Preston had one of the worst mortality rates in Victorian Britain. In 1844 a sanitary report was published by the Reverend John Clay. The findings revealed the parlous state of Preston’s streets and houses.
Unsurprisingly the squalid conditions made Preston one of the worst towns in the country for infant mortality and a high death rate.Clay goes on: “…Prevalence of damp, yet want of water, absence of proper and decent accommodation as to privies, keeping of pigs in, or too near dwellings… Pervading all sickening smells..”
The sanitation was usually poor or non-existent, and poor ventilation led to many illnesses. Families would be attacked by, diphtheria, croup, typhoid, blood poisoning, consumption and various other deadly diseases. Regulation was slow and it was common for houses to be built on rubbish dumps and sewage heaps. Eventually bylaws were passed that outlawed such practices.Diphtheria is caused by a bacteria. The bacteria produces a toxin that can prove fatal.