author
William Eassie
1832–1888
A Victorian civil and sanitary engineer who turned practical public-health problems into readable, useful books. His work on housing, drainage, ventilation, and cremation shows how strongly 19th-century writers linked everyday living conditions with health.
1 Audiobook
Cremation of the Dead: Its History and Bearings Upon Public Health
by William Eassie
About the author
Active in the 19th century as a civil and sanitary engineer, William Eassie wrote books that aimed to make technical questions understandable to a wider public. Records of his work consistently connect him with sanitary engineering and with early advocacy around cremation.
His best-known books include Healthy Houses (1872), Sanitary Arrangements for Dwellings (1874), and Cremation of the Dead: Its History and Bearings Upon Public Health (1875). Together, they show a writer deeply interested in ventilation, drainage, warming, plumbing, and the way the design of homes and cities affects health.
Eassie's writing belongs to a period when public hygiene and urban reform were urgent social issues. For modern listeners, his books offer both practical Victorian advice and a window into how engineers and reformers tried to improve daily life in rapidly growing towns and cities.