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 1909
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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87
Overcrowding.
The difficulty of dealing with overcrowding of dwelling rooms owing to the poverty of the inmates
is discussed in a few of the reports and Dr. Brown gives particulars of the circumstances of twenty-two
cases of overcrowding found in Bermondsey during 1909. In all but two instances the family
occupied but one room; in eight instances the husband was out of work; and in some other cases the
scanty earnings appeared inadequate for the payment of rent of an additional room.
Dr. Thomas, in his report relating to Finsbury, mentions the practice of some landlords who insist
on a written statement as to the number of children in the family of a prospective tenant before letting
their rooms, and he adds that the sanitary authority allows the most ample time for overcrowded
tenants to get rooms elsewhere.
The following table, showing the number of dwelling rooms found overcrowded in the several districts, is compiled from information supplied by the medical officers of health, mainly in their annual reports.
| Sanitary area. | No. of dwelling-rooms overcrowded. | No. remedied. | No. of prosecutions. |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of London | 9 | 9 | — |
| Battersea | 86 | 86 | 2 |
| Bermondsey | 124 | 124 | — |
| Bethnal Green | 140 | 131 | — |
| Camberwell | 177 | 177 | 1 |
| Chelsea | 20 | 20 | — |
| Deptford | 42 | 42 | — |
| Finsbury | 88 | 88 | — |
| Fulham | 32 | 32 | — |
| Greenwich | 25 | 25 | — |
| Hackney | 155 | 155 | — |
| Hammersmith | 19 | 19 | — |
| Hampstead | 7 | 7 | — |
| Holborn | 56 | 56 | — |
| Islington | 148 | 148 | — |
| Kensington | 56 | 56 | — |
| Lambeth | 21 | 21 | — |
| Lewisham | 18 | 18 | — |
| Paddington | 440 | 215* | — |
| Poplar | 200 | 200 | — \ |
| St. Marylebone | 240 | 240 | — |
| St. Pancras | 148 | 148 | 1 |
| Shoreditch | 95 | 95 | — |
| Southwark | 424 | 424 | 3 |
| Stepney | 645 | 632 | 4 |
| Stoke Newington | 2 | 2 | — |
| Wandsworth | 131 | 131 | — |
| Westminster, City of | 72 | 72 | — |
| Woolwich | 32 | 32 | — |
* No action taken in 225 cases, the deficiency of air space being very slight.
Factory and Workshop Act, 1901.
The Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, requires every medical officer of health to report specifically
on the administration in his district of those provisions of the Act the administration of which
is imposed upon sanitary authorities, and a form of table has been prepared for the exhibition of those
particulars which lend themselves to statistical statement. From this table and from other information
contained in the annual reports of medical officers of health, the following summary table has been
prepared:—
2067 M 2