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London County Council.
Public Health Department,
Spring Gardens,
8th November, 1894.
Report by the Medical Officer, presenting Report by Dr. Young on
the Sanitary Condition and Administration of Deptford.
Printed by order of the Public Health Committee, ls£ October, 1894.
In the early part of 1893, Dr. Young inquired, on behalf of the Council, into a representation
made by the Mansion House Council on the Dwellings of the Poor that there was neglect to maintain
in proper sanitary condition a number of houses situated in the two parishes of Deptford. A copy of
Dr. Young's report on the condition of these houses was communicated to the Greenwich District Board,
with an expression of the opinion of the Public Health Committee, that the sanitary staff of Deptford
was then insufficient, especially as no clerical assistance was provided. The Greenwich Board later
stated in reply that an inspector had been appointed since the date of the Council's letter, and that
the staff was now adequate. Dr. Young was then instructed to report upon the sanitary condition and
administration of the district generally, with a view to enabling an opinion to be formed as to the
sufficiency of the sanitary staff, and I now present his report.
Dr. Young's report shows that a considerable part of Deptford is occupied by poor persons, for
whose houses sanitary inspection is especially needed. While he bears witness to the fact that much
had been done since the complaint of the Mansion House Council was first received and since he first
inspected the district in the early part of 1893, he nevertheless points out that about half the houses he
inspected in 1894 were faulty in one or another particular, the conditions being those which frequently
occur in houses of the class which abound in Deptford. Beyond this Dr. Young found that no houses
let in lodgings had been registered, in many instances there was overcrowding of tenements, and but
little effort had been made to inspect workshops. Numerically the sanitary inspectors are below the
average of London, and the disadvantages of any deficiency of staff are accentuated by the absence of
clerical assistance to the sanitary inspectors.
The conclusion to which Dr. Young's report points is that in view of the character of the district,
the sanitary staff should be still further strengthened, and especially should arrangements be made for
the more economical use of the time of the sanitary inspectors.
Shirley F. Murphy,
Medical Officer of Health.
Dr. Young's Report.
The district of Deptford is situated in the south-eastern part of London, on the southern bank of
the Thames adjoining the parish of Rotherhithe, and consists of the two parishes of St. Nicholas and
St. Paul (including Hatcham). Deptford is not a separate sanitary area, but forms part of the area
under the jurisdiction of the Greenwich District Board of Works which includes the parish of St. Alphege,
Greenwich, and the two parishes of St. Nicholas and St. Paul, Deptford. The boundary between
Deptford and Greenwich is formed practically by the river Ravensbourne and Deptford-creek. The
population of the entire sanitary area at the date of the last census report, was 165,413, of which
108,173 persons resided in Deptford.
At the present time the rateable value of the parish of St. Nicholas is £58,327, and of the parish
of St. Paul £495,732.
The area of the combined parishes of Deptford is given in the census report as follows: 1,663
acres of land, 22 acres of water, and 67 acres of tidal water and foreshore. Nearly the whole area of the
district has now been built upon, and with the exception of some land in the north-western part of St.
Paul's parish, adjoining Rotherhithe, which is at present largely U3ed as market gardens, and some
ground not built upon in the south-western part of the same parish, there are no open spaces in the
district.

No. 201.—Price 2d.
Sold by Edward Stanford, 20 and 27, Cockspur-street, Gharing-croas, S. W.
[1799