground pipes that take away waste water to be cleaned and re-used. Toilets were normally shared between several houses.
Water came from pumps in the street with water supplied from a river that was often heavily polluted. Cracked pipes could also lead to contamination of the water with human waste from An underground pit used for collecting human excrement. If there was an outbreak of a disease, it would spread rapidly due to overcrowding and poor sanitation.
Air pollution
Huge amounts of coal were being burned to power new factories and mills in towns and cities. Air pollution caused significant damage to health, as a thick A type of pollution that is a mixture of smoke and fog. hung over towns and cities where people had moved to in order to live and work. It caused breathing difficulties and led to many deaths as it damaged people鈥檚 lungs.
Disease
Overcrowding and the lack of an effective public health system led to the outbreak and spread of several diseases. These included the following:
- Cholera first arrived in England in 1831 and caused an outbreak that killed around 50,000 people. It was spread by contaminated water or food. It caused diarrhoea and vomiting, which often led to severe dehydration and death. There were further cholera epidemics in 1848, 1854 and 1866.
- Typhoid was also spread by contaminated food or water. It caused a high temperature and fatigue, and could also be fatal.