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 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Coulsdon]
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In December, 1954 there were 18,895 occupied houses, distributed
as follows:—
Coulsdon East 3,081
Coulsdon West 3,163
Purley 2,604
Woodcote 1,762
Sanderstead North 2,293
Sanderstead South 2,642
Selsdon 1,884
Kenley 1,466
This suggests an average of 3.42 persons per occupied house
in 1954, or 3.15 if the institutional population is excluded, compared
with 3.53 and 3.24 in 1951. As there were more than 800
additional occupied houses in 1954 compared with 1951, the
population must have increased by quite 2,400 in that time rather
than just 880 as estimated by the Registrar-General, and have
been at least 66,200 in 1954.
VITAL STATISTICS.
The following table gives the average population, birth, death, maternal and other important mortality rates for the quinquennial periods 1920-1949, together with the actual figures for 1953 and 1954.
| Rates per 1,000 population. | 1920-1924. | 1925-1929. | 1930-1934. | 1935-1939. | 1940-1944. | 1945-1949. | 1953. | 1954. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth rate | 13.5 | 12.9 | 11.6 | 12.8 | 15.2 | 15.2 | 11.6 | 12.9 |
| Percentage illegitimate | 3.4% | 3.7% | 2.8% | 3.4% | 3.9% | 3.4% | 2.8% | 2.8% |
| Stillbirth rate | - | — | — | 0.43 | 0.48 | 0.40 | 0.22 | 0.28 |
| Death rate | 7.4 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 11.4 | 9.7 | 15.3 | 14.1 |
| Cancer death rate | 0.96 | 1.15 | 1.35 | 1.19 | 1.70 | 1.75 | 2.39 | 2.19 |
| Tuberculosis death rate (per 100,000 population) | 57 | 36 | 38 | 35 | 48 | 36 | 29 | 15 |
| Violence including Suicide | 0.44 | 0.35 | 0.32 | 0.46 | 0.82 | 0.37 | 0.46 | 0.67 |
| Maternal mortality rate per 1,000 live and still births | 2.08 | 2.66 | 3.21 | 2.27 | 2.10 | 1.12 | 1.31 | 1.17 |
| Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 registered births) | 28 | 38 | 32 | 38 | 40 | 26 | 29 | 11 |
| Neo-natal mortality rate | - | — | - | 26 | 28 | 19 | 21 | 8 |
| Estimated population | 21,351 | 28,950 | 41,616 | 53,084 | 49,880 | 60,610 | 64,810 | 64,650 |