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 1909
Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health 1909
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49
The factories and workshops on the above list are included in the tables, which show the trades
carried on in the workshops on the Council's register.
" The nature of the work given out to the homcworkers in the 142 homes on the register is as
follows: —
Home Work.
| Nature of Work. | No. of Premises. |
|---|---|
| Tailoring | 36 |
| Ironing | 36 |
| Outfitting | 24 |
| Boot making | 19 |
| Dressmaking, Blousemaking | 10 |
| Shirt making | 4 |
| Waistcoat making | 4 |
| Upholstery | 4 |
| Millinery | 1 |
| Brush making | 1 |
| Lace mending | 1 |
| Umbrellas | 1 |
| Fur making | 1 |
| Total | 142 |
In 74 instances in the course of inspection, addresses were found incorrectly given, or the outworker
had left or given up work.
| Nature of Room used for Work. | Condition of Rooms. | Total Number of Rooms. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean. | Fairly Clean. | Dirty. | ||
| Rooms used for work only | 40 | 4 | 3 | 47 |
| „ for work and as living rooms | 64 | 5 | 2 | 71 |
| ,, for work and as bed and living rooms | 22 | 2 | — | 24 |
| Totals | 126 | 11 | 5 | 142 |
The sanitary defects remedied in the 142 homes were as follows: —
Rooms cleansed 4
Ceilings whitewashed 5
W.C.'s found defective and remedied 2
Number of Defects Remedied 11
On the whole the homeworkers, many of whom are women, belong to a respectable thrifty
class and keep their rooms in a clean and tidy state. Their homes compare favourably with those
of the lower labouring classes, and instances of persons in great poverty carrying on work for an
insufficient wage in insanitary surroundings are in Kensington practically unknown. The foreign
outworkers are for the most employed in registered workshops which are regularly inspected, and
the practice of letting out sittings in workshops, which leads to grave abuses in certain districts,
does not prevail in the Borough of Kensington.