Housing in the tenements of Scotland's cities was unhealthy
during the nineteenth century. Houses in areas of cities like Glasgow were overcrowded,
damp and filthy. Sources 1A to 1D describe a variety of problems in Glasgow.
Rural housing was also very poor and unhealthy. Sources 1E and 1F focus on housing
conditions on the Island of Lewis in the early twentieth century.
There
are six sources in this section.
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| Source 1A | | |
| Source 1A shows a group of
women and children at the end of a close at 118 High Street, Glasgow. The photo
was taken in 1868.
Click to enlarge the image, then answer the following
question.
Question
- How useful is Source 1A
as evidence of poor housing conditions in Scotland in the 1860s?
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| Source 1B | | |
| Source 1B shows minutes of
the evidence given to a Select Committee of the House of Lords in July 1890. They
were considering the Glasgow Police Bill. The evidence is from Mr William Mitchell,
the vice-chairman of the Glasgow School Board.
Click to enlarge the
image, then answer the following questions.
Questions
- How many families lived in the 55 tenements Mr Mitchell described?
- How
many people lived in these tenements?
- How many privies were provided
for the residents of the tenements?
- On average, how many privies
were provided for every one hundred people?
- In what condition
were the privies, according to Mr Mitchell?
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| Source 1C | | |
| Source 1C is part of an application
for poor relief for Mrs Jessie Robertson Cleghorn in 1896.
Click to
enlarge the image
Follow the instructions on the source page. | |
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| Source 1D | | |
| Source 1D is evidence given
to a House of Commons Committee on the Glasgow Police Bill 1890. The person giving
evidence was Professor John McKendrick, a medical expert. Read paragraphs 317
to 321.
Click to enlarge the image, then answer the following questions.
Questions
- Why did Professor McKendrick think
that the houses were in a state of "wretchedness and discomfort"?
- Why
was the Professor pleased to get into the fresh air in the court?
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| Source 1E | | |
| Source 1E describes rural
housing on the Isle of Lewis. It part of a report on the Sanitary Condition of
the Lews which was sent to the Local Government Board for Scotland in 1905. The
two men who wrote the report had visited the areas they described.
Click
to enlarge the image, then answer the following questions.
Questions
- What was in front of the entrance to the paupers house?
- What
did the inspectors discover when they went into the house?
- How
much space did cows occupy within the house?
- Write a description
of the conditions inside the house.
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| Source 1F | | |
| Source 1F is a photograph
of a pauper's house at Lurebost, close to Bragor.
Click to enlarge
the image, then answer the following question.
Question
- How does Source 1F agree with the evidence in Source 1E?
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