New Course Explores Liverpool's Flea-ridden History

A fascinating new course that will look into the murky and flea-ridden history of public health in Liverpool is launching at Edge Hill University.

For ten weeks, students will be taken on a tour of some of the city's most hair-raising 19th Century health facts.

The History of Public Health in Liverpool course delves into some of the city's darkest health secrets that meant residents had one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the country. In 1867, the average lifespan of someone living in Liverpool was 23-years-old, but for those unfortunate souls at Lime Street that figure was a bleak 10-years old.

Chris Jones, Senior Health Lecturer at Edge Hill, said: "The history of public health in Liverpool is fascinating. There are so many stories about the awful conditions that these poor people lived in. We will look at the unpleasant way people used to go about their lives in 1847, when an amazing 80,000 people emigrated from Ireland and squeezed into every nook and cranny of an already overcrowded city.

"The situation in the area was already horrifying with no paving or lighting and people used the streets as toilets - it defies belief. My research uncovered a disgusting fact that the water supply was only switched on for 30 minutes every day about three times a week. Imagine what it would be like with all those extra people living there. No wonder public health was such an issue when at one point there were probably around 10,000 people in the city showing symptoms of Cholera."

The course will also be celebrating the fact that Liverpool can lay claim to the world?s first ever Medical Officer, Dr William Henry Duncan. He was the first person to make the medical care of an entire city his practice. Again and again he emphasised the connection between the dreadful housing and sanitation situation as well as the outbreak of diseases like Typhus and Smallpox.

Chris added: "I'm sure that the people of Liverpool can't thank Dr Duncan enough for the work he did. He also helped set up another world first for the city, a Borough Engineer. James Newlands was given the task of creating the modern day integrated sewage system in 1847. This helped stem the problems of premature deaths in the city and increased the life expectancy of the city as a whole."

The new course is set to begin in September from a base on Dale Street. Anyone who would like more information about the course should call 0151 529 3116 or email jonesch@edgehill.ac.uk.