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THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT
of the
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH,
being that for the year
1888.
To the Board of Works for the Hackney District.
Gentlemen,—
The death rate this year for the district (15.5 per 1,000
inhabitants) was the lowest for which we have reliable records,
being smaller than that for 1887, which up to that time is the
lowest (viz. 16.6), since the present system of registration was
commenced in 1837. A low death rate was not confined to
Hackney, but extended generally to England and Wales, and
to most of the large cities, including London. The death rate
for England and Wales, was subject to future revision,
calculated at 18.8, and for London at 18.5 per 1,000
inhabitants, being considerably higher than for this district.
The populations in England and in London were calculated to
have increased in the same ratio as in 1871-81, but I have not
assumed so high a ratio for this district, as there have not been
proportionately so many new houses erected since 1881 as
previously, and the percentage of ''empties" has increased.
I have taken the number of assessments in 1888, and multiplied
them by the number of inhabitants to an assessment in 1881,
which gives 234,516 inhabitants on July 1st, 1888, and believe
therefore that I have not over-estimated the population, and
consequently under-estimated the death rate. It is certain that
the death rate must be smaller than in any year since 1883,
two years after the census, as the total number of deaths was
less in 1888 than in any year since 1883, although the