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

View report page

London County Council 1894

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

This page requires JavaScript

3
On dividing the population of Mile End into sections according to the character of the employment
of heads of families, Mr. Booth found—
5.3 per cent. belonged to the section headed manufacture of dress.
5.3 „ „ „ „ clerks and agents.
5.6 ,, ,, ,, ,, building trades.
There is, however, no very marked excess of any particular class of employment. As Mr. Booth
says: "Mile End with a little of everything very closely represents the average of the whole district "
(East London).
The Russians and Russian Poles of Mile End, who numbered only 893 at the 1881 census, had
increased to 3,140 at the 1891 census, and have almost certainly undergone further augmentation in the
last few years. The percentage of persons associated with the manufacture of dress in Mile End given
by Mr. Booth (53 per cent.), does not therefore, it may be assumed, adequately represent the now
.existing percentage. It may be noted that these Russians and Russian Poles are especially numerous
in the west ward of Mile End Old Town, the ward adjoining Whitechapel. Mr. Taylor, in his
annual report for 1892, observes : " During the last year the alien population in this ward has much
increased, but to what exact extent it is impossible to estimate." He adds: "One cannot help being
struck by the thriftiness of these people, coming over as they do with a mere bundle, and in a few
weeks' time seeing them carrying on their various businesses as though they had been here for years."
Birth rate, marriage rate and death rate.—The birth rate in 1893 was 38'7 per 1,000, and that
of 1892 was 38'2, while the ten years' average upon which Mr. Booth was working when he placed
Mile End fourth in order of registration districts with respect to birth rate, was 383.
The marriage rate in 1893 was 27.7.
The death rates of the district per 1,000 living, corrected for outlying institution deaths,
during the last three years are as follows—
213 in 1891, 23 1 in 1892, and 22 6 in 1893.
The death rates for the county of London being—
210 in 1891, 20 3 in 1892, and 20 9 in 1893.

If these figures be corrected for age and sex distribution by applying the factors for correction given on p. 9 of the annual report of the medical officer of the Council for 1892, the following corrected rates are obtained—

1891.1892.1893.
Mile End Old Town21.9523.8023.29
London22.3921.6022.28

The deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 registered births in Mile End and in London respectively are as follows—

1891.1892.1893.
Mile End Old Town149153149
London153154163

The zymotic death rates per 1,000 living, in the district and in London, during the same years

1891.1892.1893.
Mile End Old Town1.93.63.35
London2.02.83.04

On computing approximately the expectation of life at birth in Mile End by application of
Dr. Bristowe's formula to the mean death rate and birth rate of the three years 1891-2-3, it will be
found that the expectation of life at birth in Mile End is 34.2 years; the corresponding figure for
London being 39.l years, and that for Whitechapel 30 9 years.
Sanitary circumstances.
Water supply.—The whole district is supplied by the East London Water Company. As there
are comparatively few high buildings, the question of constant supply being afforded for the upper floors
of such buildings did not assume in 1893 the prominence which it did in Whitechapel. Complaints
have, however, been received this summer relative to the supply being altogether cut off at night time.
This matter is indeed under the consideration of the Council at the time of writing this report.
Results of inspection.—I inspected 507 houses in Mile End. In 165 of these defects were
found to exist. In the report of the sanitary committee of the Jewish Board of Guardians for 1893 it
is stated that the committee's inspector visited 298 houses in Mile End, of which the number found
"defective and below standard of local authority "was 182. The inspector of the Jewish Board of
Guardians thus found 61 per cent. of the houses visited by him defective, while the corresponding percentage,
obtained as the result of my inspection, was 32 per cent. This discrepancy is at first sight
startling, especially in view of the close correspondence of our results in the case of Whitechapel. I
could not fail to note, however, the very large number of instances in which improvement had been
effected in Mile End houses within the last two years; and when inspecting workshops in Mile End (at
the end of 1892, and again on two occasions separated by some interval during 1893), it was obvious
that great improvement in their condition was in progress. From the annual report of the vestry for
1892 it appears that during the early part of 1892 the sanitary staff was reorganised, and that, whereas
at the end of 1891 there were only two sanitary inspectors, from June 1892 onwards the staff consisted
of three inspectors and a clerk. There can be no doubt that there has been during the last two years a
remarkable transformation in the sanitary condition of the district, and it may be that the differences
between the results of inspection by the inspector of the Jewish Board of Guardians and myself are
thus explained.
As regards the nature of the defects noted during this year's inspection, I found dirty conditions
and dilapidations in rather more than five per cent. of the houses visited. This class of defect is, as