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APPENDIX B
VITAL STATISTICS OF THE COUNTY OF LONDON
IN THE YEARS 1901 TO 1951
by W. J. MARTIN
Medical Research Council's Statistical Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
The following paper is reproduced from the British Journal of Preventive and Social
Medicine, 1955, vol. 9, page 126 by courtesy of Dr. Martin and the editors of that journal.
It brings together in small compass data that are scattered in a number of publications and also
discusses the changes that have taken place in the correlation between mortality and various
social indices.
The growth and development of London during the past 50 years has been influenced
by three major factors. The first factor to operate, and one which still functions, is the
continuous growth of London as a commercial centre and the consequent pressure
exerted on living conditions by the creation of new offices, shops, warehouses, and
factories, especially in the central areas. Secondly, the first world war brought about a
social revolution, and perhaps one of its most important consequences was the large
increase in opportunities for female labour in office and factory. Thirdly, during the
second world war, thousands of houses in London were destroyed, and a very severe
housing shortage ensued. With the publication of the 1951 Census for London it is
possible to see how these factors have influenced the vital statistical trends of the different
London boroughs during the last half century.
Population
At the beginning of the 20th century London had already overflowed its boundaries
in the east and the north-east where other towns had become contiguous with London.
Some boroughs were not completely built up and in the north-west and south some
land was still used for agriculture and wild life still persisted. Since horse vehicles and
steam trains were the only methods of transport, most members of the population
were compelled to live fairly close to their places of employment. The development
of electricity for traction in the first decade of the 20th century led to the electrification
of some surburban train services, the District and Metropolitan railways, and the construction
of the underground system of 'tubes'. Further electrification and the introduction
of the motor bus greatly facihtated travelling; the centre of London became more
commercialized and surrounding country was engulfed for dormitories.
Table I shows the population enumerated at the last five censuses and the changes
that have occurred in the distribution of the population during the past 50 years. The
central cluster of boroughs (including the City, Finsbury, Holborn, St. Marylebone,
Southwark, and Westminster) showed a continuous decline in population during the
first 30 years and much house property was converted to commercial uses. On the
other hand the outer boroughs, and those incompletely built-up boroughs in 1901
(Fulham, Hammersmith, Hampstead, Lewisham, Wandsworth, and Woolwich)
showed consistent rises. The changes in the distribution of population between 1931
and 1951, particularly the large falls in population in the adjacent boroughs of
Bermondsey, Bethnal Green, Finsbury, Poplar, Shoreditch, Southwark, and Stepney,
reflect the damage done during the war. In all these districts the 1951 population was
approximately only half the 1931 level. Only in Hampstead, Lewisham and Woolwich
did the population of 1951 exceed that of 1931, and the gains here were very slight.
The best residential districts in 1901 were situated in Hampstead and Kensington,
and the large number of female domestic staff employed accounts for the very low
proportion (39 per cent.) of males in the population of these boroughs. Despite the
disappearance of large domestic staffs, the great preponderance of women in these
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