The English utilitarian reformer Sir Edwin Chadwick (1800-1890) sponsored legislation in the areas of public health, factory reform, and poverty relief. He was one of the founders of the modern British administrative state.

Edwin Chadwick was born at Longsight, Lancashire, on Jan. 24, 1800. Largely self-educated, he entered an attorney's office and was called to the bar. He was also a journalist and was influenced by the writings of Jeremy Bentham, the founder of English utilitarianism. Bentham in turn admired Chadwick's articles (especially those on preventive police) and took him on as his assistant.

When Bentham died in 1832, Chadwick carried on his work through membership on several royal commissions. Chadwick and the political economist Nassau Senior drafted the Poor Law Commission's report which led to the adoption of the New Poor Law of 1834. This legislation, however, was bureaucratic and harsh. It was popular with the propertied classes because poor rates...