Enteric Fever (later known as Typhoid) took hold of Blantyre in the 1890s. That decade, typhoid fever was a common disease that affected people of all social classes , but there was still uncertainty then about what caused it.
In September 1893, a report was submitted by the Blantyre Water and Drainage Committee. Mr Whyte who was on that committee drew attention that some people thought defective drainage and impure water was to blame for the latest outbreak, he was willing like others, to consider overcrowding also played a part.
He referred to one case which was found to be shocking in relation to the extent of overcrowding. In Blantyre that month , he had found one house, which was divided into 4 small rooms and in that whole building was living 32 people! A state of matters he found appalling and should not be allowed to continue.
The Committee agreed to draw up new rules and regulations and submit them to the Parish Council for consideration, which was to include prohibiting the overcrowding of homes in the Blantyre area.
Nationally, this disease was common everywhere. The first typhoid vaccine was eventually developed in 1896 by British and German scientists. Vaccination became a successful method of preventing typhoid fever, especially during World War I. As well as removing overcrowding for better living conditions, to prevent outbreak of typhoid fever, strategies included connecting houses to a sewage system and providing direct water supplies by pressured pipes.
The photo is of the same era, taken in Glasgow, but does show how some people lived, or rather ‘existed’ back then, ‘cheek by cheek’ and often in the depths of poverty.
