General Chat

One of my relatives has an occupation shown as an ' Inspector of Nuisances' and I wonder if anyone has come across this before or knows anything about it.!!!

In previous censuses he was an employer in the shoe trade and as a brick and coal dealer.

At first I thought perhaps 'pest control' but then wondered if he was a policeman. Anyone able to throw any light on it??

Quite a lot of info if you google

Thank you Glitter Baby.........I didn't think it would be something 'google' would find......lesson for the future.

He was a sort of council environmental health and safety worker then.

Thank you for adding that Joan. All these snippets of information are useful in building a better understanding of how things were.

Details form Old occupations site


Inspector of Nuisances
A person appointed to look into By-Law offences, such as noisy animals, foul smells, maybe fence disputes, things of that nature

George

Thanks George.....I'll make a note of that site.

It sounds an unpleasant and stressful occupation to me.....lots of conflict!!

What era are you looking at.
I too have a relative who was an iInspector of Nuisances circa 1885-1910 He was a Sanitary Inspector, around this time to acheive this title they had to take an exam.
It maybe worth a go on google to see if your ancestor features in the following book.

The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health,

This appears to be an annual journal and my ancestor features as an associate. I think when I google searched I put my ancestors surname and Sanitary Inspector.
If your ancestor features they often put an address too.

It appears the Sanitary Inspectorr was the forrunner to the public health officer. In my ancestors personal papers/documents I noted an article related to the importance of 'Washing your hands.' Nothing changes much.' It appears that he was responsible for such things as the laying of drains and sewers to overseeing outbreaks of Smallpox and Typhoid. All whilst employyed as an Inspector of Nuisances, in the late 19th early 20th century.

If you google public health officers, there is one that gives an interesting history with this information in it. Sorry I cannot remember the actual address.

bubblebelle

Thanks for the information Bubblebell. I will look these up.....he was shown as this in the 1891 census. I will have a look to see if I can find him in the journal you mention.

Not for the faint hearted.........smallpox, typhoid and sewers!!

we could do with a couple of those inspectors today