Thomas Fresh (3 September 1803 – 3 April 1861) was a pioneer in British

environmental health Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural environment, natural and built environment affecting human health. To effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements for a hea ...

. In 1844, he became Liverpool's first public health officer.

Life and career

Thomas Fresh was born on 3 September 1803 at the family farm 'Newbarns', in the village of Newbarns, in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

parish of Dalton-in-Furness. The family also had interests in property and iron-ore mining and trading. Fresh was appointed Liverpool's Inspector of Nuisances by the Borough's Health of the Town Committee on 4 September 1844, over two years before the celebrated appointments on 1 January 1847 of William Henry Duncan, as Britain's first Medical Officer of Health,

James Newlands James Newlands (28 July 1813 – 15 July 1871) was a Scotland, Scottish civil engineer who worked in Liverpool as the first Borough Engineer appointed in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. He is credited with design ...

as the first Borough Engineer, and Fresh's own re-appointment under the Liverpool Sanatory Act 1846 ( 9 & 10 Vict. c. cxxvii). Even before his 1844 appointment, Fresh was the officer responsible for environmental health interventions, working initially from the police department. He was also at various times concurrently Superintendent of Alms Houses, and Superintendent of Scavengers (i.e. manager of refuse collection and public cleansing). The latter was eventually subsumed into Newlands' department. Thomas Fresh was the first inspector of nuisances appointed by a United Kingdom Health Committee. When he was re-appointed in January 1847 he became probably the first of the inspectors of nuisances (sanitary inspectors) appointed under the Liverpool Sanatory Act 1846 with statutorily defined powers and duties. They were the forefathers of today's environmental health practitioners. With no trained staff to call upon, and with no established systems or infrastructures, Fresh created a model sanitary department, and became nationally famous. He worked closely with William Duncan, the Medical Officer of Health, who had no field staff of his own. Fresh died in Glasgow on 3 April 1861 and is buried in Liverpool's St James's Cemetery. He was succeeded by his wife Martha. They had no children.

Legacy

In 1853 Thomas and Martha Fresh were living in a much extended and improved former agricultural cottage on his 'model farm' in the

Formby Formby is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under ...

district between Liverpool and Southport when, on behalf of local residents and the joint Lord of the Manor, he asked the directors of the

Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway The Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway was a British railway company, which opened a line in 1848 between Southport and Waterloo, extending into Liverpool in 1850. The company was acquired by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1855. T ...

to construct a station at that point on the line. He donated his own land for the purpose. As a significant landowner in the area, he gave his name to the district of Freshfield and Freshfield railway station – built in 1854. Fresh's house is today 95 Freshfield Road, Freshfield. A blue plaque has been affixed to the house by the Formby Civic Society, and an application is to be made to have the house 'listed' to celebrate its significance as the home of the founder of Freshfield and one of the Liverpool public health pioneers. A nearby

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

is called 'The Freshfield'. Fresh's official duties included solving the problem of the disposal of Liverpool's "night-soil". He arranged for a part of it to be transported from Liverpool to Freshfield for use as fertiliser on hitherto unproductive nearby fields, helping to develop a local trade in potato and

asparagus Asparagus (''Asparagus officinalis'') is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus (genus), Asparagus'' native to Eurasia. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. Description ...

cultivation. Freshfield is now an affluent residential district in the Borough of Sefton. Thomas Fresh Blue Plaque

Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...

organises an annual 'Thomas Fresh' public health lecture in his name.10th Annual ‘Thomas Fresh’ Lecture
(accessed: 9 July 2013)

Life and career

Legacy

References

Further reading