While exploring Lee Jackson’s “The Victorian Dictionary” I noticed that there was a significantly long list of sub-categories under disease. Among this expansive list of diseases I found the topic “disinfectors.” I was intrigued by this because I didn’t think there was such a thing during the time period. The name brought to mind current day custodians. I learned that public disinfectors were men who went around and, as their title suggests, disinfected areas that had been inhabited by diseased people.

Due to the fact that London was dirty, unsanitary, and crowded, disease was able to spread rapidly. In response public disinfectors were sent out because “the germ or virus … will, it is known, retain all its fatal power, sometimes for months, if proper measures are not taken to destroy these seeds of infection” (Jackson). Though many diseases may not be fatal nowadays, for Victorian London simple diseases were deadly. Without germ killing disinfectant sprays or bleach, these men were entirely responsible for removing infected materials: “Alone and unseen, they remove, one by one, all the clothes, bedding, carpets, curtains, in fact all textile materials they can find in the room, carefully place them in the hand-cart, and drag them off to the disinfecting-oven” (Jackson). They were not allowed to let anyone else be in the room at the time to prevent further infection.

The article also explains that there were laws that stipulated that people suffering from infectious diseases had to be hospitalized or isolated to a room that would be cleaned after the patient passed away or fought off the illness (Jackson). These rules ensured a greater chance of preventing the spread of disease. I thought it was interesting that the inspector—it is unclear whether the inspector and disinfector were the same person—was occasionally faced with detective work. If a person denied the presence of an infectious disease, he used strategies such as interrogating neighbors or servants in search of the truth (Jackson). After finding evidence the inspector was able to seek police assistance and those who broke the law were faced with the consequences.

Another interesting fact was that the disinfectors of St. George’s, Hanover Square, considered their jobs an improvement over their last jobs: they were previously employed as “road men” and after the job change their pay became much higher (Jackson). As disinfectors they worked steadily and often worked overtime. It seems that these men were either very brave or in great need of money. Every day they faced peril and potential death from disease to help keep the city safe and sanitary. As road men they had a fairly safe job, they merely fixed roads. As disinfectors they might have a higher income, but it came with a higher chance of dying.

Jackson, Lee. ” Victorian London – Publications – Social Investigation/Journalism –  Street Life in London – by J.Thomson and Adolphe Smith, 1877.” Dictionary of Victorian London. Web. 26 Aug. 2015.