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
Limehouse 1875
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Limehouse]
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persons to an acre, and 7.5 persons to a house. Of the 2,167
Births, 1,251 were registered in Limehouse, 571 in Ratcliff, and
345 in Shad well and Wapping. It was the largest number of births
registered in any of the last ten years. Of the 1,518 deaths 716
occurred in Limehouse, 355 in Ratcliff, 243 in Shadwell & Wapping,
200 in the Sick Asylum at Bromley, and 4 in the Fever Hospital. It
was the largest number of deaths registered in any year since 1866,
when the number was 1,852. The births and deaths were above,
and the marriages below, the average of the last ten years.
Permit me now to draw your attention to the following Table, which exhibits the Annual Birth Rate, the Rate of Mortality, Death Rates among Children, and Deaths in Public Institutions for the year 1875, and 6 years preceding:—
| Birth Rate per 1,000 of the Population. | Annual Rate 01 Mortality, per 1,ooo living. | Deaths of Children under 1 year ; per centage of total Deaths. | Per centage of deaths of Children under i year to Registered Births. | Deaths of Children under 5 years : per centage of Total Deaths. | Total Number of Deaths in Public Institutions. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1875 | 37 | 25.8 | 28 | 19 | 47 | 204 |
| 1869 | 32 | 25 | 28 | 22 | 57 | —190 approx |
| 1870 | 35 | 21 | 28 | 17 | 50 | 190 |
| 1871 | 34 | 21 | 26 | 16 | 48 | 190 |
| 1872 | 35 | 19 | 29 | 15 | 52 | 190 |
| 1873 | 36 | 23 | 27 | 19 | 50 | 200 |
| 1874 | 36 | 21 | 25 | 16 | 46 | 176 |
| Average of 6 years. 1869—1874 | 34.7 | 21.7 | 27 | 17.5 | 50.5 | 189 |
Upon examination of this Table, we shall see that the birth
rate in 1875 was higher than it had been for some years, and that
it exceeded the average of the last six years by over 2 per 1,000;
that the death rate was also high, and exceeded the average of the last