Skip Navigation



Social History of Medicine Advance Access published online on March 9, 2007
Social History of Medicine, doi:10.1093/shm/hkl084
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/1/21    most recent
hkl084v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hanley, J. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for the Social History of Medicine. All rights reserved

Public Health, London's Levels and the Politics of Taxation, 1840–1860

James G. Hanley*

* Department of History, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Ave, Winnipeg MB R3B 2E9, Canada. E-mail: j.hanley{at}uwinnipeg.ca


  Abstract

Summary Recent work on the inspiration for sanitary reform remains divided between interpretations stressing the political and ideological roots of reform and those emphasising its financial prerequisites. This paper draws these two lines of argument together through a study of a precedent-setting legal case on drainage financing in Whitechapel. The case illustrates the centrality of financing to projects of reform but also highlights the political nature of financing decisions. Whitechapel's decision about paying for sewers raised issues of political principle that connect it to contemporary debates over Poor Law financing and the provision in general of local government services in London. An examination of the court case surrounding the project under consideration reveals the complex dynamics of sanitary reform in Whitechapel. The case reaffirms the importance of local political commitments in the context of permissive public health legislation and illustrates the largely neglected role that the judiciary at all levels played in resisting, reflecting and shaping parochial political philosophy.

Keywords: Metropolis Local Management Act; politics; sewers; law and public health


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.