London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

View report page

St Pancras 1881

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]

This page requires JavaScript

43
COMMON LODGING HOUSES.
There are 33 common Lodging Houses in St. Pancras,
providing accommodation for 557 persons. These, as the
Vestry are aware, are under the supervision of the Police.
No case of infectious disease has, during the year, been
reported to the Sanitary Department, as occurring in any of
these houses.
CANAL BOATS.
The action which the Vestry have taken in prosecuting all
Owners of Canal Boats used as dwellings, which were not
registered, has resulted in the registration of such boats.
During 1881 no case of infectious disease occurring in any
canal boat has been reported to the Department.
OPEN SPACES.
During the year 1881, the Vestry have, together with the
Kyrle Society, been engaged in making arrangements for the
acquisition of the Burial Grounds of St. George's, Bloomsbury,
and St. George-the-Martyr, for the purpose of laying them
out as a Recreation Ground. Although certain delays have
as yet prevented the completion of these arrangements, it is
to be hoped that all difficulties will shortly be overcome.
In no part of the Parish is there more need for opportunities
for improving health, than the district in which the Burial
Grounds are situated.
PUBLIC MORTUARY.
That St. Pancras is still without a suitable place for the
temporary reception of the dead, is a matter for regret.
Wherever Public Mortuaries have been erected, they have
come to be more and more used, and in a large and thickly
populated Parish like our own, there is no doubt that one
would prove of great service to the community. This is a
matter that deserves the serious attention of the Sanitary
Authority.
SANITARY WORK DURING THE YEAR.
The year 1881 has been one which has more heavily taxed the
resources of the Sanitary Department, and the amount of
work carried out has been larger than in previous years.
The necessity for more constant inspection of the dwellings
of the poor with a view to improving the conditions under which
they live, had been for some time recognised by the Sanitary
Committee, and with this object a redistribution of the duties of
the Sanitary Inspectors was made in the middle of the year.