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
Islington 1899
Forty-fourth annual report on the health and sanitary condition of the Parish of St. Mary, Islington
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180
1899
SHELTER HOUSES. Only ten families occupied these premises during the year.
| Date of Admittance. | Address. | Number in Family. | Cause. |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2nd | 3, Newhall Street | 2 | Scarlet Fever |
| March 30th | 64, Holloway Road | 2 | do. |
| April 18th | 21, Moreland Street | 3 | do. |
| April 20th | 122, Fonthill Road | 2 | Diphtheria |
| June 14th | 94, Canonbury Avenue | 9 | do. |
| July 3rd | 3, Eddington Street | 2 | do. |
| August 25th | 74, Campbell Road | 1 | do. |
| October 4th | 192, New North Road | 3 | do. |
| November 8th | 105, Cottenham Road | 4 | do. |
| November 20th | 3, Bratton Street | 6 | Scarlet Fever |
On the 6th February I made a report to the Public Health
Committee on the state of the surroundings of this place. I
am strongly of opinion that, if the waste ground in the rear
of the Baths and Washhouses were made attractive, the Shelter
House would be more extensively used. As it is I do not look
forward to its being greatly patronised unless there should
be an outbreak of smallpox, when I anticipate that there will be no
difficulty in persuading the persons, in whose homes the disease has
appeared, to avail themselves of the shelter it affords while disinfection
is in progress in their rooms.
At present the look out from the Shelter House is dismal, is
unattractive and dreary, especially during the winter, as old gas
columns and other material litter the ground. Surely the object of the
Vestry should be to entice and not to repel the people for whom it
was built, and, therefore, this ground should be kept in good order,
and made an attraction instead of the reverse.