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Henry Littlejohn
Sir Henry Duncan Littlejohn MD LLD FRCSE (8 May 1826 – 30 September 1914) was a Scottish surgeon, forensic scientist and public health official. He served for 46 years as Edinburgh's first Medical Officer of Health, during which time he brought about significant improvements in the living conditions and the health of the city's inhabitants. He also served as a police surgeon and medical adviser in Scottish criminal cases.
Henry Littlejohn was born in Edinburgh on 8 May 1826 to Isabella Duncan and Thomas Littlejohn, a master baker of 33 Leith Street.
He studied at the Perth Academy before attending the Royal High School, Edinburgh (1838 to 1841). He went on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1847. He became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in the same year.
From 1847 to 1848, Littlejohn worked as a house surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. After a short period of study in Paris, he returned to the Infirmary as an assistant pathologist. This was followed by a brief spell in general practice. He was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1854.
In 1856 he became a lecturer in medical jurisprudence at the Edinburgh Extramural School of Medicine at Surgeons' Hall, Edinburgh.
In 1862, Littlejohn was appointed Edinburgh's first Medical Officer of Health. This was at a time when many of the town's inhabitants were living in squalor, in filthy overcrowded tenements, often with no water supply and with little or no sanitation. Disease was rampant. There had been two recent cholera epidemics, while typhoid, diphtheria and smallpox were endemic.
During his first three years in the post, Littlejohn carried out a meticulous investigation into the living conditions and the state of health of the town's inhabitants. His report, published in 1865, contained 120 pages of detailed statistics, analysing conditions in over one thousand separate streets, closes and tenements. It included extensive data on the prevalence of the most common diseases as well as historical data on earlier epidemics. The report convincingly demonstrated the link between deprivation, disease and mortality.
With the backing of Littlejohn's report, the Lord Provost, William Chambers, and the Town Council launched an ambitious programme of urban renewal in Edinburgh. This resulted in the demolition of the worst slums and created the largely Victorian Old Town that exists today. On Littlejohn's recommendation, the council also brought in regulations governing water supply, sewage, building standards, food hygiene, waste disposal and the management of cemeteries.
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Henry Littlejohn
Sir Henry Duncan Littlejohn MD LLD FRCSE (8 May 1826 – 30 September 1914) was a Scottish surgeon, forensic scientist and public health official. He served for 46 years as Edinburgh's first Medical Officer of Health, during which time he brought about significant improvements in the living conditions and the health of the city's inhabitants. He also served as a police surgeon and medical adviser in Scottish criminal cases.
Henry Littlejohn was born in Edinburgh on 8 May 1826 to Isabella Duncan and Thomas Littlejohn, a master baker of 33 Leith Street.
He studied at the Perth Academy before attending the Royal High School, Edinburgh (1838 to 1841). He went on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1847. He became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in the same year.
From 1847 to 1848, Littlejohn worked as a house surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. After a short period of study in Paris, he returned to the Infirmary as an assistant pathologist. This was followed by a brief spell in general practice. He was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1854.
In 1856 he became a lecturer in medical jurisprudence at the Edinburgh Extramural School of Medicine at Surgeons' Hall, Edinburgh.
In 1862, Littlejohn was appointed Edinburgh's first Medical Officer of Health. This was at a time when many of the town's inhabitants were living in squalor, in filthy overcrowded tenements, often with no water supply and with little or no sanitation. Disease was rampant. There had been two recent cholera epidemics, while typhoid, diphtheria and smallpox were endemic.
During his first three years in the post, Littlejohn carried out a meticulous investigation into the living conditions and the state of health of the town's inhabitants. His report, published in 1865, contained 120 pages of detailed statistics, analysing conditions in over one thousand separate streets, closes and tenements. It included extensive data on the prevalence of the most common diseases as well as historical data on earlier epidemics. The report convincingly demonstrated the link between deprivation, disease and mortality.
With the backing of Littlejohn's report, the Lord Provost, William Chambers, and the Town Council launched an ambitious programme of urban renewal in Edinburgh. This resulted in the demolition of the worst slums and created the largely Victorian Old Town that exists today. On Littlejohn's recommendation, the council also brought in regulations governing water supply, sewage, building standards, food hygiene, waste disposal and the management of cemeteries.