ABSTRACT
Thomas Fresh has been cited as the first inspector of nuisances and environmental health practitioner (EHP). Fresh moved to Liverpool initially as an iron-founder, later being appointed a policeman. Under the agitation of William Duncan and others Liverpool promoted two private Acts: the Liverpool Building Act 1842 and the Liverpool Improvement Act 1842. The concept of a local inspector of nuisances appointed to enforce sanitary regulation had been promoted by the House of Commons Select Committee on the Health of Towns and by the Health of Towns Association, and it was included in Lord Lincoln's 1845 Public Health Bill. When that bill failed, the Borough of Liverpool, motivated by its radical Health Committee, the Liverpool Health of the Town Association and the lectures of Dr William Duncan, promoted a private bill that became the precedential 1846 Liverpool Sanatory Act. The Act required the Borough to appoint a Medical Officer of Health (MoH) and an Inspector of Nuisances (IoN).
