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
Marylebone 1940
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Marylebone, Metropolitan Borough]
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8
SECTION A.—STATISTICS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS.
GENERAL STATISTICS.
Area of Borough: (a) exclusive of area covered by water, 1,427.8 acres ; (b) including
area covered by water, 1,473 acres.
Resident population : 1921 census—104,173; 1931 census—97,620.
Registrar-General's estimate of civilian population: 1940—62,240.
Number of inhabited houses: 1921—18,507; 1931—17,575.
Number of inhabited houses and flats (end of 1939) according to Rate Books, 20,548.
Number of families or separate occupiers (1931), 27,352.
Rateable value, £3,537,820.
Sum represented by a penny rate (1939), £13,974.
SOCIAL CONDITIONS AND CHIEF INDUSTRIES.
St. Marylebone is mainly a residential area occupied to a great extent by the
professional classes. Hotel and catering businesses constitute the largest single
industry, while the chief trades, carried on almost entirely in the southern part of
the Borough, are tailoring, dressmaking and millinery.
UNEMPLOYMENT.
The compilation of unemployment statistics under local authority areas was
suspended by the Ministry of Labour and National Service at the outbreak of
hostilities. Consequently, it is not possible to give information, included in previous
reports, as to the number of insured persons resident in the Borough recorded at
employment exchanges as unemployed. During the year under review, however,
there was a considerable improvement in the employment situation in London
generally and this resulted in an exceptionally heavy fall in the number of persons
registered for employment at the local and other exchanges of the Ministry.
| Live Births— Total | M. | F. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legitimate 449 | 235 | 214 | Birth Rate per 1,000 estimated civilian population 8.52 | ||
| Illegitimate 81 | 36 | 45 | |||
| Stillbirths | 15 | Rate per 1,000 total (live and still) births 27 | |||
| Deaths (all ages) | 1,223 | Death Rate per 1,000 estimated civilian population 18.07 | |||
| Deaths from Puerperal causes— | Deaths. | Rate per 1,000 total (live and still) births | |||
| Puerperal Sepsis | — | — | |||
| Other Puerperal causes | 1 | 1.98 | |||
| Total | 1 | 1.98 | |||
| Death Rate of Infants under one year of age— | |||||
| All infants per 1,000 live births | 67.07 | ||||
| Legitimate infants per 1,000 legitimate live births | 60.68 | ||||
| Illegitimate infants per 1,000 illegitimate live births | 100.00 | ||||
| Deaths from Cancer (all ages) | 155 | ||||
| Deaths from Measles (all ages) | 1 | ||||
| Deaths from Whooping Cough (all ages) | — | ||||
| Deaths from Diarrhoea (under 2 years) | 4 | ||||
The various causes contributing to the mortality of the Borough are referred
to later in this section of the report. Apart from deaths due to enemy action, there
was no unusual or excessive mortality during the year which calls for comment.