Ɛpsilon

To Bromley Rural Sanitary Authority   [1873?]1

Gentlemen

Mr Eng. resided in the village of Down for about 9 years & during this time very frequently attended my family, in his medical capacity— I had thus an excellent opportunity for observation, & I can [heartily] state that I ever found him most intelligent, obliging & energetic. He evinced on more than one occasion in a difficult case great medical skill. I believe that he could make an excellent sanitary officer if elected as medical officer of Health of this district2

ADraft

1
The year is suggested by the establishment in October 1873 of a new post of Medical Officer of Health for Bromley and neighbouring sanitary districts. This was set up in order to comply with the Public Health Act of 1872 (Matthew Greenhalgh, Gentlemen landowners and the middle classes of Bromley: the transfer of power and wealth?, PhD thesis abstract, https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/6377/4/Matthew%20Greenhalgh%201995.pdf, p. 182, accessed 4 February 2022).
2
Stephen Paul Engleheart left Down in 1870; he later lived in Norfolk. There is no record of his holding any other official post in Kent, although he had previously been a medical officer of the Bromley Union.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 very] interl
1.2 in] after del ‘so that’
1.2 an] interl
1.3 can] after del ‘am prepared to’
1.3 [heartily]] interl
1.3 that] after del illeg
1.4 obliging &] interl
1.4 energetic.] point over comma
1.4 He] after del ‘& skil’
1.5 medical] interl
1.5 skill.] point over comma
1.5 I believe] after del ‘& I shall always feel under much obligation to him.’
1.5 that] interl
1.6 as … this district] pencil
1.6 as] over point ink and illeg pencil
1.6 medical] pencil above del pencil ‘the’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8704,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8704