Chadwick devoted his life to social reform. He was secretary to the Poor Law Commission when he made the above report to Parliament. In it he included a careful analysis of causes of death in 1838 and 1839 and gave a vivid picture of insanitary conditions in England and Wales. The complete report was issued in 3 vols. in 1842 (though the 2nd and 3rd volumes are infrequently found) plus a supplementary summary volume published in 1843. As a result of this and an earlier (1833) report, the foundations of later systems of government inspection were laid, a Public Health Act was passed (1848) and a General Board of Health was established. Chadwick included various lithographed maps illustrating public health issues such as deaths, contagious or epidemic diseases,  housing conditions, etc. See also No.1625.