Robert Barnes: Quarterly Report of the Medical Officer of Health, 3 July, 1858

Published report composed by Robert Barnes pertaining to public health issues in Shoreditch for the quarter ending April 3, 1857. The report was created under the Metropolis Local Management Act and addressed to the Vestry of Saint Leonard's, Shoreditch. Topics in the report include total deaths in the area, population changes, and numbers of deaths from epidemic diseases like small pox, measles, scarlatina, whooping cough, diarrhea, and typhus. Also included are four tables with detailed information about all causes of death, the number of births, the correlation between meteorological phenomena and death, and new cases of disease under the Poor Law medical officers. A review of church vaults and area sewer works was also discussed, along with the influence of the Thames upon the health of the populace and a criticism of the 'Main Drainage Scheme'. Finally, Barnes presented a plan to mitigate the escape of sewage gases from gullies.

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