London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
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]
This page requires JavaScript
8
innual Report of the London County Council, 1913.
Were similar correction made in other towns considerable modification of the rates shown might result.
| Town. | 1908-12. | 1913. | Town. | 1908-12. | 1913. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradford | 19.4 | 19.7 | |||
| Greater London | 25.1 | 23.9 | Hull | 29.2 | 28.0 |
| Liverpool | 31.0 | 30.0 | Newcastle-on-Tyne | 28.5 | 27.1 |
| Manchester | 27.3 | 25.9 | Nottingham | 25.4 | 22.7 |
| Birmingham | 28.3 | 27.3 | Stoke-on-Trent | 32.6 | 31.4 |
| Sheffield | 29.0 | 28.2 | Portsmouth | 25.5 | 24.4 |
| Leeds | 24.6 | 23.6 | Salford | 28.4 | 26.7 |
| Bristol | 23.0 | 22.5 | Leicester | 23.5 | 22.6 |
| West Ham | 30.4 | 31.0 |
Birth-rates
in foreign
towns
It will be seen from the following table that the decrease in birth-rate apparent in London
is shared by all the chief foreign capitals; but that the London birth-rate compares not unfavourably
with that of many of the largest of these capital towns.
There is considerable difference in practice as to the registration and allocation of births occurring in the several towns, and the rates shown must, therefore, be regarded as affording material for only approximate comparison.
| Town. | 1908-12. | 1913 | Town. | 1908-12. | 1913. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stockholm | 23.0 | 21.1 | |||
| Paris | 17.5 | 17.4 | Petrograd | 27.8 | 25.7 |
| Brussels | 16.8 | 15.9 | Berlin | 21.5 | 19.2 |
| Amsterdam | 23.4 | 23.4 | Vienna | 20.9 | 17.1 |
| Copenhagen | 26.3 | 24.1 | New York | 27.1 | 25.7 |
Birth rates
in London
sanitary
districts.
The diagram (B ) facing page 6 shows the London birth-rate in each year since 1850, in
relation to the mean birth-rate of the period 1851-1913. In connection with this diagram it should be
noted that the registration of births was not made compulsory until the beginning of 1875; before that
year many births were probably unregistered. From the year 1885 onwards the number of births
has been corrected as far as possible by the exclusion of those which occurred in the chief lying-in
institutions in cases where the mother resided outside the County of London.
The following table shows the birth-rate in the several sanitary districts per 1,000 persons living in the period 1908-12 and in the year 1913:¡ª
| Metropolitan borough. | Births, 1913 (53 weeks). (a) | Birth-rate per 1,000 persons living, (a) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1908-12. | 1913. | ||
| Paddington | 3,055 | 21.9 | 21.1 |
| Kensington | 3,357 | 19.3 | 19.3 |
| Hammersmith | 3,043 | 24.8 | 24.2 |
| Fulham | 4,302 | 28.4 | 26.9 |
| Chelsea | 1,257 | 20.4 | 19.1 |
| Westminster, City of | 2,227 | 15.9 | 14.2 |
| St. Marylebone | 2,221 | 20.9 | 19.1 |
| Hampstead | 1,326 | 15.5 | 15.1 |
| St. Pancras | 5,512 | 25.6 | 25.3 |
| Islington | 8,357 | 25.4 | 25.3 |
| Stoke Newington | 1.144 | 20.4 | 22.3 |
| Hackney | 5,522 | 24.0 | 24.3 |
| Holborn | 798 | 19.5 | 16.7 |
| Finsbuty | 2,547 | 31.2 | 29.6 |
| London, City of | 167 | 12.1 | 9.2 |
| Shoreditch | 3,513 | 32.2 | 31.5 |
| • Bethnal Green | 3,998 | 32.0 | 30.8 |
| Stepney | 8,187 | 32.7 | 29.3 |
| Poplar | 5,230 | 31.7 | 32.0 |
| Southwark | 5,936 | 30.3 | 31.0 |
| Bermondsey | 3,896 | 31.8 | 30.7 |
| Lambeth | 7,233 | 24.9 | 23.9 |
| Battersea | 4,239 | 26.4 | 24.9 |
| Wandsworth. | 6,840 | 22.8 | 20.4 |
| Camberwell | 6,671 | 25.3 | 25.1 |
| Deptford | 3,103 | 27.6 | 27.9 |
| Greenwich | 2,541 | 25.5 | 26.0 |
| Lewisham | 3,522 | 21.9 | 20.5 |
| Woolwich | 2,893 | 23.9 | 23.3 |
| London | 112,637 | 25.4 | 24.5 |
It will be seen from the above table that the birth-rates of the several sanitary districts vary
greatly, ranging, when the rates for the year 1913 are compared, from 9.2 in the City of London,
to 32.0 in Poplar.
(a) See footnote (b), page 6,