Edwin Chadwick (1800-1890) is most famous for his contributions to the public health movement of the nineteenth century where his 1842 Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population highlighted the unsanitary conditions that prevailed in the industrial towns and cities of Victorian Britain. While particular cities are mentioned in his work, such as London, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, his work had an effect on Britain as a whole as it changed government policy on a national level. Other facets of social welfare in which he was actively involved included the Poor Law, police, education and the evolving responsibilites of central and local government.
This collection includes a reprint of Finer's biography, The Life and Times of Sir Edwin Chadwick, Chadwick's 1842 Sanitary Report and many of his rarer pamphlets and addresses to learned societies. Each of the volumes also contains a specially prepared Introduction.