London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Wandsworth 1876
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wandsworth District, The Board of Works (Clapham, Putney, Streatham, Tooting & Wandsworth)]
This page requires JavaScript
7
therefore, with the above exclusions, were 2882, and the
death-rate 18.7 per 1000. Of course the deaths of
parishioners of the Parishes in which these institutions
are situated and who died in these institutions should not
be excluded from the total; but for such details see the
Local Summaries for Battersea and Wandsworth.
It will be seen that, as regards the first two parishes,
the deaths in public institutions have greatly modified the
death-rate, especially in Wandsworth, where such deaths
constituted nearly a third of the deaths in rest of the
parish.
A comparative Table of the death-rates for six years
will be found in the next paragraph.
The following Table shows the birth and death statistics for six years ending 1876—
| Year | 1871 | 1872 | 1873 | 1874 | 1875 | 1876 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Births | 4380 | 4540 | 5053 | 5221 | 5529 | 5999 |
| Birth-rate per 1000 | 34.5 | 34.4 | 36.4 | 36.5 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| Deaths | 2867 | 2421 | 2580 | 2796 | 3096 | 3154 |
| Death-rate per 1000 | 22.6 | 18.3 | 18.7 | 19.5 | 20.87 | 20.0 |
In the introductory report of the year 1875 page 7,
a method of calculation is explained for obtaining the
population and death-rate with much more accuracy than
by the official method. It is admitted that a given population,
under similar conditions, in a given time, produces
a fixed and constant ratio of increase. Upon this law of
natural increase, therefore, we have a basis on which to found
our calculations; so that, from a given number of births,
we may find the population that may be fairly supposed