The Great Stink of London Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the Cleansing of the Victorian Metropolis

by Halliday, Stephen

• ISBN13: 9780750925808
• ISBN10: 0750925809
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-02-15
• Publisher: Sutton

Summary

In the sweltering summer of 1858 the stink of sewage from the polluted Thames was so offensive that it drove Members of Parliament from the chamber of the House of Commons. Sewage generated by a population of over two million Londoners was pouring into the river and was being carried to and fro by the tides. The Times called the crisis "The Great Stink". Parliament had to act - drastic measures were required to clean the Thames and to improve London's primitive system of sanitation. The great engineer entrusted by Parliament with this enormous task was Sir Joseph Bazalgette. This book is an account of his life and work.

Author Biography

Stephen Halliday is a lecturer at Buckinghamshire Business School

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. v
Foreword	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Chronology	p. xii
Introduction: who was Joseph Bazalgette?	p. 1
London's Sanitation before 1850	p. 17
The Water-closet: 'No filth in the sewers, all in the river'	p. 35
A Government for London	p. 58
'The most extensive and wonderful work of modern times'	p. 77
Where there's Muck there's Brass?	p. 108
Cholera	p. 124
Building the Embankments	p. 144
Thoroughfares, Housing and Open Spaces	p. 164
Conclusion	p. 181
Notes	p. 192
Bibliography	p. 201
Index	p. 207
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