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 1955
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Coulsdon]
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In December, 1955 there were 19.401 occupied houses, distributed
as follows:-
Coulsdon East 3,200
Coulsdon West 3,180
Purley 2,639
Woodcote 1,784
Sanderstead North 2,361
Sanderstead South 2,839
Selsdon 1,889
Kenley 1,509
This suggests an average of 3.37 persons per occupied house in
1955, or 3.11 if the institutional population is excluded, compared
with 3.53 and 3.24 in 1951. As there were more than 1,300
additional occupied houses in 1955 compared with 1951, the
population must have increased by quite 3,900 in that time rather
than just 1,650 as estimated by the Registrar-General, and have
been at least 67,670 in 1955.
VITAL STATISTICS.
The following table gives the average population, birth, death, maternal and other important mortality rates for the quinquennial periods 1920-1954 together with the actual figures for 1955.
| Rates per 1,000 population. | 1920-1924. | 1925-1929. | 1930-1934. | 1935-1939. | 1940-1944. | 1945-1949. | 1950-1954. | 1955. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth rate | 13.5 | 11.6 | 12.8 | 15.2 | 15.2 | 12.0 | 12.9 | |
| Percentage illegitimate | 3.4% | 3.7% | 2.8% | 3.4% | 3.9% | 3.4% | 2.7% | 2.5% |
| Stillbirth rate | - | - | - | 0.43 | 0.48 | 0.40 | 0.24 | 0.26 |
| Death rate | 7.4 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 11.4 | 9.7 | 12.1 | 14.0 |
| Cancer death rate | 0.96 | 1.15 | 1.35 | 1.19 | 1.70 | 1.75 | 2.02 | 2.19 |
| Tuberculosis death rate (per 100,000 population) | 57 | 36 | 38 | 35 | 48 | 36 | 25 | 21 |
| Violence including Suicide | 0.44 | 0.35 | 0.32 | 0.46 | 0.82 | 0.37 | 0.46 | 0.59 |
| Maternal mortality rate per 1,000 live and still births | 2.08 | 2.66 | 3.21 | 2.27 | 2.10 | 1.12 | 1.01 | Nil |
| Infant mortality rate (per 1.000 registered births) | 28 | 38 | 32 | 38 | 40 | 26 | 21 | 24 |
| Neo-natal mortality rate | - | - | - | 26 | 28 | 19 | 15 | 20 |
| Estimated population | 21,351 | 28,950 | 41,616 | 53,084 | 49.880 | 60,610 | 64,466 | 65,420 |