London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1913
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
7
different age and sex composition the use of standardised death-rates is essential, but in Kensington
and in the Metropolis as a whole the influence of age and sex is for practical purposes the same,
and the crude death-rates shown in the following Table may be accepted as roughly representing
the relative mortality in the two areas.
Crude Death-rates per 1,000 living.
Kensington.
London.
1896-1900 16.3 18.5
1901-1905 14.7 16.4
1906-1910 13.8 14.9
1911 13.9 15.0
1912 13.3 13.6
1913 14.0 -
The mortality in Kensington is somewhat less than in London as a whole; in both areas the
death-rate is remarkably low and has fallen steadily during the past fifteen years.
The number of deaths and the death-rates in Kensington and London for each quinquennial
period since 1881 will be found in Table V. Appendix, p. 75. The number of deaths occurring
in each year since the same date and the annual death-rates have been published in the Appendix
of the Annual Reports for 1908 and previous years.
The number of deaths at all ages with the corresponding death-rates in the Borough, in North and South Kensington and in the several Wards was as follows:—
| Districts. | Number of Deaths. | Crude Death-rate per 1,000 inhabitants. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Kensington | 1,526 | 17.0 | ||
| South Kensington | 825 | 10.0 | ||
| Unknown | 58 | — | ||
| St. Charles | 330 | 14.0 | ||
| Golborne | 497 | 20.0 | ||
| Norland | 442 | 21.0 | ||
| Pembridge | 257 | 14.0 | ||
| Holland | 216 | 11.0 | ||
| Earl's Court | 233 | 13.0 | ||
| Queen's Gate | 89 | 6.0 | ||
| Redcliffe | 185 | 10.0 | ||
| Brompton | 102 | 8.0 | ||
| The Borough | 2,409 | 14.0 | ||
The mortality in North Kensington was very much greater than in South Kensington, the
difference being mainly due to the prevalence of poverty in the former area. It should further be
borne in mind that the high death-rates for St. Charles, Golborne and Norland in the North
represent averages based on the combined experience of the good and bad areas which the figures
embrace; and for this reason the Ward rates which are in themselves excessive can only be accepted
as indicating the incidence of a very much heavier mortality on those streets and neighbourhoods
where the inhabitants live in a state of social degradation.