View documents
Click on the links to view images of the original document, alongside transcripts where available.
Transcripts for manuscript items are also available for download:
DOCUMENT 1
Pw H 287/1-3: Letter from Lord W.H. Cavendish Bentinck, Camp Bahadaghur [Bahadurpur], India, to [W.H.C. Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck] 4th Duke of Portland, Cavendish Square, London; 4 Dec. 1831 (Pw H 287/1-3)
View image | View transcript
In this letter, Lord William Bentinck describes cholera as experienced in India, and gives his opinions on its method of transmission, and those who are at most risk of catching it.
DOCUMENT 2
Extracts from the Nottingham Journal, 4 and 25 August 1832
View image
In the absence of proper understanding of the medical causes of cholera, people were persuaded to try a variety of preventatives and cures which were advertised regularly in the press. Cures ranged from mixtures of tincture of rhubarb, salvolatile and essence of peppermint, to Dr. Norris's Fever Drops (described as 'Most efficacious') and concentrated Ilkeston water, the latter being credited with the cure of Mr. Hollingworth's son.
DOCUMENT 3
East Midlands Collection Not 3.D14 FIE: Extracts from Henry Field, The date-book of remarkable and memorable events connected with Nottingham and its neighbourhood, from authentic records. Part 2, 1750-1884. (Nottingham: H. Field, 1884)
View transcript
These extracts describe the outbreak of cholera in Nottingham in 1832, and the death of Henry Kale.
DOCUMENT 4
Ne C 8373: Letter from J. Ottley Rayner and William Kerry, 1 Matthew's Place, Hackney Road, Bethnal Green, London, to Henry Pelham-Clinton, 4th Duke of Newcastle under Lyne; 4 Dec. 1848 (Ne C 8373)
View image | View transcript
This letter describes how the wealthier inhabitants of Bethnal Green, East London, set up a dispensary in 1848 to help those affected by cholera.
DOCUMENT 5
Ne C 6553: Letter from Godfrey Tallents, Newark, Nottinghamshire, to Henry Pelham-Clinton, 4th Duke of Newcastle under Lyne, Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire; 17 Nov. 1849 (Ne C 6553)
View image | View transcript
This letter described measures taken in the town of Newark-upon-Trent during the cholera epidemic of 1849.
DOCUMENT 6
Medical Rare Books WC264 FAR: From William Farr, Report on the mortality of cholera in England, 1848-49 (1852).
View image
This is a complete list of cholera cases in Nottinghamshire in 1849. The list includes details of the age and status of the victims.
DOCUMENT 7
Wr D 11/33: Newspaper cutting - "The Cholera in Edinburgh", 12 December [1866].
View image
This newspaper cutting describes how a cholera outbreak was dealt with in Edinburgh in 1866.
DOCUMENT 8
Medical Rare Books WC264 FAR: pp 145-147 of Local Government Board Reports and Papers on Cholera in England in 1893.
View image
In this report, details are given about an outbreak of cholera in the Urban Sanitary District of Ilkeston in 1893.
DOCUMENT 9
Table of death rates in Nottingham, 1840-43.
View transcript
This table is an amalgamation of data from two tables in Thomas Hawksley’s 'Report on the Town of Nottingham...', published in the First Report of the Commissioners for Inquiring into the State of Large Towns and Populous Districts. Appendix, pp. 138 and 142; 1844 (572), XVII.1
The table is based on ward divisions within the town of Nottingham. For descriptions of living conditions in each ward, see Document 5 in Theme 1 of this resource, 'Mid-19th century housing in Nottingham'.
DOCUMENT 10
Medical Rare Books WC264 FAR: From William Farr, Report on the mortality of cholera in England, 1848-49 (1852)
View image
In this diagram, patterns of temperature and mortality in London are compared, in an attempt to discover a reason for the way the epidemic developed. There are 12 circular diagrams showing the relative mortality and the average temperature in London for each of the 11 years from 1840 to 1850, plus another diagram showing the overall average. The text at the bottom explains the colour coding: black denotes excessive mortality.
DOCUMENT 11
Extract from John Snow, On the Mode of Communication of Cholera (London: John Churchill, 1855)
View transcript
This extract describes Nottingham, and Snow’s opinion on why the cholera in 1849 was so much less severe than in 1832.
Next page: Photographs