GROWTH OF THE VILLAGE AND PUBLIC HEALTH
by Margaret & Dennis Warwick

The industrialisation of Burley brought about a significant increase in its population. In 1801 there were less than a thousand inhabitants and by the mid-century the figure had doubled. Housing was needed for the growing numbers but in the early part of the 19th century little was done to ensure that basic amenities were provided with the houses. Overflowing privies, flooded cellars, uncleared night soil heaps and animal dung heaps were common place in the early 1850s. There was a higher incidence of tuberculosis and other diseases than would be expected in a semi-rural industrial village.

The leading employers at the mill, W. Fison and W.E. Forster, along with the local clergy determined to apply for powers to remedy the worst abuses. The establishment of a Local Board of Health was their aim. The first step was a petition by the ratepayers of Burley for a formal Inquiry to be made into conditions in the village. There was opposition from some ratepayers who feared big increases in their rates. Nevertheless the General Board of Health in London agreed to appoint William Ranger to carry out a formal Inquiry.

William Ranger commenced his enquiry at the Mechanics Institute (at the bottom of Station Road) on 4th January 1854 calling witnesses to tell him about the state of the village. On the following day, despite a heavy fall of snow, he managed to examine some of the defects he had heard about the day before. When he completed his report on 15th February, he was in no doubt that Burley needed a Board of Health to govern the Township of Burley and improve its sewerage and drainage, hopefully reducing sickness and early deaths. See the quotations from the Ranger Report below.

Burley elected its first Board of nine members in November 1854. The Board members, acting under powers vested in them by The Public Health Act of 1848, were allowed to raise a rate to pay for basic improvements in the village. Better systems for the disposal of sewage and regular collections of rubbish were the main priorities. Bye Laws such as the ones shown were passed by the Board in 1855 to give it powers to control some obvious abuses.

... now see "Public Health"