London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Paddington 1902
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]
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housing. 51
TABLE 34. Overcrowding in Registered Houses, 1902.
| Families overcrowded. | Rooms occupied. | No. of occupants. | Abated by re-arrangement of occupants. | Abated by voluntary removal. | Abated after service of notice. | Night visits. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/10 | 10/P | |||||||
| 1st Quarter | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ... | ... | 1 | ... |
| 2nd Quarter | 3 | 4 | 10 | 5 | ... | ... | 3 | ... |
| 3rd Quarter | 34 | 46 | 76 | 64 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 4 |
| 4th Quarter | 23 | 33 | 57 | 54 | 13 | 7 | 3 | ... |
| 61 | 84 | 144 | 126 | 23 | 17 | 21 | 4 | |
Common Lodging Houses.—The Common Lodging Houses are registered and supervised
by the County Council. There are 9 registered houses in the Borough, 7 for men, certified to
accommodate 225, one for women accommodating 34 lodgers and one for women and married
couples for 45 lodgers. No case of infectious illness was reported from any of the houses
during the year, but 14 deaths (13 of males and 1 of a female) occurred in them, being an
increase of 3 deaths of males as compared with 1901. The principal causes of death during
the two years:—
1901. 1902.
Diarrhoea 1 —
Tubercular Diseases 3 3
Cancer — 1
Respiratory Diseases 4 1
Other Diseases 3 9, including 3 from
heart diseases.
Under the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1902, important powers of
regulation have been obtained, including yearly licensing.
Housing of the Working Classes.—The Committee specially appointed to deal with
this subject have held several meetings and considered preliminary proposals for schemes.
Certain sites have been viewed and one is now receiving special consideration as promising
an opportunity of doing something towards solving the difficult problem of providing decent
homes for the poorer classes without displacing too large a number of present inhabitants, or
placing a heavy charge on the rates.
No action has been proposed under the "Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 1899," which
authorises the local authority to make advances to enable persons to acquire ownership of
small houses occupied by them. The price of houses in the Borough renders such procedure
far too costly.
In 1901 a special inquiry was made as to the conditions prevailing in the "Clarendon
Street Area," the results being embodied in a Special Report issued in November of that year.
A considerable amount of work has been done in that area during the last twelve months,
and special attention has been given to the annual cleansing of those houses which are on the
Register of Houses Let in Lodgings. In continuation of the statistics of morbidity and