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1
VITAL STATISTICS
The estimated population for the Borough in 1955 again fell for
the third consecutive year since 1953, when the decrease was 1,100
fewer than in 1952. In 1954 and again this year, the decrease
widened to 1,500 less than each previous year.
There was a slight decline in the birth rate after the small increase
in 1954. The death rate, after decreases in the two previous years,
rose sharply in 1955, the increases being chiefly in vascular lesions
of the nervous system, circulatory diseases and pneumonia.
The infant death rate showed a considerable rise after last year's
decline, and the death rate of illegitimate infants—following its
dramatic decline in 1954 to the lowest recorded for many years—
increased in 1955 to nearly 80 per cent, of the abnormally high peak
in 1953. The still birth rate showed a substantial decrease after
rising for the two previous years.
Area 1,132 acres
Estimated Number of Dwellings (April, 1956) 25,009
Dwellings Erected by Borough Council During Year 214
Approximate Rateable Value (Total) £1,073,392
(Dwellings) £414,295
Population :
Registrar General's estimate (mid-1955), including members
of Armed Forces stationed in area .. .. 93,820
Estimated population, 1954 (mid-year) .. .. 95,370
Census, 1951 97,191
Live Birth Rate per 1,000 population 17.4
Adjusted by comparability factor 14.9
Still Birth Rate per 1,000 total Births 22.1
Death Rate per 1,000 population 13.8
Adjusted by comparability factor 14.1
Maternal Death Rate per 1,000 live and still births 1.1
Infant Death Rate :
All infants per 1,000 live births 28.1
Legitimate infants per 1,000 live legitimate births. 23.9
Illegitimate infants per 1,000 live illegitimate births 61.5