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Typhoid
On 24th October, 1932 typhoid fever broke out at Malton. There
were 270 cases, 23 proving fatal. Many events were abandoned owing
to the epidemic and the town was practically deserted, people refraining
form visiting the town and residents living in fear behind closed
doors.. A relief fund was set up.
A government inquiry found that the epidemic started when a patient was
admitted to the Workhouse with a severe fever, later found to be
typhoid. His use of the lavatory led to contaminated water entering the
soil via a cracked drain, which had been accidentally ruptured with a
pickaxe. From the soil the infection soon reached the town’s well, the
sole public water supply.
One Malton G.P., Dr Parkin worked day and night to combat the infection,
and his dedication almost certainly saved the lives of many. He
died on December 3rd, his fourth wedding anniversary, becoming victim
20. At his funeral weeping crowds lined the streets and several
thousands gathered in the market place for a service.
The Gazette of 12th June 1964 compares the typhoid outbreak in Malton
(270 cases, 23 deaths, less than 5,000 population) with an outbreak in
Aberdeen (400 cases, 1 death, population 298,000). During the
outbreak, Malton people working in other districts were dismissed or
suspended by their employers.
In 1932 the public water supply came from the Ladywell, about 300 yards
east of the workhouse at the bottom of Castlegate. The district
council had been urged to abandon this supply 40 years earlier because
it was liable to pollution due to the periodic flooding of the Derwent,
into which the town's untreated sewage was discharged.
Interestingly, when the local surveyor observed the flood water in the
Derwent reaching a certain level he would stop pumping from the well!
The Yorkshire Gazette reported regularly
on the progress of the epidemic, naming those who had succumbed to the
infection, the hospital they were in and the status of their condition.
On 28th October 1932, 60 cases were reported and by 25th November 245.
The edition of 11th November hints at the seriousness, quoting the
librarian at Malton "All books returned from infected houses are being
burnt," and, a Malton ambulance driver who took a patient to Leeds as
being refused assistance when the ambulance had broken down as the
vehicle had been employed on typhoid cases.
"A United Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance" was held at St.
Michael's Church, on 23rd April 1933. The service booklet listed
the following as the victims of the epidemic: Louisa Richardson,
Alice Ann Sedman, Doreen Standing, Peter Noel Hick, John Wm. Pounder,
Roy K. Packwood, Arthur Barker, Mary Heseltine Blades, Violet Baker,
Mary Berriman, Gladys Berriman, Evelyn Bannister, Thomas Churchman,
David Nendick, George Colley Parkin, Matilda Miles, Olga Humphrey, Irene
Lythe, Bertha Newey, Martha Lapish, Sydney Dent Bowman, Peggy Bradshaw,
Doris Smith, Dorothy Barnes, Annie Boggitt.
New Malton Spa
In 1841, A.B. Granville wrote his Spas of England and Principal
Sea-Bathing Places. This included a 22 page chapter titled 'New
Malton Spa'. Unfortunately there is very little coverage of
anything specific to Malton except in the closing pages. 'The
saline-chalybeate spring at this place was celebrated nearly two
centuries ago. Attention was first directed to it by Mr. Simpson's
'Treatise on the Malton Spa' in 1669, and afterwards by the
general work on mineral waters in 1734, by Dr. Short, of Sheffield...
... The water has been found highly efficacious in many chronic
diseases; particularly affections of the liver, indigestion under
its various forms, and general languor of the system. It is taken
in doses of from one to four half pints, at short intervals; the early
morning being considered the most favourable time for that purpose...
... This Spa, however, has ceased to be a resort to persons from a
distance; which is rather a matter of surprise when (apart from the
valuable properties of the well) we take into account the very superior
and extensive accommodation at the hotel, and the attractive character
of the surrounding country'
Exactly where the well is I am not sure but it may be in the grounds of
the Talbot Hotel, hinted at by 'The present handsome pagoda over the
well was erected by the late Earl Fitzwilliam, about five and twenty
years ago, and stands prettily in the gardens adjoining the hotel.'
The
Telephone Comes to Malton
A telephone exchange and call office was opened at Malton on 25th March
1903 and loped in to the York - Scarborough trunk line. The exchange
offered a service during the week from 5am to 10pm, and on Sundays from
6am to 10am and from 5.15pm to 7.30pm. There was no direct dialling.
Rental of a line was very expensive with few, if any individuals being
able to afford rental and the cost of calls. The call office at the Post
Office gave residents the opportunity to try the service. A glance at
the
directory for 1903 shows a significant correlation between the
listing and the prominent landowners and businessmen of the time.
Malton and Norton have a long connection with racehorse training. The London Gazette in 1692 advertises "a plate as has been usual, will be run for on Langton Wolds, near Malton ... " The course was on the summit of Langton Wold - the last race was run there in 1862. A National Hunt course was constructed in Orchard Field and the first race ran in 1867 but the course was closed in 1870. In 1882 the first race was held a steeplechase track at Highfield. This was next to the I'Anson family gallops. In 1886 the National Hunt Steeplechase was staged at Malton for the first and only time. Malton trainers have produced winners of all the major races - starting with Blink Bonny who won the Derby and Oaks in 1857. More details can be seen in 'A Long Time Gone' by Chris Pitt which covers defunct racecourses, and 'Malton Memories and I'Anson Triumphs' by J Fairfax-Blakeborough for which a synopsis can be seen at: http://www.geraldsegasby.co.uk/Malton.htm
1937 Coronation Celebrations
Wednesday 12th May 1937 saw substantial celebrations in the town.
The flag was hoisted at the Town Hall by the Boy Scouts at 8.45am.
A United Religious Service took place at 9.00am at St. Michael's and
from 10.15am there were children's sports followed by adult sports, a
'March of Children' headed by the Malton White Star Band and at 6.00pm a
procession through the town. At 8.00pm there was a wireless relay
of the King's speech and from 9.00pm to 3.00am a Grand Coronation Ball
in the Milton Rooms. There were many prizes for the various
competitions.
The Railway
The railways were in their heyday in Victorian times. Malton
station must have been a busy place since not only was it on the York to
Scarborough line, but also the point of interchange for Driffield,
Whitby, and Thirsk branches. There was no footbridge between the
platforms, but staff were kept busy operating a 'trolley bridge' so that
passengers could gain access to the platforms. (See 'The Malton &
Driffield Junction Railway' by Warwick Burton 1997 ISBN 1 871944 16
3 for a full account of the development of this line.)
Many who were unable to support themselves spent time in the
Workhouse. There is an excellent general account of life in the
workhouse and specific information on the Malton workhouse
here. If you suspect a family member may have spent time in
the Malton workhouse there are some name transcripts on the
Census page. North Yorkshire Record
Office have a plan of the workhouse in 1895 reference: Malton union
workhouse: plan 1895 (MIC 3070) (BG/ML)
Smallpox Vaccination
Would you believe there were riots in the Malton streets over demands to
have children vaccinated against smallpox? Smallpox was a
prevalent disease throughout the Victorian era but despite government
attempts to encourage parents to have their children vaccinated the
uptake was low. After a particularly bad epidemic an Act was passed in
1853 making vaccination compulsory for all children born after 1st
August 1853. Many people however still did not share the enthusiasm for
vaccination and declined to have their children vaccinated, preferring
to pay a fine in respect of each unvaccinated child. In 1867 more
legislation removed this ‘escape route’ and the Boards of Guardians
(which looked after health and some other matters in each area) had to
prosecute parents who did not have their children vaccinated. Any unpaid
fines would lead to imprisonment or to the seizure and sale of the
person’s possessions. The process would then be repeated until the
person complied. Anti-Vaccination Leagues were set up and in
Malton the ‘Malton Anti-Compulsory Vaccination Society’ was created.
Little seems to have been reported about the conduct of these meetings
and their propaganda efforts but in the The Malton Gazette, Saturday,
July 8th, 1876, there is a report covering
‘The Vaccination Question - Extraordinary Proceedings at Malton’
Floods
The above picture is from the Illustrated London News dated February
9th, 1867. It probably wasn't the first flood, and residents are
well aware it wasn't the last:
THE GREAT FLOODS IN NORTH YORKSHIRE
The sudden melting of the snow on the wolds and moors in North Yorkshire
in the latter days of January caused the most disastrous floods
throughout the lower lands between Thirsk and Malton, and especially in
the neighbourhood of Malton. Two streams, the Rye and the Riccal,
overflowed to such an extent that the waters united, and only the trees
were visible. The villages and roads along the course of the Leven
were also inundated. The roads were 4ft. to 5ft. deep in some
hollows, and all communication with Malton was cut off. At Newsham
Bridge, over the Rye, the river was about two miles wide. The old
Derwent had expanded into an immense lake several miles in length.
On both sides of the Pickering railway the land was 3ft. deep in water.
The Malton and Scarborough road for miles was impassable; the post
messenger managed to get through on horseback, but with difficulty.
The town of Old Malton was flooded, although since the great flood of
1846 the streets have been raised nearly 3ft. On Saturday night,
the 26th ult., the flood on the Malton and York and Malton and
Scarborough Railways, and the other three lines meeting at Malton, as
far as Norton junction, was 12in. above the rails, and the utmost
difficulty was found in working the traffic. Pilot-engines were
run out of Malton before every train going east or west, in order to
prove the line, apprehensions being formed that the great current might
remove the ballast. Floating timber, too, gave rise to fears of
disaster, and men in boats were engaged in keeping it off the railway.
It was quite a novelty to see a wrecker's boat get out of the way of
passing trains. For several miles the line of railway was the only
portion of ground not under water, and below Malton the line itself was
covered, but the trains got through. At he county bridge at Malton,
connecting the North with the East Riding, the three large arches were
nearly submerged in the boiling flood. Most of the flour-mills,
some of which had never been stopped for twenty years, were flooded, one
or two havinig 3ft. of water in the lower floors. The
biscuit-works, gasworks, breweries, tanneries, and merchant's yards near
the river were inundated. Cattle had to be driven off the fields
at night, and workmen were engaged night and day in saving property.
Rabbits, rats and moles, were perched on the railway rails, and the rats
even in the trees, and boating and shooting over the flooded fields
seemed to afford capital sport. Property of all sorts, both live
and dead, came down the river, and there were "wreckers" in many places
eager to get hold of it. In consequence of the saturated condition
of the land the water from the natural springs rose so high that at the
Crown and Anchor Hotel, Malton, the spring water rose 2ft. out of the
ground, and necessitated the removal of the flags of the footpath.
This water emerged from the oolite range, almost exclusively oolite,
which runs south-east of Malton. The farmers will feel the effects
for some time to come. It is stated that all the wheat lands of
the low country will have to be sown afresh.