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
Kensington 1901
Annual report on the health, sanitary condition, etc., etc., of the Royal Borough of Kensington for the year 1901
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The subjoined table shows the quarterly number of births of males and females in the borough, and in each of the sub-districts:—
| Kensington Town | Brompton. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Quarter | Males. | Females. | Total. | Males. | Females. | Total. | Borough. |
| 381 | 377 | 758 | 69 | 72 | 141 | 899 | |
| 2nd „ | 379 | 378 | 757 | 86 | 66 | 152 | 909 |
| 3rd „ | 419 | 397 | 816 | 70 | 65 | 135 | 951 |
| 4th „ | 376 | 339 | 715 | 60 | 68 | 128 | 843 |
| 1,555 | 1,491 | 3,046 | 285 | 271 | 556 | 3,602 | |
| Illegitimate | 11 | 11 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 26 |
| Births | 19 | 19 | 38 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 45 |
| 25 | 20 | 45 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 50 | |
| 24 | 17 | 41 | 2 | — | 2 | 43 | |
| 79 | 67 | 146 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 164 | |
The subjoined table shows the population, the number of births, and the birth-rate for each of the ten years 1891-1900, prior to the recent alterations in the boundaries of the borough:—
| The Year. | Population. | Total Births. | Males. | Females. | Birth-rate per 1.000. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1891 | 166,500 | 3,847 | 1,935 | 1,912 | 231 | |
| 1892 | 167,200 | 3,718 | 1,867 | 1,851 | 223 | |
| 1893 | 167,900 | 3,661 | 1,893 | 1,768 | 21.9 | |
| 1894 | 168,600 | 3,665 | 1,883 | 1,782 | 21.9 | |
| 1895 | 169,300 | 3,621 | 1,861 | 1,760 | 21.4 | |
| 1896 | 170,000 | 3,717 | 1,943 | 1,774 | 21.4 | |
| 1897 | 170,700 | 3,683 | 1,839 | 1,844 | 21.6 | |
| 1898 | 172,000 | 3,633 | 1,830 | 1,803 | 211 | |
| 1899 | 172,400 | 3,590 | 1,798 | 1,792 | 20.8 | |
| 1900 | 173,000 | 3,586 | 1,770 | 1,816 | 20.7 | |
| Totals | 36,721 | 18,619 | 18,102 | Average 21.6 | ||
| Excess of male births in the ten years 517 | ||||||
During the ten years, April 1st, 1891, to March 31st, 1901, the inter-censal period, 36,641
births were registered in the borough.
Table A, Appendix II. (page 122) gives the number of births and the birth-rate for each of
the forty-six years, 1856-1901.
DEATHS AND DEATH-RATE.
The deaths registered, inclusive of 321 deaths of parishioners at outlying public institutions,
&c., but exclusive of deaths of non-parishioners at public institutions, &c., within the
borough, were 2,650 (males 1,233, females, 1,417), and 302 below the corrected decennial average
(2,952). Of these deaths, 2,192 were registered in the Town sub-district, and 458 in Brampton.
The death-rate, which in the three preceding years had been 16.3, 17.5, and 15.6, per 1,000
respectively, was 15.0 in 1901,* or 1.6 below the decennial average (16.6), and 2.6 below the
rate in the' Metropolis as a whole (17.6)†, the decennial average for the Metropolis being 19.6.
The rate in the sub-districts was: Town, 171 ; Brompton, 9.4 per 1,000, as compared with 17.6
and 10.3 respectively in 1900. The sex-rate was, males 17.6, females 13.2, per 1,000. The
deaths in North Kensington were 1,769, and the death-rate 19.4 per 1,000. The deaths in South
Kensington were 881, and the death-rate 10.3 per 1,000.
Localised Death-rates.—During some years past the death-rate of localised portions
of the parish, including the sanitary districts, has been given in these reports. The rate, as
regards the sub-districts and parliamentary divisions was calculated on the basis of the population
of those areas enumerated at quinquennial census periods, corrected yearly for increase,
and was closely approximate to the true rate. But as regards the sanitary districts, only an
estimated population and an estimated rate could be given ; the continuity of the statistics,
moreover, was always liable to be disturbed upon any change in the number of the said districts:
four changes were made within a few years. Having, last year, received from the RegistrarGeneral
a statement of the population of the nine wards comprised in the borough, and regard
being had to the improbability of any change in the number, and to the fact that the population
* This is the crude death-rate. The rate corrected for age and sex-distribution was 16.6 per 1,000. The "true deathrate
" is set out in the table at page 10.
†By excluding the deaths of persons ascertained to have been strangers, the death-rate of London is reduced to 17.1.
the lowest on record.