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
Enfield 1915
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Enfield]
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6
A very large number of men have left the District to join the
Service, while, on the other hand, a still larger number,—accompanied
in many instances by their families, have flocked into
the District to work at the munition factories, consequently any
approximately correct estimation of the population is out of the
question. The result of this is that the Death-rates and the Infectious
Diseases rates appear to be very much larger than they would
be if we had the means of accurately gauging the exact population.
Enfield is divided into six wards as follows :—
| Wards. | Inhabited Houses. | Uninhabited Houses. | Total. | Population. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Town | 1,472 | 52 | 1.524 | 7,536 |
| Chase | 2,627 | 46 | 2,673 | 13.450 |
| Ordnance ... | 2.730 | H | 2.744 | 13.977 |
| Green Street and Ponders End | 2,600 | 30 | 2,630 | 13.312 |
| Bush Hill Park ... | 2,305 | 16 | 2,321 | 11,802 |
| Hadley & Cockfosters | 214 | 6 | 220 | 1,096 |
| 11,948 | 164 | 12,112 | 61,173 |
VITAL STATISTICS.
The Vital Statistics for the year are quite satisfactory, but in
consequence of the considerable underestimation of the population
our figures apparently this year are not so good as in 1914, but I
am confident that if we had any means of obtaining a true estimate
they would show much more favourably.
The number of births registered was :—
Boys. Girls. Total.
663 661 1,324
including 32 illegitimate births, i.e., 2*41 per cent, of the total.
This total is one less than that of the previous year, and gives
a birth-rate of 21.64 per thousand of the population, which compares
favourably with that of England and Wales, which was 21.9
per thousand. The corresponding rate for London is 22.6.