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4 Parish of Saint George the Martyr, Southwark.
of the number of the people, and so far is a cause of satisfaction. The 56,083 persons
occupy 6,903 houses, making a little more than eight persons to each house. But although
the population has increased, the number of houses has decreased to the extent of 335.
In the previous ten years, there were 7,238 houses occupied by 55,510 persons; now there
are only 6,903 houses for 56,083 persons, consequently the overcrowding must be more
than ever. This fact gives greater emphasis to the decrease of the death rate, as it significantly
shows that the sanitary regulations carried out, have prevented the normal results
of overcrowding.
There are in this Parish (speaking in round numbers) 27,280 persons to the square
mile; in Southwark 83,280 to the same space; and in London 26,680. This contrast
between the population and the mileage becomes still more remarkable, when we examine
that of the eleven Registration Districts of this Kingdom. The North Western Division,
the most dense except that of London, numbers 1,082 persons to the square mile; the remaining
ten are as follows:—412, 419, 288, 259, 254, 243, 241, and 178, making an
average of 389. What a demand upon the labour and perseverance of a Vestry does this
revelation denote, namely, to make habitable a Parish, which within such confined limits,
contains so large a number of people, the greater proportion of which consist of the poorest,
the most unthrifty, and the most helpless. However, this Parish, which has been far away
beyond the remembrance of the present generation a bye word and reproach, remains
no longer so : it may no more take its rank as the lowest amongst the low and wretched
Parishes of London, in which disease and death hold high and continued carnival.
Perhaps I may be permitted to make a few more remarks about the Census, although
not necessarily connected with the scope of my Report. At midnight on April 2nd, 1871, the
population of London within the Tables of Mortality was 3,251,804. Great cities have
been called the graves of mankind, and if vastness of size, and number of people aggregated
together gives authority for this name, then may London be emphatically so called.
And this title claims the especial attention of all who concern themselves in sanitary matters,
when it is found that out of the 22,704,108 of the population living in England and
Wales, 12 900,000 live in large towns, and the remaining 9,804, 108 live in small towns
and country parishes. There was an increase of 2,637,884 over the numbers living when
the Census of 1861 was taken. The town districts have grown twice as fast as the country
districts; nevertheless, their growth has not been so groat in proportion as in the previous
ten years. The average number to each house was 5.3 persons. More than half a
million of houses have been built. The population increased at the rate of 705 persons
daily. The increase has proved greater than in any previous ten years. Should the present
rate continue, the population will double itself in 56 years. This fact will create-fear
to those who look upon an increasing population with alarm, and there are many thoughtful
philanthropic men who are possessed with this fear. One writer upon this subject
humourously tells us, that he already begins to feel a kind of Black Hole of Calcutta
sensation. The fear is premature. The earth is as yet comparatively uninhabited and
uncultivated. " Canadian forests stand unfelled, boundless plains and prairies remain unbroken
with the plough; on the east and on the west are green desert spaces never yet
made white with corn."