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 1902
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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| Life-period. | Males. | Females. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampstead. | Southwark. | Hampstead. | Southwark. | |
| Infancy (0-5 years) | 4.24 | 3.69 | 4.38 | 3.86 |
| School age (5-15 years) | 8.00 | 6.58 | 8.28 | 6.93 |
| Working period (15-65 years) | 33.70 | 24.26 | 37.03 | 26.94 |
| Decline (65 years and upwards) | 4.86 | 1.99 | 6.87 | 2.97 |
| Total | 50.80 | 36.52 | 56.56 | 40.70 |
From this table it appears that, adopting the Hampstead figures as a standard, Southwark
males lose 13.0 per cent. of the period of infancy, 17.7 per cent. of the school-age period, 28.0
per cent. of the working-period, and 59.1 per cent. of the period of decline. If the figures relating
to females be compared on similar lines, it will be seen that Southwark females, compared with
Hampstead females as a standard, lose 11.9 per cent. of the period of infancy, 16.3 per cent. of
the school-age period, 27.2 per cent. of the working-period, and 56.8 per cent. of the period of
decline.
As long ago as 1841, Dr. Farr, in the fifth annual report of the Registrar-General, published
short life tables for St. George, Hanover-square and Whitechapel, two metropolitan districts, the
resident populations of which at that time were, and at the present day are, in marked contrast
with respect to social condition. The data upon which these tables are based are probably much
more imperfect than those at present obtainable, and the method of construction of the tables also
differs from that adopted for the purposes of this report in the case of Hampstead and Southwark,
but the "expectations of life" obtained by Dr. Farr for the first two districts in 1841 differ so
widely from those obtained for the last two districts for the period of 1897-1900 that, even allowing
a wide margin for differences in method of construction and imperfect data, a rough comparison
may be made between the four districts. The results obtained by Dr. Farr in 1841 are as
follows, and the figures for Hampstead and Southwark are inserted for comparison-
| Age. | Males. | Females. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ex, Expectation of life. | Ex, Expectation of life. | |||||||||||
| St. George, Hanover. square, 1841. | Hampstead, 1897-1900. | Excess in years. | Whitechapel, 1841. | Southwark, 1897-1900. | Excess in years. | St. George, Hanover. square, 1841. | Hampstead, 1897-1900. | Excess in years. | Whitechapel, 1841. | Southwark, 1897-1900. | Excess in years. | |
| At birth | 37.4 | 50.8 | 13.4 | 31.0 | 36.5 | 5.5 | 39.7 | 56.6 | 16.9 | 34.3 | 40.7 | 6.4 |
| At age 10 | 47.0 | 53.3 | 6.3 | 41.6 | 45.0 | 3.4 | 50.2 | 581 | 7.9 | 45.6 | 48.3 | 2.7 |
| „ 20 | 39.5 | 44.2 | 4.7 | 33.5 | 36.4 | 2.9 | 42.5 | 48.7 | 6.2 | 37.5 | 39.6 | 2.1 |
| „ 30 | 32.1 | 35.5 | 3.4 | 26.7 | 28.6 | 1.9 | 34.0 | 39.5 | 5.5 | 29.8 | 31.5 | 1.7 |
| „ 40 | 25.2 | 27.5 | 2.3 | 21.1 | 21.9 | 0.8 | 26.2 | 30.8 | 4.6 | 23.1 | 24.4 | 1.3 |
| „ 50 | 18.7 | 20.3 | 1.6 | 15.9 | 16.2 | 0.3 | 19.0 | 22.9 | 3.9 | 16.7 | 18.3 | 1.6 |
| „ 60 | 12.2 | 14.1 | 1.9 | 10.9 | 11.3 | 0.4 | 13.1 | 15.8 | 2.7 | 12.8 | 12.7 | — 0.1 |
A comparison which is of interest is that showing the relative positions of the four districts
with regard to life expectation; this may be best seen by comparing each with Hampstead taken
as a standard.
The following table (VIII.) shows the "comparative expectation of life" at each age in
Southwark, 1897-1900; St. George, Hanover-square, 1841; and Whitechapel, 1841, taking the
expectation of life in Hampstead, 1897-1900, as 100 at each age—