Public Health in Kincardine County 1919
Kincardine County Sanitary Inspector Reports 1919
The County Councils were elected bodies established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889. They inherited almost all the functions of commissioners of supply, and those of county road trusts and local authorities set up under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts. County councils were required to appoint full-time county medical officers of health and sanitary inspectors, and the local public health functions of parochial boards in landward areas were transferred to district committees of the county councils.
Kincardine County Council covered the civil parishes of Banchory Devenick, Banchory Ternan, Benhold, Dunnottar, Fettercairn, Fetteresso, Fordoun, Garvock, Glenbervie, Kinneff & Catterline, Laurencekirk, Maryculter, Marykirk, Nigg, St. Cyrus, and Stonehaven. The districts within its boundaries were Upper and Lower Deeside, Laurencekirk, St. Cyrus and Stonehaven.
This letter sets the report in context, explaining the situation of reporting during WW1 and 1919. We can see the pressure the Sanitary Inspector felt during this period. Not only was he undertaking additional duties from July 1917, but three Assistant Inspectors joined the army leaving them short staffed. The Sanitary Inspector is not shy in stating his extra work as the Local Fuel Overseer was ‘most thankless and harassing work I have ever undertaken in an official capacity’ and that there were impacts on his assessments of Public Health during this time as a result.
The report goes on to give an overview on the County for 1915-1919, which contains ‘some of the more important matters’ of the 5-year period. More specific District reports follow for each of the five administrative areas of the County (Upper and Lower Deeside, Laurencekirk, St. Cyrus and Stonehaven).
From the County report we can see issues with ‘Scavenging’ (recycling). In this case, complaints were made of household rubbish from the City of Aberdeen being dumped on the lands of Tullos and Kincorth in the Parish of Nigg. Refuse was ‘carted out from the City in large quantities and binged up alongside country lanes, or in adjoining fields.’ This was meant for farmers to use as a top dressing to their fields. On one occasion, a right-of-way on the Kincorth Estate was ‘so littered with rubbish as to render its use by the public a matter of some difficulty and considerable discomfort’. The Report suggests a more satisfactory manner of disposal for the City’s refuse be found.
The Reports also focus on ‘Nuisances’, which covers a broad range of public health issues. The ‘enclosed bed’ is discussed in detail as a nuisance to proper household sanitation and as ‘one of the most fruitful agencies for the propagation phthisis that has ever been invented’. Difficulty with airing these beds is cited as the biggest issue.
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| Kincardine County Report |
A ‘rather unusual form of nuisance’
occurred in the Summer of 1918 when the carcass of a whale was washed ashore at
Johnshaven. It seems there was some confusion over who should take responsibility
for the disposal of the carcass – should it be the fishermen who found the
animal first, or the Receiver of Wrecks who claimed it? Ultimately, the
fishermen disposed of it with ‘some advantage’ to themselves.
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| Plan of Johnshaven 1811 |
Sadly, there is also a section relaying interments made at the expense of the local authority because family members couldn't be found to make arrangements for a funeral. In this period, there were six unclaimed bodies; four in 1916 and two in 1917. One body washed ashore at Nigg, two at Stonehaven and three near Johnshaven. The report states that ‘in addition to the German submarines the absence of lights during the years of war, doubtless accounted for some of the casualties along the coast’. An interesting and less often reported outcome of the black out during WW1.
Other topics covered in the report include: Offensive Trades; Unsound Food; School Buildings; Factories and Workshops; Common Lodging Houses; Dairies, Cowsheds and Milkshops; Pig-Styes; Food and Drugs; Fertlizers and Feeding Stuffs; and Housing of the Working Classes. There are only two images in the report - of Catterline and Crawton:
Crawton is described as a 'deserted village' - both the country and district reports begin with a paragraph on population size, number of occupied houses and the average number of persons per household. This is valuable information for understanding changes to population density over time. The next images show Crawton as it is now, including the site of the RSPB Fowlsheugh Nature Reserve.
Also of particular note from these items are the descriptions of the poor quality of rural housing for working classes. This was leading to health problems including high infant mortality. The following example from the report of the Lower Deeside District shows some of the terrible living conditions:
"House at Redmyre, Badentoy - [...] The house is an old tumble-down thatched building consisting of kitchen and small closet. The floors until recently were earthen, but the tenant has now laid them with concrete at her own expense. The walls are coered with loose boarding which is much decayed, and is only held together by numerous layers of paper. The thatch has no projection at the eaves, and roof water runs down the walls. There are no sanitary conveniences."
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| Burgh of Laurencekirk |
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