Dr. Duncan, an associate of Chadwick and the medical officer of health in Liverpool wrote in a correspondence to Chadwick; “... finding that not less than 63 cases of fever had occurred in one year in Union Court (containing twelve houses) I visited the court in order to ascertain, if possible, their origin, and I found the whole court inundated with fluid filth which had oozed through the walls from two adjoining ash-pits or cess-pools, and which had no means of escape in consequence of the court being below the level of the street, and having no drain. The court was owned by two different landlords, one of whom had offered to construct a drain provided the other would join him in the expense; but this offer having been refused [by the other Landlord] the court had remained for two or three years in the state in which I saw it.” This again shows that the conditions in industrial cities is what was responsible for disease, but it also highlights the Laissez-Faire attitude that was very common at the time. Like the Landlord who didn’t want to pay for the drain, many people did not feel it was their responsibility to improve conditions in the cities.
Another reason that Salt wanted wide streets was because he didn’t want people to be making trouble in his town. The wide streets made it easy to see what people were up to in the streets. Salt even had special watchtowers so that he could make sure that people weren’t up to 'no good'.
Even the smallest houses in Saltaire were bigger than the average houses of workers in industrial cities, but they were not as tall. Often houses in other industrial cities would be quite tall to compensate for the small area that they were in, but in Saltaire, Salt made sure that all the houses were only two storeys tall. This was to keep the streets light (they weren’t in the shade of the other houses) making it easier to see what was going on in the streets, and also gave a pleasant atmosphere to the town because they were not dark and dingy. The houses were built with large windows that allowed more daylight into the homes. There were also streetlights to keep the streets light at night. Salt would often take his guests on a tour of the town so it was a good idea to make his town look so pleasant and it also lifted the spirits of the workers – which was good for his business because happier workers meant that they were more willing to cooperate with other workers and that meant that they worked more efficiently.
Only 4-5 people on average lived in a house in Saltaire whereas in other cities there were usually more people living in a house. These sources show that overcrowding was a major problem in industrial cities such as Liverpool: “Houses of the lowest class were so overcrowded that it was common to see every room of the dwelling occupied by several families, without even a curtain to separate them” and Leeds: “…In one cul-de-sac in Leeds there are 34 houses, and in ordinary times there dwell in these houses 340 persons, or ten to every house.” We have seen before that Chadwick wrote, “disease, wherever its attacks are frequent, is always found in connexion with … close and overcrowded dwellings…” This shows that overcrowded houses were one of the causes for disease. Salt had also realised this and built the accommodation to suit individual families.
All the houses were ‘through-terraces’ as opposed to those in other industrial cities where houses were ‘back-to-back’. This meant that there was more than one entrance to a house, making access easier. The streets were also open-ended which made for even greater access. In contrast, J P Kay wrote of Manchester “The houses of the poor… are too generally built back to back, having therefore only one outlet, no yard, no privy and no receptacle of refuse”
The houses were allocated to different workers depending on their status. High status workers such as over-lookers would sometimes get houses closer to the factory, though often their houses would be at the end of a street containing lower status workers. This was so that they could keep an eye on the activities of their subordinates. To ensure that high status workers homes were recognised as being different Salt devised a system whereby the amount of panelling on the doors indicated the status of the worker. The more panels on a door meant the higher the position of the worker.
Over all, the improved quality of houses led to improved health, this was good for Salt because it meant that his workers were of good health; so could produce better quality goods more efficiently, and lived longer; so he maintained skilled workers and did not have to waste as much time training new employees.
Average age of death in 1842
The grid above shows what a short life most working people had and Salt’s ideas meant that it was a significant matter ensuring that his workers lived and worked longer than those of other factory workers in the wool industry in Bradford, Keighley and Leeds.
The workers were also happier meaning that they worked more efficiently and were happy to work for Salt. Anybody that went against Salts rules would risk losing their jobs and consequently their homes, so people, in fear of losing all these privileges, did all they could to stay in Salts good books.
It took Salt from 1854 to 1874 to have these houses built; this was over the life expectancy of average labouring worker. The houses continued to be much sought after, even today, because of their more pleasant surrounding in comparison to older housing in Bradford and Shipley.
The Alms Houses
For those who were too old or infirm to work in the factories and that did not have families to look after them, Salt built Almshouses. He built 45 that could accommodate about 75 people. They had pleasant flowerbeds and garden as well as their own small church. People who lived in these houses did not have to pay rent and were also given a small weekly allowance of about… (This was well before the introduction of welfare benefits in 1948) At this time there would have been very little of Almshouses elsewhere in the country, and they would certainly not have been for people of the working classes. Most people in other industrial cities would have worked until they died or would have been laid off without pay when they got too old to work.
The idea of the Almshouses was a very kind idea from Salt and, unlike most of his other ideas, didn’t help him in anyway other than perhaps to give some of his workers hope of a good retirement and reinforcing his image as a philanthropist and humanitarian.
Saltaire Institute
The institute was completed in 1871 and provided a range of recreational and educational facilities for the villagers that would normally only be available to rich people. For example the institute provided leisure facilities including chess room, billiards, a concert hall and gym among other things. This was to encourage people to spend their free time in Saltaire rather than going into Bradford and other nearby areas.
The gym helped workers keep physically fit. If they were fit they were less likely to get ill because their immune system was stronger, and they were also better at doing laborious jobs – as many jobs did involve hard labour, even in Saltaire.
The institute also provided educational facilities such as a reading room, library lecture theatre and art rooms as well as other things. This encouraged the workers to develop themselves further. This worked well for him because educated workers would be able to read details about how to use the machinery, warning notices and also find out about the conditions of workers in the less privileged factories around the North of England, thus realizing their privileged situation.
Membership of the institute was very cheap to try and encourage the workers to join and use the facilities. The institute was to become the social centre of the village. Salt had provided these facilities for his workers because he had seen that elsewhere the only source of relaxation for workers were the “spirit and beer shop and dancing houses” and he had seen the effect of alcohol on the families of his workers. He did not provide a Public House even though he himself was not a teetotaller. Alcohol was however available in shops in Saltaire.
Another suggestion for the reason that Salt did not want a Public House in his town was because he was afraid that if his workers were able to socialise and congregate together in this type of surrounding, then it could lead to other things. The Chartist movement, Trade Unions and other movements had all been started in Public Houses. Although Salt was a supporter of the Chartist and Adult Suffrage movements, he was very much against Trade unions, he refused permission for any of his workers to join the Trade Union. The idea that he did not want a Trade Union to develop in his town could be on of the reason as to why he did not want a Public House.
Roberts Park
Another important feature of Saltaire that meant that life was better than elsewhere was the park. Robert’s Park, originally called Victoria Park after the queen, opened in 1871. It offered a range of facilities including a football pitch, a cricket pitch, a bowls court, a lake for swimming and boating in and an arching range. There were marked walks through beautiful gardens and allotments along the river where people could grow vegetables for their families. People could go to the park to relax and have fun while they were not at work. These things were, again, usually only available to the rich and privileged sectors of society. In comparisons to some towns the fact that there was even a park was incredible. “Manchester has no public park ... where the population can walk and breathe fresh air ... those who live in more populous quarters can seldom hope to see the green face of Nature.” said John Robertson of Manchester. Chadwick also made similar comments about Manchester “There are no public walks or places of recreation by which the thousands of labourers or their families can relieve the tedium of their monotonous employment ... it is not to be wondered at that they fly to the spirit and beer shops and the dancing houses … With a teeming population she has no public walks or resorts for the community to snatch an hour's enjoyment.” Chadwick put the reason for the debauchery of the working people in towns down to the fact that they had no other forms of recreation to enjoy. Salt obviously agreed with this idea.
The park also encouraged workers to stay fit by doing sporting activities. If workers are physically fit then they will be able to do their work better.
Hospital
In most towns and cities proper healthcare was far too expensive for everyone except the rich, but in Saltaire this was different. The hospital opened in 1868 to care for workers who had been injured whilst working, but I soon turned into a general hospital.
Treatment was cheap meaning that all the workers could afford it. In other industrial towns and cities proper healthcare was too expensive for working people.
Location of the village
Salt built his village among fields and woods, with good fresh air and as much sunlight as could be had from a sky which touched the Pennines. He built it on the edge of Shipley with beautiful views towards Baildon and Shipley Glen, where there was a railway and a canal to bring in raw materials and take away the finished cloth. Saltaire, which was three miles from Bradford, took twenty years to build. Sam Kydd, a reporter, said of Saltaire “The site chosen for Saltaire is, in many ways, desirable. The scenery in the immediate neighbourhood is romantic, rural and beautiful…”
At the centre of the village was Salt's mill. The mill was the largest in Europe. Placing underground much of the shafting that drove the machinery reduced noise in the factory. Large flues removed the dust and dirt from the factory floor. To ensure that the neighbourhood didn’t suffer from air pollution, the mill chimney was fitted with Rodda Smoke Burners, which he had discovered produced less pollution.
Saltaire was upstream from Bradford meaning that the water from the river was not as polluted. Saltaire was also separated from Bradford by hills, which meant that it was not affected by the air pollution from Bradford.
Facilities
There were also other things in Saltaire that helped people to enjoy a better standard of living. Salt had a church built in front of his factory where his workers could go worship. Salt himself would worship with them. He would sit with them during the service keeping an eye on what the workers were doing.
There was usually a small shop or kart at the end of every street.
Salt insisted that his workers were clean. He built a Public Washhouse where workers could go and bathe. He said that each worker had to wash every day. He had 3 inspections per week to check if people had been washing, and if they hadn’t they were fined …p. This is incredible, not even the rich washed so much! Queen Victoria is renowned for only having a bath annually! In other industrial towns and cities it is likely that most workers would never have bathed.
Salt provided a school for his workers’ children. This shows that Salt wanted his workers to be more educated. In other industrial cities there were schools, though most children wouldn’t have gone to school, instead they would be working in factories or as chimney sweeps etc. Having said this Salt disagreed with those like Richard Oastler and John Fielden who wanted Parliament to pass legislation on child labour. Salt employed young children in his factories and was totally opposed to the 1833 Factory Act that attempted to prevent children under the age of nine working in textile mills.
In conclusion there were many things about life in Saltaire for ordinary working people that were better than elsewhere. I think the most important were the housing and sanitary conditions of the village, the educational and recreational facilities as well as their working environment, which were way ahead of what was available to ordinary working people in other industrial towns and cities.
Saltaire, therefore, provided a standard of living that was far in excess of normal mid 19th centaury living conditions.
From An Inquiry into the State and Condition of Leeds, Robert Baker, 1842
Leeds from the Health of Towns Report
Manchester, from Edwin Chadwick's Sanitary Report
From Edwin Chadwick's Sanitary Report
From Edwin Chadwick's Sanitary Report
Dr. Duncan, the Medical Officer of Health for Liverpool 1842
From The Liverpool Domestic Mission 1847 Report
From An Inquiry into the State and Condition of Leeds, Robert Baker, 1842
From Moral and Physical Conditions of the Working Classes Employed in the Cotton Manufacture in Manchester J P Kay
From a Government national survey comparing the average age of death of the Labouring classes in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool with that of the equivalent social group in rural Rutland in 1842
From the Report of the Committee on the Health of Towns, 1840, No.XI, by John Robertson, a surgeon.
Manchester, from Edwin Chadwick's Sanitary Report
From an account of Saltaire in The Reynolds newspaper on 29th November, 1857 by Sam Kydd