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 1881
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Islington, Parish of St Mary]
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13
THE CENSUS 1881.
I was desirous of laying before you some of the facts ascertained
by this last Census and those of the previous decades, many
of which we may fairly regard as of very great value, but the
details of the Census of 1881 not yet being in print I must content
myself with submitting the following Table, and leave any further
remarks which I may have to make for a future report.
TABLE No. VII.
Area and Population of Saint Mary, Islington, in the Census years from 1801 to 1881.
| Area in Arres | Census Year3. | Population at Census. | Increase in decade. | Annnal Kate of increase per cent. | Number of Inhabited Houses. | Number of Inhabitants to each house. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3107 | 1801 | 10,212 | * * | * * | * * | * * |
| 1811 | 15,065 | 4,853 | 3.965 | 2,399 | 6.3 | |
| 1821 | 22,417 | 7,352 | 4.054 | 3,495 | 6.4 | |
| 1831 | 37,316 | 14,899 | 5.230 | 5,797 | 6.4 | |
| 1811 | 55,690 | 18,374 | 40.73 | 8,508 | 6.5 | |
| 1851 | 95,329 | 39,639 | 5.522 | 13,528 | 7.0 | |
| 1861 | 155,341 | 60,012 | 5.003 | 20,704 | 7.5 | |
| 1871 | 213,778 | 58,437 | 3.243 | 27,079 | 7.9 | |
| 1881 | 282,865 | 69,087 | 2.840 | 34,046 | 8.3 |
This Table shows how vast the population of Islington has
become, and at what rate this enormous increase has taken place
during the interval of each ten years. In the last two decades,
however, it is noticeable that the higher rate of increase has not
been maintained, the 5 per cent. per annum between 1851 and
1861 being reduced to about 3¼ per cent. between 1861 and 1871,
and to a little over 2¾ per cent. per annum during the last decade.
As the ground of the Parish becomes more covered, there is
less scope for builders, and without a proportional increase in the
number of habitable houses, it is not desirable that even the reduced
rate of increase in the population should be maintained, for
it will be seen that the number of persons to each inhabited house
has been steadily increasing during the last 40 years.