Medical Officer for Health

The Medical Officer for Health is a title usually given to the head of the health department at a municipal level.

In the United Kingdom, the municipal position was an elected head of the local board of health, however the term has also been used to refer to the Chief Medical Officer. Under the Metropolis Local Management Act 1855, London municipalities were each required to appoint a medical officer. In 1856, 48 officers took up appointments in the city^[1], and these specialists formed Metropolitan Association of Medical Officers of Health‎.

Officers

• William Henry Duncan, Liverpool^[2]
• John Simon, City of London (1848-1855) - see Medical Officer of Health for London^[2]
• Alfred Hill, Birmingham^[2]
• David Davies, Bristol^[2]
• Henry Armstrong, Newcastle-on-Tyne^[2]
• Shirley Foster Murphy (1848-1923) St. Pancras (1878-1884)^[2]
• John Bristowe, Camberwell^[2]
• John Tripe, Hackney^[2]
• William Rendle, St. George Southwark^[2] (1856-1859)
• Edmund Gwynn, Hampstead^[2]
• B. A. Whitelegge (1852-1933), Nottingham (1884-9)
• Henry Beale Collins, Kingston^[3]
• Edwin Lankester, St. James^[4]

Further reading

• Ashton, Recalling the Medical Officer of Health, Health Promot. Int. 1988; 3: 413-419

References

1. ^ Anne Hardy (1993). The Epidemic Streets: Infectious Disease and the Rise of Preventive Medicine. p. 4. ISBN 0198203772. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Anne Hardy (2003). "Public health and the expert: the London Medical Officers of Health, 1856-1900". Government and Expertise: Specialists, Administrators and Professionals. ISBN 052153450X. 
3. ^ "Infant Mortality in Kingston upon Thames in 1899". http://fass.kingston.ac.uk/downloads/local_history_paper_medical_officers.pdf. 
4. ^ English, Mary P. (1990). English, M.P. 1990. Victorian values. The life and times of Dr. Edwin Lankester, M.D., F.R.S.. ISBN 0-948737-14-X.