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TO THE VESTRY OF BERMONDSEY.
Jan. 21st, 1861.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, —In the week ending Jan. 5th, the
deaths in Bermondsey were 26, the corrected average being within a
fraction of 31. —Whooping cough was fatal in 3 cases, diarrhœa in 1,
and typhus in one. There was 1 death at 81, and 2 considerably
over that age. Also a widow died at the age of 89. The weather
the week above named, will be marked as one of the severest on
record, and its effects were evident upon our population in the week
ending Jan. 12th, when our deaths were 37, the corrected average
being 26. There were 5 fatal cases of whooping cough in St.
James's District, and 1 case of small pox. The aged and the very
young, as usual in inclement seasons, suffered most. No less than
26 died from affections of the lungs.
It is my painful duty to record that the want and privation experienced
now by our working classes will of necessity predispose them
to diseases of a Zymotic character, and more especially to fever.
The deprivation of animal food cannot be borne without a most
serious risk, when combined with exposure to cold and other hardships.
The fever which almost invariably follows, although in the
first place the victims are those where want has prevailed, soon
spreads its wings and infection finds its way into the mansions of
the rich, where luxury and abundance prevail. It thus becomes a
question of importance to all, one indeed of self-preservation, to
strive earnestly and by personal co-operation, to relieve the great
prevalent distress.
Complaint has again been made to me of the Fish Manure Factory
of Mr. Powell. It is reported as being most offensive. I have
already on several occasions expressed my opinion on the magnitude
of the nuisance, and as to its being not only offensive but injurious
to health.
I am, Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
JOHN CHALLICE, M.D.
Medical Officer of Health.