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

Southwark 1893

Annual report for 1893 of the Medical Officer of Health

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4 Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark.
Houses.*—At the Census of 1891, there were 6,946 inhabited houses, 732
uninhabited, and 44 building, containing an average of 8-5 persons to a house.
According to the 1881 Census, the inhabited houses numbered 6,761—i.e., 185 less
than in 1891.

Table: Table I.

Table I.

Sub-District.Area in Acres.HOUSES.
Inhabited, Uninhabited, Building, 1881.Inhabited, Uninhabited, Building, 1891.
Borough Road641,88010841,98629412
London Road1172,24311811,96312818
Kent Road1032,638120112,99731014
Whole Parish2846,761346166,94673244

Table: Table II.Total tenements and tenements with less than five rooms, distinguishing those occupied by various numbers of persons, according to the Census of 1891.

Table II.

Total tenements and tenements with less than five rooms, distinguishing those occupied by various numbers of persons, according to the Census of 1891.

Total No. of Tenements in Saint George's.Number of Tenements with—Number of Occupants of Tenements.
123456789101112or more
13,855One Room, 4,1701,0761,589783452191581812---
Two Rooms, 4,0861738328757996004132331054412—-
Three Rooms, 2,31738272386393389318250154762966
Four Rooms, 1.462118314222324522819913898562712

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Tenements.—In the Census instructions a tenement is defined as " any house or
part of a house, separately occupied either by the owner or by a tenant."
On comparing Tables I. and II. it will be seen that the number of tenements is
almost exactly double that of the inhabited houses.
Of the tenement occupiers, one-third live in two rooms, and another third in a
single room. In other words, about 1 in 14 of your population is born, grows up,
drinks, eats, sleeps, and often dies within the four walls of a one-roomed tenement.
Density.—The population estimated to the middle of the respective years, 1892
and 1893, gives the following number of persons to each acre:—

Table: Table III.

Table III.

Persons to an acre.
18921893
Sc. George, Southwark210.6211
London57.157.7

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* A house, according to the Census Instructions of England and Wales, is defined as a separate
building which comprises all the space within its external walls, and separated from the next adjoining
building by an unbroken party wall. A tenemented "flat" is not the same thing as a house. A man
living in a house dwells under his own roof, not under another man's " flat."