Poverty in Leith

Interviews with Dr James Gray, Dr James Syme, Dr Christopher Clayson and Dr David Boyd regarding poverty in Leith and its impact on health.

Dr Gray discusses the work of his grandfather, a medical officer in Leith in the 1880s and 1890s. Sailors would bring diseases, such as typhus, into the port of Leith and insufficient hospital accommodation meant the infectious and non-infectious cases mixed together. Rickets was a common complaint. Public health initiatives such as reductions in overcrowding, rehousing and changes to nutrition all had positive impacts on health. Although these were not always unqualified successes – many buildings were condemned but were not destroyed and were then occupied by squatters. Some residents were moved out of Leith to Wester Hailes, a move which proved unpopular among many individuals.