View report page

County of London.
STATISTICS OF NOTIFIED DISEASE, 1891—99.
Statistics relating to notifiable disease in the sanitary areas of London (as constituted
by the London Government Act, 1899) in the nine years 1891-99.
The London Government Act of 1899 substitutes 28 metropolitan boroughs for the 42 local
management bodies at present comprised in the administrative county; thus under this Act there
will be, including the City of London, 29 sanitary areas in place of 43.
The following tables have been prepared to show the prevalence of the notifiable diseases
in the new sanitary areas for each of the years 1891-99, inclusive, and will furnish useful material
for comparing the incidence of notifiable disease on the new areas, when the London Government
Act comes into operation, with that of previous years.
The area of the administrative county is slightly altered under the new Act, by the exclusion
of the hamlet of Penge, and the inclusion of the district of South Hornsey. The population of
Penge in 1891 was 20,375, and that of South Hornsey 16,892. The effect therefore of this
alteration of the county area on the case rates for London as a whole is immaterial. Many of the
sanitary areas under the new Act practically coincide with the areas defined in the Metropolis
Local Management Act, 1855, although, under the new Act slight alterations in boundaries have
been made in every sanitary district. It is almost impossible to obtain a reliable estimate of
the population affected by these alterations of boundary, but as these alterations are small in
proportion to the total area involved, and are also of a compensatory character, the effect upon the
case rates is but trifling; for the purposes of these tables, therefore, these slight adjustments of
the boundaries of sanitary areas have been disregarded. I am indebted to Dr. T. S. Jackman,
medical officer of health of South Hornsey, for the notification statistics relating to South
Hornsey, which are included in the figures shown for Stoke Newington in the tables.
The populations used in the calculation of the rates shown in the tables have been estimated
upon the assumption that the rate of increase or decrease in the population of each district between
the census years of 1891 and 1896 has been since maintained.
The changes in sanitary areas under the London Government Act, 1899, which are of
importance in connection with comparative vital statistics, and for which allowance has been madcv
in the following tables, may be summarised as follows—
The detached portion of Chelsea (Kensal Town) has been divided between Paddington
and Kensington.
The detached portion of Wandsworth has been divided between Lambeth and
Camberwell.
The district of South Hornsey has been added to Stoke Newington.
The parish of St. Paul, Deptford, constitutes a separate sanitary authority.
The parishes of Greenwich and St. Nicholas, Deptford, together with the parishes of
Kidbrooke and Charlton, constitute the new sanitary area of Greenwich.
The parishes of Plumstead and Eltham, together with the area of the Woolwich
Local Board, form the new sanitary area of Woolwich.
The Hamlet of Penge has been detached from, and the parish of Lee added to, the
area under the jurisdiction of the Lewisham Board of Works.
The district of St. Giles, together with Furnival, Staple, Lincoln and Gray's Inns
and the greater portion of the area under the jurisdiction of the Hoi born Board of
Works, constitute the new sanitary area of Holborn.
The parishes of Clerkenwell and St. Luke, together with the parish of St. Sepulchre,
the Charterhouse, and Glasshouse-yard, constitute the new sanitary area of Finsbury.
The sanitary areas of St. Saviour, St. George-the-Martyr, and Newington, together
constitute the new sanitary area of Southwark.
The sanitary areas of St. Olave, Bermondsey and Rotherhithe together constitute the
new sanitary area of Bermondsey.
The sanitary areas of Mile-end Old-town, Limehouse, St. George-in-the-East, and
Whitechapel together constitute the new sanitary area of Stepney.
The sanitary areas of St. George, Hanover-square, St. Margaret and St. John,
Westminster, St. James, Westminster, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and Strand together
constitute the new sanitary area of Westminster.
[12]