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REPORT.
The Borough.—The area of the Borough, 1,356 acres, includes 20 acres of water (the
canals) and (approximately) 175 acres of open spaces. At the last census (1901) there were
17,684 inhabited houses, occupied by 33,661 families, 21,815 living in homes of less than five
rooms. In 1891 16.7 per cent. of the total population, Old Parish, was deemed to be "overcrowded,"
that is, lived in homes with an average of more than two persons per room, which
proportion had decreased to 13.5 per cent., for the present Borough, in 1901. Of the homes
of less than five rooms, 27.6 per cent. were "overcrowded" in 1901.
The Borough is divided into three Registration Sub-Districts, viz., North, Central and
South Paddington, which make up the Registration District of Paddington, co-terminous with
the Borough. For administrative purposes, other than Poor Law, the Borough is sub-divided
into eight Wards, viz., Queen's Park, Harrow Road, Maida Vale (all in the "North" SubDistrict),
Westbourne, Church (in the "Central" Sub-District), Lancaster Gate, East and
West, and Hyde Park Wards (in the "South" Sub-District). For the purposes of this Report
the Wards have been selected as the unit areas.
Population.—Seeing that over seven years have elapsed since the last Census any
estimate of the number of inhabitants of the Borough can be but little more than an
approximation, and the rates based on such estimates have to be received with reserve. It
is to be sincerely hoped that the Bill for the Census of 1911 will provide for at least an
enumeration, if not a full Census, of the population every five years.
Based on the rate of increase during the ten years 1891 to 1901, and allowing for the
changes in boundaries, an estimate of 150,489 persons as the population of the Borough at
the middle of 1908, has been obtained. That population was assumed to comprise 64,485
males and 86,004 females of all ages. The populations of the individual Wards are set out
below.