Common health issues in the district today include tooth decay, colds, allergies, heart disease, arthritis, digestive problems and diabetes.

But back in 1873, Bradfordians could expect to fall foul of diseases such as pulmonary tuberculosis – known as consumption – cholera, typhoid and typhus.

While the wheels of industry were turning at full speed in Bradford back then, for your average mill labourer’s family it was a pretty tough place to live.

Death figures show that infectious and respiratory diseases were the biggest killers. Male death rates were aggravated by occupational injury and exposure to toxic substances, whereas for women, it was childbirth and violence.

Poor sanitary conditions saw death and disease sweep through the city and surrounding villages. It wasn’t uncommon for the occupants of several overcrowded houses to share just one privy, with cesspits often pouring into streets.

New book The Brontes At Haworth, by Ann Dinsdale, highlights a General Board of Health report which revealed that, despite its hilltop setting and open outlook, Haworth’s life expectancy of 25 years corresponded with some London slums of the time.

The report estimated that more than 41 per cent of children in Haworth died before the age of six. The most common cause of death recorded in parish burial registers from 1788 to 1812 is attributed to wasting diseases such as tuberculosis.

Healthcare in the 1870s was a major issue; if the symptoms didn’t kill the patients, the remedies often did! Common treatments for patients included “heroic medicine” – bleeding, plastering, purging, sweating, blistering and amputation.

By the time the Public Health Act was introduced in 1875, to combat filthy living conditions causing the spread of diseases, the Hospital Fund of Bradford had already been set up.

Established in 1873, it is now Sovereign Health Care. This year it marks 140 years of providing healthcare cash plans, and is appealing for Remember When? readers to share their memories of using the service.

Old artefacts which have been unearthed include brochures and photographs of staff and customers at the former Sovereign site on Vicar Lane.

While the rather formidable gent with the moustache is identified as H Gill, a former chairman of the Hospital Fund of Bradford, and the men in suits around the table are members of a former Sovereign Board, staff are keen to know if readers can shed light on other images.

Are you one of the smartly-dressed ladies on either side of the counter of the former premises? Do you have any memories of The Royal concert hall on Manningham Lane, on the site where Sovereign Health Care now stands?

Sovereign Health Care began as a fund to boost local hospital services. By the 1930s, it was providing about 40 per cent of the income needed to run Bradford Royal Infirmary.

The fund gradually evolved into a medical and health benefits scheme. By 1933, in return for weekly contributions, members could receive free treatment in some hospitals and convalescence homes.

The formation of the National Health Service brought many hospital funds to an end, but Bradford’s remained as one of several in the country providing a medical benefits fund.

In 1965, the Hospital Fund of Bradford developed the Shilling Scheme, and in its centenary year of 1973 claims paid out to members totalled £300,000.

Decimalisation in 1974 saw the plan renamed the 5p Scheme then, in 1976, the Sovereign Plan was launched, helping people cover medical expenses while off work due to illness or a hospital stay. Employers were encouraged to join the Sovereign Plan to support their workers.

In 1986, the Hospital Fund of Bradford changed its name to Sovereign Health Care and today it serves more than 70,000 people across the region.

Last year, it paid out more than £6.7 million in claims to customers. Over the past six years, the Sovereign Health Care Charitable Trust has donated more than £4 million to local charities.

“As we look back over the 140 years, it has been great to trawl through our archives and see how the way we do things has changed over the years,” says Sovereign Health Care Charitable Trust chief executive Russ Piper. “It has been amusing to look at some of our old brochures and leaflets – how times have changed!

“It has also been interesting to find out more about the names and faces at the forefront of Sovereign; people like H Gill, who was the longest-serving chairman of the Hospital Fund of Bradford from 1914 to 1936.”

He adds: “We’re incredibly proud to still be going strong after 140 years. Health care was a lot different in 1873, but the principles behind our company remain the same.

“Like the health care system and treatments, we have gone through lots of changes, but have always remained true to our Bradford roots.

“We’re extremely proud that Sovereign has touched the lives of so many Bradfordians, as customers, employees or more broadly through our Charitable Trust.”