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
Coulsdon and Purley 1948
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Coulsdon]
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This number includes persons resident in Institutions in the District,
the numbers, of which at the end of 1948 were as follows:—
Cane Hill Hospital 2,426
Netherne Hospital 2,156
Russell Hill School 250
Reedham Orphanage 260
In 1948 there were 17,148 occupied houses, distributed as follows:—
Coulsdon East 2,594
Coulsdon West 2,961
Purley 2,606
Woodcote 1,637
Sanderstead 4;385
Selsdon and Farleigh 1,691
Kenley 1,274
This suggests an average of 3.36 persons per occupied house in 1948.
VITAL STATISTICS.
The following table gives the average population, birth, death, maternal and other important mortality rates for the quinquennial periods 1915-1944, together with the actual figures for 1946, 1947 and 1948:—
| Rates per 1,000 population. | 1915- 1919. | 1920- 1924. | 1925- 1929. | 1930- 1934. | 1935- 1939. | 1940- 1944. | 1946. | 1947. | 1948. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth rate | 13.9 | 13.5 | 12.9 | 11.6 | 12.8 | 15.2 | 17.6 | 17.0 | 14.6 |
| Percentage illegitimate | 5.7% | 3.4% | 3.7% | 2.8% | 3.4% | 3.9% | 3.4% | 3.1% | 3.2% |
| Stillbirth rate | — | — | — | — | 0.43 | 0.48 | 0.49 | 0.49 | 0.25 |
| Death rate | 8.5 | 7.4 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 11.4 | 9.8 | 10.8 | 8.7 |
| Cancer death rate | 1.18 | 0.96 | 1.15 | 1.35 | 1.19 | 1.70 | 1.93 | 1.89 | 1.47 |
| Tuberculosis death rate (per 100,000 population) | 72 | 57 | 36 | 38 | 35 | 48 | 44 | 37 | 33 |
| Violence (including Suicide) | 0.19 | 0.44 | 0.35 | 0.32 | 0.46 | 0.82 | 0.24 | 0.56 | 0.30 |
| Maternal mortality rate (per 1,000 live and still births) | 3.20 | 2.08 | 2.66 | 3.21 | 2.27 | 2.10 | 2.71 | 1.83 | 1.07 |
| Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 registered births) | 44 | 28 | 38 | 32 | 38 | 40 | 25 | 23 | 26 |
| Neo-natal mortality rate | - | - | - | - | 26 | 28 | 19 | 15 | 18 |
| Estimated population | 19,073 | 21,351 | 28,950 | 41,616 | 53,034 | 49,880 | 60,390 | 62,440 | 62,730 |
BIRTHS.
During the year 1948, 917 births were registered as occurring in the
District of which 492 were male and 425 were female. It will be seen by
reference to the above table that this is equal to an annual birth rate of
10