London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1906
Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health 1906
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114
PUBLIC MORTUARY.
Bodies were deposited at the Mortuary to the number of 341, upon applications as follows:—
1. At the request of the relatives of the deceased 1
2. At the request of undertakers, mainly at the instance of the relieving
officer 104
3. At the request of the coroner (inquest cases):—
Cases of sudden death 116
Cases of violent death 78
189
4. Brought in by the Police—Persons found dead 23
Accident cases 6
29
5. On account of death due to infectious disease 18
341
In 127 of the above cases post-mortem examinations were made under the coroner's warrant.
Annual Number of Bodies taken into the Mortuary, 1896—1906.
| Year. | No. of bodies received at the Mortuary. | No. of bodies upon which Coroner's inquests were held. | No. of bodies upon which post mortem examinations were made. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1896 | 289 | 204 | 126 |
| 1897 | 290 | 234 | 118 |
| 1898 | 275 | 215 | 111 |
| 1899 | 342 | 259 | 129 |
| 1900 | 317 | 244 | 106 |
| 1901 | 295 | 221 | 115 |
| 1902 | 273 | 187 | 92 |
| 1903 | 300 | 207 | 77 |
| 1904 | 334 | 206 | 90 |
| 1905 | 338 | 202 | 119 |
| 1906 | 341 | 217 | 127 |
Complaint is occasionally made of improper detention in houses of the bodies of deceased
persons, on the supposition that the Council possess power to remove bodies to the public mortuary
at will. What the law enables the Council to do, is set out in the 89th section of the Public
Health (London) Act, 1891, which provides that—
" When either—
(a) The body of a person who has died of any infectious disease is retained in a room
in which persons live or sleep; or