Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
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Deaths from—
Measles (all ages) 59.
Whooping Cough (all ages) 5.
Diarrhoea and Enteritis (under 2 years of age) 25.
Pulmonary Tuberculosis 120.
Death Rate from Pulmonary Tuberculosis 2.0.
Deaths from all forms of Tuberculosis 136.
Tuberculosis Death Rate 2.6.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
Shoreditch is a district of irregular shape from the Southern part of which a narrow
arm runs down to the City. It is elsewhere bounded by the following Boroughs:—
On the West—Finsbury; on the North West—Islington; on the North and North
East —Hackney; on the East—Bethnal Green and on the South East —Stepney.
The area of the Borough is approximately one square mile. The longest
diagonals, each in the neighbourhood of one and a-half miles, are those from the
Southern extremity to the North boundary and from the West boundary to the East.
The congestion of the houses and the narrowness of many of the streets over a large
part of the district is indicated by the fact that there are in this small area forty-three
miles of public streets.
The average level of the Borough is 60 feet above ordnance mean sea level
datum.
I have to thank Mr. T. L. Hustler, the Borough Surveyor, for the following
interesting geological note:—
"The subsoil of the Borough is London Clay, with many pockets of gravel,
some areas being covered to a depth of approximately three feet with a good
quality sandy gravel.
"On this subsoil over practically the whole of the Borough filling has been
in the past deposited, so that the top surface can be taken as being approximately
five feet thick of deposited material. By experience gained from excavations
made during many years this deposit would appear to have been of a refuse
description—in all probability from the City and other adjacent areas, deposited
possibly over 100 years or more ago."
Shoreditch is a densely-populated area the character of which is, however,
changing. Owing to the proximity of the City, the growth of London and various
economic factors,, there is a steady tendency for dwelling-houses in the Borough to be
replaced by business premises and workshops. As will be seen from the distribution
of the population given on page 6 this process has been most active in the Southern