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PART I.
A. STATISTICS.
Population.
Further results of the Census have now been published by the RegistrarGeneral,
and I have extracted certain information relating to the City
of Westminster. This gives the population of the various wards and
civil parishes, the number of dwellings and private families, with details
of the number of rooms occupied. Particulars are also given of the
number of males and females living at each age with their marital conditions.
These have been summarised into five yearly groups in the
Tables appended.
In my last report I pointed out that the Census returns for Westminster
show a lower population than actually existed, as the Census was
taken on a Sunday at the end of June, when a number of people might
reasonably be expected to be away from home.
In Table 10 it appears that 1,815 dwellings were vacant, but this figure
includes also those without a tenant. Moreover, in houses occupied by
more than one family, only some of the inmates may have been away
from home, and certain of the larger houses which were unlet had caretakers
in charge, so would not be returned as vacant. Taking dwellings
only, of less than five rooms which were vacant, the absent population
would be about 4,000, but undoubtedly the total number of absentees
must have been much larger.
The Census population for 1921 was 41,433 less than it was in 1901,
and 18,683 less than it was in 1911. On comparing the numbers living at
various age periods, the curious fact emerges that there is an actual
increase in the number of persons at ages over 45 years as compared with
the year 1901. This applies both to men and women, there being an
increase of 1,890 men and 3,237 women, a total of 5,127. As probably
about 1,000 persons over 45 were inmates of Poland Street and Sheffield
Street poor law institutions in 1901, and as these institutions have been
discontinued in the interval, the actual increase in the general population
must be about 6,000 at these ages.