View report page

Borough of Bermondsey.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of
Bermondsey.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, —
As this is the last Annual Report for which I shall be responsible,
it will be an appropriate occasion for making a short survey
of the progress of the Public Health Department since my appointment
in February, 1901. Many changes have occurred during my
period of office, but, like other changes, the advance did not occur
gradually, but by leaps at more or less well-defined periods.
The changes which have taken place have been partly local,
that is, confined to the Borough itself, and have also in part been
local expressions of national changes, and this may be best explained
by reference to the accompanying table, which gives
certain figures connected with vital statistics between the years
1901 and 1927.
The first marked change in the Borough has been the question
of population, and on the whole this has been reduced in round
numbers by about 10,000. This reduction was gradual and
regular up to the year 1917 ; the years 1918, 1919 and 1920 show
increases ; the Census of 1921 again shews a decrease, and between
that year and 1927 there are various ups and downs. The only
figures which can be taken as really correct are the figures for
1901,1911 and 1921, the figures for the other years being estimates.
Up to the year 1915 we made our own estimates, but from the
year 1916 onwards estimates have been supplied by the Registrar
General, and during the latter part of the war these estimates