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London county council.
THE LONDON LIFE TABLE, 1891-1900.
(Printed by order of the Public Health Committee, 24th April, 1902.)
Public Health Department,
8, St. Martin's-place, W.C.
Introduction.
The form of the life table" was invented in the 18th century by Halley, the astronomer,
although the mode of construction of Halley's table, calculated on the deaths in the city of Breslau,
differed materially from that adopted in life tables of more recent date. The celebrated Carlisle table,
calculated by Mr. Milne on two enumerations of the population of Carlisle and its environs made
by Dr. Heysham in 1779 and 1787 and the deaths in nine years, was, according to Dr. Farr,
the first correct representation of the vitality of any portion of the English population, and
reference may also be made to a table of mortality calculated from observations made in connection
with the population of Glasgow in the years, 1821-27. The latter table has been used for
comparative purposes by Dr. Chalmers, who recently published an extended life table for the Glasgow
population based on the experience of the decade 1881—90. Since the publication of the Carlisle
table of mortality the importance of life tables has been increasingly manifest, and many improvements
in life table construction have been made. The institution of civil registration in England has
given opportunity for the construction of national life tables, and such tables have from time to time
been published in the reports of the Registrar-General. Extended life tables, which are invaluable for
comparative purposes, have also been calculated for Manchester (Dr. Tatham), Glasgow (Dr. Chalmers)
and Brighton (Dr. Newsholme) on the experience of the decennium 1881-90, and, in view of the
increasing attention devoted to sanitary progress, it is to be anticipated that local life tables for a large
number of sanitary areas will be calculated when the results of the most recent census are published.
A life table shows the viability of the population at each age of life and for each sex
under the conditions to which they are exposed during some limited period, in other words, it
follows the history of a million children throughout the whole of their lives, on the assumption
that the conditions to which they are exposed during the limited period in question and which
influence their longevity are maintained from their birth until the last of them has disappeared from
the earth. It shows from the beginning of life and at each age of life the number dying and the
number surviving, the probability which each has of living one year of life beyond the age he or
she has attained, the total number of years which the survivors at any particular age may be expected
to live, and lastly the mean expectation of life at each age and for each sex. A life table entirely
eliminates all errors due to differences in the age and sex constitution of the population, and it shows
the effects of conditions which influence mortality in different degrees at different ages of life.
It furnishes therefore, the means most free from objection for taking stock of the results of the
several factors which influence longevity, whether they are those which tend to lower it, such as
the living in aggregation with the risks to life which are inevitable from such aggregation, or
whether they are those which tend to prolong it, such as the improved prosperity of the community
and the adoption of those measures which experience indicates as militating against disease and
death. The opportunities which the Council has afforded during recent years for obtaining more
exact information than I possessed before as to the deaths which properly belong to the London
population has enabled material to be obtained which provides a sufficiently sound basis to justify the
expenditure of time and labour involved in the preparation of an extended table by which more
exact comparison than heretofore can be made between the vital statistics of London and of
those other communities which have already availed themselves of opportunities for similar statement.
This table is, it may be hoped, the first of a series which will also enable similar comparison to
be made between the viability of the London population in successive decennia, and thus show whether
there is indication of progress or of regress, and whether the movement in either direction corresponds
with the changes observed in other parts of the country.
Owing to the fact that the results of the recent census have not been published for the whole
of the country, there are as yet no extended life tables relating to other communities based on the
experience of the decennium 1891-1900 available for comparison with that of London* If, however,
comparison be made between the London life table for 1891-1900, and those to which I have already
referred, it is found that London occupies a position between the healthy districts of the Registrar
General, England and Wales, and Brighton on the one hand, and Manchester and Glasgow on
the other. The position of the population of London in relation to these other populations is discussed
in more detail on pages 16 to 18, and will be seen by reference to diagram II. In any speculation
as to whether the facts that the London figures are based upon the experience of a later decennium
than the figures of the other communities, and that the conditions of life are generally
improving in the country as a whole, will tend to put London in a less favourable
position, when comparison is made between it and the other towns for the same period,
it needs to be borne in mind that during the decennium 1891-1900 the mortality in England and Wales
generally was increased by influenza. Judged by the figures of the short life table for London in
1881-90, published in my annual report for the year 1893, however, there is reason for thinking
* Since this was in type I have received a copy of a "short" life table for Haydock (Lancash re), based upon the mortality in
the decennium 1891-1900, and constructed by Dr. Hayward, the Medical Officer of Health of that district.
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