Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington]
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"annual summary," published in January last, I assumed the
numbers to be 118,000 and 40,850, inclining however to the "belief
that the population of Brompton might be understated." I credited
the female sex with a majority of only 29,450, whereas it must
be now assumed that this sex predominated to the number of
31,700, the males numbering, 64,000, and the females 95,700.
The redundancy of females is explicable in a large measure by
the fact that in this parish, as in all rich parishes, there are
numerous female domestic servants. There are many girls schools
in Kensington also; and probably a considerable number of boys, in
excess of the number of girls, go from home to school, and so
would be out of the district when the Census is taken. The
superior longevity of women becomes a factor of no mean importance
as years go by, in increasing the disproportion in the
relative numbers of the sexes, and some of which, moreover, may
be fairly ascribed to the influences of fashion and healthfulness,
which tend to make the parish a favourite place of residence with
many unmarried and widowed ladies. The subjoined table shows
the numbers of the sexes at different ages in 1871; the materials
for a corresponding return based on the Census of 1881 is not
yet forthcoming.
AGES OF MALES AND FEMALES, 1871.
All Ages. | U nder 5 | 5 to 15 | 15 to 25 | 25 to 35 | 35 to 45 | 45 to 55 | 55 to 65 | 65 to 75 | 75 to 85 | 85 to 95 | 95 and upwds. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Males, 48977 | 7065 | 10198 | 8948 | 8317 | 5963 | 4339 | 2464 | 1270 | 378 | 33 | 2 |
Females, 71322 | 7147 | 11527 | 16585 | 14203 | 9080 | 6241 | 3768 | 2000 | 667 | 97 | 7 |
Total, 120299 | 14212 | 21722 | 25533 | 22520 | 15043 | 10580 | 6232 | 3270 | 1045 | 130 | 9 |
The density of the population varies greatly no doubt in different
parts of the parish, but taking the parish as a whole, and making
no allowance for open spaces, the density is about 71.1 persons
to an acre. It is probable that the open spaces available for
building purposes—Holland park and land at Notting Barn farm,
etc, do not now exceed 250 acres. Other open spaces that cannot