
Joseph Goodale LansdownEpidemiologist1750 to 1880
August 23, 2016Early Epidemiologist

Dr William Budd
Dr Budd was originally born in Devon into a medical family, his father was surgeon Samuel Budd and six of his nine brothers went into medicine.
William graduated from Edinburgh University and set up as a surgeon. He became convinced that infectious diseases were contagious and that diseases could be caught from contaminated water. He was particularly concerned about cholera and did not agree with general scientific idea or miasma theory, the idea that diseases came from breathing in bad air. Whilst studying in France he had noticed that the bowels of infected patients with typhoid fever showed ulcers and that the disease could be transmitted from infected patients to healthy patients. He himself nearly died of typhoid fever whilst serving as a doctor on a naval ship and took a great interest in the concept of diseases spreading from the sick to the healthy. At this time most people thought typhoid fever was caused by bad drainage.
Saviour of Bristol
When cholera broke out in Bristol, William Budd plotted the disease spread on maps and noticed that areas of outbreaks shared water sources. He worked hard with the authorities to get drains cleaned with bleaching powder, to provide clean water to residents and that all drains should be well functioning. Budd is thought to have saved thousands of people with his simple health measures. The first outbreak killed nearly 2000 people but the last outbreak only killed 29.
William Budd died the same year the typhoid bacillus (germ) was isolated and identified.
This memorial can be safely viewed from the path but direct access is not recommended. It can be found on the second path
back from the ‘Garden of Rest’ which lies between the two Chapel buildings. It features three crosses in three circles which represent the holy trinity.