London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Giles (Camden) 1870
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Giles District]
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TABLE No. I.—The Birth-rate to Population in St. Giles and its Sub-districts.
| Districts. | Population. | Births. | Ratio of Births to Population. | Rate per 1000. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. George Bloomsbury | 17,392 | 511 | 1 in 34 | 29.4 |
| St. Giles South | 19,483 | 581 | 1 in 33.5 | 29.8 |
| St. Giles North | 17,201 | 593 | 1 in 29 | 34.4 |
| Whole District | 54,076 | 1685 | 1 in 32.2 | 31.2 |
St. George Bloomsbury has a higher birth-rate this year than last, whilst
St. Giles South has a considerably lower rate, and St. Giles North a considerable
higher one. The two sub-districts of St. Giles Parish have changed
places in the Table; the rate for the entire District remaining nearly
the same.
The Death-rate in St. Giles District.
7. The registered death-rate must be treated in the same way as the
registered birth-rate, by adding to it the deaths in hospitals, and by distributing
among the three sub-districts the deaths of persons in the Workhouse
(254) in accordance with their ascertained previous residences. The deaths
in the Infants' Home (5) must also be deducted from the mortality of the
Bloomsbury sub-district.
The subjoined Table shows the results:
TABLE No. II.—The Death-Rate to Population in St. Giles and its Sub-districts.
| Districts. | Population. | Deaths. | Ratio of Deaths to Population. | Rate per 1000. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. George Bloomsbury | 17,392 | 384 | 1 in 45 | 22.1 |
| St. Giles South | 19,483 | 665 | 1 in 29 | 34.1 |
| St. Giles North | 17,201 | 428 | 1 in 40 | 24.8 |
| Whole District | 54,076 | 1,477 | 1 in 38 | 27.3 |
8. Last year I pointed out the want of direct relation between the birth-rates
and death-rates in St. Giles, in contradiction of a doctrine strenuously maintained
by some statisticians; and this year our data furnish a corroboration of
the conclusion then formed. Last year in St. Giles South, with a birth-rate
of 34.5 per 1000, we had a death-rate of 33.2. This year in the same subdistrict,
with a birth-rate so low as 29.8 per 1000, the death-rate is 34.1,
varying but little from last year. Again, in St. Giles North the birth-rate
last year was 30.8, and the death-rate 29.4; this year the birth-rate being
34.4, or unusually high, the death-rate has descended to 24.8. The relationship
is evidently rather one of contrast than affinity.
The Death-rate among Infants in St. Giles.
9. The infantile mortality is one of the most interesting subjects connected
with the study of vital statistics; for not only does it form the most
important element in swelling the aggregate mortality; but it indicates in a
characteristic way the particular sanitary evils that infest a district and
poison the currents of life at their source. Many of the causes of mortality
among persons of mature age arise from inveterate practices which no sanitary
officer can be expected to modify in an important degree, and which
must be left to the meliorating influences of a higher education and fuller
knowledge of the mischiefs that flow from the habitual violation of natural
laws.