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
City of London 1872
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London, City of]
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this point, as another year might falsify the conclusion.
Looking, indeed, at the death-rate in the City during
the last thirty years, as well as that of the Metropolis
generally, where active sanitary measures have for
many years past been constantly in operation, it does
not appear that the mortality is notably affected; for
in the first ten years of that period the death-rate in
the City was 25.29 per 1,000 of the population, and
in the last decade it was 25.11. So also in London—
during the first period it was 24.48 per 1,000, and in
the last 24.14—thus showing but little variation.
The following, in fact, represents the death-rates in
the City and in London generally at each quinquennial
period of the last thirty years:—
Looking, in fact, at the registered numbers of the last thirty years, it appears that the fluctuations in the average annual proportions of marriages, births, and deaths, in the City, during each of the successive quinquennial periods, have been as follows:—
| Averages per Annum. | 1844 to 1818. | Quinquennial Periods from | 1869 to 1873. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 184!) to 1853. | 1854 to 1858. | 1859 to 1863. | 1864 to 1868. | |||
| Population | 127,553 | 129,922 | 122,197 | 114,472 | 95,538 | 76,604 |
| Number of Marriages | 1,789 | 1,743 | 1,722 | 1,675 | 1,456 | 1,249 |
| Rate of do. per 1,000 of pop. | 14.02 | 13.42 | 14.09 | 14.3 | 15.24 | 16.0 |
| Number of Birtbs | 3,579 | 3,582 | 3,426 | 3,163 | 2,467 | 1,04 |
| Rate of do. per 1,000 of pop. | 28.06 | 27.57 | 28.04 | 27.63 | 25.82 | 24.86 |
| Number of Deaths | 3,389 | 3,120 | 3,086 | 2,820 | 2,466 | 1,870 |
| Hate of do. per 1.000 of pop. | 26.57 | 24.01 | 25.25 | 24.63 | 25.81 | 24.41 |
From which it is evident that little alteration has
been effected in the death-rates of either the City or
the Metropolis during the last thirty years. It is
manifest, indeed, that the death-rates alone afford
no reliable indication of the state of the public health,
or of the value of sanitary measures, and that for
any useful purpose they must be considered in connection
with a variety of circumstances, as the birthrate,
the mortality of children, the character of the