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

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St Giles (Camden) 1870

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

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classes of disease, viz: The zymotic, the tuberculous, and the pulmonary.
The House Register, in the appendix, gives the results of that enquiry. One
year's experience is not sufficient to justify any conclusion on the points I
had in view; but the Register is, nevertheless, full of interest. The three
classes of disease named, represent about one half of the entire mortality of
the district, exclusive of the workhouse; and two of them, the zymotic and
the tuberculous, are especially, induced by foul air, filth, and other noxious
domestic conditions.
44. In order to obtain a succinct representation of the death-rate from
those diseases in various streets and courts, I have constructed another table,
No. 7, in which can be seen at a glance, the comparative mortality in a ratio
to houses in the streets included, beginning with Queen Street, St. Giles
South, where the ratio was highest, and ending with Woburn Square,
Bloomsbury, where it was lowest. It must be understood, however, that
the ratio of deaths to houses, bears no definite relation to the death-rate to
population, on account of the varying size and population of different houses,
and of the circumstances already referred to in § 18. The facts have, nevertheless,
considerable value in a sanitary point of view.

TABLE No. VII.—Rate of Mortality to Houses in certain Streets, from Zymotic, Tubercular, and Pulmonary Diseases.

Streets.No. of Houses.Deaths.Rate of Deaths to Houses.
Queen Street25231 in 1.08
George Street11101 in 1.1
Church Lane29221 in 1.3
Chapel Place24171 in 1.4
Wild Court (Society's Buildings)14101 in 1.4
Great Wild Street52331 in 1.6
Little Wild Street26141 in 1.8
Tower Street29161 in 1.8
Short's Gardens28141 in 2.?
Lascelles Place1471 in 2.?
Stacey Street2091 in 2.2
New Compton Street74331 in 2.2
King Street (Drury Lane)41181 in 2.3
King Street (Dials)56231 in 2.4
Clark's Buildings (Society's Bldgs)1041 in 2.5
Dudley Street89301 in 3.?
Lincoln Court2171 in 3.?
Wilmot Street2781 in 3.4
Great White Lion Street1851 in 3.6
Little Guildford Street3381 in 4.1
Great St. Andrew Street4711l in 4.2
Museum Street43101 in 4.3
Lumber Court1941 in 4.7
Little Coram Street3881 in 4.7
Crown Street3981 in 4.9
Little Russell Street3471 in 4.9
Kenton Street4251 in 8.2
Montague Place3531 in 11.7
Bernard Street4121 in 20.5
Torrington Square7031 in 23.3
Russell Square7021 in35.?
Woburn Square4111 in 41.?

45. On referring to the table No. 7, it will be seen that the death-rate
has ranged from 1 in 1.08 houses in Queen Street, to 1 in 41 in Woburn
Square. This seems almost incredible, yet it is the simple fact as proved by
the public registers. Further, if various local diseases, as of the heart,
kidneys, liver, most of which are either induced, or are hastened to a fatal
termination, by intemperance, and the multifarious other forms of local
maladies, had been included, there is sufficient reason to believe that the
mortality of Queen Street, George Street, Chapel Place, &c. would have
been twice greater than is represented in the table.