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 1903
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Before the passing of this Act the Council's powers with respect to common lodging.houses
were more limited, and there was no means of compelling a keeper to provide for the safety,
of the lodgers in case of fire. Advantage was taken of the larger powers granted by the Act
to improve the sanitary condition of many common lodging.houses, and to ensure that proper
provision was made for the safety of the lodgers in the event of fire.
For this purpose every common lodging.house was visited and reported upon with special
reference to its suitability, capacity, and general sanitary condition, and every room in each house
was remeasured. Lists of requirements were prepared and sent to the respective keepers,
together with a draft apportionment showing the number of persons for which the several rooms
would be apportioned. The new apportionment in many cases had the effect of considerably
reducing the registered accommodation.
The requirements included the removal of unsatisfactory water.closet and lavatory fittings,
in place of which the keepers were called upon to provide new water.closets conforming to the
by.laws, proper fixed lavatory basins in slate slabs, glazed stoneware footbaths and washing
troughs. Special attention was paid to the lighting and ventilation of the sleeping rooms and
kitchens. In many instances the removal of partitions forming cubicles was insisted upon,
thus improving the ventilation of the dormitories. At the present time, save for three houses
only in which the conditions are exceptional, every common lodging.house in the county is now
separately apportioned for single men, or single women, or married couples.
The first annual licensing meeting was held on the 24th and 25th June, 1903. Adjourned
meetings were held on the 3rd July and 14th October. At these meetings 512 applications for
licences were considered. Of these 384 were granted, 88 adjourned until the 27th January, 1904,
for the completion of the necessarv works. 11 withdrawn, and 29 refused.
The following table shows the total number of known common lodging.houses in London on the 31st December, 1903, whether licensed or unlicensed, and the authorised number of lodgers in each case. The number of houses remaining on the register at the end of 1902 is added for the sake of comparison—
| Metropolitan borough. | Remaining licensed on 31.12.03. | Remaining unlicensed on 31.12.03. | Total at end of year 1903. | Total at end of year 1902. | No. of houses added during 1903. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of houses. | Authorised No. of lodgers. | Houses. | Authorised No. of lodgers. | Houses. | Authorised No. of lodgers. | Houses. | Authorised No. of lodgers. | ||
| Battersea | 3 | 117 | 6 | 182 | 9 | 299 | 8 | 273 | 1 |
| Bermondsey | 3 | 115 | 3 | 772 | 6 | 887 | 5 | 789 | 1 |
| Bethnal.green | 16 | 712 | 1 | 71 | 17 | 783 | 18 | 781 | 1 |
| Camberwell | 5 | 230 | 1 | 313 | 6 | 543 | 9 | 609 | . |
| Chelsea | 7 | 289 | 1 | 89 | 8 | 378 | 9 | 479 | . |
| Deptford | 7 | 279 | 1 | 200 | 8 | 479 | 9 | 545 | . |
| Finsbury | 6 | 363 | 1 | 98 | 7 | 461 | 7 | 471 | . |
| Fulham | 2 | 60 | — | — | 2 | 60 | 2 | 68 | . |
| Greenwich | 6 | 178 | — | — | 6 | 178 | 7 | 228 | . |
| Hackney | 6 | 397 | — | — | 6 | 397 | 8 | 426 | . |
| Hammersmith | 8 | 179 | 1 | 292 | 9 | 471 | 9 | 550 | . |
| Hampstead | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 35 | . |
| Holborn | 32 | 1,634 | 8 | 774 | 40 | 2,408 | 43 | 2,414 | 1 |
| Islington | 41 | 1,279 | 1 | 72 | 42 | 1,351 | 40 | 1,292 | 3 |
| Kensington | 29 | 819 | 1 | 43 | 30 | 862 | 33 | 1,019 | 1 |
| Lambeth | 7 | 460 | 1 | 167 | 8 | 627 | 9 | 688 | — |
| Lewisham | 1 | 30 | — | — | 1 | 30 | 1 | 30 | . |
| Marylebone | 15 | 644 | 4 | 868 | 19 | 1,512 | 20 | 964 | 1 |
| Paddington | 8 | 264 | — | — | 8 | 264 | 9 | 301 | — |
| Poplar | 9 | 959 | 2 | 288 | 11 | 1,247 | 11 | 1,461 | — |
| St. Pancras | 13 | 664 | 2 | 372 | 15 | 1,036 | 15 | 990 | 1 |
| Shoreditch | 7 | 472 | 5 | 262 | 12 | 734 | 13 | 761 | . |
| Southwark | 38 | 2,152 | 14 | 1,826 | 52 | 3,978 | 56 | 4,086 | 2 |
| Stepney | 51 | 3,780 | 31 | 3,430 | 82 | 7,210 | 81 | 6,755 | 8 |
| Stoke Newington | 1 | 37 | — | — | 1 | 37 | 1 | 37 | — |
| Wandsworth | 10 | 218 | — | — | 10 | 218 | 10 | 231 | . |
| Westminster, City of | 19 | 1,036 | 3 | 687 | 22 | 1,723 | 24 | 1,891 | — |
| Woolwich | 30 | 674 | 3 | 46 | 33 | 720 | 33 | 796½ | — |
| 380 | 18,041 | 90 | 10,852 | 470 | 28,893 | 491 | 28,970½ | 20 | |
In connection with the foregoing table, it should be noted that during the year 1903 a
number of large Salvation Army shelters were included in the list of common lodging.houses,
these shelters being held to be common lodging.houses within the meaning of the Acts as the
result of the appeal Logsdon v. Booth, referred to in my annual report for 1899.
From censuses taken of the number of persons sleeping in common lodging.houses on
certain nights in June, 1897, June and October, 1902, and November, 1903, it may be estimated
that about 4,000 beds are vacant every night. On the 14th November, 1903, when the accommodation
for lodgers alone might be roughly estimated at 29,000, a census was taken for the
purpose of classifying the total common lodging.house population, including deputies, their wives
and families, according to age and sex. This census gave a total of 25,662 men, women,
and children sleeping in common lodging.houses on the night in question, and of this