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
Plumstead 1899
Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health, 1899
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and one died from a fall. The wife of a publican died in consequence
of injuries caused by her husband kneeling on her
chest, but he was acquitted on the criminal charge. A man
died in the Arsenal from the explosion of a shell; another was
drowned in the Serpentine through the upsetting of a boat. A
man of 47 died on Bostal Heath, in the middle of December,
from exposure and neglect. A boy of 14 died from fracture of
the skull, but there was no evidence as to the cause of the
injury.
In the remaining cases, death was from natural causes, but
in five, or more than one-fourth of these so-called natural
deaths, the direct or indirect cause was alcoholism.
Table B.
16. East and West Plumstead compared.
| West. | East. | |
|---|---|---|
| Population—Census 1891 | 15,867 | 36,566 |
| ,, ,, 1896 | 16,714 | 42,538 |
| ,, estimated to middle of 1899 | 17,465 | 47,790 |
| Birth Bate | 25.8 | 31.8 |
| Death „ | 14.8 | 13.7 |
| Deaths under 1 year per 1,000 births | 100 | 131 |
| Zymotic Death Rate | 14 | 20 |
| Phthisis ,, | 1.3 | 1.4 |
(N.B.—The population is estimated on the supposition that
the total increase of the population of Plumstead, between
1896 and 1899, viz., 6,003, is distributed between West and
East in the proportion of 1 to 7, as was the increase between
the Censuses of 1891 and 1896).
17. As usual the birth-rate and the infantile death-rate are
much lower in West than in East Plumstead.