Collections Online

Collecting box July 1914 for ‘Crusade against consumption The King Edward VII Welsh National Memorial Association.

Tuberculosis was a major health problem in Wales, so much so that it was often associated during the early 20c with the genetic profile and social characteristics and fatalistic attitudes of the Welsh people. In 1910, statistics were published showing that 7 of the 15 worst affected counties in England and Wales were in Wales, and that the 5 counties suffering the highest death rates were all Welsh. Coal-owner and philanthropist David Davies (1880-1944) decided to tackle the issue and launch ‘a crusade against consumption’. Overcrowding and poor living conditions were a major cause of TB. The population of Glamorgan in1801 was 70,879. By 1901 it had jumped to 859,931. In Merthyr during 1852 TB was responsible for 1 out of every 5 deaths - mostly the poor, who were mal-nourished, over-worked and lived in very poor, overcrowded conditions. Whole families became infected by this highly contagious bacterial infection that spread through close contact. An overcrowded damp bed shared by 4-5 people was the prefect environment for the spread of this killer disease.