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
Kensington 1907
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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7
BIRTHS AND BIRTH-RATE.
The births registered, including 140 that occurred at Queen Charlotte's Lying-in Hospital,
were 3,428, the same as in 1906: Males 1779, Females 1649: in the Town sub-district (which
includes the Borough Infirmary) 2,926, and in the Brompton sub-district 502.
The male births were to the female births in the proportion of 1079 to 1000.
The births were 310 below the corrected decennial average number (3,738), and were fewer by
613 than in the year 1872 (4,041), when the population (127,600) was 52,900 less than in 1907;
200 of them were illegitimate.
The birth rate, which of late years has always been considerably below that of London
(25.8 in 1907), has been declining since 1868, in which year it was 33.1 per 1,000 persons living.
In 1907 it was 19.0 per 1,000, and 1.7 below the decennial average (20.7), and the lowest on record.
The rates in the sub-districts were:—Town 22.4; Brompton 101 per 1000.
The births in North Kensington, i.e., the part of the Borough north of Holland park-avenue
and High-street, Notting-hill, were 2,453; the birth-rate 26.4 per 1,000 living, and 0.6 above
the metropolitan rate.
The births in South Kensington, i.e., the part of the borough south of the streets above
named were 975; the birth-rate 11.2, and 14.6 per 1,000 below the metropolitan rate.
The birth-rate in the several wards—after distribution of the births at the borough infirmary, and at Queen Charlotte's Hospital—was as follows:—
| North Kensington— | ||
| St. Charles | 594 births = 26.5 | per 1,000 persons living. |
| Golborne | 900 births = 88.5 | |
| Norland | 005 births = 25.2 | |
| Pembridge | 354 births = 17.9 | |
| South Kensington— | ||
| Holland | 279 births = 18.4 | |
| Earl's Court | 206 births = 11.2 | |
| Queen's Gate | 122 births = 8.3 | |
| Redcliffe | 250 births = 18.1 | |
| Brompton | 118 births = 8.2, | |
The births exceeded the deaths by 957: in the Town sub-district they were 942 more in
number than the deaths, whilst in the Brompton sub-district they exceeded the deaths to the
number of 15 only.
In North Kensington the births exceeded the deaths by 875; in South Kensington to the
number of 82 only.
The excess of births over deaths in the several wards was as follows:—
| North Kensington. | St. Charles | 288 | South Kensington. | 'Holland | 45 | |
| Golborne | 408 | Queen's Gate | 10 | |||
| Norland | 162 | Redcliffe | 46 | |||
| Pembridge | 67 | Brompton | 7 | |||
The deaths exceeded the births by 26 in Earl's Court Ward.
The registered births of illegitimate children in the borough, as a whole, were 200*—42 more
than in 1906. Of these births 187 were registered in the Town sub-district, which includes the
workhouse, at which institution out of 144 live births (males 84, females 60) 98 were illegitimate.
In the borough generally the illegitimate births formed 5.8 per cent. of total births, as compared
with rates of 45, 4.5, and 4.8, in the preceding three years.
* Inclusive of 19 at Queen Charlotte's Hospital.