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 1931
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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Summary of Legal Proceedings taken during the year 1931.
| Nature of offence. | No. of summonses. | Magistrates' decisions. |
|---|---|---|
| Failure to carry out sanitary repairs | 3 | Fined 20s. and order made for work to be carried out within 14 days in one case. Summonses withdrawn, the work having been carried out, in 2 cases. |
| Failure to comply with by-laws for houses let in lodgings. | 4 | Summons withdrawn, the by-laws having been complied with, in each of the 4 cases. |
| Failure to abate overcrowding | 3 | Summons withdrawn, the overcrowding having been abated in one case; fined 20s. in one case; and 40s. in one case. |
| Permitting overcrowding | 2 | Summons withdrawn, the overcrowding having been abated, in each case. |
| Failure to abate indecent occupation | 1 | Summons withdrawn, the indecent occupation having been abated. |
| Failure to abate overcrowding and indecent occupation. | 1 | Fined 5s. |
| Failure to pay expenses incurred under Section 17 of the Housing Act, 1930. | 1 | Order made for payment of expenses with interest and costs. |
| Failure to deposit plans and notify alteration to drainage system. | 1 | Fined 20s. |
| Failure to comply with the L.C.C. by-laws in connection with drainage work. | 2 | Fined 20s. in each case. |
| Allowing a dog to deposit its excrement on the public footway. | 11 | Fined 20s. in one case; 10s. 6d. in one case; 10s. in 7 cases; and 5s. in 2 cases. |
| Total | 29 |
SMOKE ABATEMENT.
The borough contains but few factories or other work-places where there is a considerable
fuel consumption, and thus the problem of smoke abatement is not a very large one. Nevertheless,
in a borough which is essentially residential in character, it is very desirable that the nuisance from
smoke should be reduced to a minimum; and during the year the council's sanitary inspectors
made 281 special observations with a view to ascertaining whether there were any breaches of the
smoke provisions of the Public Health Acts. Two nuisances were discovered and written intimation
notices were served. In each instance, this resulted in the abatement of the nuisance.
MORTUARY AND CHAPEL OF REST.
During the year 169 bodies were deposited in the public mortuary in the following
circumstances:—
At the request of relations or friends of the deceased 19
At the request of undertakers 5
At the request of coroner 134
By the police 9
167
In 134 cases, post-mortem examinations were made under the coroner's warrant.
Thirty-one bodies were deposited in the Chapel of Rest, Avondale Park. This building is of
considerable convenience to those poor persons in Notting Dale who live in perhaps one or two
rooms and have no satisfactory accommodation for the bodies of dead relations pending the day of
the funeral.