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
London County Council 1905
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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| Sanitary area. | No. of houses for which applications were received during 1905. | No. of tenements comprised therein. | No. of Tenements for which certificates were | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granted. | Refused. | Deferred. | |||
| Paddington | 124 | 1,074 | 1,027 | 37 | 10 |
| Kensington | 6 | 17 | 17 | — | — |
| Hammersmith | 116 | 530 | 507 | 15 | 8 |
| Fulham | 118 | 409 | 257 | 54 | 98 |
| Chelsea | 7 | 23 | 7 | 16 | — |
| Westminster, City of | 19 | 141 | 134 | — | 7 |
| St. Marylebone | 20 | 82 | 46 | 35 | 1 |
| Hampstead | 181 | 215 | 39 (houses) | — | 142 (houses) |
| Islington | 28 | 360 | 336 | — | 28 |
| Hackney | 7 | 397 | 397 | — | - |
| Finsbury | 5 | 101 | 101 | — | - |
| Bethnal Green | 4 | 59 | 39 | 14 | 6 |
| Stepney | 12 | 84 | 72 | 12 | - |
| Bermondsey | 3 | 42 | 40 | — | 2 |
| Lambeth | 64 | 458 | 267 | 12 | 179 |
| Battersea | 63 | 67 | 61 | 6 | — |
| Wandsworth | 614 | 885 | 875 | 10 | - |
| Camberwell | 2 | 5 | — | — | 5 |
| Deptford | 1 | 15 | 15 | — | - |
| Greenwich | 7 | 25 | 25 | — | - |
| Lewisham | 45 | 91 | 81 | 10 | - |
Underground Rooms.
| Sanitary area. | No. of cases in which illegal occupation was dealt with. | No. of rooms closed. | Sanitary area. | No. of cases in which illegal occupation was dealt with. | No. of rooms closed. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kensington | 22 | 22 | Shoreditch | 5 | |
| Fulham | 2 | 2 | Bethnal Green | 3 | 3 |
| Chelsea | 1 | 1 | Stepney | 79 | 32 |
| St. Marylebone | 7 | Lambeth | 14 | ||
| Islington | 40 | 40 | Battersea | 7 | 7 |
| Hackney | 1 | 1 | Greenwich | 5 | 5 |
| Holborn | 11 | 11 | Woolwich | 3 | 2 |
| Finsbury | 24 | — | < |
Overcrowding.
In the following table will be found the number of instances in which overcrowding was found
and dealt with. The table shows the need for unceasing watchfulness over the conditions under which
poor persons are dwelling. In many instances poverty makes the payment of money for sufficient
accommodation a matter of great difficulty, and in his annual report to the Bermondsey Borough
Council, Dr. Brown gives interesting details of the wage earnings of 13 families found to be living in
overcrowded condition. There is, whatever the cause, need of administrative control of overcrowding
and it may be expected that as the facilities for cheap travelling are increasingly provided, those who
work in the central districts of London will be able to live further from their place of employment and
rents will be proportionately diminished. The need for such control is especially manifest in the borough
of Stepney, where the instances of overcrowding found were very numerous and where, it should be
recollected, there is a considerable alien population.