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16
Illegitimate Births.—The following table shows the number of
illegitimate births and the percentage of the total births.

Stillbirths.—The corrected number of stillbirths during the year was
12, which represents a rate for the Borough of 0.21 per 1,000 of the
population, as compared with 0.48 for London as a whole.
MARRIAGES.
There were 878 marriages registered in the Borough during the year
(860 in 1937). The marriage rate(number of marriages per 1,000 of
population) was 15.6. In the preceding year the marriage rate was
15.2.
DEATHS.
The total number of deaths of Chelsea residents during the year was
757, equivalent to a death rate of 13.5 per 1,000 of population.
The death rate for England and Wales for 1938 was 11.6, and for
London 11.4.
Adjusted Death Rate.—If the populations of all areas were similarly
constituted as regards the proportions of their sex and age group components,
their crude death rates(deaths per 1,000 population) could be
accepted as valid comparative measures of the mortalities experienced
by the several populations.
In practice, however, populations are not thus similarly constituted, and
the -Registrar-General has accordingly calculated a factor(called the Areal
Comparability Factor) for each district. This is, in effect, an adjustment
of the age and sex composition of the district to that of England and
Wales as a whole, so that all may be compared on the same basis. To
obtain the adjusted death rate, the crude death rate is multiplied by the
Comparative Factor which has the effect of making a corrected death
rate comparable with the death rate of any other district which has been
similarly adjusted. The Areal Comparative Factor for Chelsea is 0.85,
and the death rate for 1938 when so adjusted is 11.5.