London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Kensington 1871

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington]

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6
be reasonably accounted for by the very large disproportion of
the sexes. The birth rate in the Town district, 33.4 per 1,000,
was considerably above that of Brompton, 24.8 per 1,000.
The following Table shows the sex and number of Children
born in each of the 4 quarters of the year and in each Registration
district :—

Table D.

Town District, 3094.Brompton, 710.Total.
Males.Females.Males.Females.Both Districts.
1st Quarter43148791018
2nd ,,3713589097916
3rd „3673789888931
4th „4243568475939
Total,,. 1,6931,6013593513,804

MARRIAGES.
The Marriages solemnized during the year numbered 1,131, viz:
895 in churches, 149 in other places of worship, and 87 at the
Superintendent Registrar's office.
DEATHS.
The Deaths registered were 2,360, or, deducting the deaths of
non-parishioners in the Brompton Hospital, 2,270. To this total
should be added the deaths of parishioners in the Small Pox hospitals
of the Metropolitan Sick Asylum Board, the number of
which, however, I have not yet been able to obtain.* Eighteen
hundred and forty-five persons died in the Town district, and 425
in Brompton, the total number being 203 below the deaths of
1870, viz., 2,473. The deaths were equivalent to an annual rate of
18.42 per 1,000 persons living in the whole parish, 20 per 1,000 in
the Town district, and 14.7 per 1,000 in Brompton. Thus notwithstanding
a severe epidemic of Small Pox, which will be noticed
hereafter, the general state of the public health was highly
satisfactory, the death rate being below that of any former year to
which my researches have extended as may be seen upon reference
to Table E in the appendix. Kensington has indeed always
enjoyed a good repute for its healthiness ; and to which its excellent
soil and the parks in its midst, largely contribute. The
Kensington Gravel Pits were even in the last century a favorite
resort of invalids, and it was not without reason that Brompton
was selected as the site for the leading Hospital for Consumption
* After this portion of the Report was completed and when there was no longer time to
make the many necessary corrections, I succeeded, through the courtesy of Mr. E. Herbert
Draper, the Clerk to the Guardians, in obtaining particulars of the deaths of Kensington
parishioners in the Small Pox hospitals. These deaths, 58 in number, equal to 0.5 per
1,000, raise the total mortality from 2270 to 2328, and from 18*42 to 18-92 per 1,000,
They are too few to materially affect any of the minor calculations which, moreover, it
was impossible to disturb at so late a period.