Edwin Chadwick
"Champion of the Sanitary Revolution"
Edwin Chadwick was born in Longsight, near Manchester on June 20th 1801. Chadwick was the son of a businessman who moved to London with Chadwick when he was only ten years old. In his early life Edwin Chadwick was a secretary to the philosopher Jeremy Bentham. Chadwick was studying to become a lawyer at the time, but he became interested in political and social reform instead.
Chadwick is known for being a 19th century sanitary reformer and worked for the London government researching the living conditions of the poor in the city. Chadwick was the Chief Officer of the Poor Law Commission, and also tried to get rid of child labor in factories. Chadwick has been described as impatient and tactless by people who had worked with him in his lifetime.
The Chadwick Medal, founded by him, is awarded every five years to the Officer of the Army or Navy medical services who has done the most to improve sanitary conditions in Her Majesty's Forces. He was knighted in the year before his death in 1890.
Edwin Chadwick was a firm believer of the miasma theory and focused his research on cleaning up the drainage and ventilation of homes and the city of London. Homes in the city kept their waste in their basements and it would begin to build up so that there were feet of human excrement in their homes. People would not have this removed for quite some times because it was so expensive to have someone come in and do so. Edwin Chadwick knew that if the waste was removed from homes, the people of London would be healthier and the stench would not be as extreme. But there was a problem to this motive; a majority of the people’s homes who need to be cleaned were too poor to have someone come in to clean their waste out.
Edwin Chadwick died on December 31st 1891 and is buried along with is wife Rachel.
Chadwick is known for being a 19th century sanitary reformer and worked for the London government researching the living conditions of the poor in the city. Chadwick was the Chief Officer of the Poor Law Commission, and also tried to get rid of child labor in factories. Chadwick has been described as impatient and tactless by people who had worked with him in his lifetime.
The Chadwick Medal, founded by him, is awarded every five years to the Officer of the Army or Navy medical services who has done the most to improve sanitary conditions in Her Majesty's Forces. He was knighted in the year before his death in 1890.
Edwin Chadwick was a firm believer of the miasma theory and focused his research on cleaning up the drainage and ventilation of homes and the city of London. Homes in the city kept their waste in their basements and it would begin to build up so that there were feet of human excrement in their homes. People would not have this removed for quite some times because it was so expensive to have someone come in and do so. Edwin Chadwick knew that if the waste was removed from homes, the people of London would be healthier and the stench would not be as extreme. But there was a problem to this motive; a majority of the people’s homes who need to be cleaned were too poor to have someone come in to clean their waste out.
Edwin Chadwick died on December 31st 1891 and is buried along with is wife Rachel.