My Gran was down in that smoke in 1886 age 3, l would never have thought of it as being healthy but she did live to be age 84 (2 months longer and she would have been age 85. ) so l guess it did not do too much harm to her. Even in the 1960's there was always the smell of the Gasworks around Great Lister Street.
There is a very good account of life around Great Lister Street around the early 1900's by the Reverend T.J. Bass Vicar of Saint Lawence Church in Dartmouth Street . A MUST read for any Local Historian or Family History Researcher. It is called " Hope In Shadow Land. I urge anyone interested in that time scale to read it.