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
Holborn 1903
Report for the year 1903 of the Medical Officer of Health
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AREA, HOUSES AND POPULATION.
Area.
From the report of the Census, 1901, the area of the Borough is 405T acres.
Houses.
| The number of inhabited houses is | 4,703 |
| The number of houses occupied for business purposes only | 989 |
| The number of houses not in occupation | 219 |
| The number of houses building | 29 |
Population.
| Males | 29,489 |
| Females | 29,916 |
| 59,405 | Total |
| Density of population | 147 persons per acre. |
| „ „ for London | 61 „ „ |
Details for the different parts of the Borough, and details of the changes in the population due
to changes in the boundaries under the London Government Act, were given in the Annual Report
for the year 1901.
Details of the age and sex distribution of the population were given in the Annual Report for
the year 1902.
The number of persons of foreign nationality in the Borough at the last Census was 5,706 ;
3,978 males and 1,728 females. Of these 2,029 were Italians, 1,098 Germans and 660 French.
In the County of Loudon the total number of foreigners was 135,377 ; 79,804 males and
55,573 females.
Other details were given in the Annual Report for the year 1902.
NUMBER OF TENEMENTS.
At the Census of 1901, the total number of tenements in the Holborn Borough was 13,790 ;
3,725 one-room tenements, 3,834 two-room tenements. As large a proportion as 60 - l per cent, ot the
population lived in tenements of only four rooms and 37*5 per cent, in tenements of one or two rooms.
The following table gives details of tenements of 1, 2, 3 and 4 rooms : —
NUMBER OF TENEMENTS.
| Tenements with | No. of Tenements. | Percentage of all Tenements. | Total Occupants. | Percentage of Population in each Group of Tenements. | Average Occupants per room, | Overcrowding. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of 1 to 4 roomed Tenements with more than 2 Occupants per room. | No. of Occupants of Such Tenements | Percentage of Population such Tenements. | ||||||
| 1room | 3,725 | 27.0 | 8,502 | 14.3 | 2.28 | 1,267 | 4,916 | 8.28 |
| 2 rooms | 3,834 | 27.8 | 13,787 | 23.2 | 1.80 | 1,126 | 6,747 | 11.36 |
| 3 „ | 2,224 | 16.1 | 9,175 | 15.4 | 1.38 | 328 | 2,603 | 4.38 |
| 4 „ | 989 | 7.2 | 4,260 | 7.2 | 1.08 | 62 | 609 | 1.03 |
| Total | 10,772 | 78.1 | 35,724 | 60.1 | – | 2,783 | 14,875 | 25.05 |
* The word " overcrowding " is used in the sense that the tenements were occupied by more than two persons per
room, and not in the legal sense, for of the 2,783 "overcrowded" tenements there were probably comparatively few for
which the Council could take action to abate overcrowding. The table shows that OO'l per cent, of the population of the
Borough lived in tenements of one to four rooms, and that 27-5 per cent, lived in only one or two rooms.