Essay on Edwin Chadwick

Edwin Chadwick was a man that made a huge different in our world a long time ago. Mr. Edwin Chadwick was born January 24th, 1800 and passed away July 16th, 1890. He lived a very long life and it was all due to the changes in the world that he made that prolonged his life as well as our lives today. I know everyone is asking the same question, “What did a man that died about 120 years ago do that helps prolong my life today? ” I will tell you and explain how we still live by Mr. Edwin Chadwick’s changes and use his invents to this day.

Mr. Chadwick was born in Manchester, England; but was raised by both his parents in London. Mr. Chadwick was an attorney. Edwin Chadwick received his earliest education in Longsight and Stockport. In 1810, his parent decided to more to London where then begun to receive education by private tutors. Mr. Edwin Chadwick was an attorney that was all about making changes in the reforming of the poor laws and making sanitary conditions better so it could improve the public health. Mr. Edwin Chadwick believed that his inventions would not only improve the health of people, but it would also save money.

In 1834, Edwin Chadwick was given a job as the secretary of the Poor Law Commissioners. Mr. Chadwick’s sanitary ideas made the government fierce and sustain criticism. Mr. Chadwick paid out of his own expense for researches and publishing papers about the unsafe sanitary conditions. Mr. Edwin Chadwick had a lot of problems with his superiors and there was a lot of disagreement that lead to the dissolution in 1847 of The Poor Law Commission. At the same time that Edwin Chadwick was working for The Poor Law Commission, he was answering questions about sanitary and trying to find away to improve it.

Mr. Chadwick was all about making changes in reforming of the poor laws and sanitary conditions. Mr. Chadwick strongly believed that the unsafe sanitary conditions were causing illnesses and lots of unnecessary deaths. Mr. Edwin Chadwick was putting together ideas that later was known as the “sanitary idea”. In 1842, Edwin Chadwick invented what we know today as the sewer tank. He found a healthier and proper way for removal of trash and sewage. Mr. Edwin Chadwick knew that the odor from the sewage and trash was harming the public.

Mr. Edwin Chadwick also knew that by putting the sewage underground and running it through a special pipeline into a special designed tank would be healthier for the public and by doing so the unpleasant odor (miasmas) from the above ground sewage and trash would disappear. After Mr. Chadwick introduced the sewage tank and proper trash removal the life expectancy increased. Edwin Chadwick invented the self flushing toilet; it was lined in glazed bricks. We use these several times today and never really thought about where they came from or what life would be like without them.

Mr. Chadwick invented and changed our sanitary conditions; by doing so there are few illnesses and deaths. We can flush our toilet and do not have to smell that nasty odor from the gas that would one day kill us. Edwin Chadwick had the idea of separating the sewage lines and water line a distances away from each other. By doing so it proved clean fresh drinking water that we enjoy today. In 1847, Edwin Chadwick changed the amount of smoke and soot that comes from chimneys. He created a law that protects the public from the harm of hazard materials.

By doing so Edwin Chadwick helped control the pollution in our environment. This made it a lot easier and safer for people to breath fresh air and enjoy being outside. Edwin Chadwick forced the government to get health inspectors to see that our community stays safe, so that we could have healthier lives. He also pushed the government for better-ventilated and less crowded housing for families, wider streets for traveling to and from, workplace health and safety legislation for employees, increased use of indoor plumbing, and stops the children employment in factories.

In 1854, Edwin Chadwick pushed the government to registration of all births, all deaths, and all marriage. It is amazing that if it was not for Edwin Chadwick we would not have birth certificates of our children, death certificates of our loved ones, or marriage licenses to our spouses. A driver’s license is needed to get a job and/or any government help that anyone might need. In 1854, Edwin Chadwick pushed the government to registration of all births, all deaths, and all marriage.

It is amazing that if it was not for Edwin Chadwick we would not have birth certificates of our children, death certificates of our loved ones, or marriage licenses to our spouses. By inventing these certificates we can keep count of the population of people today. Because of Edwin Chadwick, We have birth certificate for our husbands, sons, daughters, and ourselves. We have marriage licenses to show our husbands when they acts crazy; okay and the men can show them to the wives too. We need death certificates to claim life insurance policies of loved ones.