In 1831-1832, Europe saw the first major cholera epidemic in history. It came all the way from India and soon spread to Russia, and then to everywhere.
Although Britain had the benefit of being isolated by the sea, port cities were severely hit by the epidemic. One of such cities was Liverpool, and this is where Kitty Wilkinson, the lady on the right, comes into the scene.
Though her account MIGHT be exaggerated, the story is like this:
When cholera started to break out in Liverpool, she was the only one in the neighborhood who had washing facilities and a boiler, as she was dwelling in a poor area.
Kitty Wilkinson decided to share it with EVERYBODY. She took people in and taught them how to wash, and rented out her boiler for a penny a week so they could sterilize clothes and bedding by boiling.
It’s estimated that more than 30,000 people died from this cholera epidemic in Britain alone, and hundreds of thousands more in the rest of the world.
But this was also the period where the awareness of public health started to form. In 1846, Public Baths and Washhouses Act was introduced in UK, and in the same year, Kitty Wilkinson was appointed superintendent of a public wash-house in Liverpool.
Today there’s a statue of her in Liverpool, and also a staind glass to commemorate her in Liverpool Cathedral.
**TL;DR: a laundress fought really hard to fight a cholera epidemic by washing**
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In 1831-1832, Europe saw the first major cholera epidemic in history. It came all the way from India and soon spread to Russia, and then to everywhere.
To see how devastating it was, take a look at the big names died of cholera during this period. In Germany we have Clausewitz, Gneisenau and Hegel. In France, renowned scientists like Champollion, Georges Cuvier, or Nicolas Carnot, passed away. Hell, even Prime Minister of France, Périer, succumbed to cholera too. (The June Rebellion that followed is le climax scene of Les Misérables)
Although Britain had the benefit of being isolated by the sea, port cities were severely hit by the epidemic. One of such cities was Liverpool, and this is where Kitty Wilkinson, the lady on the right, comes into the scene.
Though her account MIGHT be exaggerated, the story is like this:
When cholera started to break out in Liverpool, she was the only one in the neighborhood who had washing facilities and a boiler, as she was dwelling in a poor area.
Kitty Wilkinson decided to share it with EVERYBODY. She took people in and taught them how to wash, and rented out her boiler for a penny a week so they could sterilize clothes and bedding by boiling.
It’s estimated that more than 30,000 people died from this cholera epidemic in Britain alone, and hundreds of thousands more in the rest of the world.
But this was also the period where the awareness of public health started to form. In 1846, Public Baths and Washhouses Act was introduced in UK, and in the same year, Kitty Wilkinson was appointed superintendent of a public wash-house in Liverpool.
Today there’s a statue of her in Liverpool, and also a staind glass to commemorate her in Liverpool Cathedral.
**TL;DR: a laundress fought really hard to fight a cholera epidemic by washing**
Further reading is [here](https://www.bathsandwashhouses.co.uk/archive/about/kitty-wilkinson-2/kitty-wilkinson-a-civic-myth/), for those curious about what’s true and what might be a myth about Kitty Wilkinson
You mean Liverpudlian
I thought Cholera was an ingested disease, not a contagious disease?