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 1912
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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For the year 1912 the population for each ward has been calculated on the assumption that
the rise or fall in the intercensal period has continued at a slightly reduced rate, and the results
have been shown in the fifth column of the above Table.
Marriages.—The marriages celebrated during the year numbered 1,637. The number of
marriages celebrated annually and the annual marriage rate since 1856 were given in the annual
report for 1908, Appendix II., Table A, page 60.
Arranged as to sex and legitimacy the births were as follows:—
| Male | Female. | Total. | |
| Legitimate | 1,597 | 1,538 | 3,135 |
| Illegitimate | 94 | 89 | 183 |
| Total | 1,691 | 1,627 | 3,318 |
Still births cannot be registered and are therefore not included in the above figures.
The following Table shows the number of births and the birth-rate in North and South Kensington and in the several Wards, after distribution of the births at the Borough Infirmary, Queen Charlotte's Hospital, and other Institutions.
| Total Births. | Birth-rate per 1,000 of the Population. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Kensington | 2,363 | 27 | ||
| South Kensington | 955 | 11 | ||
| St. Charles | 610 | 27 | ||
| Golborne | 825 | 32 | ||
| Norland | 577 | 27 | ||
| Pembridge | 351 | 19 | ||
| Holland | 266 | 13 | ||
| Earl's Court | 200 | 11 | ||
| Queen's Gate | 128 | 9 | ||
| Redcliffe | 229 | 12 | ||
| Brompton | 132 | 10 | ||
| The Borough | 3,318 | 19 | ||
The effects of social status on the birth-rate are illustrated by the fact that the rate for South
Kensington is less than half the rate for North Kensington, whilst the birth-rate for Golborne Ward
in the North is more than three times as great as the rate for the Ward of Queen's Gate in the
South. To a certain extent this wide discrepancy is no doubt due to differences in the numbers of
married women of child-bearing age in the districts compared.
The births occurring every year in Kensington have fallen in round numbers from 4,500 in
1380, to 3,300 in the present year The steady decline in the birth-rate is shown in Table V.
Appendix, p. 79, where the number of births and the birth-rates both for London and Kensington
are given for each quinquennial period since 1881. The figures for each year were given in the
Annual Report for 1908. The fact that the total number of births has risen by 128, from 3,190
in 1910 to 3,318 in the present year, affords some hope that a limit may have been set to a
downward movement which will end in national extinction if it is not checked.