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 1911
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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The following Table shows the number of births and the birth-rate in North and South Kensington and in the several Wards, after distribution of the births at the Borough Infirmary, Queen Charlotte's Hospital, and other Institutions.
| Total Births. | Birth-rate per 1,000 of the Population. | |
|---|---|---|
| North Kensington | 2,316 | 26.3 |
| South Kensington | 907 | 10.8 |
| St. Charles | 590 | 27.8 |
| Golborne | 849 | 33.3 |
| Norland | 558 | 24.6 |
| Pembridge | 319 | 17.0 |
| Holland | 219 | 10.9 |
| Earl's Court | 204 | 11.5 |
| Queen's Gate | 126 | 9.0 |
| Redcliffe | 216 | 11.7 |
| Brompton | 142 | 10.2 |
| Tbe Borough | 3,223 | 18.7 |
The effects of social status on the birth-rate are illustrated by the fact that the rate for South
Kensington is less than half the rate for North Kensington, whilst the birth-rate for Golborne Ward
in the North is more than three times as great as the rate for the Ward of Queen's Gate in the
South. To a certain extent this wide discrepancy is no doubt due to differences in the numbers of
married women in the districts compared.
The births occurring every year in Kensington have fallen in round numbers from 4,500 in
1880, to 3,200 in the present year. The steady decline in the birth-rate is shown in Table VIII.
Appendix, p. 91, where the number of births and the birth-rates both for London and
Kensington are given for each quinquennial period since 1856. The figures for each year were
given in the Annual Report for 1908.
Illegitimate Births.—The illegitimate births numbered 172, and were equivalent to a rate
of 10 per 10,000 persons living as compared with a rate of 8 for London in the year 1910.
The following figures show how the corrected number of deaths given above have been obtained:—
| Total deaths registered in the Borough | 2,712 |
| Deaths of residents bsyond the Borough | 399 |
| 3,111 | |
| Deaths of non-residents within the Borough | 722 |
| Corrected number of deaths belonging to the Borough | 2,389 |
The corrected death-rate is designed to represent the mortality that would have occurred had
the age and sex distribution of the population in Kensington been the same as that of the population
of the country as a whole. The age and sex composition of the population in Kensington favours a
low mortality, and the effect of making allowance for these disturbing factors is to raise the crude
death-rate of 13.9 to the coirected rate of 15.0 already given. Where comparisons are instituted