The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-02 00:00:00

The Dwellings of the Poor in Shoreditch.

Yesterday an adjourned inquest was resumed by Mr.
Humphrey; the coroner for Middlesex, at the Blue Last
Tavern, Curtain-road, Shoreditch, touching the death of a
child named Ellen Kenealey, aged 1 year and 3 months.
The evidence in this case disclosed a painful state of things
with regard to the habitations of the poorer classes in a part
of Shoreditch. The deceased, it may be stated, was one of
two children dwelling with their parents, labouring people,
at 26, Harris-buildings, Union-gardens, Shoreditch. They
were both taken ill three weeks ago, and on Sunday last
deceased died, The mother thought they had the measles,
but there had been a rash, &c., and the medical man who
was called in of ter death could not account for the fatality,
but he said that the state of the place was such that the
want of oxygen would cause asphyxia, and so death, if the
child had been debilitated. The house and neighbourhood
were described as follows, by witnesses who were manifestly
reluctant to be examined :

Mary Kenealey, 26, Harris-buildings, said that her house
contained but two rooms, one over the other. Witness, her
husband, her two children, and her husband's brother, all
slept in the top room. They broke a window to let in air.
The rent was 3s a week, There were two privies for eight
houses, and only one dustbin for 20 houses. The dust was
not regularly removed, and it had to be thrown about the
place to dry up and harden the ground, there being no sewer.
The houses were very damp, as the water and slush remained
in the yard uatil it sank into the earth. There was only one
water-tap for 13 houses, and the water was laid on some •
times for only 10 minutes, and never more than a half hour
in the 24. There were no water-butts, and the water had to
be kept in pans and tubs in the houses. Two persons in the
cow. had sheds to keep their water in. The witness said
that the dect.ll_sed was naturally a healthy child, and she
never thought it N ouldbe snatched away from her so
suddenly. Mr. Long was Ihe landlord.
Ti atria-buildings, said that.
Eliza Cooper, 3, Cook's-place,
she was used to the smell in the place, aZ d it was no incon-
venience to her. When the water was kept b.: the house
for a day it became bad, and had to be thrown out. The

walls of the houses were crumbling. The slush used to flow
into witness's house, and she got a severe illness from it.
When the people constructing the new railway came they
set that right as they had to construct a sewer. The in-
spector of nuisances never came. Once " two railway gen-
tlemen" put their heads over the paling and asked how were
the closets, and on being told they were very bad, the gen-
tlemen had them trapped. The one dustbin of the neigh-
bourhood was right opposite witness's door, and the dust
used to be blown in about the house. It was an agent who
collected the rents.

Mr. F. G. Gant, F.R.C.S., pathological anatomist to the
Royal Free Hospital, said that by direction of the coroner
he made a post mortem examination of the body of the de-
ceased. The deceased was a well-nourished child. The
congested state of the lungs and veins proved that the child
died from asphyxia, resulting from a failure of the supply
of arterial blood from the heart. Having arrived at that
conclusion, he proceeded to inspect the premises. He found
the place undrained and unpaved. The woman told him
she was so anxious to get the yard paved that she had begun
to collect paving stones. She got one somewhere on each
Sunday, and a beginning had already been made. There
was green stuff and water lying about in the yard. One
watercloset had to serve for several houses. The smell that
would arise from the yard would be most prejudicial to
health. The supply of water was deficient. He should
certainly suggest that a drain should be made to carry off
the stagnant water from the yard. It was quite possible
that the deceased's suff)cation in this case may have arisen
from the result of measles.

Mr. Ellison, surgeon,' concurred with Mr. Gant's state-
merit.

The Coroner said the& ho had received a letter from Mr.
Long, the landlord, stating that he would be most anxious
to carry out any improvements that might be necessary,
and the necessity of which had escaped his observation.
The Jury returned a verdict—" That deceased died from
asphyxia from natural causes," and the jury requested that
the coroner would call the attention of the landlord of
Harris•buildings to the danger to the public health arising
from the state of the premises, and the want of a proper
supply of water, of a proper Lumber of privies, and the
unpaved state of the yard,

The Coroner said he sb.ould act upon, that reconunen.
dation. •