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5
[1906
Of the Wards.— These also differ very much in size, varying from 417
acres in Tufnell and in Highbury to 137 in Barnsbury, The areas of the other
wards are, Upper Holloway 290 acres, Tollington 320, Lower Holloway 413,
Mildmay 337, Thornhill 172, St. Mary's 148, Canonbury 286, and St. Peter's
155. With respect to open spaces, it is to be remarked that none of the
northern wards, Tufnell, Upper Holloway or Tollington, possesses any, while
Lower Holloway is favoured with 11¼ acres, Mildmay with 1¼, Highbury
with 27¼, Thornhill with Barnsbury with 1¼, and Canonbury and St. Peter's
together with ⅝, Canonbury with ½ (a playground) and St. Mary's v/ith
* 1⅜ acres.
So much for the area of the borough and its sub-registration districts and
wards. It is next to be told how these areas are peopled, and the several ages
and sexes of those living on them.
Density.
Of the Borough.— By this term is meant the number of persons living, on
an average, on each acre of the borough. It has gradually increased year by
year as the population has increased, for there has been no extension of the
borough boundaries, and consequently more and more people have been
squeezed together on its area.
It will be recollected that at the beginning of the last century the great
parish of Islington was the same size as ihe borough of Islington is to day;
but then it was nearly all green fields, with only 10,311 persons living within
its boundaries, while to-day there are no green fields, and, as we have seen, its
population is 344,987. Hence its density has increased from slightly over 3
persons per acre in 1801, to nearly 112 in 1906.