In the 1840's Rotherham transformed from a small market town into a centre of industry. There were number of small-scale mining companies as well as number of glassmakers in operation. The rapid increase of population within Rotherham and Kimberworth led to problems with health, housing and sanitation. Outbreaks of dysentery and diarrhoea became common, often leading to many deaths.
In 1850 concern for the health of the people in Rotherham led to a visit by the General Board of Health and they reported on the state of sanitation in the town.
They found the only proper sewer was on Westgate
and elsewhere sewage would find it's own way to the river Don. In the summer months adults
and children alike would fish and bath in the polluted water. Many of the houses
within the town centre were back-to-back terraces and squeezed into courts yards. Only
half of the houses had piped water, the others still relied on water pumps and wells.
Dr. Shearman, the Medical Office of the time reported in the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent on the 5th March 1853 "The present unhealthy condition of the town of Rotherham which was full of fever of a low typhoid character". He complained that overcrowding of human beings in small houses with poor ventilation was leading to one epidemic after another. Around the same time the average age of death was only 25 years old for a male in Rotherham. As a result of the report the Board of Health for Rotherham and Kimberworth was established, which took on a greater responsibility of improving the town's water supply and sanitation.
2005© Neil and Janet Croft 2005