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 1932
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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Summary of Legal Proceedings taken during the year, 1932.
| Nature of offence. | No. of summonses. | Magistrate's decisions. |
|---|---|---|
| Failure to carry out sanitary repairs. | 7 | Order made for work to be carried out within 30 days in one case ; in 28 days in one case ; in 14 days in four cases. Summons withdrawn in one case, the work having been carried out. |
| Failure to comply with by-laws for houses let in lodgings. | 1 | Fined £4. |
| Failure to abate overcrowding. | 2 | Fined 40s. in one case, and 5s. in one case. |
| Permitting overcrowding. | 1 | Summons withdrawn. |
| Failure to pay expenses incurred under Section 17 of the Housing Act, 1930. | * 1 | Summons withdrawn, amount having been paid. |
| Failure to comply with the L.C.C. by.laws in connection with drainage work. | 7 | Fined £3 in one case ; £4 in one case; £8 in one case ; and 20s. in four cases. |
| Allowing a dog to deposit its excrement on the public footway. | 14 | Fined 20s. in two cases ; 10s. in seven cases ; and 5s. in five cases. |
| Failure to give information as to interest in premises. | 1 | Summons withdrawn, information supplied. The defendant was ordered to pay two guineas costs. |
| Total | 34 |
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 124 special observations with a view to ascertaining whether there were any breaches of the
smoke provisions of the Public Health Acts. Four nuisances were discovered and written intimation
notices were served. In each instance, the action taken resulted in the abatement of the
nuisance.
MORTUARY AND CHAPEL OF REST.
During the year 156 bodies were deposited in the public mortuary in the following circumstances:—
| At the request of relations or friends of the deceased | 17 | |
| At the request of undertakers | 43 | |
| At the request of coroner | 91 | |
| By the police | 5 | |
| In 91 cases, post.mortem examinations were made under the coroner's warrant. | 156 | |
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.