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9
Births, Marriages and Deaths.
VITAL STATISTICS.
Natural and Social Conditions.
The Metropolitan Borough of Battersea, created in November,
1900, under the provisions of the London Government Act, 1899,
was formed from the old parish of Battersea after some re-arrangement
between the two districts of Battersea and Wandsworth to
define the boundary line. The origin of the name Battersea,
according to the recently issued and scholarly history of the district,
"Our Lady of Battersea" (I. G. Taylor, B.A.), is from the Saxon
Bat rices Ege, Badorisheah or Badrices Ege—the Island of
Badric. It is a historic locality, and its earliest reference by the
chroniclers is in 693 a.d., and later it is mentioned in Domesday
Book, and was given by William of Normandy to the Abbey of
Westminster. The Manor of Battersea, with "the Burgh of
Wandlesworthe," remained an appanage of the Abbey of Westminster
up to the time of Henry VIII., when, with the spoliation
of the churches during the reign of that Monarch, it passed to other
hands. Up to comparatively modern times Battersea was a
picturesque hamlet on the Thames. It was not until late in the
nineteenth century that it began to emerge from its rural environment,
and some idea of its rapid growth will be gathered when it
is known that so late as 1850 the population was only 15,000.
The Borough as now constituted is bounded on the north by
the Thames and on the west, south and east by the neighbouring
boroughs of Wandsworth and Lambeth. It has an area (excluding
water) of 2,139 acres, and a population of 171,200. There are
24,000 houses, including 27,000 separate tenements. The rateable
value is £1,044,020, and a penny rate yields over £4,290. There
are two Parliamentary Divisions (North and South). Thestatus of
the population is in the main working-class. The manufactures
carried on are comparatively few, so that the larger element
of the population goes to work outside the Borough, and it is, therefore,
mainly a residential working-class district of London. In
the north and east districts there is a considerably higher density
of population, and overcrowding is more prevalent as compared
with the south and south-west districts. The housing accommodation,
moreover, in the first-mentioned areas is inadequate
and of markedly inferior condition and, as is to be expected, the
vital and morbid statistics exhibit less favourable results. The
chief occupations of male workers in Battersea are transport, building
and allied trades, metal works and clerks, draughtsmen, &c.
Amongst female workers (excluding those engaged in domestic
duties) the principal employments are personal service, clerical,
typists, dressmaking, embroidery, &c.