Author: ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE POLLUTION OF RIVERS (Chairman Robert RAWLINSON)
Title: First Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire Into the Best Means of Preventing the Pollution of Rivers (River Thames)
Description: London, HMSO 1866 44pp, 12 maps and plans, most fold out, one coloured 34x21, blue paper wraps Wraps grubby with chips from spine, several pages grubby and dust marked, some foxing, corners creased and bumped, couple of pages not fully cut, maps generally good. Overall a fair copy of a fragile item. Rawlinson's Commission was established in 1865 and asked to report on the state of a number of rivers (Thames, Mersey, Aire and Calder, Severn, Taff among others) as concerns about both pollution and flooding rose.This, their first report, examined the Upper Thames Valley, with a particular focus on Oxford, Reading and Kingston. They found that flooding caused by poor maintenance and semi-derelict weirs was a significant problem, and that both urban sewage and waste from paper mills and tanneries was further damaging the river. They strongly recommended the creation of a single body to manage the upper Thames, and various improvements and prohibitions to go alongside it. This was done under the 1866 Thames Navigation Act, which added the upper Thames to the existing responsibilities of the Thames Conservancy.Rawlinson had a long and distinguished career as an engineer and hygenist, including being part of the Sanitary Commission sent to address the appalling death rates from disease among troops serving in the Crimean War. He was also one of the first Inspectors appointed under the 1848 Public Health Act.

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