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 1865
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Islington, Parish of St Mary]
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5
DISTRICT MORTALITY.
Table II. represents the deaths that have taken place during the year in each of the 35 districts into which I have divided the parish for sanitary purposes. Dividing these districts as I have been accustomed to do into three groups according to their character, and calculating the death-rate upon the population of each at the time of the census in 1861, the following is the result.
| Group 1. | Group 2. | Group 3. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Districts. | Death-rate per 1000. | Districts. | Death-rate per 1000. | Districts. | Death-rate per 1000. | |||
| 1865 | 1864 | 1865 | 1864 | 1865 | 1864 | |||
| *Mildmay | 35.3 | 32.6 | *Freehold | 42.9 | 33.3 | Battle Bridge | 32.2 | 22.6 |
| *Hornsey Road | 35.0 | 32.6 | *Lr. Holloway | 32.5 | 30.3 | *Balls Pond | 31.8 | 29.9 |
| *Shepherdess | 24.7 | 29.7 | *Archway | 31.7 | 23.6 | *Queen's Road | 29.1 | 24.8 |
| Duncan | 24.4 | 9.7 | *Highgate Hill | 30.2 | 22.3 | WhiteConduit | 26.9 | 27.7 |
| *Tufnell | 21.7 | 13.8 | St. Peters | 26.0 | 21.0 | Belle Isle | 26.2 | 28.0 |
| Barnsbury | 20.9 | 22.2 | Kingsland | 23.2 | 27.0 | *Bemerton . | 25.0 | 27.1 |
| *Hornsey Rise | 20.8 | 18.9 | Palmer | 21.0 | 19.9 | Irish Courts | 22.0 | 31.0 |
| Canonbury | 16.7 | 16.9 | Rotherfield | 20.7 | 25.9 | Lower Road | 22.0 | 24.1 |
| *Market | 16.3 | 22.4 | St. Thomas | 20.2 | 22.8 | Canal | 38.8 | 19.7 |
| *Rydon | 15.3 | 13.7 | Trinity | 19.9 | 20.0 | City Road | 18.1 | 23.4 |
| Highbury Hill | 14.3 | 14.7 | Highbury Vale | 16.5 | 19.4 | |||
| Church | 16.3 | 24.5 | ||||||
| Theberton | 15.3 | 21.1 | ||||||
| Park Street | 13.9 | 17.9 | ||||||
| Mean of Group | 20.8 | 20.6 | Mean of Group | 24.5 | 23.5 | Mean of Group | 24.0 | 25.9 |
It is worthy of remark in this table that the poorest districts of the parish, those
to which naturally our sanitary efforts have of late been chiefly directed, have becomo
lowered in their death-rate from 29.3 in 1863 to 25.9 in 1854, and to 24.0 per 1000 in
1865. The improvement in respect of the Irish courts is especially noticeable. From
presenting for several years in succession the highest or nearly the highest death-rate
in group three, this district has fallen to stand seventh on the list, and from a deathrate
of 42.2 in 1863 to a death-rate of no more than 22 per 1000. These courts have
taken up a scarcely credible amount of time and labour on the part of your sanitary
staff.
CAUSES OF DEATH.
The causes which led to the death of 3813 persons appear upon Table I. Of
these persons 1836 were males and 1977 were female.
0 The First group embraces the more wealthy districts, of which the numbers aro not underlined on
the map.
The Second group embraces those with a more mixei population, of which the numbers are singly
under lined on the map.
The Third group embraces those with a population more or less poor and negligent, doubly underlined
on the map.
* Those districts marked thus (*) have increased to such an extent by new buildings since the census
that the death-rate calculated upon the population of these in 1861 is fir above tho correct rate.