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34
Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark.
The question of occupation closely effects the death rate of the labouring classes.
The statistics of trade mortalities, however, do not give much help upon the point.
The census is meagre in details, and is taken at too long intervals. Of the workmen,
many desert an unhealthy trade and drift off to swell the mortality of some other
occupation; while not a lew die in workhouses and other institutions, and leave no
record of the particular trade that has broken their health. One may, however,
attempt to arrive at a few broad tentative conclusions.
In a table by Drs. Ogle and Arlidge, comparing the mortality between persons
of various occupations, we find the fifteen highest on the list :—
Occupation.
Mean Annual Death.
rate per 1,000 living.
Comparative
mortality
figure, 1,000
Age.
25.45.
Age.
45.65.
Age.
25.65.
All males
10.16
25.27
1,000
Occupied males
9.71
21.63
967
Inn and hotel servants
22.63
55.30
2,205
General labourers in London
20.62
50.85
2,020
Costermongers and hawkers
20.26
45.33
1,879
Cornish miners
14.77
53.69
1,839
Potters and earthenware manufacturers
13.70
51.39
1,742
Filemakers
15.29
45.14
1,667
Watchmen, porters and messengers
17.07
37.37
1,565
Licensed victuallers and inkeepers
18..02
33.68
1,521
Chimney-sweeps
13.73
41.54
1,519
Cabmen and omnibusmen
15.39
36.83
1,482
Brewerymen
13.90
34.25
1,361
Hairdressers
13.64
33.25
1,327
Professional musicians
13.78
32.39
1,314
Bargemen and watermen
14.25
31.13
1,305
Carters and carriers
12.52
33.00
1,275
And the fifteen lowest:
Watch and clock maker
9.26
22.64
903
Plasterers and white washers
7.79
25.07
896
Coal miners
7.64
25.11
891
Grooms and private coachmen
8.53
23.28
887
Drapers and warehousemen
9.70
20.96
883
Barristers and solicitors
7.54
23.13
883
Booksellers and stationers
8.53
20 57
825
Carpenter and joiners
7.77
21.74
820
Fishermen
8.32
19.74
797
Grocers
8.00
19.16
771
Schoolmasters and teachers
6.41
19.98
719
Agricultural labourers
7.13
17.68
701
Farmers and graziers
6.09
16.53
631
Gardeners and nurserymen
5.52
16.19
599
Clergy, priests and ministers
4.64
15.93
556
Glancing over the fifteen occupations of highest mortality, two things at once
attract attention. First, they belong to the working class, with the single exception
of the licensed victuallers and innkeepers. Secondly, they are in the main urban.
Moreover, seven of them, that is to say, the general labourers, costermongers and