This report provides an invaluable insight into the life of the people of Newport at a time when the city was expanding at a rapid rate to feed the Industrial Revolution's insatiable demand for manpower. Amongst the problems he highlights are chronic overcrowding, poor or no sanitation, full and even overfilling graveyards and limited water supply. Amongst the worst affected areas were the infamous slums of Friar's Field's and Fothergill Street which are now occupied by John Frost Square, the Kingsway Centre and the Central Library. In one lodging house in Fothergill Street, Clark reports that he found in one room five beds with six men in each bed and that in the same room women and children slept in small cupboards. Many of those who endured these conditions were Irish labourers who had fled the Great Famine in their homeland.
