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This year the deaths of females were 19 more than the deaths of males. The
death-rate for 1907 was higher than the rate for 1906, being 20.6* per 1,000
inhabitants, as compared with 19.8 in 1906, 19.8 in 1905, 20.6 in 1904 and 19.6 in
1903. It was, however, below the average for the previous ten years.
The death-rate of the Metropolis for 1907 was 14.6, that of England and Wales
15.0, of 76 great towns 15.4, and of 142 smaller towns 14.7 per 1,000 population.
In tables I., II., IV., V., VI. and VII. (see Appendix) are given the causes of
death and the death-rates for the whole Borough and for its eight wards and other
information bearing upon the mortality amongst the inhabitants of Shoreditch during
the year. The death-rates in the wards varied within considerable limits, being as
high as 28.7 in Whitmore and as low as 15.7 in Haggerston Ward. In connection
with this it is to be noted that Whitmore Ward is the most densely populated
portion of the Borough, and, moreover, contains a large proportion of the poorest
section of the population.
The death-rate of the Borough was above the mean-rate for the
year during the first five months January to May. At the end of May
there was a fall and the rate was below the mean until the end of
November, when it again rose and was above the mean for three weeks,
falling again during the last three weeks of the year. The highest point reached
in any one week was during the first week of January, when the rate was as high
as 33.1 per 1,000, and it was almost as high the following week. The cause of
this high rate of mortality was doubtless the prevalence of influenza and diseases
of the respiratory organs. The lowest death-rate in any one week was that for
the second week of September, when it was only 12.8 per 1,000, but it was almost
as low in the third week of June. Usually the effect of the diarrhoea season upon
the death-rate in Shoreditch is very marked. This year it was comparatively
insignificant.
The number of infants who died aged under one year was 569, 286 being males
and 283 females, the deaths amounting to a little over 24 per cent. of the total
number of deaths at all ages. The proportion of infants under one year dying during
1907 was at the rate of 153 per 1,000 births belonging to Shoreditch registered
during the year. This infantile mortality is lower than in any year since 1881, and
is one of the lowest rates recorded in Shoreditch during the past 40 years. The
reduction in the infantile mortality during the year under consideration resulted
from the diminution in the prevalence of summer diarrhoea, which is especially
fatal in young infants and babies under a year old.
The infantile mortality in the Borough is usually higher amongst males than
females, the average for the six years ending 1906 being 193 per 1,000 births in
* Corrected for age and sex distribution, the death-rate was 21.6 per 1,000 population.