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and highest in Whitmore, being 14.6 and 27.5 per l,000 respectively* The deathrate
for the Borough was above the mean rate for the year from the middle of
January to the middle of April, when it fell and remained below until the end of
July. During August, September and October it was above the mean but
during November and December it was markedly below the mean rate for the
year, which is very unusual for Shoreditch, in fact, the lowest weekly rate for the
year was for the third week of November, when the death-rate only amounted to
7.8 per 1000. It may also be noted as a very unusual circumstance that the
death-rate for the Borough was during November lower than the rate for the
Metropolis during the month. The death-rate was highest above the mean at the
end of March, when during the 12th week of the year it nearly touched 30 per
1000. It was also high during the second and fourth weeks of August, being over
28 per 1000 for those weeks. The high rate for the first quarter of the year
was mainly the result of the prevalence of measles, bronchitis and pneumonia.
The elevation during August and September was the result of summer diarrhoea.
The temperature during these two months was considerably above the average,
the weather being very hot, which without doubt helped to raise the death-rate.
The deaths of infants under the age of one year numbered 598, 340 being of
males and 258 of females, the deaths amounting to 26.8 per cent, of the total
number of deaths at all ages as compared with 27.6 in 1910, 23 per cent, in 1909
and 25.4 in 1908. The number of infants under one year dying during 1911 was at
the rate of 171 per 1000 births belonging to Shoreditch registered during the year.
The infantile mortality was somewhat above the average for the previous ten years,
and as is usually the case it was higher amongst males than females being 191 for
the former as compared with 150 for the latter.
The chief causes of death amongst infants under the age of one year were as
stated for previous years; diarrhoea and other disorders of the stomach and
intestines, prematurity, weakness and wasting, bronchitis, pneumonia and suffocation
in bed. In Table IV (Appendix) is contained a statement showing the causes of
death amongst infants under the age of one year, the ages in weeks and months
being given. The table also shows the net deaths and births during the year
amongst legitimate and illegitimate infants.
* The Shoreditch Workhouse which is situate in Whitmore Ward is in the cases of some of the deaths
in outlying institutions the last known place of residence in the Borough. This Ward is therefore
in all probability credited with some of the deaths rightly belonging to other Wards in the Borough.
This is a point to be borne in mind in connection with the high rate for this Ward.