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10
SECTION I.
Natural and Social Conditions of the, Borough.
Area.—The area of the Borough is 7015 acres.
Population.—The population of the Borough as shewn by
the Census of 1921 was 174,194.
The Registrar-General's estimate of the population at the
middle of 1925 is 185,600. This estimate is based upon the
Census figures of 1921, after allowance for the natural increase
as evidenced by the births and deaths, and of migration as
indicated from other sources of information, such as the changes
in the Parliamentary Register and the migration re'urns obtained
by the Board of Trade.
It is difficult to believe, however, that the population of
the Borough increased by only 11,000 in the four years following
the Census of 1921, in view of the-fact that the development
of the Bellingham Estate resulted in an influx of probably
not less than 10,000 persons, whilst the natural increase in the
population, i.e., the excess of births over deaths, was approximately
4,500. Another fact to be taken into consideration is
that considerably over 1000 houses were erected by private
enterprise during the four years, and it can reasonably be assumed
that a good number of these were occupied by families who had
previously resided in other districts. Taking these facts into
consideration, one would probably be safe in estimating the
population of the Borough at not less than 190,000. In order,
however, to obtain comparable statistics from year to year, the
Registrar-General's estimate is used for calculating the statistics
contained in this report.
The population of the Borough since 1901 is shewn in
Table 1.