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
Shoreditch 1900
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
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35
THE SHELTER.
The shelter provided under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, for members
of families obliged to vacate their dwellings, to allow of effectual measures being taken
as to disinfection, was in use during the year under consideration on six occasions.
The particulars relating thereto are contained in the subjoined table:—
| Date of Admission to Shelter. | Duration of Stay. | Number of Persons. | Address of dwelling disinfected. | Disease. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 17th | 5 nights | 3 | 8, Hyde Road | Small-pox |
| February 14th | 1 day | 3 | 45, ,, ,, | Diphtheria |
| March 21st | 1 night | 1 | 12, Rushton Street | ,, |
| May 14th | 1 „ | 10 | 13, Brunswick Square | Small-pox (?) |
| July 28th | 2 nights | 7 | 31, Underwood Street | Scarlet Fever |
| August 9th | 1 night | 3 | 14, Rodney Buildings |
Altogether the shelter was made use of by 27 men, women, and children.
The work of erecting the new shelter in Reeves Place is approaching completion,
and it is anticipated that it will be ready for use the middle of the current year.
THE PUBLIC MORTUARY.
There were 443 dead bodies received into the mortuary, including the bodies of
seven persons removed thereto by order of the sanitary authority, from houses in which
it was impossible for them to be retained without risk to the health of the inmates.
The numbers of bodies received into the mortuary during the preceding four years
were: 494 in 1899, 446 in 1898, 421 in 1897, and 404 in 1896. The post-mortem
examinations made in the post-mortem room, attached to the mortuary, numbered 229,
as compared with 232 in 1899, 164 in 1898, 159 in 1897, 128 in 1896, 109 in 1895, 60
in 1894, and 29 in 1893. The inquests held on bodies in the mortuary numbered 324,
as compared with 354 in 1899, 339 in 1898, 331 in 1897, 301 in 1896, and 313 in 1895.
WATER SUPPLY.
The rainfall in inches, measured at Oxford, was 22.60; the average for 30 years
amounts to 25.72 inches; the rainfall was therefore 3.12 inches below the average, as
compared with 4.54 in 1899, and 6.48 in 1898, the year when there was a great
deficiency of water in a portion of Shoreditch. No complaints were received as to
shortness of supply during 1900. Communications were received from the water
companies respecting the cutting off of water supplies at 165 premises, 59 in the East
London Company's district, and 106 in that of the new River Company. The
circumstances in connection therewith were enquired into, and in many of the cases,
alterations in connection with the water fittings, and vacation of premises, were the
reasons for the action of the companies.