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 1911
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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London County Council.
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL, 1911.
CHAPTER XXXII.
Report of the Medical Officer of Health (Dr. W. H. Hamer) for the Year 1911.
A—Vital Statistics.
The mean temperature of the air during 1911 was 1:7degrees above the average of the preceding
65 years. The greatest excess over the monthly average occurred in August, December, July and
May; the temperature being below the average in April, March and January only. The rainfall
during the year was very slightly below the average, the deficit being greatest in the months of July,
August and September, and the excess greatest in November and December.
In the preparation of this report the results of the census of 1911 have been taken into
account throughout, all the rates shown being based upon recalculated population-estimates for the
intercensal years. It is to be noted, however, that as the age constitution of the 1911 population is
not yet known, the death rates at ages have been calculated on the basis of the age constitution of the
population* recorded in 1901; consequently all such rates, and all rates to which corrective factors
have been applied in the report, must be regarded to a certain extent as approximate.
The marriage rate (17.8) was slightly above the marriage rate of the preceding year (17.3). The
birth-rate (24.8) was the lowest on record in London since the institution of civil registration.
The infantile mortality (129), and the "all ages" death-rate (15.0) were both considerably
higher than in 1910. The deaths from cancer, measles and diarrhoea were above the annual
average of the preceding 10 years, and the deaths from small-pox, whooping-cough, scarlet fever,
diphtheria, enteric fever and phthisis were below the average.
Population.
The population of the Administrative County of London, estimated to the middle of the year
1911, was 4,521,301.
%
The census populations of London boroughs in 1901 and 1911 and the mid-year populations in 1911, as estimated by the Registrar-General, are shown in the following table :—
| Metropolitan borough. | Census Population 1st April, 1901. | Census Population 3rd April, 1911. | Estimated Population (middle of year 1911). | Metropolitan borough. | Census Population 1st April, 1901. | Census Population 3rd April, 1911. | Estimated Population (middle of year 1911). |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paddington | 143,976 | 142,551 | 142,513] | Shoreditch | 118,637 | 111,390 | 111,199 |
| Kensington | 176,628 | 172,317 | 172,203 | Bethnal Green | 129,680 | 128,183 | 128,144 |
| Hammersmith | 112,239 | 121,521 | 121,766 | Stepney | 298,600 | 279,804 | 279,309 |
| Fulham | 137,289 | 153,284 | 153,705 | Poplar | 168,822 | 162,442 | 162,274 |
| Chelsea | 73,842 | 66,385 | 66,189 | Southwark | 206,180 | 191,907 | 191,531 |
| Westminster City of | 183,011 | 160,261 | 159,662 | Bermondsey | 130,760 | 125,903 | 125,775 |
| St. Marvlebone | 133,301 | 118,160 | 117,761 | 301,895 | 298,058 | 297,957 | |
| Hampstead | 81,942 | 85,495 | 85,589 | Battersea | 168,907 | 167,743 | 167,712 |
| St. Pancras | 235,317 | 218,387 | 217,941 | Wandsworth | 231,922 | 311,360 | 313,453 |
| Islington | 334,991 | 327,403 | 327,203 | Camberwell | 259,339 | 261,328 | 261,380 |
| Stoke Newington | 51,247 | 50,659 | 50,644 | Deptford | 110,398 | 109,496 | 109,472 |
| Hackney | 219,110 | 222,533 | 222,623 | Greenwich | 95,770 | 95,968 | 95,973 |
| Holborn | 59,405 | 49,357 | 49,092 | Lewisham | 127,495 | 160,834 | 161,712 |
| Finsbury | 101,463 | 87,923 | 87,566 | Woolwich | 117,178 | 121,376 | 121,487 |
| London, City of | 26,923 | 19,657 | 19,466 |
Natural
increase of
popt^ation.
The above table shows that the population of London has declined during the last intercensal
period notwithstanding that, as a matter of fact, the number of births has exceeded the number of deaths
annually. This diminution, of course, is due to the increment of population in Greater London. In
making a comparison of the rates of natural increase in different localities, it should be pointed out
that these rates are affected by differences in the age and sex-constitution of the populations compared,
as well as by the relative amount of emigration and immigration, and this should be borne in
mind in any general comparison of the crude natural increase rates.
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