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in connection with the railway widening to which reference was made
in my last Annual Report, has been borne in mind in forming the
estimates of the "Ward populations.
The following is an approximate estimate of the population of each
Ward at the middle of 1914 :—
Ward 1 (Town) 14,400
„ 2 (Belsize) 14,100
„ 3 (Adelaide) 9,730
„ 4 (Central) 10,061
„ 5 (West End) 13,100
„ 6 (Kilburn) 15,300
„ 7 (Priory) 10,040
The Borough 86,731
The area of the Borough (including the area, twelve acres in extent
covered by water) is 2,265 acres, and the estimated number of persons
to the acre is 38.3. The proportion of persons to the acre at the Census
of 1911 was 37.7.
At the Census of 1881 the number of persons per acre was 23, in
1891 it was 30, and 1901 it was 36.
Natural Increase of Population.
The natural increase of the population—i.e., the excess of births
over deaths in 1914 was 360, as compared with 374 in the previous
year. Reference to Table VII., page 153, shows the decline in the
natural increase in our population that has occurred in recent years.
The greatest natural increase of which we have record occurred in 1889.
The figure for that year was nearly equalled by that of 1900, but since
this latter date the decline has continued, until the lowest figure
recorded has been reached in the year now under review ; thus, a
continuously falling birth-rate means a continual rising of the mean age
of the population.
Marriages.
According to a return kindly furnished to me by the Superintendent
Registrar of Hampstead, it appears that 825 marriages were registered
in the Borough during 1914.