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London County Council.
SANITARY OFFICERS.
Report by the medical officer on the sanitary staffs of the metropolitan boroughs.
(Printed by order of the Public Health Committee, 18th June, 1908).
During the past fifteen years I have from time to time presented returns based upon
information supplied by the medical officers of health of the metropolitan boroughs and the cities of
London and Westminster showing the sanitary staff in the several districts of London. This is the
ninth return, and it is worthy of note that the return shows that there has been no alteration in the
number of inspectors since 1906, whereas previous returns have shown a steady increase in successive
years of the number of sanitary inspectors employed. The total number of inspectors now is 319,
and reference to the following table will show that this number has been maintained only by the
increased employment of women:—
Inspectors. Inspectors. Inspectors.
Year. Men. Women. Year. Men. Women. Year. Men. Women.
1893 188 — 1898 250 6 1904 285 28
1894 219 — 1901 264 11 1906 281 38
1895 227 1 1903 281 20 1908 279 40
The number of men inspectors reached a maximum of 285 in 1904, it fell to 281 in 1906, and
to 279 in 1908. In the same years the number of women inspectors was 28, 38 and 40 respectively.
As compared with 1904, four districts, Bethnal Green, Lewisham, Woolwich and the City of London,
had in 1906 each replaced one of their men inspectors by a woman inspector, and three Borough
Councils, viz., Camberwell, Deptford and Greenwich, had reduced their staff of men inspectors bv one,
each. Since 1906 the staff of Deptford has been still further reduced by one, and Bermondsey and
St. Pancras also show a reduction in staff.
The first woman inspector in London was appointed by the Kensington Vestry in 1895.
There are now 40 women inspectors, or two more than in 1906, though now, as then, no woman
inspector has been appointed in Bermondsey, Deptford, Greenwich, Hammersmith, Shoreditch,
Stepney and Stoke Newington.
The following table shows the number of inspectors in the several sanitary districts in the
years 1904, 1906 and 1908:—
District.
No. of Inspectors.
District.
No. of Inspectors.
1904.
1906.
1908.
1904.
1906.
1908.
M.
W.
M.
W.
M.
W.
M.
W.
M.
W.
M.
W.
Battersea
11
2
11
2
11
2
Paddington
10
2
10
2
10
2
Bermondsey
9
—
9
—
8
—
Poplar
7
1
8
1
8
1
Bethnal Green
10
—
9
1
9
1
St. Marylebone
7
1
7
2
7
3
Camberwell
13
1
12
1
12
1
St. Pancras
15
1
15
2
14
2
Chelsea
3
1
3
1
3
1
Shoreditch
6
6
6
Deptford
8
—
7
—
6
—
South wark
13
3
13
3
13
3
Finsbury
9
1
9
2
9
2
Stepney
18
—
18
—
18
—
Fulham
6
1
6
1
7
1
Stoke Newington
3
—
3
—
3
—
Greenwich
6
—
5
—
5
—
Wandsworth
10
1
10
2
10
2
Hackney
15
2
15
2
15
2
Westminster
10
2
10
2
10
2
Hammersmith
9
—
9
—
9
—
Woolwich
9
1
8
2
8
2
Hampstead
6
1
6
1
6
1
City of London
18
1
17
2
17
3
Holborn
3
1
Q
1
3
1
Islington
19
1
20
2
20
2
London
285
28
281
38
279
40
Kensington
11
2
11
2
11
2
Lambeth
12
1
13
2
13
2
M = Men.
313
319
319
Lewisham
9
1
8
2
8
2
W = Women.
On the basis of the figures of the 1901 census there is in London one sanitary inspector to
every 1,792 inhabited houses and to every 14,221 persons. Of this average population more than
half, or 7,680 persons, live in tenements of less than five rooms, and of these persons 2,276 are living
more than two in a room.
Public Health Department,
8, St. Martin's-place,
July, 1908.
Shirley F. Murphy,
Medical Officer of Health.
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