In the summer of 1858, while the Great Eastern was being fitted out for her maiden voyage, London was in the grip of a crisis known as the "Great Stink". The population had grown rapidly during the first half of the 19th century, yet there had been no provision for sanitation. "... sewage was everywhere, piling up in every gully and alleyway "...Three epidemics of cholera had swept through the city, leaving over 30,000 people dead. And sewage was everywhere, piling up in every gully and alleyway, in the cellars of houses in poor districts - and even seeping through cracks in floorboards.
