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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6
OVERCROWDING.
TABLE 6.
| Homes containing | Percentage total population residing therein. | Average number of occupants per home of each class. | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolis. | Kensington. | Westminster. | Marylebone. | Hainpstead. | PADDINGTON | Metropolis. | Kensington. | Westminster. | Marylebone. | Hainpstead. | PADDINGTON | ||
| One room | 1891 | 9.1 | 8.2 | .. | 17.6 | 2.7 | 8.2 | 2.2 | 2.1 | .. | 2.2 | 1.7 | 2.0 |
| 1901 | 6.7 | 6.4 | 7.6 | 12.3 | 2.2 | 6.4 | 2.0 | 1.9 | .1.8 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.8 | |
| Two rooms | 1891 | 16.4 | 15.6 | .. | 23.5 | 9.7 | 16.6 | 3.6 | 3.7 | .. | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.5 |
| 1901 | 15.4 | 15.7 | 16.5 | 22.1 | 8.8 | 15.6 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.4 | |
| Three rooms | 1891 | 13.4 | 10.8 | .. | 11.9 | 9.8 | 16.1 | 4.3 | 4.4 | .. | 4.3 | 4.2 | 3.9 |
| 1901 | 16.5 | 11.4 | 13.5 | 13.3 | 10.7 | 17.3 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 3-.9 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.8 | |
| Pour rooms | 1891 | 14.0 | 7.7 | .. | 6.6 | 6.2 | 8.3 | 5.1 | 5.0 | .. | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.8 |
| 1901 | 15.2 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 11.3 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.6 | |
| More than four rooms | 1891 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 50.7 | 6.0 | 6.0 | .. | 6.4 | 6.2 | 5.9 |
| 1901 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 49.1 | 6.0 | 5.9 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 5.8 | 5.9 | |
Figures for Westminster, 1891, not known; for Willesden, 1901, not jet published.
OVERCROWDING.
Tenements or Homes.—In his Report dealing with the Census of 1891 the Registrar-General
adopted an average of two persons per room as the limit permissible for occupation without overcrowding.
The standard takes no cognisance of ages of occupants or sizes of rooms, data which the
Registrar-General could not obtain. The standard mentioned is that now used for all discussions as
to theoretical overcrowding.
It may be of interest to give some idea of the actual relationship between overcrowding as
measured by the Registrar-General's standard of two persons per room, and that determined by
actual measurements in combination with an allowance for age. In the latter case the allowances of
cubic space prescribed by the Borough Bye-laws for Houses let in Lodgings have been adopted, viz.:—
400 cubic feet for each adult, or person aged 10 years and upwards.
200 ,, child, „ under 10 years.
In the autumn of 1901 an inquiry was made in a definite area of the Borough as to population
and " housing." It was found that the area contained
7,283 persons (including 2,334 under 10 years of age) residing in 459 houses, containing 1,903 homes.
The actual distribution in the homes was as follows :—
1,556 persons in homes of one room.
3,931 „ two rooms.
1,102 „ three „
395 „ four „
54 ,, five or more rooms.
According to the Registrar-General's standard, the overcrowding was equal to 56 per cent, of
the persons living- in homes of less than five rooms, whereas on the standard prescribed by the
Bye-laws the percentage was approximately 17 (16'8). In other words, with a population containing
32 per cent, of children under 10 years of age, living in houses of average dimensions, the legal
overcrowding was about 28 per cent, of the theoretical.
Measured by the standard of the Registrar-General, it appears that 3,496 homes (out of a total
of 27,201 homes of all classes) were overcrowded in 1891, as compared with 3,404 (out of a total of