View report page

10
enumeration district 31, and from 2,273 to 2,515 in enumeration
district 56. Of this increase 490 belongs to the "Notting
Dale" district, and 113, to the remaining streets. As no
houses have been built in these districts during the five
years, it is to me inexplicable how such a large increase
should have come about. There can be no reasonable doubt
as to the substantial accuracy of the figures, for the returns
of the enumerators and of Mr. Steward correspond closely. We
have no reason for assuming any increase of overcrowding,
and the only explanation I can suggest is, that, in 1891,
the information as to population given by the inhabitants to
the enumerators, involved considerable under-statements. Be
this as it may, the official return in no way invalidates the
statistics submitted by me to your Vestry when dealing with the
"Notting Dale" Special Area, in the thirteenth report for 1895,
and the first and second reports for 1890, which were based
on our own enumeration. The official return of 1896 not
improbably owes its accuracy to the fact that your Vestry's
officer had, not long previously, made an enumeration, a fact
which may have influenced the people to make a true return
in the official schedules.