Social conditions and disease prevention in early nineteenth century Britain

This chapter provides an idea of the social environment in England at the time the Society was founded – in the early nineteenth century. By the mid-nineteenth century, hospitals in England had become well established, and medicine was largely community-based. In relating the history of the great Victorian charity – the Seamen’s Hospital Society – it is essential to appreciate something of the social conditions prevailing in England in the early nineteenth century. The Society for the Betterment of the Condition of the Poor was one of numerous philanthropic societies founded during the early days of the Industrial Revolution. The Wars also had the effect of cutting off the supply of European corn – which had become necessary to steady food prices; therefore, between 1792 and 1812 wheat prices escalated.