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
Whitechapel 1877
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Whitechapel]
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15
being 39.2 per 1000,) I prefer taking the returns for the following year,
1839, when the difference of the rate of mortality in Islington, between
that year and 1876, is an increase of 5.5 per 1000; for Hackney of 8.1
per 1000 ; and for Whitechapel, a decrease of 4.6 per 1000.
Since the year 1831, the population of Islington has increased about
six-fold, and the density from 271 square yards to a person, to about 70.
The density of Hackney has increased from 434 square yards to a person
to about 151. The density of the population of Whitechapel has remained
much the same from 1831 to the present time.
The following table is taken from the supplement to the 35th Annual
Report of the Kegistrar-General, which shows at one view the relative
density of Islington, Hackney, and Whitechapel.
Density of Population, and Annual Mortality in the Three Decenniads, 1841-50, 1851-60, and 1861-70, in the undermentioned Districts.
| Districts. | Density of Population. Acres to a Person. | Annual Mortality. Deaths to 1000 living. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1841-50. 1851-60. | 1861-70. | 1841-50. | 1851-60. | 1861-70. | Mean of 30 years, 1841-70. | ||
| Islington | .041 | .025 | .017 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 21 |
| Hackney | .078 | .055 | .038 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 19 |
| Whitechapel | .005 | .005 | .005 | 29 | 28 | 30 | 29 |
The density to an acre, in each of the above Districts, was in 1871, for
Islington, 69 to an acre; Hackney, 32 to an acre ; and Whitechapel, 190 to
an acre. The density in the whole of London was, in the same year, 42 to
an acre.
That the rate of mortality in Islington and in Hackney should, under
the circumstances of such a large increase of population, be so small, reflects
great credit on the Local Boards and their Sanitary Officers; for had it not
been for their exertions in promoting sanitary improvements, a much larger
rate of mortality would have been the result.
Not only has it been asserted that the annual rate of mortality in
London has not been diminished during the last twenty years, and deducing
therefrom that sanitary provisions as at present carried out are of no avail in
reducing the annual rate of mortality, but, it has also been said " that if
improvements and changes are to be effected in the sanitary arrangements
of our large towns and cities, let them be carried out—not upon the
necessity of such municipal innovations, to avert a pestilential havoc in
human life—but on the true merits of the question—the comforts,
conveniences, and elevation of moral purity, thence arising."*
* See contributions to vital Statistics, by T. G. P. Neison, p. 110.