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 1905
Annual report on the health, sanitary condition, etc., etc., of the Royal Borough of Kensington for the year 1905
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4
POPULATION AND RATEABLE VALUE.
The subjoined statement exhibits the growth of population during the nineteenth century : —
The Year. Population.
1801 8,556
1811 10,886
1821 14,428
1881 20,902
1841 26,884
1851 44,058
1861 70,108
1871 120,299
1881 168,151
1891 170,071
1901 176,628
1905 179,000
The development of the Borough during the last 83 years is evidenced by the subjoined
statement, showing the increase in rateable value. The present total is about one-sixteenth of that
of the Administrative County of London.
Rateable Value of Property. The Year.
£75,916 1828
98,897 1888
142,772 1848
257,108 1858
444,030 1863
975,046 1878
1,711,495 1888
2,087,221 1898
£2,885,567 (October) 1905
The following table, brought up to date, exhibits the growth of the borough since the Metropolis Local Management Act came into operation just half a century ago, in 1856:—
| 1856. | 1905. | Increase in 50 years. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 57,000 | 179,000 | 122,000 |
| Number of Inhabited Houses | 7,600 | 23,000 | 15,400 |
| Rateable Value of Property | £308,000 | £2,335,567 | £2,027,567 |
The increase in all respects within the last thirty-five years, 1871-1905, the period over which my official experience extends, has been very considerable, as the subjoined figures show:—
| 1871. | 1905. | Increase in 35 years. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 121,000 | 179,000 | 58,000 |
| Number of Inhabited Houses | 15,735 | 23,000 | 7,265 |
| Rateable Value | £935,720 | £2,335,567 | £1,399,847 |
It thus appears that the population in 1905 was more than twenty times as large as in the
first year of the nineteenth century, and the rateable of property more than thirty times as great
as in 1823, the first year in respect to which I possess information. Since 1856, the rateable value
has increased more than seven-fold, the increase in the last 35 years being more than four times the
total in 1856; since which date the population and the number of inhabited houses have increased
more than three-fold.