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
Finsbury 1903
Report on the public health of 1903
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151
We have also, as in 1901 and 1902, carried out systematic
inspections by day and night in certain streets or areas known to
he overcrowded. For example, we have again made a thorough
night inspection of Bastwick Street (June 24th, 1903). We visited
34 houses comprising 133 occupied tenements in which 357 adults
and 169 children, or a total of 526 persons, were living. Twenty
nine of these tenements or 21.8 per cent were overcrowded as
judged by Bye-law 4 (see p. 145).
The results of our inspections and prosecutions in Bastwick Street are set out in the following table:—
| Date of Night Inspection in Bastwick Street. | Number of Occupied Tenements Inspected. | Number of Over crowded. (Bye-law 4). | Percentage of Over crowding. |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 20th, 1901 | 64 | 47 | 73.4 |
| February 25th, 1902 | 129 | 78 | 59.6 |
| November 18th, 1902 | 87 | 38 | 43.6 |
| June 24th, 1903 | 133 | 29 | 21.8 |
| January, 1904 (Day Inspection) | 129 | 9 | 6.9 |
After the inspection of December 20th, 1901, we issued notices
upon the owner of the houses in question. After the second inspection
we issued summonses, and convictions and penalties were obtained
(£15 18s. 0d.) After the third inspection we issued further
summonses against the same owner, who was again convicted and
fined (£10 8s. 0d.) After the fourth inspection, when we found
overcrowding had been reduced by 52 per cent., we issued warning
notices as to the 29 overcrowded tenements.
At the end of the year and during the first few days of 1904
a careful day-inspection of Bastwick Street was made. Thirtyseven
houses were visited, and the numbers and ages of the
occupants were obtained. The number of occupied tenements
inspected was 129. Under Bye-law 4 only nine occupancies were
found to be overcrowded, which gives a percentage of