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 1955
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Heston and Isleworth]
This page requires JavaScript
GENERAL STATISTICS
Year
Area in acres
Population (Registrar-General's estimate)
Number of inhabited houses (rate books)
Number of houses erected during year
Rateable Value of Borough
Sum represented by a penny rate
Live Births - male
Live Births - female
Birth rate per 1,000 population
Birth rate per 1,000 population (England and Wales)
Stillbirths - male
Stillbirths - female
Stillbirths rate per 1,000 (live and still) births
Deaths - male
Deaths - female
Death rate per 1,000 population
Death rate per 1,000 population (England and Wales)
Infant Mortality rate
Infant Mortality rate (England and Wales)
Maternal Mortality rate
Maternal Mortality rate (England and Wales)
1955
7,218
105,500
29,846
497
£1,059,942
£4,350
623
541
11.0
15.0
14
6
16.9
591
523
10.6
11.7
24.1
24.9
0.0
0.6
VITAL STATISTICS
POPULATION The Registrar -General's mid-year estimate of the population of the
Borough for tne year 1955 is 105 500.
RATEABLE VALUE The rateable value of the Borough for 1955 was £1,059,942 and
the sum represented by a penny rate was £4,350.
INHABITED HOUSES According to the rate books, the number of inhabited houses
at the end of the year was 29,846. In relation to the estimated population, this
yields an average of approximately 4 persons per house.
LIVE BIRTHS The number of live births in 1955 was 1,164 as compared with
1,185 in 1954. The birth rate was 11.0 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 RegistrarGeneral
supplies for each local sanitary authority what is called the area
comparability factor. When this is applied to the Borough birth rate, the result is
10.9 as compared with the birth rate of 15.0 per 1,000 population for England and
Wales.
It might be thought that the fall in the birth rate was associated with the increasing proportion of elderly in the population, but this is not confirmed when the births are related to the number of women of child-bearing age as is shown below:-
| Total live births | Birth rate per 1,000 population | Birth rate per 1,000 women 15-44 years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1911-15 | 5046 | 22.3 | 98.0 |
| 1931 -35 | 6893 | 16.4 | 63.1 |
| 1951-55 | 6056 | 11.5 | 51.2 |
The number of illegitimate births was 49, as compared with 43 in 1954. 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 | 1950-54 | 4.0 |
| 1935-39 | 2.9 | 1955 | 4.2 |
| 1940-44 | 4.6 |
The majority of births continue to occur in hospital.
STILLBIRTHS The number of stillbirths in 1955 was 20 (20 legitimate,
illegitimate). The proportion of stillbirths per 1,000 total (live and still)
births in recent years is shown below:-
-6-