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5
RELATIVE MORTALITY OF DIFFERENT PARTS
OF THE PARISH.
I have stated that the rate of mortality in the whole parish was 23 72 per
thousand. In the several registration sub-districts it ranged from 20.9 to 25.2
per thousand: Camden Town had the lowest, and Somers' Town the highest
rate of mortality; Kentish Town stands second on the list, Regent's Park third,
Grays Inn Road fourth, and Tottenham. Court fifth, having a mortality very
nearly as high as Somers' Town.
The figures on which these statements are based, are given in detail in
Table A. They are only approximately true, from the impossibility of
determining exactly the population of the several sub-districts. I believe that
Camden Town appears to an undue advantage, because, probably, its population
has not increased since 1861, as it did between 1851 and 1861, owing to the
removal of so many dwellings in Agar Town, a great part of which were
situated in the Camden Town registration district.
There is another way of judging of the relative mortality of the districts,
less liable to fallacy, that is, by estimating the proportion borne by the deaths
under 5 years of age, to the births registered. On this plan, the several districts
stand in the following order, beginning with the one with the lowest proportional
infant mortality: Kentish Town, Regent's Park, Gray's Inn Road, Camden
Town, Somers Town, and Tottenham Court Road.
Under one year of age there have died 1,245 children, whilst 7,419 birtlia
have been registered; so that between 16 and 17 per cent, of the children born,
died before they reached the age of 12 months. In Kentish Town, the deaths
under one year of age were only 14.3 per cent, of the births; whilst in Somers
Town they were 17.3; in Tottenham Court, 17.7; and in Gray's Inn Road,
18.3 per cent. See Table C.
On Table B a number of streets and places are arranged, to shew their
death-rates last year, and in nine preceding years. It will be seen that the
following had, as might be expected, a mortality above that of the average of
the whole parish: Drapers-place, Gresse-street, Midford-place, Tottenhamplace,
Eden-street, Henry-street, Mary-place, Peace-cottages, Cooper's Buildings,
Derry (late James) street, Wellington-square, Cromer-street, Compton-place,
Poplar-place, Riley-street, Melina-place, Ashby-street, and Thornley-place.
During 1835, instead of a mortality below 24 per thousand in Drapersplane,
it was nearly 35; in Eden-street and Peace-cottages nearly 48; in the
Colonnade, 45; in Riley-street 49; in Ashby-street nearly 47; and in Thornleyplace
71 per thousand.
When the rate of mortality has been calculated for the ten years 1856 to
1861, the results are not quite so startling, though quite sufficiently so to excite
very grave enquiry as to the causes of the difference in the death-rate of the
several places. Thus, Henry-street exhibits a mean annual death-rate for ten
years of nearly 40 per thousand; Midtord-place about the same; Poplar-place
34 per thousand; Eden-street 30 per thousand; Ashby-street 33 per thousand;
and Thornley-place, 37.7 per thousand; Peace-cottages, Colonnade, and
Hampton-court, each between 32 and 33 per thousand.
These numbers do not give a true notion of the insalubrity of the places,
because, very many of the persons living in these streets go either to the