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7
The accompanying diagram (II.) shows the London birth-rate in each year since 1850, in
relation to the mean birth-rate of the period 1851-1908. In connection with this diagram it should be
noted that the registration of births was not made compulsory until the beginning of 1875 ; before that
year many births were probably unregistered. From the year 1885 onwards the births have been
corrected as far as possible by the exclusion of those which occurred in the chief lying-in institutions in
cases where the mother resided outside the County of London.
The following table shows the birth-rate in the several sanitary areas per 1,000 persons living
and per 100 married females aged 15-45 in the period 1903-7 and in the year 1908 :—

It will be seen from the above table that the differences in the birth-rates of the several sanitary
districts are very marked, ranging from 13.9 in Hampstead to 257 in Bermondsey, when the rates based
on the number of married females are compared.
The Registrar-General has compared the birth-rate of London, in 1870-2 with that of subsequent
periods, showing these rates calculated on the total population, and also on the female
population aged 15-45 years, and further has compared the rates, for the same periods, of
legitimate births calculated on the married female population, and of illegitimate births calculated
on the unmarried and widowed female population aged 15-45 years. When compared with the
birth-rate in 1870-2, the birth-rate of 1908 has decreased by 28 4 per cent, when calculated on the
total population, and 31.3 per cent, when calculated on the female population aged 15-45 years; the
legitimate birth-rate has declined 26.5 per cent, when calculated on the married female population
aged 15-45 years; and the illegitimate birth-rate has declined 42.7 per cent, when calculated on the
unmarried and female population of that age period. The Registrar-General finds reason for stating
that approximately 18 per cent, of the decline in the birth-rate, calculated on the female population aged
15-45 years, of the last 38 years is due to the decrease in the proportion of married women of conceptive
ages in the female population, and 4 per cent, is due to the decrease in illegitimacy. Some
of the remaining 78 per cent, of the decrease, he states, may be ascribed to changes in the age
constitution of married women, but he thinks that much of it is due to other than natural causes.
Deaths.
The number of deaths in the Administrative County of London in 1908 (53 weeks) was 67,353'
giving an annual death rate of 13.8 per 1,000 of the estimated population. This death-rate is the
lowest recorded since the institution of civil registration.
1 See footnote (.), page 6.
21322 D 2
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