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
St Pancras 1882
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]
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The following table thus shows the death rates from certain diseases during 1882:—
| Sub-Registration Districts | All Diseases. | Tubercular Diseases. | Pulmonary Diseases other than Phthisis. | Zymotic Diseases. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regent's Park | 19.3 | 2.0 | 8.6 | 2.9 |
| Tottenham Court Road | 20.2 | 2.7 | 4.2 | 2.4 |
| Gray's Inn Lane | 21.0 | 8.1 | 4.3 | 3.6 |
| Somers Town | 23.0 | 8.4 | 4.8 | 8.4 |
| Camden Town | 20.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 2.4 |
| Kentish Town | 18.4 | 1.9 | 4.0 | 8.0 |
"Whether the death-rate be calculated on the deaths from
'all causes,' on tubercular diseases, on pulmonary diseases, or
on zymotic diseases, the result is always the same, Somers
Town and Gray's Inn Lane sub-registration districts head the
list: Kentish Town has the lowest death rate in all except
from pulmonary diseases, when Regent's Park is lower still.
When the death-rate among infants comes to be considered we find that when calculated upon the number of registered births the following results are obtained:—
| Sub-Registration Districts. | No. of Deaths under one. | Proportion to 10 births. |
|---|---|---|
| Regent's Park | 169 | 142.1 |
| Tottenham Court Road | 115 | 162.5 |
| Gray's Inn Lane | 146 | 155.5 |
| Somers Town | 194 | 165.6 |
| Camden Town | 78 | 108.5 |
| Kentish Town | 892 | 134.4 |
Here again, Somers Town heads the list, and Tottenham
Court Road and Gray's Inn Lane follow. The small death
rate of Camden Town is probably due to the fact that deaths
occurring in the Workhouse which is situated in that subregistration
district are referred to the sub-registration districts
to which they belong while the births are not.
So again, just as we find one sub-registration district in
St. Pancras, having a far higher death rate than another, we
find in eaoh district the inhabitants of one locality dying at
a far greater rate than in another, and wherever this may be,
it is always the poor living under the worst hygienic conditions
who suffer most. Let us take for example the death rates of
certain special localities in the Gray's Inn Lane sub-registration
district. In Cromer Street the rate of mortaliy is 25.8 per 1000;