BRIEF HISTORY DURING THE SNOW ERA (1813-58)

"I had an interview with the Board of Guardians of St. James's parish, on the evening of Thursday,  7th September, and represented the above circumstances to them (that is, details about the cholera outbreak that incriminated the Broad Street pump). In consequence of what I said, the handle of the pump was removed on the following day." 

- Snow, John. Communication of Cholera, 1855, p. 40

The Broad Street pump was located in St. James's Parish.  The parish is the fundamental tier of local government and is governed by both the Vestry and the Board of Guardians.  Membership in the Vestry was chosen by a variety of criteria but typically included the vicar and church wardens as ex officio members.  The Board of Guardians was created by the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 as another local administrative body to address problems of the poor. The Board was elected by local citizens who owned property and paid taxes.  The voters were usually small tradesmen or shopkeepers who were concerned with public safety and order.  The Board of Guardians was responsible, among other concerns, for maintaining public health, but relied on the advice of medical practitioners such as Dr. Snow.  Regarding taxation, the Board of Guardians suggested the rate that should be paid in the parish to assist the poor while the Vestry would vote to either accept or reject the Board's suggestion.  Hence the ultimate financial authority was with the Vestry.

In St. James's Parish, the Board of Guardians and the Vestry met at the Vestry Hall, just west of the St. James's Church.  The Westminster Medical Society also met here.  The Vestry Hall, rebuilt between 1840 and 1862, was located a short walk from John Snow's home at 18 Sackville Street. The Hall is located in the upper right corner of cell M13, just above "n" in Jermyn Street.   

Sources: 

English MP. Victorian Times -- The Life and Times of Dr. Edwin Lankester, 1990. 

Porter R. London -- A Social History, 1994.

Weinreb B, Hibbert C (eds). The London Encyclopaedia, 1993.

Street and St. James's Parish Vestry Hall in 1840  Click here to see image 19 years earlier

Vestry Hall by St. James's Church in 1862 Click here to see image 3 years later

Site in Stanford's Map of 1862 Click here to see more details three years later

Old Ordnance Survey Map of 1870 Click here to see more details 11 years later