Download Housing for The Irish

Housing for The Irish
Lesson starter:
Describe working conditions for Irish
immigrants.
(3 marks)
• When immigrants
arrived in cities
like Glasgow they
had to take the
cheapest possible
accommodation due
to their poverty
• This placed them in
shocking
conditions.
What problems would homes like
these present?
19th century Glasgow close
MISERABLE HOMES
In 1839 a Government
official investigated
the old narrow
streets of Glasgow
and he was horrified.
“Until I visited the wynds of Glasgow I did not
believe that so much crime, misery and disease
could exist in any civilised country. These
dwellings are so damp no-one could wish to
keep his horse in them. In the middle of every
court there is a dung heap.”
‘Their bed was a litter of mouldy straw mixed
with rags. There was little or no furniture.’
Write down the words/phrases in the source which
demonstrate the poor housing conditions.
(7 marks)
Slum housing in Aberdeen in 1880
Why was Scottish housing so poor?
1. The population was increasing at a rapid
rate (high birth rate and immigration)
2. The government had not passed housing
laws
3. Local governments were weak and did
not provide basic facilities such as
sewers, drains, water supplies, cleaning
services or proper roads
4. Housing near work places was either old or
built cheaply.
5. Many people were too poor to afford
anything better.
6. Homes and workplaces used coal; the smoke
created dirty air and disease
7. Foul waste from workplaces spilled out into
streets and water supplies
DISEASE
•In Glasgow, people did not have access to clean
water and they used the same water for
drinking, bathing, washing their clothes and
dishes.
•People and factories dumped their rubbish and
waste materials into the river and this caused
pollution and spread disease.
•Water was filthy and caused/spread disease
•No NHS or medical treatment for those who
had picked up diseases
•People were often not well-fed enough to have
the strength to fight disease.
Rickets
•Housing conditions
were atrocious and
people lived in
crowded conditions.
•In Glasgow in 1871
41% of the
population lived in
just one room.
•Poor and destitute
people packed into
lodging houses.
North Woodside Model Lodging Housing,
Glasgow 1881
DISEASE
DIARRHOEA - is excessive looseness of the
bowels and accompanied by severe stomach cramps.
It is caused by food poisoning and contaminated
water
DIPTHERIA - an infectious disease of the throat
causing difficulty in breathing and swallowing. It is
caused by filth.
TYPHOID - an infectious fever, it can cause blood
poisoning and is caused by food and water that has
been contaminated by sewage.
TB - an infection in
the lungs. It is easily
spread through spit
and drinking
contaminated milk.
CHOLERA - an
infectious disease
causing sever vomiting
and diarrhea which
causes dehydration. It
is caught by drinking
dirty water or contact
with an infected
person.
Improvements in Scottish Housing
Scottish Poor Law Act, 1845 set up local
groups to help the very poor.
1898 amendment allowed people living in a
place for three years to claim relief (previously
five years).
Newly arrived Irish immigrants did not
qualify.
MORE IMPROVEMENTS
Water supplies
Drainage systems
Sewage systems