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
London County Council 1897
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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68
Plumstead—Proposal to register 12 houses in this district, led in respect of 11 to the house
being occupied by one family, and the tenants being turned out.
Common Lodging-houses.
The year 1897 was the fourth year during which common lodging-houses in the county of London
have been subject to regulation by the Council. The number of houses on the register at the end of
the year was 581, providing accommodation for 28,718 persons. Ten of these houses were registered
for the first time in 1897. In the supervision of these houses, the Council's inspectors made 26,620
inspections, of which number, 26,121 visits were made to registered, and 4-99 visits were made to unregistered
houses. In 261 cases preliminary notices were served to compel the keepers to comply with
various requirements, and statutory notices were served in 2 cases. Proceedings before the magistrate
were instituted in 31 cases, and in 30 cases fines were inflicted amounting in the aggregate to £82 12s.,
and £9 19s. costs. In the remaining case the summons was withdrawn upon the keeper paying
£1 Is. costs.
The number of cases of infectious disease reported in these houses was as follows :—Diphtheria,
7 ; enteric fever, 10; erysipelas, 19 ; German measles, 1 ; scarlet fever, 8; small pox, 3 ; or 48 in all.
The number of deaths from various causes reported in these houses was 59.
| Sanitary district. | Number of common lodging-houses. | Authorised number of lodgers. | Number of houses registered in 1897. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battersea | 6 | 227 | — |
| Bermondsey | 4 | 226 | — |
| Bethnal-green | 13 | 368 | 1 |
| Camberwell | 10 | 613 | 1 |
| Chelsea | 18 | 875 | — |
| Clerkenwell | 5 | 249 | — |
| Fulham | 1 | 51 | — |
| Greenwich | 17 | 775 | 1 |
| Hackney | 10 | 386 | — |
| Hammersmith | 8 | 533 | — |
| Hampstead | 1 | 35 | — |
| Holborn | 11 | 611 | — |
| Islington | 47 | 1,279 | 3 |
| Kensington | 32 | 950 | — |
| Lambeth | 12 | 705 | — |
| Lee | 1 | 10 | — |
| Lewisham | 9 | 109 | — |
| Limehouse | 22 | 823 | — |
| Marylebone | 22 | 894 | — |
| Mile-end | 6 | 220 | — |
| Newington | 13 | 1,537 | — |
| Paddington | 3 | 66 | — |
| Poplar | 12 | 855 | — |
| Rotherhithe | 3 | 116 | — |
| St. George-in-the-East | 16 | 455 | — |
| St. George, Southwark | 31 | 1,540 | — |
| St. Giles | 32 | 1,822 | — |
| St. James | 1 | 88 | — |
| St. Luke | 4 | 240 | — |
| St. Martin | 4 | 170 | — |
| St. Olave | 1 | 533 | — |
| St. Pancras | 26 | 996 | 1 |
| St. Saviour's, Southwark | 18 | 889 | — |
| Shoreditch | 15 | 772 | 2 |
| Stoke Newington | 1 | 41 | — |
| Strand | 11 | 623 | — |
| Wandsworth | 13 | 281 | — |
| Westminster | 21 | 1,400 | — |
| Whitechapel | 64 | 5,473 | — |
| Woolwich | 37 | 882 | 1 |
| Total | 581 | 28,718 | 10 |
With a view to ascertaining the number of persons resident in common-lodging houses at the
time of the Queen's Jubilee, I caused inquiry to be made at every lodging-house in the county as to
the number of persons sleeping in the house on the nights of the 21st and 23rd June, 1897. The results
are shown in the following table. It will be seen that 20,992 and 20,533 slept in those houses on
these nights respectively.