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207
haphazard, especially for the poorer classes. Unemployed
persons could obtain from the Relieving Officer permission to
visit the parish doctor who would, in dire emergencies, allow
the apothecary to dispense a bottle of medicine. Others could
procure a bottle of medicine for 6d. from a doctor of their
choice and for a 1/- this would include an examination. However,
organised medical care was not completely lacking for in
Nelson Street there was the "Doctors' Club", a provident scheme
which, for the regular payment of 6d. per week, enabled a family
to choose from a list of half a dozen doctors or so, one who
would attend to their various medical necessities. Moreover,
on production of a medical certificate, sickness benefit of 10/a
week for six weeks could be obtained by a member of a "slate"
club for his weekly contribution of 6d. An added incentive to
membership was that at the end of the year the residue of funds
was distributed at the Christmas "share-out" in the local public
house where it was usual to conduct such business.
Hospitals were of the voluntary kind and nursing was still
a vocation only for the dedicated and physically strong young
lady. Criticism in respect of them should be somewhat
restrained for, within the limitations of their times, they
generally fulfilled their functions with distinction. Free of charge,
they were prepared to attend to all who presented themselves
for treatment with scant regard for time or effort expended.
Financial support from various sources enabled these establishments
to continue to serve the community and "Jack-in-theGreen",
that merry frequenter of May Day sports was often
called upon to raise funds for the Miller Hospital. With his
gaily dressed mummers and followed by brightly decorated
horses and carts filled with merrymakers, his procession would
wend its way along the streets to the sounds of a brass band,
barrel organ and concertina players while collections would be
taken from upstairs windows by numerous men on stilts.
Enumeration at the 1901 Census gave the population in
Greenwich as 95,770, an increase of 22% over the 1891 figure
and this has since fluctuated from a highest total of 112,935 in
1910 to 57,070 in 1941 during the last war when evacuation was
the order of the day. In the same year, the birth and death rates
returned were 28.94 and 15.31 respectively with an expectation
of life at birth of 43 years for males and 45 for females. Infant
mortality, the most sensitive indicator of the social and environmental
conditions of any area, was high at 130 per 1,000 live
births, there being 362 such deaths forming 24% of all deaths