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
Coulsdon and Purley 1947
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Coulsdon]
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This number includes persons resident in Institutions in the District,
the numbers of which at the end of 1947 were as follows: —
Cane Hill Hospital 2,427
Netherne Hospital 2,156
Russell Hill School 240
Reedham Orphanage 260
In 1947 there were 16,999 occupied houses, distributed as follows: —
Coulsdon East 2,439
Coulsdon West 3,052
Purley 2,651
Woodcote 1,653
Sanderstead 4,250
Selsdon and Farleigh 1,664
Kenley 1,290
This suggests an average of 3.7 persons per occupied house in 1947.
VITAL STATISTICS.
The following table gives the average population, birth, death, maternal and other important mortality rates for the quinquennial periods 1915-1944, together with the actual figures for 1946 and 1947: —
| Rates per 1,000 population. | 1915-1919. | 1920-1924. | 1925-1929. | 1930-1934. | 1935-1939. | 1940-1944. | 1946. | 1947. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth rate | 13.9 | 13.5 | 12.9 | 11.6 | 12.8 | 15.2 | 17.6 | 17.0 |
| Percentage illegitimate | 5.7% | 3.4% | 3.7% | 2.8% | 3.4% | 3.9% | 3.4% | 3.1% |
| Stillbirth rate | — | — | — | — | 0.43 | 0.48 | 0.49 | 0.49 |
| Death rate | 8.5 | 7.4 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 11.4 | 9.8 | 10.8 |
| Cancer death rate | 1.18 | 0.96 | 1.15 | 1.35 | 1.19 | 1.70 | 1.93 | 1.89 |
| Tuberculosis death rate (per 100,000 population) | 72 | 57 | 36 | 38 | 35 | 48 | 44 | 37 |
| Violence (including Suicide) | 0.19 | 0.44 | 0.35 | 0.32 | 0.46 | 0.82 | 0.24 | 0.56 |
| Maternal mortality rate (per 1,000 live and still births) | 3.20 | 2.08 | 2.66 | 3.21 | 2.27 | 2.10 | 2.71 | 1.83 |
| Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 registered births) | 44 | 28 | 38 | 32 | 38 | 40 | 25 | 23 |
| Neo-natal mortality rate | - | - | - | - | 26 | 28 | 19 | 15 |
| Estimated population | 19,073 | 21,351 | 28,950 | 41,616 | 53,084 | 49,880 | 60,390 | 62,440 |
BIRTHS.
During the year 1947, 1,063 births were registered as occurring in
the District, of which 532 were male and 531 were female. It will be
seen by reference to the above table that this is equal to an annual birth
rate of 17.0 per 1,000 population, as compared with 17.6 in 1946, which
latter was the highest birth rate experienced in this District. It will be
very interesting to see whether the slight fall which occurred in 1947
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