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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
City of Westminster 1908
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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WES 22
No. I.
City of Westminster.
Report of the Medical Officer of Health for the
Five Weeks ending Ist February, 1908.
Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen.
I beg to present my Report for the five weeks ending 1st February, 1908.
I. The population for the City, calculated as at the middle of 1908, as estimated by me
is 172,650; the Registrar General makes it 170,545, but from a consideration of the circumstances
of the various parts of the City, and the returns of rated houses, I am of opinion that
my figure is likely to be the more nearly correct. At this distance from the Census it is
impossible to have accurate statistics.
2. The births registered in Westminster were 269 (146 males, 123 females), equal to an
annual rate of 1&2 per 1,000. The birth-rate for London for the same period was 2yo per 1,000.
The births and deaths were distributed thus:—
| Total. | Conduit. | Grosvenor. | Hamlet of Knightsbridge. | Knightsbridge St. George. | Victoria. | St. Margaret. | St. John. | St. Anne. | Great Marlborough. | Pall Mall. | Regent. | Charing Cross. | Covent Garden. | Strand. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ||
| BIRTHS (Uncorrected) | 269 | — | 20 | 3 | 7 | 75 | 17 | 77 | 20 | 17 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 17 | 3 |
| Deaths— | |||||||||||||||
| Under 1 year of age | 32 | 1 | 3 | — | 3 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 1 | — | 2 | — | 1 | — |
| Over 65 years | 86 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Total Deaths (net) | 238 | 4 | 22 | 2 | 9 | 69 | 11 | 53 | 13 | 17 | 1 | 16 | 4 | 9 | 8 |
| Death Rates per 1,000 Inhabitants | 14.3 | 7.7 | 15.5 | 2.7 | 6.3 | 18.2 | 8.8 | 18.9 | 12.4 | 25.6 | 3.5 | 18.0 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 13.1 |
127 persons died in their homes, 53 in poor law institutions, 41 in general and
special hospitals, 1 in fever hospital, 11 in lunatic asylums and 5 in rivers, lakes or streets.
The total number of deaths registered was 252. After deducting the deaths of 89
non-citizens in public institutions in the City and adding those of 75 citizens who died in
other districts, the corrected total is 238 (120 males, 118 females), as compared with 180
in the previous four weeks, and is equivalent to an annual death-rate of 14.3 per 1,000,
the rate for the same period during the preceding 5 years being 167. The death-rate
for all London during the same period averaged 18.0 per 1,000, being just about the mean
rate (1903-1907).
The infantile death-rate in London as a whole was 117 per 1,000 births, and in the
City of Westminster 118. (When the births are corrected this figure will be reduced
to about 110.) The causes of death are shown on page 2.
14 deaths were due to violence—9 of them ascribed to negligence or accident and
5 to suicide and murder. Inquests were held on the bodies of 26 citizens.
86 of the total deaths were those of elderly persons, one being recorded of a man who
had reached the age of 105 years.
70 deaths are ascribed to Bronchitis and other affections of the respiratory system, 30
of them being persons over 65 years of age.