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London County Council.
Report by Medical Officer submitting the result of a census of homeless persons on
the night of 8th February, 1907, together with some information concerning the
accommodation for women provided in shelters, homes, and institutions.
Ordered by the Public Health Committee to be printed, 21 st March, 1907.
On the night of Friday, 8th February, 1907, a census was taken of homeless persons in London,
being the third of such censuses organised by the Council.
The night was clear and cold, and it is therefore somewhat remarkable that fewer than 50
persons were found taking shelter on staircases or in other places affording some protection from the
wind. In all, however, the Council's officers counted 1,998 men, 402 women and 4 children, who might
be regarded as homeless. Of these, 802 men and 3G women received soup and bread from the Salvation
Army on the Embankment and 156 men were provided with food in the tents of the Church Army.

On the same night, 4,263 men slept in Rowton Houses, which had 844 vacant beds; and 642 men
in Bruce House, Kemble-street, where there were 57 vacant beds.
It would thus appear that there is more than sufficient accommodation for all the homeless
persons in London in existing institutions at an average cost of 6d. per night per head. This is, of
course, irrespective of the accommodation provided in casual wards, in which, on the night of 8th
February, there were 1,137 vagrants; the total accommodation provided in the London casual wards
is for 1,882 persons, and there was vacant accommodation therefore for 745 persons.
In this connection it is interesting to note the facilities afforded in London for obtaining cheap
or free food. At a large mission hall in Shoreditch about 600 men are fed daily at a very small cost,
a substantial meal being provided for 2d. or 3d. a head. Here too, free food is distributed to 350 men
each Sunday, and to 900 men each Thursday. On the Embankment each night from 900 to 1,500
persons are supplied with a meal of soup and bread free of charge. There is, moreover, an institution
in Limehouse which sends a man out each night to different parts of London to distribute tickets in
the streets to the homeless poor. Each ticket entitles a man to eight ounces of bread, and some 400
tickets are distributed each evening. The distribution of soup and bread on the Embankment begins
at 1 a.m., and the tickets for bread in the Limehouse institution are available from midnight to 4 a.m.
It is, therefore, somewhat significant that on the morning of the 9th February no applications were
received at the Limehouse institution until 2.15 a.m., though from that time until 4 a.m., 277
tickets were presented in exchange for bread.
From the information gathered, it would appear that it is possible for a man to live, so far as
food is concerned, for a penny a day, provided he takes advantage of the free food distribution and
supplements this by purchasing at the low rates food which can be had in the Mission Hall, Shoreditch.
The results of the three censuses of homeless persons may be roughly stated as 2,000 in 1904,
2,200 in 1905 and 2,400 in 1907, and it would seem that the estimate made on the first occasion that
about 1 in every 2,000 of the London population is homeless, still holds.
The information obtained on the night of the 8th instant is summarised in tabular form as
follows:—
Table I. shows the number of homeless persons and their distribution in certain areas.
Table II. shows the authorised accommodation in common lodging houses, the number of beds
occupied, the number of beds vacant, and the number of persons who, for various reasons, were turned
away.
Table III. shows the number of beds for men only in shelters, at the present time not licensed
as common lodging houses.
Table IV. is extracted from Table II. and shows that, on the night of the census, free beds were
provided in licensed common lodging houses for 540 men, 16 women, and 42 children, and that 513
men received a bed in return for work in the labour homes of the Church Army and Salvation Army.
Among the free beds in ordinary common lodging houses are included 102 beds paid for by the Church
Army, and 343 beds provided in Medland Hall free shelter. All the 42 children were accommodated
in Dr. Barnardo's Homes.
Table V. shows the accommodation available for women only in shelters, homes, and institutions
which cannot be classed as common lodging houses, and the extent to which this accommodation was
made use of on the night of 8th February. In some few cases where the precise figures were not
available the average number of residents has been inserted.
(Signed)
8, St. Martins-place, W.C.
21st February, 1907.
Shirley F. Murphy,
Medical Officer of Health.
13092—1250—23.4.07
s.s./17316