London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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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
Islington 1895
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Islington, Parish of St. Mary ]
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In order that this may be seen more plainly, I have constructed the following table which shows the districts, whose inhabitants number more than 200,000, their populations, their densities, and their death rates from all causes, from Zymotic diseases, f'om Diarrhœa, and from infantile mortality.
| Districts. | Populations. | Persons per Acre. | Death Rates. | Zymotic Diseases Rates. | Diarrhoea Death Rates. | Infantile Mortality Rate. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 large Towns | 10,59I,53o | 35.3 | 20.2 | 4.97 | 3.41 | 252 |
| London | 4,392,346 | 58.8 | 18.6 | 2.41 | 222 | |
| Manchester | 524,865 | 40.7 | 25.6 | 5.59 | 3.81 | 278 |
| Liverpool | 503.967 | 96.7 | 28.2 | 6.83 | 4.51 | 278 |
| Birmingham | 496,751 | 39.1 | 18.7 | 4.35 | 3.40 | 222 |
| Leeds | 395,546 | 18.3 | 20.9 | 5.80 | 4.94 | 297 |
| Sheffield | 342,768 | 17.4 | 22.6 | 6.69 | 5.81 | 309 |
| 3.05 | ||||||
| West Ham | 249,473 | 53.0 | 19.1 | 6.05 | 2.51 | 241 |
| Bristol | 228,139 | 51.1 | 1.81 | 1.37 | 141 | |
| Nottingham | 226,658 | 20.7 | 18.4 | 5.22 | 4.76 | 289 |
| Bradford | 226,384 | 21.0 | 20.9 | 5.85 | 4.93 | 314 |
| Hull | 216,722 | 26.3 | 8.66 | 7.94 | ||
| Salford | 208,253 | 40.3 | 27.2 | 77.6 | 5.56 | 322 |
| Newcastle | 207,021 | 38.5 | 19.7 | 3.12 | 250 |
From this Table it is seen that the only town of over 200,000
inhabitants which showed better health returns than your Parish was
Bristol, whose density is not half that of Islington, and whose population
is less by 107,785 persons.
It will be noticed that the only town which at all approached
Islington in density was Liverpool, with 96-7 persons to the acre, but
its death rate was far higher, being 28-2 annually per 1,000 of its population.
Even several of the sea side resorts were less healthy, thus
Portsmouth* was 17*5, Brighton 16 0, Plymouth 16-7, and Scarborough
25-0.
Hastings, Eastbourne, Bournemouth and Ryde had, however, lower
death rates (calculated on the enumerated population) these being
* That small portion of the town known as Southsea, showed a death rate of about xi'o.