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
Islington 1893
Thirty-eighth annual report on the health and sanitary condition of the Parish of St. Mary, Islington
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From this table I have constructed Table V., which gives the
number per 100 of the population in similar family groups living in
tenements, containing one to four rooms each.
Table V.
| Rooms in Tenements. | No. Per Centum of Population in Family Groups of 1 to 12 Persons. | Per 100 persons in each part of Tenements. | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||
| Column | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 1 | 1.43 | 2.66 | 2.01 | 1.50 | 0.78 | 0.30 | 0.12 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.83 |
| 2 | 0.41 | 2.57 | 3.43 | 3.65 | 3.35 | 2.45 | 1.65 | 0.95 | 0.38 | 0.12 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 19.00 |
| 3 | 0.12 | 1.46 | 2.26 | 2.55 | 2.35 | 2.22 | 1.89 | 1.23 | 0.75 | 0.27 | 0.12 | 0.03 | 15.28 |
| 4 | 0.03 | 0.52 | 1.08 | 1.63 | 2.01 | 2.10 | 1.93 | 1.50 | 1.16 | 0.64 | 0.28 | 0.16 | 12.92 |
| Totals.. | 1.98. | 7.21 | 8.79 | 9.33 | 8.48 | 7.07 | 5.59 | 3.71 | 2.29 | 1.04 | 0.44 | 0.21 | 56.20 |
From Table III. and IV. it is ascertained that as many as 28,189
persons live in 12,856 tenements of one room in each. That 60,639
persons occupy 16,716 tenements with two rooms, that 48,762 persons
live in 11,806 tenements with three rooms, and that 41,740 persons
dwell in 8,015 tenements with four rooms in each. And finally, that
179,330 persons are housed in 49,393 tenements with less than five
rooms in each tenement.
The construction of these tables would be mere waste of time if
nothing respecting the overcrowding of the district could be ascertained
from them.
But it is naturally asked, What is the definition of “overcrowding?”
I am of opinion that it is not always the mere allowance of cubic
feet per every individual who occupies each room which should
be the determining quantity, but that consideration should be given