What part did Edwin Chadwick play in bringing about changes in the public health provision?
Erin Bourke 10D
Edwin Chadwick is most associated with public health improvements during the era of Queen Victoria. He used his position to persuade the government to invest in public health ventures. He was interested in the political and social reform and was one of the most important health activists of the 1800s.
He believed in using science as a means for social improvement and in 1832 he was asked to serve on the royal commission to investigate the effectiveness of the Poor Laws. His writing skills served him well and he was asked to compose a large chunk for the final report; the final report was critical of the old Poor Law system and it recommended major changes. The new Poor Law Amendment Act did not go as far as Chadwick would have liked but it did set up a Central Poor Law Commission, which Chadwick felt would underpin the new reforms. However, one of the reports major criticisms’ was that the old Poor Law had been left to be organised at a local level and there was no central authority over the whole system.