So far we have been unable to find the reason why Richard Richardson, or the Richardson Family, moved to Birmingham. There was a lot happening in Great Britain at the time and the reason could have been health, work or opportunity.
In London regular epidemics of cholera during the 1840's and 1850's were causing concern, people believed it was an airborne disease and referred to it as a miasma. They were of the view that London, being a major port, had ships sailing to and from there to every part of the world, including Calcutta, where, it was believed, these diseases came from. The sailors came ashore at the end of their voyage and mixed with the locals in pubs, bars and hotels, and no one was suprised when another epidemic appeared.
In 1854 a local doctor, Dr.John Snow, treated the first victim of the 1854 epidemic, he asked where he and his family obtained their water. He was taken to a water pump in Bow and took samples of the water, before he could get his samples analysed, most people who had used the pump, showed cholera symptoms. In addition people who had not drawn water from the pump were also getting cholera. Investigation showed that local businesses were using water from the pump for cooking, for making tea and coffee and for washing plates and cups. During the Summer of 1854 some 2000 people per week were dying of cholera.
The Great Stink.
In the Summer of 1858, the smell of untreated sewage being dumped into the River Thames was almost overwhelming people in central London. It was known that the enclosed flush toilet, recently put on to the market by a certain Mr.Crapper, and others, was using a lot of water as part of the process. The waste went into the cesspit's, they overflowed into the limited number of rain water drains. The rain drains became blocked with solids they were not designed for and caused local flooding. These floods washed horse manure from the roads, waste blood and debris from abattoirs and similar operations, into ditches and eventually in to the River Thames. The result 'The Great Stink'.
I find it difficult to appreciate how bad the atmosphere must have been at the time, the Houses of Parliament was closed for a few days while long lengths of cloth, soaked in chloride of lime, to reduce the smell, were hung across the windows and entrances of the building. An 'All Party' Group of Members of Parliament were appointed to find an alternative location where Government business could be conducted. They eventually selected Hampton Court but never had to use it.
Then the hot Summer changed and a series of heavy rain storms fell on southern England, washing away much of the waste and debris, and putting the rivers in full flow. A lesson had been learned and the London Sewage System became a major factor in Government business for many years,
Work.
Industry was expanding rapidly, particularly in the Midlands, with inovation, invention and manufacture. In the North West with textiles and the Scottish Lowlands with ship building, In the Midlands manufacturing was the key to the future. New things were being invented, machinery was constantly being updated and improved. The use and maintenance of these new tools and systems was beyond the knowledge of the newcomer, but management believed that if you could demonstrate that you were competent in your previous occupation, you could be trained to be competent in new tasks.
Opportunity.
London was getting bigger day by day. Guilds governed what trades and industries were permitted, and the training required to qualify for entrance into a particular body.Large parts of Europe were in a state of change, tens of thousands of people were being forced to leave a country they saw as home, because they refused to change their religion, in particular this applied to the Jews. These outcasts saw England as the place to restart their lives.
It was not just the refugees from Eastern Europe that were looking for a place to live. Between 1845 and 1852 we had the Irish Famine, The whole of Ireland was then part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, they were 'one of us' and when their major economic product, the potato. failed they sought help.
It is estimated that in the 1845/1852 period one million Irish people died from starvation and diseases caused by shortage of a proper diet, and one million emigrated. England could not find homes for a group of this size, they took as many as they could, and then acted as an agent to get them new opportunity in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the English speaking parts of the Empire.
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