The Northern Powerhouse. A multidisciplinary study of the mortality and morbidity of Northern English communities in the 19th century

The northern powerhouse is a multidisciplinary study of health in industrial era northern English communities. It aimed to investigate the experience of health and disease in northern England in the 19th century through the use of both osteological and General Registrar’s Office (GRO) mortality reports. In order to do this the study had to collect palaeopathological and documentary data in a comparable form, compare and contrast the perspectives provided by both sources, compare multiple sites throughout northern England, utilise statistical analyses and finally provide an overview of the health and mortality experienced in northern England during this period as presented in the sites studied. The impacts of industrialisation and urbanisation upon the health of London have been discussed and published at length within current literature with great success, though this has led to other locations being overlooked. Eight burial sites were chosen from six GRO registration districts to study morbidity within northern England. The sites used were Coach Lane, North Shields, Coronation Street, South Shields, The Church of St Michael and St Lawrence, Fewston, St Peter’s Church, Blackburn, St George’s Crypt, Leeds, Victoria Gate, Leeds, Carver Street, Sheffield and Sheffield Cathedral, Sheffield. These sites represented a variety of socio-economic and occupational foci to allow for a more comparability to the palaeopathological data which also represents a longer time period. The two data sources were compared through visual and statistical analyses. The statistical method chosen for the analysis was logistic regression. Logistic regression allows for the comparison of multiple possible impacting factors upon an outcome and has experienced an increase in use within nuanced interpretation of health. The decennial GRO reports were used for most of the analysis and interpretation. These were chosen as they provided more comparability to the palaeopathological data which also represents a longer time period. The two data sources were compared through visual and statistical analyses. The statistical method chosen for the analysis was logistic regression. Logistic regression allows for the comparison of multiple possible impacting factors upon an outcome and has experienced an increase in use within archaeological research. The ability for the two data sources to complement each other was in the most part successful and could be utilised in future studies. The ability of the two sources to reveal how accurately we can study certain diseases within archaeological populations was particularly evident through the analysis of data regarding tuberculosis infections. It revealed that our understanding of the percentage of infected individuals who present with bone lesions is quite accurate within 19th century sites when compared with the mortality data of the GRO. The impact of industrialisation, urbanisation and socio-economic status is ever present throughout the analysis of the results and upon further discussion the health and disease environment of northern England seems to be heavily influenced by the changes which took place in the 18th and 19th centuries. The increased air pollution and overcrowding exacerbated by urbanisation and industrialisation seems to have impacted individuals from all social status groups. The effect of industrialisation is not limited to negative impacts, however, and the increased government legislation regarding public health is also linked to the decline in infectious disease throughout the latter half of the 19th century. Future study of the health of northern England during this period, including communities which were not visible in the current study, such as mining communities, would provide even greater understanding to discussions regarding the impact of industrial change on health in the past and regarding how future changes may impact health in less studied communities.

URI

https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/handle/10454/20887

Type

Thesis

Qualification name

PhD