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
Heston and Isleworth 1953
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Heston and Isleworth]
This page requires JavaScript
Comment has already been made on the changing age distribution. There has also been a change in the marital condition of the population as shown below:—
| Percentage of male or female population at census | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | 1921 | 1951 | |
| Males—single | 60.9 | 56.3 | 40.7 |
| —married | 35.8 | 40.5 | 55.7 |
| —widowed | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| —divorced | — | 0.035 | 0.5 |
| Females—single | 56.6 | 53.7 | 38.2 |
| —married | 35.5 | 38.1 | 51.1 |
| —widowed | 7.9 | 8.2 | 10.1 |
| —divorced | — | 0.017 | 0.7 |
The Registrar-General classifies all occupied and retired males aged 15 years and over according
to occupation. These are then grouped into five broad categories:—
Class I Professional, etc., occupations.
Class II Intermediate occupations.
Class III Skilled occupations.
Class IV Partly skilled occupations.
Class V Unskilled occupations.
This summary classification into five groups is "accented as reflecting: a gradient of social
conditions in the community" and has been found useful in investigations.
The social class distribution in the Borough, as compared with Middlesex and England and Wales, was as under:—
| Proportion per 1,000 occupied and retired males | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Heston and Isleworth | Middlesex County | England and Wales | |
| Class I | 41 | 50 | 33 |
| Class II | 176 | 185 | 150 |
| Class III | 587 | 572 | 527 |
| Class IV | 96 | 94 | 162 |
| Class V | 100 | 99 | 128 |
The Borough appears to occupy in Middlesex, an intermediate place between residential parts, such as
Harrow and Southgate, and more industrial districts, such as Edmonton and Willesden.
At the census, 3.4 per cent. of the Borough population resided in hotels, homes, hostels,
hospitals, etc.
Rateable Value.—The rateable value of the Borough for 1953 was £1,030,335 and the sum
represented by a penny rate was £4,183.
Inhabited Houses.—According to the rate books, the number of inhabited houses at the end
of the year was 29,090. In relation to the estimated population, this yields an average of approximately
4 persons per house.
.Live Births.—The number of live births in 1953 was 1,268, as compared with 1,238 in 1952.
The birth rate was 12.1 per 1,000 population. The birth rate will vary, apart from other causes, according
to the age and sex distribution of the population, and to permit of a true comparison with other areas,
the Registrar-General supplies for each local sanitary authority what is called the area comparability
actor. When this is applied to the above Borough birth rate, the result is 12.0, as compared with the
birth rate of 15.5 per 1,000 population for England and Wales.
The number of illegitimate births was 49, as compared with 61 in 1952. The proportion of live
births which were illegitimate, expressed as a percentage of the total live births, is shown below for
recent years
1925-29 3.9 1945-49 5.1
1930-34 3.2 1950 4.1
1935-39 2.9 1951 3.6
1940-44 4.6 1952 4.9
1953 3.9
The majority of births continue to occur in hospital.
11