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
St George (Southwark) 1862
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southwark, The Vestry of the Parish of St. George the Martyr]
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Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southward.
boy, four years old, was suffocated in a room which was on fire. A male child, aged 20
months, died from the effects of drinking hot water out of the spout of a kettle. Three
Males and one Female, aged 50, 59, 62, and 45 years, fell down dead; and two Males,
aged 59 and 73, were found dead on the floor of their rooms. A drover, aged 42, died
from Erysipelas, produced from inoculation of matter from a diseased sheep which he was
dressing. A Male, aged 27, died from a fall on the back of his head: a "Woman, aged 84,
from injuries received by falling down stairs. A Man, aged 51, was drowned by falling
head first into a water butt, whilst in the act of drawing water out. Two Malos and two
Females hung themselves, aged 50, 52, 55 and 56. Five persons have died from privation
of food. Two out of these were needlewomen, unmarried; examples of the sad effects of
an unfair day's wage for a fair day's work.
I present you, as usual, with the analysis of the water of the Lambeth and Southwark
Companies, made by Dr. R. D. Thomson, and published in the weekly returns of the
Registrar General.
TABLE No. 8.
| Total Impurity per Gallon | Organic Impurity per Gallon. | Total Impurity per Gallon. | Organic Impurity per Gallon. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1861. | grs. or 0 | grs. or o | 1861. | grs. or 0 | grs. or 0 | |||
| Southwark | Company—April | 21.60 | 1.44 | Lambeth | Company. | April | 20.20 | 1.52 |
| „ | ,, May | 17.20 | 1.38 | „ | „ | 16.60 | 1.26 | |
| „ | „ June | 17.64 | 1.04 | „ | „ | 18.12 | 0.88 | |
| „ | „ July | 17.60 | £! 0.80 | „ | „ | 17.52 | 0.96 | |
| „ | „ August | 17.92 | 1.20 | „ | „ | August | 17.36 | 1*12 |
| „ | ,, September | 16.00 | 0.48 | „ | „ | September | 16.92 | 104 |
| „ | ,, October | 1»*20 | 1.12 | „ | „ | October | 16.98 | 1*68 |
| „ | ,, November | 18.80 | 1.60 | „ | „ | November | 16.60 | 1.32 |
| „ | ,, December | 21.96 | 2.40 | „ | „ | December | 20.44 | 2.64 |
| 1862. | 1862. | |||||||
| „ | ,, January | 21.96 | 1.56 | „ | „ | January | 21.56 | £ 1.72 |
| „ | ,, February ... | 21.36 | 1.68 | „ | „ | February .. | 20.88 | 1.76 |
| „ | ,, March | 20.88 | 1.60 | „ | „ | 20.40 | 2.04 | |
The state of the weather for the year 1861, which I now proceed to place before you,
is compiled from the reports of Mr. Glaisher, published in the Quarterly Reports of the
Registrar General.
The mean temperature of the first Quarter of the year at Greenwich was 39.9°, which
was 1.8° above the average for 90 years. The cold in the first half of January was very
severe, more so than in any similar period since 1820; that is, in 41 years: the average
daily deficiency from the 2nd to the 23rd was 3.7°; after this, the weather became milder,
and continued so until the end of the Quarter, with an average daily excess of 3.3°. The
coldest January of which we have record happened in 1795, the temperature being 23.9°;
the next in order of severity were as follows—1814, 26.9°; 1776, 27.0°; 1780, 28.6°; 1838,
28.9°. Tho fall of rain during this period was 4.5 inches, 0.5 inch below the average. On