Edwin Chadwick (1800–1890)

Edwin Chadwick, the son of a radical journalist and grandson of a Wesleyan minister, was one of the most influential public men during the Victorian period. He began his career as an attorney, but, in order to support himself, he turned to journalism. An 1829 essay, "Preventative Police," caught mostrar más the eye of Jeremy Bentham . The two men soon met, and, within a few weeks, Chadwick became Bentham's amanuensis, serving him until Bentham's death, in 1832. In 1834 Chadwick, along with the economist Nassau William Senior published the Report on the Poor Laws, which advocated reform of the old Poor Laws along utilitarian lines, including the establishment of a central governing body to administer the laws. With the passage of the New Poor Law Act in 1834, based primarily on Chadwick and Senior's recommendations, a commission was established, with Chadwick as its secretary. In this capacity he oversaw an inquiry into the living conditions of the working classes. The findings were published as the Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain (1842). Instantly popular (by some accounts as many as 100,000 copies were distributed), it became the basis for the sanitation laws passed in the 1850s. Often considered the first modern professional bureaucrat, Chadwick was vilified for his role in the creation of the New Poor Laws. As his reputation grew, however, his associations with such writers as Harriet Martineau and John Stuart Mill became the foundation for a large circle of literary acquaintances, including Charles Dickens, who, despite his initial distrust of Chadwick, ultimately came to rely on his judgment on many public issues. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos