U.S.D abbreviation on birth cert

[initial]

Does anyone know what u.s.d. stands for on one of my Nottingham birth certificates ( 1890 ),
its in the where born section and reads;

1 Allport Street, U.S.D.

I assume its a hospital building of some kind, but i assumed most births were home births at this time.

Thanks

[suedent]

It stands for Urban Sanitary District

[Barbara Wilkinson]

USD stands for Urban Sanitary District - part of the local government structure of the time responsible for sewers, drinking water and similar! Very generally speaking - USD for towns and RSD (Rural Sanitary District) for rural areas - both replaced by the Local Government Act of 1894.

Sorry to repeat - I must have been typing this as Sue replied!!!

[initial]

Thanks to both of you for such a quick response, i've looked many times and wondered what it means
thanks again

[apehangmom]

OKay I didnt get it.... why would they let you know this on a birth certificate.. ... USD Urban Sanitary District.. DOes that mean what? I dont even want to try to sound dumb.. I have read the posts but cant figure how was this title used. sorry I am trying to learn so when this problem presents it self I have you guys to credit for the answer. thanks christine
I want to know why this was on a birth certificate... do we need to know if the town was USD? thanks .. chris

[Jan1954]

Hi there Chris,

Remember, we're talking about Britain here and how the boundaries were set up.

UD stands for Urban District
RD stands for Rural District
USD stands for Urban Sanitary District.

This is similar to modern Council boundaries. Each town/city/village is answerable to a council. I live in a village so I pay my Council Tax for services provided by both the Parish council (which covers the village) as well as the City Council (as my village falls within the Rural District of the council).

I hope that this helps.

[Guy Etchells]

OKay I didnt get it.... why would they let you know this on a birth certificate.. ... USD Urban Sanitary District.. DOes that mean what? I dont even want to try to sound dumb.. I have read the posts but cant figure how was this title used. sorry I am trying to learn so when this problem presents it self I have you guys to credit for the answer. thanks christine
I want to know why this was on a birth certificate... do we need to know if the town was USD? thanks .. chris

Urban Sanitary Districts were formed as a result of the 1873 & 1875 Public Health Acts they were not new divisions of local government but existing authorities that were given a different name and responsibilities.

They lasted until 1894 and the Local Government Act 1894 merged them into corporations and urban districts.

The name is not really important what was important was the USD rated the inhabitants to provide relief for the poor and had responsibilities for the poor of the district amongst their other responsibilities.
Cheers
Guy

[apehangmom]

Thanks .. 2# dumb question..OKay so USD was just a name like UD and RD . But what qualified the area to be USD. OKay so its just a place name .. So did every town have this or was this just one area .. sorry,, I guess I wonder too much... I am interested in UK stuff. christine..

[apehangmom]

Okay I am kinda getting it ... Does this mean that the birth certificate read that the town that this child was born in was rated in a certian way.. that it was a sanitairy town that helped it's poor. ??? AM I even going inthe right direction with this .. thank you chris

[Pam Downes]

Hi Chris,
When I was new to genealogy I vividly remember reading the first paragraph of http://www.origins.org.uk/genuki/NFK/places/s/sea_palling/white1883.shtml
and thinking :confused: :confused: :confused: . I have now managed to work them all out :), but there are so many 'layers' of government in England that is it very easy to get confused.
This might help with sorting out some of the layers
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/index.jsp

In very broad terms U.S.D. was just the area that a particular town 'governed' between 1875 and 1894, after which the areas still existed but under another name.(Urban District Councils)
Googling for 'Urban Sanitary District' may help, but equally may confuse you even more. :D
Pam