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 1894
Annual report for 1894 of the Medical Officer of Health
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6
Parish of St. Ocorne ti e Martyr, Southwark.
The facts of your death-rate are briefly as follows:—
T able III.
| Sub-District. | No. of Deaths. | Death-rate per 1,000. | Deaths under 1 year to 1,000 Births. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1893. | 1894. | 1893. | 1894. | 1893. | 1894. | |
| Borough Road | 573 | 609 | 34.1 | 36.1 | 226 | 248 |
| London Road | 521 | 396 | 24.4 | 18.6 | 208 | 169 |
| Kent Road | 563 | 430 | 25.6 | 16.8 | 205 | 217 |
| Whole Parish | 1,657 | 1,435 | 27.6 | 23.9 | 213 | 211 |
| London | 91,536 | 77,051 | 21.3 | 17.7 | 157 | 143 |
| 33 Large Towns | 222,178 | 189007 | 21.6 | 18.1 | 181 | 152 |
Prom the foregoing tables it is clear that the death-rate of St. George's, Southwark,
is abnormally high. One is naturally led to enquire whether a further
analysis of facts and figures will throw any fresh light upon this unenviable state of
affairs.
On comparing the average death-rate in the three sub-districts for the years 1892-3-If
with that of 1894 we find :—
Table IV.
| Death-rate per 1,000. | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1892-3-4 | 1894 | |
| Borough Road | 34.1 | 36.1 |
| London Road | 21.1 | 18.6 |
| Kent Road | 22.1 | 16.8 |
Hence we see that the heavy death-rate in the Borough Road Sub-district is still
steadily increasing. In the other two sub-districts there is a considerable fall for
1894—namely, 5.8 in the London Road Sub-district and 8.8 in the Kent Road Subdistrict.
It is a startling and suggestive fact that during the past year the mortality
in the Borough Road has been in round numbers twice that of the London Road,
and more than twice that of the Kent Road areas. The period over which these
figures extend, three years, and the actual number of deaths, are both too small to
allow of drawing any absolutely sound conclusions. Nevertheless, it may be noticed
that—
(1) The mortality of the Borough Road Sub-district 36.1 is 12.3 higher than that
of Liverpool for the year, 1894. The latter place had the highest death-rate of the
thirty-three large English towns.
(2) That of the London Road Sub-district 18.6 is almost the same as that for the
thirty-two large provincial towns, and only slightly higher than that of the whole of
London.