Objective

This study tests the argument that industrialisation was accompanied by a dramatic worsening of urban health in England.

Materials

Family reconstitutions derived from baptism, marriage and burial records for the period before 1837, and from civil registration of deaths and census populations between 1837 and 1900.

Methods

Age-specific mortality rates are used as indicators of population health.

Results

The available evidence indicates a decline in urban mortality in the period c.1750–1820, especially amongst infants and (probably) rural-urban migrants. Mortality at ages 1–4 years demonstrated a more complex pattern, falling between 1750 and 1830 before rising abruptly in the mid-nineteenth century.

Conclusions

These patterns are better explained by changes in breastfeeding practices and the prevalence or virulence of particular pathogens than by changes in sanitary conditions or poverty. Mortality patterns amongst young adult migrants were affected by a shift from acute to chronic infectious diseases over the period.

Significance

Pathogen evolution, infant care and migration exerted major influences on mortality trends and should be given greater attention in studies of the health impacts of British industrialisation.

Limitations

Evidence of urban mortality rates is very limited before 1837 and may not be fully representative of industrialising populations. Mortality also provides only a partial picture of the health of urban populations and may be distorted by migration patterns.

Further research

There is enormous scope for collaboration between archaeologists and historians to investigate the health of industrial populations, through the triangulation and contextualisation of diverse sources of evidence.

中文翻译：

---

英国城市的死亡率、移民和流行病学变化，1600 年至 1870 年

 客观的

这项研究检验了工业化伴随着英格兰城市健康急剧恶化的论点。

 材料

家庭重组源自 1837 年之前的洗礼、婚姻和埋葬记录，以及 1837 年至 1900 年间的死亡和人口普查民事登记。

 方法

特定年龄死亡率被用作人口健康指标。

 结果

现有证据表明，大约 1750 年至 1820 年期间，城市死亡率有所下降，尤其是婴儿和（可能）农村城市移民的死亡率。 1-4 岁的死亡率表现出更为复杂的模式，在 1750 年至 1830 年间下降，然后在 19 世纪中叶急剧上升。

 结论

这些模式可以通过母乳喂养方式的变化以及特定病原体的流行或毒力来更好地解释，而不是通过卫生条件或贫困的变化来解释。在此期间，年轻移民的死亡率受到急性传染病向慢性传染病转变的影响。

 意义

病原体进化、婴儿护理和移民对死亡率趋势产生了重大影响，在英国工业化对健康影响的研究中应给予更多关注。

 局限性

1837 年之前，有关城市死亡率的证据非常有限，并且可能无法完全代表工业化人口。死亡率也只能部分反映城市人口的健康状况，并且可能会因移民模式而扭曲。

 进一步研究

考古学家和历史学家之间有巨大的合作空间，可以通过对不同来源的证据进行三角测量和情境化来调查工业人口的健康状况。