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

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St Giles (Camden) 1864

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Giles District]

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9
In Bloomsbury, the deaths of 160 males and 193 females were recorded
in all 353 persons; the singular excess of female deaths resulting chiefly from
the exceptional excess of women resident in this sub-district. In St. Giles
South, 423 males and 392 females—total 815 died; and in St. Giles North,
217 males and 216 females, or 433 persons.
These numbers do not, however, represent the true mortality of each sub.
district, inasmuch as many persons are taken from the other two sub-districts
and die in the workhouse in St. Giles South. Correction must be made for
these, and also for parishioners of St. Giles and Bloomsbury dying in the hospitals
situated outside the boundaries of our districts.
Besides the 35S deaths registered in Bloomsbury, six persons had recently
been taken from their homes in that parish and died in the workhouse, and
seventeen persons from Bloomsbury died in hospitals. The total deaths of the
parish amount therefore to 376, giving a deathrate of 21.62 per thousand.
Subtracting from the registered mortality of St. Giles South all the
deaths (119) among old workhouse inmates, and all those occurring in people
brought from Bloomsbury (6) and St. Giles, North, (47,) we have to regard
the mortality among people at their own houses 503, along with 140 who had
been lately transferred from the houses of this sub-district to the workhouse
infirmary, and also 35 who had been taken to hospital and died there.
The corrected mortality of St. Giles South was, therefore, 678 or 137
short of the registered number of deaths. This gives a deathrate of 34.81 per
thousand on the population of this sub-district.
St. Giles North requires an addition to be made to its registered deaths,
of 47 persons recently removed to the workhouse, and of 22 who died in hospitals.
This brings the deaths to 502, and the deathrate to 29.21 per thousand
residents in this sub-district.
The order of mortality that has been constantly seen in former years, is
again observed in the three sub-districts. Their comparative statistics through
a series of years have been as follows:—

Death-rate per 1000 in Sub-Districts.

Districts.1857.1858.1859.1860.1861.1862.1863.1864.
St. George, Bloomsbury18.019.818.418.520.521.619.921.6
St. Giles's, South35.729.234.934.629.131.732.734.8
St. Giles's, North28.327.724.024.727.928.227.329.2
Whole District28.025.826.026.227.028.928.531.1

* Correction has been made for the extra length of the registration years 1857 & 1863.
The large excess of deaths that characterizes South St. Giles, will be
readily understood after what has been said in reference to the diseases that
have prevailed most during the year. Although in the foregoing computation
the deaths occurring among old inmates of the workhouse have been excluded,
the deaths of people recently admitted from common lodging-houses are included.
In these establishments, which are by far the most numerous in South
St. Giles's, and which are frequented by the poorest people, often in broken
health and on the verge of starvation, an inclement season finds very numerous
victims. Bronchitis and consumption were of course intensely fatal among
this class of persons, and to these disorders a large part of the excessive mortality
of South St. Giles was due.