In 'Dr. Southwood Smith: A Retrospect' by Gertrude Hill Lewes, readers are taken on a journey through the life and work of Dr. Thomas Southwood Smith, a pioneering social reformer and public health advocate in 19th-century England. Lewes offers a detailed account of Smith's contributions to public health, focusing on his efforts to improve living conditions for the poor and his work in the field of sanitary reform. Written in a scholarly and engaging style, the book provides valuable insights into the literary and historical context of the era, highlighting the importance of Smith's work in shaping public health policies and practices. Through Lewes' meticulous research and compelling narrative, readers gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by Smith and the lasting impact of his legacy. Gertrude Hill Lewes, with her background in social history and public health, brings a unique perspective to the story of Dr. Southwood Smith. Her expertise in the field allows her to explore Smith's life and work with depth and insight, shedding light on his motivations and the cultural milieu in which he operated. Lewes' meticulous attention to detail and her passion for the subject make this book a valuable contribution to the study of public health history. I highly recommend 'Dr. Southwood Smith: A Retrospect' to readers interested in the history of public health, social reform, and 19th-century England. Lewes' insightful analysis and engaging storytelling make this book a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the role of individuals like Smith in shaping our modern concepts of public health and social welfare.

Thomas Southwood Smith (1788-1851) was an English physician and sanitary reformer. He entered the University of Edinburgh in October 1812, his first wife, Anne, with whom he had two daughters, having died that year. In June 1813 he began a course of fortnightly evening lectures on universal restoration which were published in 1816, earning him a literary reputation. He took his MD degree in 1816 and began practice in Yeovil, Somerset, then in 1820 moved to London. In 1824 Smith was appointed physician to the London Fever Hospital and began to write papers on public health. His post gave him the opportunity to study diseases of poverty and in the late 1830s he was one of the first doctors brought in to report to the Poor Law Commission. In 1842 he was one of the founders of an early housing association, the Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes, and from 1848-54 worked closely with Edwin Chadwick at the Central Board of Health. His reports on quarantine, cholera and yellow fever, and on the results of sanitary improvement, were of international importance, and his earlier work A Treatise on Fever (1830) became a standard authority on the subject. He had a son by his second wife Mary from whom he had separated by the late 1830s, living for the rest of his life with the artist Margaret Gillies.This illustrated retrospective written by his granddaughter Gertrude was published in 1898.

This set of 25 volumes, originally published between 1805 and 1992, amalgamates original nineteenth-century material and more recent research and analysis on the development of social welfare in Britain and Europe. From Elizabethan poor relief, through the Poor Laws of the nineteenth-century, to the establishment of the British National Health Service in the mid twentieth-century, this set provides a comprehensive overview of the germination and establishment of modern social welfare. Although the set mainly focuses on social welfare in Britain, it also contains some work on welfare in Europe. This set will be of keen interest to those studying the history of social welfare, social policy, poverty and class.

The Correspondence of Jeremy Bentham, Volume 13 contains authoritative and fully annotated texts of all known and publishable letters sent both to and from Bentham between 1 July 1828 and his death on 6 June 1832. In addition to 474 letters, the volume contains three memorandums concerning Bentham’s health shortly before this death, his Last Will and Testament, and extracts from both the Autobiography and the manuscript diaries of Bentham’s nephew George. Of the letters that have already been published, most are drawn from the edition of The Works of Jeremy Bentham, prepared under the superintendence of Bentham’s literary executor John Bowring. A small number of letters have been reproduced from newspapers and periodicals. This volume publishes for the first time all the extant correspondence between Bentham and Daniel O’Connell, the Irish Liberator. Other new acquaintances included Charles Sinclair Cullen, barrister and law reformer, and John Tyrrell, the Real Property Commissioner. Throughout the period, Bentham maintained regular contact with old friends and connections, but he also entered into sporadic correspondence with such leading figures in government as the Duke of Wellington, Robert Peel and Henry Brougham. Further afield, Bentham corresponded, amongst others, with the Marquis de La Fayette in France, Edward Livingston in the United States of America and José Del Valle in Guatemala.