London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Whitechapel 1877
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Whitechapel]
This page requires JavaScript
12
In 1848 the deaths from cholera in London were 652, and in 1849 they
were 14,137; total during the epidemic 14,789. In 1853 the deaths from
cholera were 883, and in 1854 they were 10,738; total 11,621. In 1865
the deaths from cholera were 196, and in 1866 they were 5596; total
5792.
TABLE, showing the Death-rate of London, and of the "Whitechapel District from 1838 to 1876.
| Years. | LONDON. Death-rate per 1000. | WHITECHAPEL. Death-rate per 1000, after deducting deaths of , non-residents. | REMARKS. | Years. | LONDON. Death-rate per 1000. | WHITECHAPEL. Death-rate per 1000, after deducting deaths of non-residents. | REMARKS. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (1838.) | |||||||
| 1838 | 32.9 | 44.2 | In this year 368 persons died of fever in the Whitechapel District, and 219 of small-pox. | 1858 | 23.9 | 27.9 | Measles & scarlet-fever were very fatal in 1858. |
| 1839 | 26.1 | 35.2 | 1859 | 22.7 | 26.8 | Diarrhœa was very fatal in 1859. | |
| 1840 | 24.8 | 28.3 | In the last six months of 1837 the deaths trom fever in the Whitechapel District were 249—Total deaths from fever in 18 months 617. | 1860 | 22.5 | 27.2 | |
| 1841 | 24.0 | 28.3 | 1861 | 23.2 | 27.3 | In 18651 hooping-cough and diarrhœa prevailed. | |
| 1842 | 23.5 | 29.4 | 1862 | 23.6 | 29.2 | In 1862-3 fever and scarlet-fever were very fatal. 408 deaths from fever and 291 from scarlet-fever occurred in the Whitechapel District in the two years. | |
| 1843 | 24.7 | 29.9 | 1863 | 24.5 | 32.0 | ||
| 1844 | 25.0 | 28.2 | Scarlet-fever was in 1844 very fatal. | 1861 | 26.6 | 32.7 | |
| 1845 | 23.2 | 26.8 | 1865 | 24.6 | 29.4 | In 1864-5 fever was very fatal in Whitechapel, 337 deaths having occurred therein during the two years. | |
| 1846 | 23.3 | 28.2 | In 1846 diarrhœa and hooping-congh were very fatal. | 1866 | 26.5 | 38.7 | |
| 1847 | 27.0 | 37.8 | In 1847-48-49, fever, diarrhœa and scarlet-fever extensively prevailed. In the last quarter of 1847 influenza was very severe in the Whitechapel District. | 1867 | 23.0 | 26.4 | |
| 1848 | 25.8 | 34.2 | 1868 | 23.6 | 27.7 | ||
| 1849 | 30.1 | 36.0 | 1869 | 24.6 | 29.6 | In 1869 there were 208 deaths from scarlet-fever. | |
| 1850 | 21.0 | 26.0 | 1870 | 24.1 | 26.4 | ||
| 1851 | 23.4 | 27 4 | 1871 | 24.6 | 27.7 | ||
| 1852 | 22.6 | 26.3 | 1872 | 21.5 | 26.3 | ||
| 1853 | 24.4 | 28.4 | In 1853-4-5, scarlet-fever, hooping-cough, diarrhœa and fever was very fatal. | 1873 | 22.5 | 26.5 | |
| 1854 | 29.4 | 33.7 | 1874 | 22.6 | 29.2 | In 1874 the deaths from scarlet-fever in the Whitechapel District were 199. | |
| 1855 | 24.3 | 28.4 | 1875 | 23.7 | 26 1 | ||
| 1856 | 22.1 | 25.9 | 1876 | *22.3 | 23.9 | In the year 1876 the deaths by accident or negligence exceeded the corrected average by 69. 217 persons were killed ir. the streets of London, and 2974 persons were so severely wounded as to fall under the notice of the police. | |
| 1857 | 22.4 | 265 | Diarrhœa was very fatal in 1857. |
The yeara in which cholera prevailed were 1832-3, 1848-9, 1853-4, and 1865-6.
*This, says the Registrar-General, is 1.9, or nearly 2 per 1000 below the average of years since
1810; the average rate being 24.2 per 1000—One person to 41 living dies yearly.