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TO THE
MAYOR, ALDERMEN AND COUNCILLORS
OF THE
BOROUGH OF SOUTHGATE
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen
I have the honour to present the Annual Report for the year
1962.
The year ended sadly with Dr. Harvey's sudden illness in
October which deprived the Borough of his services for the
remainder of the year. Dr. Harvey is still not fit to resume duty
and his absence is felt particularly at this time when his wisdom
and experience would have been so valuable in the planning of
the new Borough. I know that he has the warm good wishes of
all members of the Council.
The vital statistics for 1962 have varied little from those of
last year. The birth rate with 947 live births was 14.4 per 1,000
of population. The death rate was 11.6, slightly higher than last
year's figure of 10.8 but lower than that for the country as a
whole—41.9.
One maternal death was reported in 1962.
The Infantile Mortality rate, i.e. the number of infants who
died during the first year of life per 1,000 live births fell from 16.0
to 14.8, there being 1 death less this year than last.
The statistics over the past four years show two trends which
are persistent and appear significant. The birth rate has risen
annually with one exception from 11.4 in 1958 to 14.4 in 1962.
This rising birth rate is taking place generally over the whole
country. Less satisfactory and a cause for concern is the trend in
the illegitimate birth rate, i.e. the number of illegitimate births
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