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
Bexley 1949
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Bexley]
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SECTION A.—STATISTICS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF THE BOROUGH.
| Area. | |||||||||
| 4,869 acres. | |||||||||
| Population. | New Dwellings Erected. | ||||||||
| Registrar General's Estimate midyear, 1949 | 89,270 | Houses | 138 | ||||||
| Demolished Houses Rebuilt | 73 | ||||||||
| Relative figures for previous years. | |||||||||
| Population—Mid-Year. | New Houses Erected. | ||||||||
| 1931 (Census) | 33,150 | 1,165 | |||||||
| 1938 (R.G.'s Estimate) | 77,020 | 1,170 | |||||||
| 1939 | 80,110 | 1,002 | |||||||
| 1940 | 77,670, | 113 | |||||||
| 1941 | 72,080 | Nil | |||||||
| 1942 | 77,020 | 5 | |||||||
| 1943 | 76,740 | 5 | |||||||
| 1944 | 71,130 | Nil | |||||||
| 1945 | 75,040 | 2 | |||||||
| 1946 | 85,820 | 82 + 64 rebuilt. | |||||||
| 1947 | 87,670 | 199+ 216 rebuilt. | |||||||
| 1948 | 88,920 | 334 + 286 rebuilt. | |||||||
| Number of inhabited houses at end of 1949 (according to Rate Books) approximately | 25,668 | ||||||||
| Rateable Value | |||||||||
| Sum represented by a penny rate | |||||||||
| Unemployment. | Men | Women | Boys | Girls | Total | ||||
| December 31st, 1948 | 258 | 59 | 11 | 7 | 335 | ||||
| December 31st, 1949 | 210 | 55 | 15 | 17 | 297 | ||||
Social Conditions and Amenities.
The Borough of Bexley continues to be a healthy
residential district and is specially favoured in that it has
ample open spaces and recreational facilities for its
inhabitants. Like other districts, however, that suffered
severe bombing during the war, and whose population is
tending all the time to increase, housing shortages, at
present, constitute the main barrier to health for a
relatively large number of its citizens. The housing programme
is being accelerated as much as possible and it
can only be hoped that, as the momentum increases, the
housing position of the Borough will gradually reach the
optimum standards for which the Council are striving.
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