The SOG is in the process of relocating to new premises in central London.
Contact: DAVID BROWN
Email: londonbranch@ndfhs.org.uk
Meetings three times per year (usually March, July and November)
Branch members will continue to hold brief informal meetings online whilst their usual venue in London is temporarily unavailable.
New members are welcome. Anyone who wishes to join the meeting, please email the above address
Provisional Meeting Dates for 2022 are:
9th July at 2:30pm – Confirmed
12 November
Map will be displayed here when venue has been arranged
Reports of Meetings
March 2022
Report of London Branch Meeting on 12 March 2022
We met over Zoom and David Butler gave an excellent presentation, entitled “Dirt, Disease and Death in Durham City, 1849”. In common with many urban areas, Durham suffered insanitary conditions which dramatically affected the health and life expectancy of adults and children across the social spectrum. We learned why the problems were intensified in Durham, who was interested in tackling them and how the city came to petition the government for a local enquiry and report into the issues.
David drew extensively from the inspector’s detailed report, and he pinpointed locations on detailed maps, relating the vivid descriptions to current locations. We were transported back to a city of squalid, overcrowded tenements and courtyards, a place with inadequate sanitation, where butchers slaughtered stock in the filthy streets, the air was foul with the stench of blood, sewage and refuse, and rudimentary drains emptied their foul contents onto dwellings downhill.
The inspector recommended the establishment of a local Board of Health which ushered in the development of a system of public health for the city, securing environmental improvements, better health and increased life expectancy.
January 2022
Meeting on line on Saturday 22 January 2022 at 2.30 pm
Three members participated in this brief informal meeting held on Zoom. Apologies for absence were received from four members.
We talked a little about the recent launch of the 1921 Census.
We also spoke briefly about the continuing frustration caused by the lack of information about new premises for the Society of Genealogists.
The next meeting will be held on Saturday 5 March at 2.30pm. This will be the first of our three scheduled meetings for the year. The schedule was sent to members several weeks ago. It is hoped that it may be possible to engage a speaker (by Zoom) for this meeting.
Last updated 20th May 2022
