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 1913

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

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Report of the County Medical Officer—General. 65
difficulty in fixing the responsibility as between "landlord" and "tenant." New by-laws have been
under consideration for several years, in fact ever since the formation of the borough, and on two
occasions a draft code has been submitted to the Local Government Board. The Board, however,
required certain alterations to which the borough council could not agree, and the question of
making new by-laws has been deferred.

Table: Death Rates in Council's Dwellings.The following death-rates obtaining among tenants of the Council's buildings relate to dwellings within the county which were occupied during the whole of the year 1913. The population thus dealt with comprised 28,882 persons, and the death-rate at "all ages," after correction for age and sex distribution, was 9.6 per 1,000 living, compared with 14.2 for London :—

Death Rates in Council's Dwellings.

The following death-rates obtaining among tenants of the Council's buildings relate to dwellings within the county which were occupied during the whole of the year 1913. The population thus dealt with comprised 28,882 persons, and the death-rate at "all ages," after correction for age and sex distribution, was 9.6 per 1,000 living, compared with 14.2 for London :—

Cause of death.Death-rate per 1,000 living, 1913.
Council's dwellings.London.
All Causes—All Ages9.614.2
„ „ age 0-521.637.3
,, ,, 5-202.32.5
„ ,, ,, 20 and upwards10.215.5
Diarrhæa0.50.8
Principal epidemic diseases (excluding Diarrhoea)0.40.7
Phthisis0.91.3
Tubercular diseases other than Phthisis0.60.3
Bronchitis0.51.3
Pneumonia1.01.3

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Common Lodging-Houses.
The administration of the Common Lodging Houses Acts devolved upon the Council in 1894.
By the passing of the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1902, the Council obtained powers
to license common lodging-houses annually. New by-laws for the regulation of common lodginghouses
came into force on the 1st October, 1903.

Table: In the following table will be seen the number of houses, the authorised number of lodgers, the number of convictions, with the penalties inflicted, and other particulars during each year since 1894:—

In the following table will be seen the number of houses, the authorised number of lodgers, the number of convictions, with the penalties inflicted, and other particulars during each year since 1894:—

Year.No. of houses on register.Authorised number of lodgers.No. of day visits by inspectors.No. of night visits.No. of prosecutions.No. of convictions.Penalties and costs.No. of cases of infectious disease.
£s.d.
189562629,574--1612376099
189659629,14028,331-313011216071
189758128,71826,121-31309211048
189856028,33227,658-29291673044
189954428,44828,2291,16225221839054
190052828,31128,428668161310215040
190151428,03735,2252,13316159630166
190249128,97040,5121,44922219840684
190347028,89333,4024,790662611053
190445128,89627,5012,9701514626066
190541327,57128.1581,5652116773014
190640228,06330,0282,34944111022
190739528,65133,6302,30733129027
190838728,37932,2972,4291122013
190938328,30229,3241,28633220019
191036827,91426,7331,5892274013
191136428,00025,2432,0662258016
191235127,11025,3541,872557509
191334626,56225,6341,85687231168

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Proceedings before the magistrate were instituted in eight cases, resulting in seven convictions,
the penalties inflicted amounting to £19, with £4 11s. 6d. costs. One summons was dismissed with
costs against the Council.
The number of cases of notifiable infectious disease—other than phthisis—reported in common
lodging houses was as follows : Erysipelas, 3 ; diphtheria, 3 ; scarlet fever, 1 ; enteric, 1 ; total, 8.
23610 K