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21 [1905
DEATHS.
The deaths registered in the borough during 1905 numbered 4,955,
including 653 deaths that occurred in public institutions outside Islington, and
were in the proportion of 14.44 per 1,000 of the population. On one occasion
only since civil registration was instituted has the death-rate fallen lower
than this figure, namely in 1903, when the proportion was 14.27.
In the preceding 10 years the mean death-rate was 16.56 per 1,000 of the
population, while in the whole period 1828 to 1904 it averaged 1974 to every
1,000 persons. It is not always possible to compare accurately past with
recent years, because the proportion of persons at the different ages may have
been different at the different periods. Nevertheless, whatever this proportion
may have been, it cannot account for the very substantial decrease that has
occurred during the last 35 years, and especially since 1891
The proportion of mortality to population in the borough steadily
increased from 1838 down to 1866, from which year there has been a gradual
decrease, which was accentuattd from 1891 to the year already mentioned.
It may be here stated that the death-rate of the borough was 1.3 per 1,000
below the rate of the 76 great towns; 0.64 per 1,000 below that of the County
of London; nearly ro per 1,000 below that of England and Wales, and 0.5
per 1,000 below that of the English rural districts.
It was also below the death-rate of the Encircling Boroughs, which
comprise St. Pancras, Stoke Newington, Hackney, Hornsey, Finsbury and
Shoreditch, and of which Stoke Newington, Hackney and Hornsey showed a
lesser death rate. In these cases, however, there is reason to believe that
the state of the population, both with respect to well being, as well as age
incidence, is favourable to a low death-rate.
Sex.—Of the 4,955 persons who died, 2,498 were males and 2,457 were
females. The proportion of deaths among the former being 15.31 and amongst
the latter 13.65 to every 1,000 persons of each sex living.
It might be stated that the greatest decrease in the mortality occurred among
children who had not reached 12 months of age, at which period of life it was
found that compared with the preceding 10 years there had been 268 deaths
less registered. Such a decrease as this is very gratifying, especially as it has
been accompanied by a decrease of 161 deaths among children who are over
one year old, but who had not attained to five years old. Thus the total