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 1923
Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health, for the year 1923
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NATURAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF THU
DISTRICT.
Population and Houses.
The corrected enumerated population at the Census taken on Sunday,
June 19th, 1921, was 43,192, a reduction of 6,125 on the previous census of 1911
or 12.5 per cent. During the previous decennium 1901-1911 there was a reduction
of 10,048 or 16.9 per cent.
The following estimate of population as supplied by the Registrar-General
has been adopted for the calculation of the death-rate and birth-rate of the
Borough for the year 1923—43,376.
The density of the population, according to the Census, 1921, was 107 persons
per acre contrasted with 60 persons per acre for the County of London.
The character of population shows wide and striking contrasts, including as it
does the occupants of expensive residential flats, the migratory population in
the large hotels, the student class in the Bloomsbury boarding houses, residents
in large commercial, social and philanthropic hostels, working class population
in model dwellings and tenement lodging houses, and a large proportion of very
poor people in common lodging houses.
Although the number of hotels and boarding houses keeps increasing, the
Borough is becoming less and less residential and more and more important as a
business centre. The number of factories, workshops, workplaces and offices
keeps increasing so that we are adding to our large and crowded day population
of London's workers.
The following information is from the Report of the Census, 1921, respecting the average ages, etc., of population, and is supplemental to that included in the Annual Report for 1922:—
| Average Age of Population. | Children under 5 years per 1,000 of population. | Females per 1,000 Male population | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. | F. | M. | F. | ||
| County of London | 30.0 | 31.4 | 92 | 77 | 1,165 |
| Holborn | 34.1 | 33.8 | 56 | 49 | 1,083 |
| Range of variation in London—Highest | 34.7 | 35.1 | 111 | 102 | 1,594 |
| Lowest | 27.2 | 27.7 | 44 | 39 | 1,015 |
In commenting on the local age distribution in London the Census Report
says:—
" The City of London and Holborn stand rather apart from other
Boroughs Here the relatively high proportion of males is similar
to that found in the industrial areas; but there are relatively few young
children, and the population is in consequence above the normal as
regards age."