James Newlands and the origins of the municipal engineer
Journal: Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering History and Heritage
Year: 2014

When James Newlands (1813–1871) arrived in Liverpool in 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 paid f