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41
Age at death

In other words 24 percent were between 45 and 65, 27 percent
between 65 and 75, and 46 percent over 75. For the whole of 1951
the corresponding percentages were 23, 26 and 41 respectively, thus
indicating that in the recent trouble it was the old person who was
most affected, relatively as well as absolutely.
Social class
Social classes were I, 6 ; II, 45 ; III, 122 ; IV, 31 ; V, 21 ; and
3 unknowns. This does not appear to be abnormal compared with the
social class death registrations for a whole year.
Causes of death
Although deaths are divided for record purposes into the RegistrarGeneral's
short list of 36 causes they are better for this occasion grouped
into (a) circulatory (including cerebral hemorrhage, heart diseases, etc.);
(b) respiratory (including influenza, pneumonia and bronchitis); and
(c) others. The deaths were divided amongst these groups as follows
(a) Circulatory 95
(b) Respiratory 93
(c) Others 40
Expressed in percentages, 42 percent died of circulatory conditions,
41 percent of respiratory conditions, and 17 percent of other conditions.
The corresponding percentages for the whole of 1951 were 46, 15 and 39
respectively, thus indicating the relatively very high percentage of
respiratory causes in the recent number of deaths. A number of the
cases died suddenly and were thus reported to the coroner. In such
cases a postmortem was held. On discussing the matter with the
pathologist it appeared that the cause of death in almost all the cases
was an aggravation of already existing heart or lung trouble.
Location
There are three registration districts in the borough, namely Lee,
which is the north and east part; Lewisham Park, which is entirely
for Lewisham hospital; and Sydenham, which is the south and west
part of the borough. In corresponding quarters of the year 1950/1
and 1951/2 (November - January) the Lee and the Sydenham death
registrations were approximately equal, being a weekly average of 16.1
in Lee and 16.5 in Sydenham, but for the two weeks in 1952 now under
examination there were 80 registrations in Lee and 113 in Sydenham,
giving instead of the ratio of 100 to 102 a ratio of 100 in Lee to 141 in