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 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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3
Town Hall,
Kensington, W-8-
4th May, 1939-
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Royal Borough of Kensington-
My Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my annual report for 1938 on the state of the public health in
Kensington-
VITAL STATISTICS-
The Royal Borough of Kensington as constituted under the London Government Act, 1899,
covers an area of 2,291 acres, and is co-extensive with the civil parish and registration district
of the same name- The line of demarcation formed by Holland Park Avenue, Notting Hill
Gate, and the Bayswater Road divides the borough into approximately equal parts described in
previous years and in this report as North and South Kensington respectively- Each of these areas
is co-terminous with the parliamentary division of the same name- The borough is further
sub-divided into nine wards- North Kensington includes the wards of St- Charles, Golborne,
Norland and Pembridge, whilst South Kensington is made up of the five other wards, namely,
Holland, Earl's Court, Queen's Gate, Redcliffe and Brompton-
Population.
The population of the borough as ascertained at the census in 1931 was 180,677 persons ; but
for the purpose of this report, the population for 1938 has been estimated by the Registrar-General
to be 174,100-
From this latter figure, the inhabitants in the different wards of the borough have been estimated to be as shown in the following table :—
| The Borough | 174,100 |
| North Kensington | 91,600 |
| South Kensington | 82,500 |
| Wards | |
| St- Charles | 30,100 |
| Golborne | 21,200 |
| Norland | 20,610 |
| Pembridge | 19,690 |
| Holland | 18,000 |
| Earl's Court | 17,750 |
| Queen's Gate | 13,750 |
| Redcliffe | 21,000 |
| Brompton | 12,000 |
| Marriages- During the year, 2,127 marriages were registered, representing a rate of 12.2 marriages per 1,000 of the population. The place of marriage is set out in the following table :— | |
| Church of England | 756 |
| Roman Catholic Church | 398 |
| Nonconformist Church | 41 |
| Jewish Church | 8 |
| Register Office | 924 |
| Total | 2,127 |
Births- The number of births registered was 2,236, after correction for inward and outward transfers and the birth rate for the borough was 12-8 per 1,000 population- Distributed according to se and legitimacy the births were as follows :—
| Male. | Female. | Total. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legitimate | 1,052 | 957 | 2,009 | ||
| Illegitimate | 111 | 116 | 227 | ||
| Totals | 1,163 | 1,073 | 2,236 | ||