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
Paddington 1901
Report on the vital statistics and sanitary work for the year 1901
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57
ADMINISTRATIVE WORK.
Housing of the Working Classes Act.—No measures were taken during the year against
any property. Two reports were prepared for the "Housing" Committee. Ihe first an interim
report contained statistics of the approximate housing conditions, sickness and mortality rates in
three special districts of the Borough, viz.:—
North Wharf Eoad Area.
Hall Park Area.
Clarendon Street Area.
During the vacation a second and more complete report dealing with the last-named Area was
prepared, for which purpose a house-to-house visitation was carried out, involving inquiries at
every tenement in the Area.
Cutting off of Water. Supply.*—Notices were received of discontinuance of supply to 110
houses, 77 being supplied by the Grand Junction Water Works Co., and 33 by the West Middlesex
Water Works Co. In 1900 140 cases were reported. The alleged reasons for discontinuing the
supply were:—
Grand Junction. West Middlesex.
Houses uninhabited 49 23
Eepairs to fittings 20 4
Unpaid rates 3 3
Houses coming down — 3
Supply not required 4
House not identified 1 —
There has been a decrease in the number of discontinuances of supply since the Department began to systematically inquire into the subject in November, 1899, as wall be seen from the appended statement:—
| Numbers of Notices received from | 1898. | 1899. | 1900. | 1901. |
| Grand Junction Co. | 100 | 86 | 100 | 77 |
| West Middlesex Co. | 110 | 43 | 40 | 33 |
The numbers will fluctuate from year to year, according to the frequency of accidents, frost, or
demolition of houses. Nevertheless, the reduction in the number of notices received cannot be
regarded other than satisfactory.
The intervals which elapsed between the discontinuance of supply and its restoration are given below:—
| Supply restored | Grand Junction. | West Middlesex. |
|---|---|---|
| Same day as cut off | 13+ | 1 |
| Next day | — | 2 |
| After 2 days | 4 | — |
| ,, 3 | 2 | 1 |
| „ 4 | _ | — |
| ,, 5 | — | |
| 6 | — | 1 |
| „ 7 or more days | 2 | 1 |
A house without a proper supply of water is, by Section 48 of the Public Health (London)
Act, 1891, unfit for habitation, and by Sub-Section 7 of Section 5 of that Act must, on complaint
to a Magistrate, be closed. Every effort is made by the Department to secure early re-establishment
of the supply, but in one case it was necessary to have the house closed.
Inhabited House Duty.—No applications were received for certificates of exemption under
the Customs and Inland Revenue Acts, 1890 and 1891.
* A resumd of legislation dealing with Water Supply will be found in the Annual Report for 1900, p. 83.
f In five cases the supply was restored before the notice was received by the Department.