author
W. Sedgwick (William Sedgwick) Saunders
1824–1901
A Victorian public-health doctor and medical writer, he is best remembered for practical work on sanitation, food safety, cholera, and the health of the City of London. His books and reports capture a period when medicine, chemistry, and civic reform were closely linked.
2 Audiobooks
Report of the Sanitary Committee of the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London, together with a report of the Medical Officer of Health on the objections raised by the Butchers' Trade Society to the bye-laws proposed for the regulation of slaughter-houses
by W. Sedgwick (William Sedgwick) Saunders, City of London (England). Commissioners of Sewers. Sanitary Committee
Sketches from the history of medicine, ancient and modern An oration delivered before the Hunterian Society
by W. Sedgwick (William Sedgwick) Saunders
About the author
Born in Devon in 1824, William Sedgwick Saunders trained at St Thomas's Hospital after earlier study at King's College. He went on to build a career that combined medicine, chemistry, and public service, and he became especially known for his work in sanitary reform.
Much of his writing grew out of that work. As a medical officer connected with the City of London, he published reports on cholera prevention, water quality, slaughter-houses, adulterated food, refuse disposal, and other urgent public-health questions. He also wrote on medical history and on the Guildhall Library, showing interests that reached beyond day-to-day health administration.
Saunders died in 1901 after a long illness. Today, his books are valuable not only for their medical content but also for the vivid picture they give of Victorian London and the practical challenges of keeping a growing city healthy.