London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Paddington 1900
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]
This page requires JavaScript
83
Report of Medical Officer of Health.]
Although no overcrowding was found to exist, the houses were somewhat densely occupied, as the appended statement shows:—
| 80. | 82.* | 84* | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cub. ft. | Occupants. | Cub. ft. | Occupants. | Occupants. | ||
| Basement, front | 1,430 | J. 3, | 1,350 | 2 A. 2 C. | 4 A. 1 C. | |
| „ back | 1,415 | 1,410 | ||||
| Ground floor, front | 1,863 | 3A. | 1,868 | 2 A. | 4 A. 1 C. | |
| „ back | 1,944 | 2,121 | ||||
| 1st floor, front | 2,172 | 2 A. | 2 A. | 2 A. 3 C. | ||
| ,, back | 1,149 | |||||
| 2nd floor, front (a) | 1,130 | 2 A. | 2 A. | 3 A. 3 C. | ||
| 722 | ||||||
| ,, back (a) | 586 | |||||
| 1,071 | ||||||
| " A "—Adults. "C "—Children. Children over 10 reckoned as adults. | ||||||
Cutting off of Water Supply.—The two Water Companies supplying the Parish reported,
in pursuance of Sec. 49 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, that the water supply had been
cut off from 140 houses during the year, viz., from 100 houses supplied by the Grand Junction
Waterworks Company, and from 40 within the area of the West Middlesex Waterworks Company.
Each house was visited by the Inspector of the district, and from the reports made, the following
alleged causes of the cutting off have been tabulated:—
Reasons for Discontinuing Water Supply.
| Grand Junction. | West Middlesex. | |
|---|---|---|
| House uninhabited | 66 | 21 |
| Repairs required to service pipes | 27 | 5 |
| Unpaid water-rates | 2 | 6 |
| Waste of water or defective fittings | 5 | — |
| Houses in course of demolition | — | 3 |
| Other cases, e.g., supply not required, &c. | — | 5 |
With respect to the inhabited houses, steps were taken to secure restoration of the supply where
not already restored at the time of visit. The intervals which elapsed between the cutting off and
restoration are indicated below:—
Supply restored
Grand Junction.
West Middlesex.
Same day as cut off 22† 2
Next day 2 2
After 2 days 1 —
„ 3 „ 1 1
„ 4 „ - 1
„ 5 „ — 2
„ 6 „ 4 -
Over more than 7 days 4 —
In two cases the houses were emptied on account of want of supply of water, the intervention
of the Court being required in one of the cases only.
In 1898 the Grand Junction Waterworks Company reported that the water had been cut off
from 100 houses, and the West Middlesex Company from 110 houses. In 1899 the total numbers
reported were 86 from Grand Junction, and 43 from West Middlesex Company. Prior to
November, 1899, the reasons for the discontinuance of the supply were not inquired into.
Powers of Water Companies.—The legislation regulating the metropolitan water supply is
* A bath (b. and c.) room is fixed in each of these houses, but the bath rooms appeared to be used chiefly as
lumber rooms.
† At 16 of these houses the supply was restored before the notice was received by the Department.