Published by Primary Source Microfilm

"The Reports here reproduced for the first time as a collection represent an impressive achievement of the 19th century reform and administration." -- H.J. Smith, Department of Adult and Continuing Education University of Durham

Of special interest to social historians and scholars of Victorian and Edwardian history, this collection includes three major series of documents with hundreds of reports on social conditions across Britain in the mid-19th century: The Local Reports to the General Board of Health, 1848-1857; The Reports to the Local Government Board, 1869-1908; and The Journal of the Society of Medical Officers of Health, 1888-1920.

Series One: The Local Reports to the General Board of Health, 1848-1857

This collection presents a very specific and detailed picture of industrial Britain, and the consequences of the first Industrial Revolution. These reports include virtually every topic that, according to the inspector, affected the moral and physical welfare and administration of the locality he visited.

214 fiche

Series Two: The Reports to the Local Government Board, 1869-1908

This second series offers another 799 measured, meticulous, but vivid reports, which expose the extent of the squalor and poverty that confronted and helped create the late Victorian social conscience.

223 fiche

Series Three: Public Health - The Journal of the Society of Medical Officers of Health, 1888-1920

The activities and interests of Medical Officers touched many aspects of public social policy. They affected real improvement in living conditions through the pressure they brought to bear.

The Public Health Campaign, begun in the 1840s in reaction to the appalling conditions created by the industrial revolution, had developed into a vigorous movement by the end of the century. The campaign's Medical Officers experienced first-hand the severe problems of health and social welfare which confronted Victorian and Edwardian England.

211 fiche

Complete Collection: 648 fiche