Sally Sheard is Senior Lecturer in History of Medicine at the University of Liverpool, and Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics. Her research is focused on health and healthcare in the nineteenth and twentieth century, and the interface between expert advisers and policymakers. She is co-author (with Liam Donaldson) of The Nation's Doctor: the role of the Chief Medical Officer, 1855-1998 (Radcliffe Medical, 2005) and co-editor, with Martin Gorsky, of Financing Medicine: the British experience since 1750 (Routledge, 2006). Her biography of the health economist and political adviser Brian Abel-Smith (1926-1996) will be published in 2013. She has worked with the BBC and independent film makers on a number of projects, including BBC4's 2012 documentary series Health before the NHS. She also works as a consultant, providing historical context on contemporary policy issues for health authorities and is a senior editor of www.historyandpolicy.org.
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Date
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16 JULY 2013
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Time
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18:00 - 20:00
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Event Type
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Lecture
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Speaker: Dr Sally Sheard, Senior Lecturer, University of Liverpool
Chaired by: Barry Clarke, President, Institution of Civil Engineers
When James Newlands (1813-1871) arrived in Liverpool in January 1847 to take up the newly created position of Borough Engineer, he formed, along with Dr William Henry Duncan (Medical Officer of Health) and Thomas Fresh (Inspector of Nuisances), Britain’s first public health team.
This was Liverpool’s response to national and international perceptions of it as a dangerously unhealthy town. Frequent outbreaks of epidemic diseases and poor living conditions had created an ‘urban penalty’ – the price it had paid for its rapid and uncontrolled expansion.
Over the next 23 years Newlands shaped this new role of Borough Engineer, defining its territory through Liverpool’s ambitious programme of sanitary reform. He used consulting engineers to try to improve the water supply, but designed Britain’s first purpose-built complete sewerage system himself.
His holistic vision of sustainable urban living encompassed municipal baths and washhouses, road planning, public parks, street lighting - all underpinned by his impressive 1848 survey on a scale of 1 inch to 20 feet. Newlands’ collaborations with other civil engineers, Dr Duncan and Liverpool Town Council provide a fascinating and instructive case study on how expert advice is used in policy development.
It illustrates how, at a time of rapid change in scientific knowledge, the relative professional status of medicine and engineering shaped the development of the discipline of public health. The challenges that Newlands successfully addressed in mid-nineteenth century Liverpool – integrated urban design, adequate funding, multi-disciplinary team working – remain critical to urban health today.
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Programme
18:00 - Registration and refreshments
18:45 - Welcome from the Chair
18:50 - Main Lecture
19:30 - Questions & Answers
20:00 - Close
Contact details
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