London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1914
Annual report of the Council, 1914 Vol. III public health...
This page requires JavaScript
49
Report of the County Medical Officer—General.
Inspection
of offensive
trade
premises.
The boroughs in which these premises are situated, the number of premises, and, for most boroughs, the number of inspections, are shown in the following table:—
| Metropolitan borough. | No. on Register at end of 1914. | No. of inspections, 1911, | Metropolitan borough. | No. on Register at end of 1914. | No. of inspections 1914. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battersea | 2 | 12 | Lambeth | 3 | 72 |
| Bermondsey | 12 | 250 | Poplar | 6 | |
| Bethnal Green | 1 | 1 | St. Marylebone | 2 | 45 |
| Camberwell | 4 | 6 | St. Pancras | 2 | 2 |
| Deptford | 4 | 23 | Shoreditch | 1 | 1 |
| Finsbury | 1 | 10 | Southwark | 4 | 54 |
| Greenwich | 3 | 4 | Stepney | 7 | 27 |
| Hackney | 1 | 15 | Wandsworth | 3 | 91 |
| Isiington | 6 | 95 |
Nuisances
from stable
manure.
Nuisances.
There are few references in any of the reports to nuisance arising from accumulations of stable
manure. This fact has been observed every year since 1909. There is little doubt that the more
rigid enforcement of the bylaws and the obvious reduction in the number of horse-drawn vehicles have
together combined materially to reduce nuisance from this cause. It must not be overlooked, however,
that the removal of small accumulations of manure will probably become a matter of increasing difficulty,
inasmuch as contractors will not find it sufficiently remunerative to undertake collection. Inasmuch
as stable refuse is the natural breeding place of flies, with their associated evils, the question is deserving
of the consideration of local authorities who have power to act under section 36 of the Public Health
(London) Act, 1891.
Smoke
nuisances.
The following table, which is compiled entirely from information contained in the annual reports, shows the action taken by sanitary authorities in respect of smoke nuisance during the year, so far as this is stated in those reports.
| Metropolitan borough. | Observations and inspections. | Nuisances and complaints. | No. of | Notices. | Summonses. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of London | ||||
| Battersea | Constant | 23 | . 19 | 1 |
| Bermondsey | 147 | 43 | 44 | 1 |
| Bethnal Green | 374 | 40 | 29 | — |
| Camberwell | 124 | 124 | 35 | — |
| Chelsea | 1 | — | — | |
| Deptford | 67 | 14 | 14 | — |
| Finsbury | ||||
| Fulham | ||||
| Greenwich | 196 | 485 | 4 | — |
| Hackney | 619 | 46 | 46 | — |
| Hammersmith | 130 | 16 | — | — |
| Hampstead | 38 | 20 | 3 | — |
| Holborn | 108 | — | 7 | — |
| Islington | 77 | — | 10 | — |
| Kensington | 193 | 5 | 2 | — |
| Lambeth | 26 | 24 | 24 | — |
| Lewisham | 5 | 2 | 9 | — |
| Paddington | 171 | 5 | - | — |
| Poplar | — | 65 | 62 | — |
| St. Marylebone | 1,267 | 3 | — | — |
| St. Pancras | 339 | 38 | 7 | — |
| Shoreditch | 17 | 11 | — | |
| Southwark | — | |||
| Stepney | 79 | 79 | — | |
| Stoke Newington | 36 | » 6 | 1 | — |
| Wandsworth | 331 | 79 | 49 | — |
| Westminster, City of | 2,288 | 42 | 104 | — |
| Woolwich | 54 | 11 | — |
Housing,
Town Planning
Act.
Section 17
Housing of the Working Classes.
Article Y. of the regulations made by the Local Government Board in September, 1910, under
this Act, requires that the " medical officer of health shall include in his annual report information and
particulars in tabular form in regard to the number of dwelling houses inspected under and for the
purposes of section 17 of the Act of 1909, the number of dwelling houses which on inspection were
considered to be in a state so dangerous or injurious to health as to be unfit for human habitation, the
number of representations made to the local authority with a view to the making of closing orders,
the number of closing orders made, the number of dwelling houses the defects in which were remedied
without the making of closing orders, the number of dwelling houses which, after the making of
closing orders, were put into a fit state for human habitation, and the general character of the
defects found to exist. He shall also include any other information and particulars which he may
consider desirable in regard to the work of inspection under the said section."
27715 h