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

Bromley 1911

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Bromley]

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5
The rate of mortality among infants under one year of a age
to 1,000 registered births, was 130, which is 24 per 1,000 above the
rate in 1910—the lowest on record—but is only 3 per 1,000 above
the average in the ten years, 1901—1910, notwithstanding the excessive
heat and drought which prevailed in the third quarter of
the year. A higher infantile mortality than this was experienced
in 43 out of the last 50 years.

Table: AREA AND POPULATION.

AREA AND POPULATION.

No. of Registration District.Area in Statute acres.Inhabited Houses.Population.
Land and Inland Water.Inland Water only.18811891190119111881189119011911
412883940277032373655484514303168181880821958
Sub Registration Districts.Area in Statute acres.Inhabited Houses.Population.
Land and Inland Water.Inland Water only.18811891190119111881189119011911
2. Beckenham R.394233194094475081657206621662227
Hayes1282..143160188214694804838925
West Wickham26603176249259294963126213281302
3. Orpington2111721203823362607358010458121381344216075
Chelsfield3378..193232330428947112215221790
Cudham592512172172303891029110311111604
Downe1652..117127139164555581610649
Farnborough1429..2372582855241451162722623210
Keston14878151150171235731746832986
Knockholt17011171191217244789872952943
Orpington3517758176083011393050409942595036
St. Mary Cray202843714014054571906198818941857
4. Chislehurst3780164134926017572188261432003656
Mottingham642..130172219316779103713321534
N. Cray148410130117143140635549661655
St. Paul's Cray16546153203239301774102812071467
Total for whole District.2883940277032373655484514303168181880821958

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In January, 1911, the Local Government Board intimated that
it was the intention of the Registrar-General to publish in his
Annual Report for 1911 and subsequent years statistics of births,
deaths, and of certain causes of death, for administrative instead
of, as hitherto, for registration (or poor law) areas, and it was
found necessary to revise and modify the Tables in order to minimise
discrepancies between the figures of Medical Officers of Health
and those of the Registrar-General.
Table 1 is altered as to births by the addition of columns showing
the uncorrected and corrected numbers, and the Registrar-General
supplies Medical Officers of Health, through the County Medical
Officer, with the number of births—male, female, legitimate, and
illegitimate—to be added or deducted. The Registrar-General also
in a like manner, supplies particulars of all deaths of persons belonging
to the District, and who have died outside its area, and it
is left to Medical Officers of Health to exclude deaths of non-residents.
Table 2 is now omitted, and in its place is the Infectious Disease
Table, which is slightly—though not materially—altered.
The list of causes of death (Table 3) has been considerably
altered, the Local Government Board having, in conjunction with
the Registrar-General, adopted a form condensed from that known
as the "International List," which is also used widely in other
countries. The compilation is systematised by a manual which
has been issued by the Registrar-General. In following this manual
when compiling Table 3, I noticed that the Table as issued by the
Local Government Board did not correspond exactly with that stated
in the manual as having been adopted by the Registrar-General and
the Local Government Board, i.e., there are headings "meningitis"
and "organic heart disease" in the latter, which do not appear in