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
Lewisham 1909
Annual report on the vital statistics and sanitary condition of the Borough of Lewisham and report of the Public Analyst for the year 1909
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In London the lowest rates were recorded in City of
London 13.6, Hampstead 14.1, City of Westminster 16.2,
Holborn 18.2, Kensington 18.4, and Chelsea 18.5; on the other
hand the highest were in Shoreditch 31.7, Behnal Green 31.6,
Stepney 30.5, Poplar 30.3, Bermondsey 32.3, and Finsbury 29.6.
Illegitimacy—During the year 1909, 4,044 infants were
registered in London as having been born out of wedlock. This
figure gives a proportion of 35 per 1,000 total births, whilst the
average proportion in the preceding ten years was 34.
In Lewisham of the 3,507 registered births, 107 or 30.5
per 1,000 births were recorded as being illegitimate, compared
with 25.4, 23.8, 33.3, and 25.1 per 1,000 in the four previous
years.
On reviewing the returns of illegitimate births in this
Borough it is found that 60.7 percent. of these children were
born to domestic servants.