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24
1912]
MARRIAGES.
There were 6,182 persons married in 1912, and the marriage late was
therefore 18.94 per 1,000 of the estimated population, which is the highest,
with six exceptions, this Borough has ever known; and they indicate
more powerfully than any words can express that Islington is in a prosperous
condition. Last year the Medical Officer of Health pointed out that it
could not be in the parlous state that pessimists asserted; for if so, the
marriage rate would not be so high as it were then, viz:—17.37 per 1,000 of
the population. The still higher, and remarkable, rate now reported indicates
beyond cavil that the Borough must be prospering else its young people could
not have married in such large numbers ; and particularly in an age when people
are marrying at a later period of life than formerly. Why even in the twenty
years 1841-60—when Islington was advancing by leaps and bounds, when its
population was increasing almost in a manner similar to that which to-day is
only to be found in the western states and districts of the United States
and Canada—on only two occasions did the marriage rate reach the high level
which it attained in the year under consideration, while in the seventy-three
years 1841-1911, it has been higher on only six occasions. The plain fact is
that the outcry as to the state of Islington has been much too loud; and as it
has not been based on a reality, it should now cease, for it is calculated
to do serious damage to business and to property. No doubt a certain, but
comparatively small, number of businesses have been affected owing to the
movement of population in certain of its districts; but this movement has only
affected a small part of the Borough; indeed, as a proof of this statement, it
may be related that the Secretary of one of the largest businesses in it, recently
informed the Medical Officer of Health that at no previous time in his firm's
history had it been so busy as during the last twelve months.
Hitherto no record of the marriages in Islington, beyond that of a decennial
period, has been published by the Medical Officer of Health, and therefore
he has considered it desirable that one should now be given in support
of his contention. It is to be found in Table XI., which gives the number
of marriages, as well as the marriage rates, since 1841. The figures have been
carefully abstracted from various returns of the Registrar General by the
Medical Officer of Health.
Persons married, Decennial average 1902-11 5,856 17.71 per 1,000
in 1912 6,182 18.94 ''
Increase 326 1.23 „