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Town Hall,
Euston Road,
N.W. 1.
June, 1955
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Saint Pancras,
Your Worship, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have pleasure in presenting to you my annual report for the year 1954
The population in the middle of the year, as estimated by the Registrar
General, was 136,400, which is 2,000 less than in 1953.
Registered live births were 2,168, an increase of 45 on the previous year.
The birth rate was 15.9 which is the highest since 1949- It is somewhat difficult
to know what influences cause a birth rate to rise or fall. Undoubtedly the
fear of war and its incidence deters parents from increasing their family; e.g
in 1939 the birth rate fell to 12.3 Prosperity and wealth might be assumed to
encourage parents to have children, but experience has shown that the birth
rate amongst wealthy families has been lower than among those who are less well
to do. Probably fashion plays an important part Until recently a family of two
seems to have been the desire of most parents. I think that there is a tendency
now to have larger families Whilst it is generally agreed that it is undesirable
to have an only child, I think parents should realise that a family of one boy
and one girl has some of the disadvantages of the only child family, for a daughter
needs a sister and a son a brother if a proper spirit of family completeness is
to be experienced not only by the parents but also by the children
The death rate was 9.81, the lowest that has ever been recorded in the
Borough of St. Pancras and beats what was last year a previous record at 10.11
Infantile Mortality
The number of children who died before they reached the age of 1 year was
39, giving an infantile mortality rate of 17.98, once again a record figure
the lowest ever reached in St Pancras. This record infantile mortality rate
follows the rapid fall which started in 1945, when the mortality was 44. In
1946 it was 38, and it has fallen more or less consistently until the latest
figure has been reached Of the 39 children who died, 29 failed to live more than
one month, and of these, five died of congenital malformation, four of birth
injuries, seven of failure of the lungs to expand and five from prematurity.
It is possible that some of these deaths were due to infection for recent
research seems to show that it is far more prevalent a cause of death in early
life than was originally believed.
This short summary of the vital statistics of the Borough indicates that
the year was a healthy one and that the progress we have been able to report
i