London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of Westminster 1901
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
This page requires JavaScript
The following table, giving the percentage "overcrowded" in each class, shows how Westminster compares in this respect with the County of London:—
| 1 Room. | 2 Rooms. | 3 Rooms. | 4 Rooms. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| County of London | 27 | 25 | 13 | 7 |
| City of Westminster | 21 | 19 | 12 | 5 |
The position occupied by Westminster and other Metropolitan
Boroughs may be seen at a glance in Table V, the particulars of
which are taken from an article on "The Housing of London," in the
British Medical Journal, March 8th, 1902. In it certain data are
arranged, which will enable the relationship between proportion of
tenements of fewer than five rooms, proportion of overcrowded
tenements, and the death-rates from all causes and from consumption
to be studied.
Speaking generally, the writer concludes that the Metropolitan
Boroughs with the highest proportion of tenements containing fewer
than five rooms, and with the highest proportion of overcrowding in
these tenements, have the highest general death-rate and the highest
death-rate from phthisis. The death-rate from the latter disease may
be taken as a fairly accurate gauge of the effects of overcrowding.
At the other end of the scale the low phthisical and general deathrate
of Lewisham, Hampstead, and Wandsworth show the important
favourable influence of what may be described as the more diluted
housing of the people in these districts.
(8545)
B