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Town Hall,
Kensington, W.S.
21 st June, 1921.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Royal Borough of Kensington.
Ladies and Gentlemen,—
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report for the year 1920, which contains an account
of the sanitary state of the Borough and a summary of the action taken for the prevention of disease.
The chief features in regard to the Public Health in the Borough during the year were:—
(1) The epidemic of a mild type of scarlet fever in the latter half of the year, the
outbreak in the Metropolis being the most extensive in the history of the
Metropolitan Asyiums Board.
(2) The large number of ophthalmia neonatorum cases notified, together with the
excellent results following treatment under the scheme adopted by the Council.
(3) The unusual occurrence of a rate of infantile mortality higher in South Kensington
than in the northern half of the Borough.
The most important administrative steps taken by the Council in regard to matters of Public
Health during the year were:—
(1) The decision to erect a Cleansing Station, to be known hereafter as the " Medicinal
Baths.''
(2) The establishment of an Advisory Committee to the Maternity and Child Welfare
Committee to assist the Council in co-ordinating the work of the numerous
voluntary bodies engaged on child welfare work in the Borough.
(3) The provision of dental treatment for tuberculosis patients under Dispensary
treatment.
(4) The organisation of a scheme for the supply of milk to necessitous mothers and
infants.
In view of the transfer of the North Kensington Tuberculosis Dispensary to the Council at
the close of the present year, arrangements in regard to taking over the control and management of
the Dispensary as a Municipal Institution will have to be considered at an early date, therefore I
have thought it advisable to give a detailed account of the work of this institution for the guidance
of members of the Council.
The presentation of this report affords me the opportunity of expressing my appreciation of
the full measure of support which has been accorded to me by the Mayor, the Chairmen and ViceChairmen
of the various Committees and all members of the Council, and of thanking the staff of
the Public Health Department for their efficient service and loyal co-operation in my first year of
office in the Royal Borough.
VITAL STATISTICS.
The Metropolitan Borough of Kensington as constituted under the London Government Act,
1899, covers an area of 2,291 acres, and is co-extensive with the Civil Parish and Registration
District of the same name. The line of demarcation formed by Holland Park Avenue, High
Street, Notting Hill Gate, and the Bayswater Road divides the Borough into approximately equal
halves described in previous years and in this Report as North and South Kensington respectively.
The Borough is further subdivided into nine wards. South Kensington includes the wards of
Holland, Earl's Court, Queen's Gate, Redcliffe and Brompton, and is co-extensive with the South
Kensington Parliamentary Division. North Kensington, containing the wards of St. Charles,
Golborne, Norland and Pembridge, is not co-terminous with the Parliamentary Division of the
same name, in that it extends northwards to include an area of 100 acres with a population of
3,500 persons which is still allotted, for parliamentary purposes only, to Chelsea.