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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POPULATION PER ACRE IN KENSINGTON WARDS.
| 1921. | 1931. | |
|---|---|---|
| North Kensington— | ||
| Golborne | 233 | 210 |
| Norland | 113 | 111 |
| Pembridge | 103 | 106 |
| St. Charles | 61 | 72 |
| South Kensington— | ||
| Brompton | 59 | 58 |
| Earls Court | 73 | 75 |
| Holland | 39 | 39 |
| Queens Gate | 80 | 84 |
| Redcliffe | 73 | 79 |
When the population of London is reviewed in individual wards, it is found that St. George'sin-the-East
in Stepney has the highest number of persons per acre—237. The next in order of
density is St. John's in Southwark—230. The Golborne ward of North Kensington is third—
210 persons per acre.
The Golborne ward has a much higher figure than any other in the borough, the next being
the Norland ward.
It is distinctly satisfactory to note that in these two wards, wherein the council's main housing
problems exist, there has been a decline in the number of persons per acre in the last intercensal
period, whereas in all the other wards except Brompton and Holland there has been an increase.
The decline, which is considerable in the Golborne ward, is undoubtedly due in large part to the
transfer of many families to new houses built by the borough council, the county council and
voluntary housing associations, combined with the council's determined efforts in recent years to
enforce the law in regard to overcrowding.
There is only one ward (St. Charles) in the borough where there has been any considerable
increase in the number of persons per acre ; this is due almost entirely to the large amount of new
housing accommodation which has been erected on vacant land by the councU and the Sutton
Trust.
POPULATION PER RESIDENTIAL ACRE.
Population per acre is not always a valuable index of the congestion of individuals and, indeed,
may be misleading, for certain wards may contain large areas of open land, factory sites and railway
tracks, which are not available for housing purposes. The people living in the residential part of
a ward may be very congested on space, but there may be large areas inaccessible to the public
which would have the effect of giving the impression that the ward is not overcrowded.
In these circumstances, a more helpful figure of population density is that which is based on residential area, and the following table shows the residential acreage of London, Kensington and the wards of the borough, together with the number of persons per residential acre in 1921 and 1931 :—
| *Residential acreage in 1921. | Persons per Residential Acre. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1921. | 1931. | ||
| Administrative County of London | 34,883 | 129 | 126 |
| Kensington | 1,351 | 130 | 132 |
| North Kensington | 499 | 185 | 182 |
| Golborne | 72 | 370 | 329 |
| Norland | 142 | 155 | 152 |
| Pembridge | 145 | 136 | 141 |
| St. Charles | fl40 | 173 | 181 |
| South Kensington | 852 | 97 | 101 |
| Brompton | 118 | 108 | 106 |
| Earls Court | 163 | 107 | 113 |
| Holland | 283 | 71 | 67 |
| Queens Gate | 118 | 120 | 123 |
| Redcliffe | 170 | 111 | 127 |
* Residential acreage is the total area less (a) roads, (t) open spaces, and (c) land covered by buildings other than dwellings
† Collected tor 1931.
During the last intercensal period there has been an increase of four people per residential
acre in South Kensington, but a decline of three in North Kensington. The two wards where
the majority of the poor residents live—Golborne and Norland—both show a decrease in the number
of persons per residential acre.