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5
births.
Hospital not belonging to the District. Of the rates mentioned, those cf the Metropolis
Westminster and Hampstead were lower last year than in 1902.

* Registrar-General's total and rate,
f These figures require to be corrected for the births in Oueen Charlotte Lying-in Hospital. According to the
Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health, the corrected number f births was 2,818—which makes the rates
in the second and third columns 21' 17 and 02 09 respectively.
The foregoing rates have been calculated on the total population of both sexes. Rates
calculated on the estimated numbers of females of child-bearing ages (15.45 years) are
included in Table 4. The proportion of such women in each district who are unmarried
varies greatly, and depends to some extent on the character of the district. Where a large
number of domestic servants are kept—e.g. Kensington, Hampstead, and (South) Paddington
—or where a large number of resident shop assistants are employed, the rate will be
proportionated lower. This explains the low rate in Hampstead (45.11) and converselv
the high rate in Willesden (114.07).
Illegitimate Births.—Among the 3,302 births registered in the Borough last year, were
130 of illegitimate children, being 4.2 per cent, of the whole, as compared with 4.5 and 3.0
per cent, in 1002 and 1001. From the figures given in Table 5, it will be seen that there
was a considerable increase in the proportion of illegitimate children registered in St. John's
Sub-District 4.1 per cent., compared with 3.1 and 0.5 in the preceding years. As already
recorded there were 40 illegitimate births belonging to Paddington at the Queen Charlotte
Lying-in-Hospital, of which 34 belonged to St. Mary's, 10 to St. John's, and 2 to the NorthWest
Paddington Registration Sub-District.