London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Paddington 1913

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]

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1
REPORT.
The Borough of Paddington comprises an area of 1,356 statute acres, including .20 of
inland water.ways (the Grand Junction and Regent.s Canals), parts of Hyde Park and
Kensington Gardens (68 acres), the Recreation Ground (27 acres), the disused Church Yard
of St. Mary.s Paddington Green (5 acres), and Paddington Green (1½ acres). The Borough is
co.terminous with the Registration District "No. 1, Paddington," comprising three Sub.
Districts, viz., "North," "Central," and "South." For municipal purposes the Borough is
divided into eight Wards. The grouping of the Wards in the Registration Sub.Districts is set
out below :
Registration Sub.Districts. Wards.
Queen.s Park.
North Paddington Harrow Road.
Maida Vale.
Central Paddington Westbourne.
Lancaster Gate, West.
South Paddington J Lancaster Gate, East.
Hyde Park.
The Borough is situated on the southern side of the range of low hills which culminate in the
Hampstead Heights, the slope being (generally) towards the south and west. The subsoil is
principally clay, but in places, more particularly in the neighbourhood of the Bayswater Road,
pockets of gravel exist, or did exist. In the central parts of the Borough many depressions were
filled up years ago with slop and refuse of all descriptions. In the western parts of the
Borough the subsoil water lies at a very few feet below the surface of the ground. There are at
least two, and possibly more, subterranean watercourses, one of which, running parallel with the
Edgware Road, close to the western side thereof, has been found on several occasions,
in the course of works of excavation to trace the causes of dampness in cellars. The second, the
better known, now forms the Ranelagh Sewer, one of the main sewers of the Metropolis.
POPULATION.
Since the last report was presented ten volumes of the Census Report (1911) have been
issued, but the Report is still incomplete. In 1901 the population of the Borough was found to
comprise 143,976 persons—61,6.26 males and 82,350 females. The ultimate total obtained in
1911 was 142,551 persons—60,415 males and 82,136 females—showing a nett shrinkage of
1,425 persons, equal to 0 98 per cent. of the population of 1901. The numbers of males and
females enumerated in 1901 and 1911 in the Borough are shown in Table 1. The whole of the
shrinkage (except 6 persons) occurred at ages under 30 years, males at ages 20.25 years showing
the largest absolute loss (1,086 individuals). The "True Mean Population" for the decennium
1901.10 is also given in Table 1, those figures being obtained by the use of the formula devised
by the late Mr. Waters, of the General Register Office, which was published in the Journal of the
Royal Statistical Society (vol. xliv.).
The diminution in the population of the Borough, as shown by the census figures, of 1,425
persons (1,211 males and 214 females) gives a very inadequate idea of the real loss of inhabitants.
In the report for 1911 certain figures were adduced to show that the loss by migration during
the ten years had probably been as much as 16,000 persons. That estimate is confirmed by the
Census Report, in Vol. II. of which (p. 429) it is stated that the births registered during the ten
B