Metropolitan Commission of Sewers

The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was one of London's first steps towards bringing its sewer and drainage infrastructure under the control of a single public body. It was absorbed by the Metropolitan Board of Works on 1 January 1856.

Metropolitan Commission of Sewers

Abbreviation	MCS
Predecessor	Sewer commissions of: Tower Hamlets St Katharine's Poplar and Blackwall Holborn and Finsbury Westminster and Middlesex Surrey and Kent Greenwich Regent's Park
Successor	Metropolitan Board of Works
Formation	1 January 1849 (1849-01-01)
Dissolved	1 January 1856 (1856-01-01)
Type	Ad hoc board
Legal status	Statutory authority
Purpose	Public health, sewerage, drainage
Headquarters	1 Greek Street
Location	London, United Kingdom
Coordinates	51.5149°N 0.1313°W / 51.5149; -0.1313
Origins	Metropolitan Commission of Sewers Act 1848
Region served	Inner London
Membership (1854–1856)	21
Chairman	Richard Jebb
Engineer	Joseph Bazalgette
Board of directors	Commissioners
Parent organization	Government of the United Kingdom

Formation

Metropolitan Commission of Sewers Act 1848
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to consolidate, and continue in force for Two Years and to the End of the then next Session of Parliament, the Metropolitan Commissions of Sewers.
Citation	11 & 12 Vict. c. 112
Dates
Royal assent	4 September 1848
Repealed	11 August 1875
Other legislation
Repeals/revokes	Halliwell and Finsbury Drainage Act 1778 47 Geo. 3 Sess. 1. c. 7 49 Geo. 3. c. 183 50 Geo. 3. c. 144 52 Geo. 3. c. 48 53 Geo. 3. c. 79 54 Geo. 3. c. 219 7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 23 10 & 11 Vict. c. 70 10 & 11 Vict. c. 217
Repealed by	Statute Law Revision Act 1875
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

Metropolitan Sewers Act 1852
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to continue and amend the Metropolitan Sewers Act.
Citation	15 & 16 Vict. c. 64
Dates
Royal assent	30 June 1852
Repealed	11 August 1875
Other legislation
Repealed by	Statute Law Revision Act 1875
Status: Repealed

Metropolitan Sewers Act 1853
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to continue and amend the Metropolitan Sewers Acts.
Citation	16 & 17 Vict. c. 125
Dates
Royal assent	20 August 1853
Repealed	6 August 1861
Other legislation
Repealed by	Statute Law Revision Act 1861
Status: Repealed

Metropolitan Sewers Act 1854
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to continue and amend the Metropolitan Sewers Acts.
Citation	17 & 18 Vict. c. 111
Dates
Royal assent	11 August 1854
Repealed	11 August 1875
Other legislation
Repealed by	Statute Law Revision Act 1875
Status: Repealed

Metropolitan Sewers Act 1855
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to empower the Commissioners of Sewers to expend on House Drainage a certain Sum out of the Monies borrowed by them on Security of the Rates, and also to give to the said Commissioners certain other Powers for the same Purpose.
Citation	18 & 19 Vict. c. 30
Dates
Royal assent	15 June 1855
Repealed	11 August 1875
Other legislation
Repealed by	Statute Law Revision Act 1875
Status: Repealed

The commission was formed by the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. 112), partly in response to public health concerns following serious outbreaks of cholera. The commission's mandate was renewed and amended with supplementary acts:

• Metropolitan Sewers Act 1851 (14 & 15 Vict. c. 75)
• Metropolitan Sewers Act 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. 64)
• Metropolitan Sewers Act 1853 (16 & 17 Vict. c. 125)
• Metropolitan Sewers Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. 111)
• Metropolitan Sewers Act 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c. 30)

Commissioners included Sir Edwin Chadwick, Robert Stephenson and Thomas Field Gibson.

The new body combined eight local boards of commissioners that had been established by earlier acts of Parliament:

• Tower Hamlets Commission of Sewers
• St Katherine's Commission of Sewers
• Poplar and Blackwall Commission of Sewers
• Holborn and Finsbury Commission of Sewers
• Westminster and Middlesex Commission of Sewers
• Surrey and Kent Commission of Sewers
• Greenwich Commission of Sewers
• Commissioners of the Regent's Park Sewers

The area covered by the Metropolitan Commission was defined as the City and Liberties of Westminster, the borough of Southwark, the areas of the previous commissioners and "any such other place in the Counties of Middlesex, Surrey, Essex and Kent or any of them, being not more than twelve miles distant in a straight line from St. Paul's Cathedral, but not being in the City of London or the liberties thereof". No area was to be exempt from the commission's jurisdiction by virtue of being extra-parochial or beyond the ebb or flow of the tide. The headquarters of the commission were at 1 Greek Street, Soho.

The City of London was excluded as it had its own Commission of Sewers dating back to 1669.

Activities

The commission surveyed London's antiquated sewerage system and set about ridding the capital of an estimated 200,000 cesspits, insisting that all cesspits should be closed and that house drains should connect to sewers and empty into the Thames (ultimately, a major contributing factor to "The Great Stink" of 1858).

The commission was notable in that it employed Joseph Bazalgette, first as assistant surveyor (from 1849), taking over as engineer in 1852 after his predecessor died of "harassing fatigues and anxieties". Bazalgette was then appointed chief engineer of the commission's successor, the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1856, and by the end of the decade after "The Great Stink" – his proposals to modernise the London sewerage system were being implemented.

Chairmen

• Viscount Ebrington (1 January 1849 – 6 October 1851)
• Edward Lawes (6 October 1851 – 24 July 1852)
• Richard Jebb (24 July 1852 – 1 January 1856)

Archives

The Archives are held at the [[London Metropolitan Archives ^[1]

See also

• Public Health Act 1848
• Medical Officer for Health
• Commissions of sewers

References

1. "Metropolitan Commission of Sewers".